AWKWARD ZOMBIE

"Like how it looks" can be used as a sort of slang that applies to the whole of something, not just the appearance. In my case, I used it because I liked how the gameplay looked.

Yeah, this is supposedly the largest and most expensive Zelda to date, with dungeons that will supposedly take a number of hours to complete.

Though I don't know why people in this thread keep talking about how this game will be released "instead" of a proper Zelda title. That was WWHD's job, to tide us over while the developers worked on the proper title. Hyrule warriors is entirely developed by Koei. Zelda U details are confirmed for E3 2014, and I would not be surprised at all by a holiday release.

They did say a few months ago that they haven't decided on the story for Zelda U, meaning they're incredibly early in development.

Oh right yeah I misunderstood

yeah it does look kinda fun

my fave was the fire rod juggling

I'm pretty sure they usually do the story last. They begin with the gimmick they want to focus on (boat! wolf! train! bird and motion detection!) and then slap some form of plot on top of it. So you can't really infer anything from the fact that they haven't picked a story yet.

Building a game around the plot is pretty much the absolute worst way to go about things if you're not making a VN or very VERY basic JRPG

I'm gonna disagree. Strenuously.

Yes yes, we all know what you think about story.
And when it's the right type of game, I agree. If Gone Home were just "explore your spooky old house" it would be awful.

Thing is, Zelda isn't that type of game. Zelda's main draw has bodaciously never been its story, and hopefully never will be. Zelda remains a strong franchise because of its gameplay.

It's true that gameplay is the most important part of a game, but Zelda would not be where it is today without its writing. I'm not even talking about core stories; honestly, the writing in Zelda almost never shines in the area of story. It's typically more about developing the world and the mythos of the series.

Honestly, I feel that the best-written games are the ones that do good jobs of intertwining the writing and the gameplay, like Ico and SotC. I'd like it a lot if Zelda did that. I think some of the earlier games did that a bit; I feel OoT and MM did decent jobs of intertwining gameplay with the development of their worlds and their moods.

What I like about Link's Awakening is it unobtrusively makes you think about what is happening and what you're doing

It's just a few words here and there, from a boss, written on an owl stone, simple stuff but it's stronger than a lot of the exposition from other games

Exactly what I'm talking about. Beautiful subtlety.

I like how they tie Link and Zelda together in some games (notably Skyward Sword) so you actually feel the need to save her.

That's also a nice touch. I just wish Zelda were actually a character more often, rather than just a talking plot device. I mean, there have been some games where she got some development (most notably Wind Waker and Spirit Tracks), but I really wish they would make her earn her place in the title of the series.

It really bugged me in the GBC games that Zelda didn't appear

I mean, her name's in the daisies title even