Many of us were heartbroken to hear directly from The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma about the sudden news of The Legend of Zelda Wii U’s recent delay. The game was expected to be released this year, and what little was been shown and said about it has already impressed those who have waited long for a new HD Zelda title. The public has seen only a few minutes of gameplay footage, but the developers have made big promises of an open-world Zelda experience like none before, with much needed breaks from long-held traditions in the franchise.
There was hope that Nintendo would stay true to its release window and that this will be the greatest Zelda we have ever had. Although, if Nintendo did not delay the game, we may as well have missed out on the best Zelda. As a good number fans have already realized, the delay of The Legend of Zelda Wii U may be disappointing, but may be the best thing for the game.
An early look at N64’s Ocarina of Time
Delays are nothing new to the series; almost every major console Zelda title since Ocarina of Time has been delayed at some point during its development, all for the better. Surely, these games would have been less than what they are now without having their releases postponed.
After the delay of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the development teams used the time make aesthetic improvements to the game, mainly changing the Twilight Realm from a gray palette to one of colorful and eerie hues. It was also pushed back in order to have the game ported to the Wii with motion controls, to launch on the same day as the Wii in 2006.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was never delayed (to public knowledge), but it had a long development time due to its implementation of the MotionPlus controls, which was so arduous that Aonuma at one point considered dropping these mechanics. The inclusion of MotionPlus also brought about the games huge shift in its artistic direction. Early on, Skyward Sword had a graphical style that was similar to that of Twilight Princess. Because the game requires very specific motion control movements for the sword swings, the weakness of enemies had to be very clear, and so the colors were brightened overall.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was delayed, but it might have benefited from an even longer development period. It is a well-known fact that at least two dungeons were cut from the game. Thankfully, the ideas for these dungeons were repurposed for other Zelda games, but having them in The Wind Waker in the first place may have made the experience all the better. Some may say the game is fine how it is, but it can also be argued that the game had too few dungeons. Had those dungeons never been removed, it would be hard to imagine The Wind Waker without them.
In recent memory, there have been too many big-name game franchises with very buggy releases. These games have been so notorious and numerous that I do not believe I need to name names. Thankfully, game-breaking bugs are very rare in The Legend of Zelda series, but they do happen. When The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword launched, it did not take long for multiple gamers to bump into a glitch near the end of the game that made any further progress impossible until a patch was distributed. The last thing a game developer should want is for players to discover the glitches for them, but this has become so common that early adopters of brand new title can be considered “glorified beta testers” until the broken game is patched. Players who buy a game on day one should not be punished for being faithful to the developers. The bigger a game is, the more likely a major bug will be overlooked, and The Legend of Zelda Wii U is looking to be the biggest game in the series. The delay should allow Nintendo enough debugging time to save the game from any risk of being added to the long list of broken AAA releases.
The Legend of Zelda Wii U has a large, open world. It would be a shame to finally be able to enter that world and realize how empty it is. Sure, it may look great, but it might feel hollow if there is nothing to do in it. During his announcement of the delay, Aonuma made it clear that he needed more time to make The Legend of Zelda Wii U “the ultimate and most complete Zelda game.” It is refreshing to see such enthusiasm from someone who has been working on The Legend of Zelda series as long as Aonuma has. The game was apparently on schedule until the ambitions of the development team led them to go beyond what they originally had in mind for the final product. They have a large canvas to cover, and there is likely room for everything they see fit. If Nintendo was a lesser company, they would give us a campaign with only a few side-quests thrown in before capping it off with DLC at a later date. We can expect that even if the game was released on time, it would still be grand. However, Nintendo now the opportunity to provide all their fans with a wholesome experience from day one.
It pleases me to see that numerous fans have embraced the delay as a positive step in the creation of The Legend of Zelda Wii U. Even if the delay is frustrating, there is no way to get around waiting a little longer. We might as well live with it and make the most of it. The only really crushing blow is that the game will not be a focus at E3, with no demo planned for the show floor. I hope I am not so naïve to believe that we will get a trailer; Aonuma said it will not be shown at E3, but he was not clear about whether or not it will be shown in a Nintendo Direct. We can still anticipate tidbits of information from Nintendo executives at the event. Also, The Legend of Zelda Wii U planned for this year, so perhaps we will finally learn its official title. Whatever we get, Nintendo will reward our patience.
Do you see the delay as a relief, or are you still wanting the game this year? Voice your thoughts in the comment section below.
