Aonuma Likes Skyrim!

This article.

Ever since I read that article, I wanted to write a post on it. So here it is, long overdue.

According to that interview, Eiji Aonuma is a fan of Skyrim. One of the Zelda masterminds... likes Skyrim.

And he plans on using ideas from it in the next Zelda game.

As you probably know, I've been talking about Skyrim a LOT lately. I haven't been able to play it these past few weeks because I've been on vacation (which is my excuse to why this is so late, along with the fact that this was supposed to be an extremely long fanfiction post, which I'll get to you sooner or later), but it's probably, at the moment, my favorite non-Zelda game.

And this, hearing that Aonuma's taking inspiration from it and using it for Zelda Wii U... that makes me SO excited!

It sounds like he doesn't really want to copy the game -- which is good. I don't want to play Elder Scrolls when I play Zelda. Rather, he wants the "feel" of the game. The emotions that made it memorable.

When I think of why I like Skyrim, I think it's... it's the freedom. It's the freedom, and uniqueness of your experience. It's rare that your experience in Skyrim will be the same as someone else's, because it's so vast and interesting.

And I'm thinking that's why Aonuma brought it up. He knows that Skyrim's known for that. And he's been talking about how he wants to create "personal" Zelda experiences, and how they want to remove that linearity that everyone seems so concerned about.

Can you imagine an open world in Zelda? Skyrim's overworld is vast and expansive. I don't know if we really need it to that extent in the next Zelda game, but maybe something more like Twilight Princess... except FILLED with secrets and sidequests and things to explore. Exploration would greatly benefit Zelda Wii U, especially if they create sidequests for more unique items. And doing dungeons on your own time would certainly be interesting as well, although I like the stories of Zelda games and don't want them to sacrifice that. In other words, I don't want them to completely reshape the next Zelda game, but I would still love to see something new and exciting and sort of mixes up the Zelda formula a bit.

And then there's voice acting. I highly doubt that's really what makes Skyrim good... especially as far as "emotions" go, haha... but I do think it's an element from it that would be interesting in Zelda. A lot of people are opposed to it, unfortuantely, but I'd be really happy if they get voice acting. As long as it's GOOD voice acting. XD Even if it's just it's cutscenes, I think that'd be cool. Or they can all talk in Hylian! You have NO clue how happy I'd be if they made up a language for me to learn to achieve ultimate nerd status! XD

But... anyway... yeah. I'm just concerned they'll make it too MUCH like Skyrim, or some other game that Zelda isn't. I really don't want to see that. I really want to still feel like I'm playing Zelda. I want a good storyline, too, which can be lost in non-linear games on occasion.

Either way, I'm EXTREMELY excited. :D My iPad's glitching on me here, so I have to go. Have a nice day! See you soon with my absurdly long fanfiction post!