Nintendo Suggests Skyward Sword's Art Style Will Be Discontinued

I bet he will buckle in to the fans drooling over the "realistic" Link.

After Wind Waker came out, people ignored it's huge, extremely dense world and wonderful sense of charm just because it had a beautiful art style, so they made Twilight Princess and it was about as generic a Zelda game possible.

Twilight Princess was good, but when looking back on it I see a series that thrived on reinvention finally settling down into formula. Past Zelda games would be filled with little surprises and innovations: a third of the way through A Link to the Past, we suddenly found that there was an entire other world map to explore that doubled as a new way to explore the first one. In Majora's Mask, we later encountered a world that would exist only for three more days, and one where everything was subject to the now extremely limited passage of time.

Despite it's much needed boost to combat, Skyward Sword was vaguely formulaic as well, and now that Nintendo is moving away from even the one risk of its art style, I fear for this series' future.

I personally hated Wind Waker until I purchased it used for like $15 and realized it was amazing. I just hated the cel shaded and how ****ing retarded Link looked. Mostly just how stupid Link looked.

Why does a graphic template have to deem the direction of a game? Can't they use the same "engine" (i guess) and just make another great Zelda game?

I guess my point is how the game looks is relatively superfluous as long as it's a good game.

The only caveat I have to that notion are games that require a specific atmosphere for the sake of immersion, or at least to have the hope of immersion. Imagine games like Valkyria Chronicles or Okami without the distinct style, or a Silent Hill or Dead Space game without the rusty/bloody feel to it.

I liked Wind Waker well enough but the overall aesthetics took away from the fantasy feel, and the slightly darker palette of Twilight Princess dampened the fantasy element. I haven't gotten around to playing Skyward Sword yet, but I do admit the art direction puts me in the mood for a Zelda game.