However is a nigh-120 year old entertainment behemoth like Nintendo going to keep its lineup fresh?

From what we’ve seen lately, they’re still hesitant to delve too deeply into the nebulous realm of new intellectual property.  While third-party developers are steadily increasing the number of new stories told on Nintendo systems (High Voltage Software, I’m looking at you), the big N’s biggest announcements always come in the form of tales told in realms already explored time and time again (Super Mario Galaxy 2, I’m looking at YOU).

At least with the Mario Bros., Nintendo has provided variety by molding its characters to the needs of different genres (most hilariously in the edutainment genre; Mario is Missing, I’m looking at you).  But there are at least two other franchises within Nintendo’s lineup that could benefit from branching out in this manner.

Metroid, a quintessential science fiction series, has long stuck to one of two formats: the two-dimensional side-scrolling action-exploration thriller, and the three-dimensional first-person action-exploration thriller.  Each game’s player character is always tough-as-nails space bounty hunter Samus Aran, about which we know little, except that she is a woman.  The newest game in the series, Metroid: Other M, seems (from what we have seen so far) to blend the two formats, and to expand upon Samus’ undeniably underdeveloped personality.

But beyond Samus, there are a universe of possibilites and worlds to explore.  A series title in a different genre could be used to give needed gameplay variety to Metroid, and to answer some pressing questions or address some glaring inconsistencies (”entirely human Galactic Federation military, entirely alien bounty hunter corps”, I’m looking at you) in the galaxy’s past.

What would Metroid be like as a real-time strategy game?  Who would the factions be, and around what conflict would the main story resolve?  I surmise that the Galactic Federation military and the space pirate legions would undoubtedly have to play major roles, but it would be foolish to stop there.  And while Nintendo gave story-driven gamers such as myself plenty of food for thought by expanding upon how these organizations worked, it could also appease gameplay-hungry players by introducing dramatically different play-styles for each race or faction.

The Galactic Federation would import their troops from offworld into every conflict and support them with cumbersome technology; this means that the GFs would undertake nearly no resource-gathering on the battlefield.  They’d be guaranteed the steady, regular arrival of new combatants outfitted with powerful, reliable, standard-issue weaponry, but the Galactic Federation player would go to war (and develop tactics) with the force he or she had, not necessarily the force they wanted.  The space pirates, however, would tap into natural resources to build or grow their soldiers on the battlefield, meaning that they would be either more adaptable or less able, depending upon the types and locations of hidden resources they’d secured.  A daring player could play as a colony of metroids, a far more bestial and organic force of nature.  They’d share the Galactic Federation’s lack of a need for natural resources, to some extent, because they’d feed off of the energy of their enemies or zones of radiation to reproduce–but since these necessities are mobile, the metroid colony would by necessity be mobile as well.  And while the metroids roam without the safety of a base, a metroid player could mimic the space pirates’ adaptability (to a point) by utilizing a life-force mechanic; the metroids would make an effort to leech the life-force from their most dangerous foes, leading to changes within the colony depending on the kinds of foes devoured.  Further forces would revolve around similar gimmicks, and these themes could serve as a way to expand upon other races’ backstories.  The Kriken would be a long-range powerhouse with new fighters arriving every second…but this huge advantage could also be a huge drawback.  What if this steady stream of workers and warriors was a symptom of an overwhelming overpopulation problem in Kriken-controlled space, and not only did a Kriken player need to constantly expand their territory lest real-life problems of overpopulation diminish their force’s effectiveness, but an inability to do so for a significant period of time would lead to an in-game loss?

And who the devil is Sylux?

The Legend of Zelda has also been but one thing, barring the RPG-esque aberration that was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.  But even die-hard fans of the franchise are growing wary of yet another title in the form of a third-person adventure, so perhaps it’s time to look back to the aberration for new inspiration.

I find it interesting to contemplate the changes that the Zelda team would be forced to make to their award-winning formula in order to adapt it to the RPG genre.  Gamers have come to expect two different sets of characteristics from Zelda games, and from JRPGs.

From the former, we’ve consistently seen excellent gameplay mechanics that vary title by title, depending largely upon the inventory of the main hero; a mostly uniform control scheme, which creates a shallow learning curve friendly to both new gamers and series veterans; an exploration-based adventure that consistently utilizes “gotta catch ‘em all” fetch quests to further the plot; and a clichéd storyline (even by 1986 standards) that makes heavy use of two-dimensional character architypes and almost always features the same characters, the same setting, and the same nefarious plot.

From the latter, gamers expect often incomprehensible gameplay, involving complex interactions between sometimes hidden attributes and statistics; detailed plotlines and well-developed backstories pertaining to mostly believable characters, which often deal in some way with the power of friendship or being psychologically unsound; extremely linear or vaguely dichotomous progression through the story, with the middle ground between good and evil often explored only by villains; and cumbersome, unrealistic, menu-based combat.

It’s clear that Nintendo’s never been quite interested in incorporating detailed storylines into The Legend of Zelda series.  This attitude is the first thing that needs to go if Nintendo intends to revive this franchise again and again.  It’s also the kind of change that would be expected from a switch to the RPG genre, but this does not mean that the story has to go off the deep end with unfathomable complexity, where any possible endings are open to interpretation (Xenosaga, I’m looking at you).  A greater difficulty level across the board would also be on my personal wish list.  In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, I played through the entire game without dying even once (though, in all honesty, I haven’t bothered to beat the Cave of Ordeals yet).  Cracked.com even ranked Ganondorf among their six most disappointing end bosses.  One of the fastest ways to accomplish this goal, in keeping with the traditions of RPGs, would be to make the enemy characteristics actually mean something.  The fire keese were always dispatched just as easily with the fire arrows as with the ice arrows!  Instead, certain enemies should be realistically weak to certain weaponry.

It’s also unfathomable that the Hero of Legend should continue to take on the legions of doom alone.  It was one of the most memorable moments of Twilight Princess when The Group charges the gates of Hyrule Castle with bows and bazookas, all to save Link the trouble of having to take on a bridge full of enemies himself.  If the big N were to work hard to capture that same feeling of teamwork and togetherness and infuse an entire title with it, a party mechanic that is tired in other series would could work well in The Legend of Zelda.

Then again, Shigeru Miyamoto seems unlikely to do anything with conflicts with the reminiscense of his childhood adventures in this case, so the future may be far more set than I’d like.

I’ve abandoned the idea of discussing the strengths and weaknesses of my last D&D campaign’s story here.  Next article: The Conduit!  Is it a story worth telling, and a game worth playing?  The simple answer “yes” is necessary but not sufficient!

Categories: Uncategorized