Okay, this guy Matthewmatosis has made some great analysis of The Legend of Zelda series of games by Nintendo, and I watched the whole thing. He takes the dorkiness to an academic level, and as a big fan of the series I bit into to it hook, line and sinker.
There are a few instances when I call his criticisms into question in defense of Nintendo, specifically when those criticisms veer into those typically brought by veteran gamers.
When Nintendo makes a Zelda game, they need to sell it to two audiences--veterans, and fans new to the series, namely young people. And my two daughters are perfect examples of how they've accomplished both.
At age 3.5, my older one has played Skyward Sword pretty thoroughly, starting when she was about 2.5. In the past month she's been exploring Windwaker. And, as a testament to the series being able to make consistently good games, today--after watching part of the above video with me and seeing the attractive gameplay video of Twilight Princess--she tried it for the first time, was deeply and immediately engaged, and protested when it was time to turn it off. She's talking about it as I write this.
"Oh, I can just play that game later," as she chomps on an apple wearing gauntlets that her mom crocheted that look like Link's.
The younger one, at 1.5 years of age, is too young to play--but she just sits there on the couch, watching. Waiting. Plotting for when she becomes old enough to cause such digital destruction.
Now--here is where I defend Matthewmatosis's arguments, partially refuting one I made above in the second paragraph.
When my daughter is playing these later-generation Zelda games, she does so on my saved games that have acquired all the items and perks. She's too young and impatient to try to read all the words--so starting these games from the beginning is impossible for her, for the same reasons Matthewmatosis refers to.
The tutorials, especially in Skyward Sword, are super-long, unskippable, and totally annoying to gamers both veteran and rookie. It's like they made SS specifically for children, or at least balanced the scales more heavily toward newer gamers, leaving older ones slightly in the dust. This is evident not only in the over-explaining, instructional-video aspect of the game--assuming I'm a dumbass who will completely abandon the game because I can't figure out some simplistic controller function--but also in the graphics choice of impressionism over realistic details. The game feels like a big, hazy, useless fairy tale, has no teeth, is not even set in Hyrule, doesn't have Gannon but some knockoff with fire hair, and is slow and clunky, explaining every last thing in maddening detail.
Is that why I played the thing all the way thru? Probably. Yeah. I guess I'm falling into the veteran gamer cliché now--SS isn't great for me because I'm so familiar with the Zelda series. But for my daughter, it's fucking gold, man. Kids love Skyward Sword.
My point is that gamers, old & new, need to be able to feel like they're playing a video game, not half watching a movie or instructional video. My daughter figures out all the controls by doing--by figuring it out for herself, playing with the buttons, seeing what they do.
That's what made Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas so fun for me--the controls are detailed and you can do a lot of things with the Lone Wanderer and Courier.
Bethesda has knocked it out of the goddam park with those games, you know what I'm saying? They've changed my life, and a few glances at the Fallout subreddit show that I am not alone. There's even a fringe market for Fallout fan fiction. It's big. The games are extraordinary, notably for their open world, sandbox-style game environments.
Which leads me to the future of Zelda games. And this is cool, new-ish news. Nintendo, late last January, made an announcement about just this subject. I can't say it better than them, so I will just let you watch the video and marvel in the wonder of what this new Zelda title, not the Windwaker HD project, but the next BIG Zelda game, could be.
You know what I would want it to look like?
The Legend of Zelda: Fallout
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