Nintendo previewed their highly-anticipated trailer for the new Legend of Zelda game today at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) ahead of its 2017 release. The now-titled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had been announced under the name “Zelda U” since 2014 but continuously faced regular release date extensions.
The trailer for Breath of the Wild did not give an exact release date, but did showcase new features not previously seen in former Zelda games. Link, the protagonist, is shown burning grass fields, climbing tall structures, hunting wildlife, and cooking. The trailer also showed voice acting, something fans have long been divided over introducing into the series.
“Zelda,” “Breath of the Wild,” and “Link” became the top-trending hashtags on twitter a mere two minutes after the trailer premiered at E3. Speculations about storyline are already in full-force on social media, specifically how the game will fit into the franchise’s legendary timeline. Zelda Informer, the main online source for all things related to the franchise, tweeted that their site was down for almost a full hour following massive traffic onto their servers shortly after the E3 announcement.
Many fans online believe the game is Nintendo’s attempts to save their low-selling Wii U console, which, according to reports in Forbes and Nintendo’s financial data, has seen dismal sales compared to both their previous consoles as well as their competitors, the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One. According to Nintendo’s financial reports, the original Wii has sold 101 million units to date since its release in 2006. The Wii U has sold 12 million. In 2013, then-President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata took the blame for the low sales and gave himself a 50% pay cut. He passed away in 2015.
Long-time players hope Zelda’s newest release can revive the Zelda franchise after the last main-console game; Skyward Sword for the original Wii was heavily criticized and divisive among fans. Reviews by fans on websites like Metacritic and IGN complained that the hardware of the Wii did not allow for a smooth playing experience, and the storyline was extremely linear and pushed along by in-game handholding. The reviews said these problems didn’t help Skyward Sword’s popularity when compared with the typical open-world and independent experience of the previous games in the franchise.
The game’s developers have repeatedly noted that they will heed the calls of the players in Breath of the Wild, especially their concerns about open-world gameplay. Eiji Anouma, manager and director of the Zelda franchise, said in a live Nintendo Direct video on YouTube in 2013 that the team hopes to “rethink the conventions” and “return to the basics.” Anouma cited the open-world experience of the original Legend of Zelda in 1986, and 1998’s Ocarina of Time, which frequently tops online fan-made lists as the “best game ever made.”
However, long-time Zelda fans like Max Mayo hope the new game will unite a fan-base that was disenfranchised by Skyward Sword. He has played games in the franchise since he “could hold a controller” and he is hopeful for the new game.
“Breath of the Wild looks different in all the right ways, hopefully it'll bring back people that are sick of the same old formula,” Mayo told CP24.com. Mayo believes the “open-endedness” and the ability to tackle situations in different ways are the most exciting things about the new game.
Fellow Toronto-based gamer Justen Bennett said he was fond of some things in Skyward Sword, but overall it was problematic and he’s looking forward to the new game.
“Nintendo always plays around with mechanics while sticking true to core touchstones. It’s still a franchise people are excited for and that consistently creates high-quality games,” he said.
However, he notes that the new game is releasing for both the Wii U and the NX, and that he’s upset the former will not have its own Zelda game, as is tradition for most Nintendo consoles. “It’s disappointing that fans will have to choose which console will best support the experience they want from the game.” The Wii U received a spin-off Zelda-related title, Hyrule Warriors, but has not seen a main-series game.
Bennett says he is most excited to see what “new mechanics and twists the game introduces.”
“Wii Games Expert” Charles Herold said in an About Tech blog post in January that it takes more than just one good game to save a console. He believes Nintendo needs to take bigger risks instead of relying on tried and tested conventions.
Herold notes in the blog post that 2015’s Splatoon was a “huge success” for the Wii U, and that it was the first major game Nintendo released on the console that was not part of an established franchise.
“Splatoon proved that Nintendo could still wow us all over again with something wildly original,” he wrote.
