A Video Game Proposal

I've been playing video games for years. I love video games. However, I am a diehard Nintendo loyalist although I have played many PC games in the past. Over the years I have purchased and rented many video games, some standalones, some series. Over my life I have found many series' that I have stuck with; I've been a huge Mario fan all my life, and in recent years I've discovered the Tales series and the Elder Scrolls series. Above all else, I am a Legend of Zelda fanatic. Those four series' make up the cornerstones of what I believe is great videogaming.

My favorite genre has long been the fantasy adventure/RPG area. LoZ, Tales, and Elder Scrolls are exemplars of this, the best I have ever seen to date. They have their ups and downs. Lately an idea has been coming up in my head, the idea is for an "ideal video game." This "ideal video game" would be an adventure/RPG that combines what I believe are the excellent elements of LoZ, Tales, and Elder Scrolls into one, along with jetisoning the bad elements. Personally, I would love to see this come out as a Zelda title, so Zelda developers, I hope you're listening.

The Legend of Zelda is the very epitome of epic gameplay and combat. I believe that the combat system of the last Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess, was the greatest of all time. I like it more than I do turn-based strategy, or alternative forms of battle that involve "battle sequences." I like to fight in the game world itself, with a wide variety of items. The bow and arrow is always great, but the introduction of new items like the spinner was a clear success. The dungeons are also nothing short of awesome in all LoZ. Nintendo needs to keep up the good work with LoZ. However, I do have one little problem with Zelda. I think that the storylines are weak, repetitive, and too focused on collecting things. There needs to be twists and turns in the line. The general storyline of Zelda games has been that in the start you collect a certain number of objects, then there is an intermediate section where you uncover something else, then you have to collect more stuff, and finally beat the main bad guy. All this "collecting" is done by beating certain theme dungeons, whether fire, water, earth, etc. Even outside of the main storyline there is too much collecting. Collect poes, collect masks, collect this, collect that. Too much collecting. It needs a deeper main storyline.

I've only played two of the tales games. I've beaten Tales of Symphonia twice and am currently in the process of playing the second. I have honestly never in all my years of gaming seen a superior storyline. I think that playing these games is a lot like reading a book, only with the interactive element. It certainly has enough twists and turns in the plot. It jetisons the obsessive focus on collecting that you find in Zelda. However, I have a beef with this series. There are not the awesome dungeons and environments of Zelda. While the storylines are bar none the best, the gameplay is mediocre. The dungeons themselves are not very fun and combat scenes are more or less hack and slash. Yes, there is magic, but for the most part I felt as if I was pressing buttons. Bows and arrows, spinners, boomerangs, etc. are non-existant. However, this system does perhaps allow development of a longer storyline and the inclusion of multiple characters (a non-separate battle screen system would probably only realistically work with one character, and it has). However, I'd gladly make the story a bit shorter for more dynamic dungeons and make the adventure a solo-affair a la Link.

Finally we have the Elder Scrolls. Yes, I admit to only having played Oblivion but I am a latecomer and intend to pick up whatever comes along next. I absolutely LOVED the open world of Oblivion and the slew of sidequests that were available. I also loved the massive variety in weapons, armor, magic, and items. It was excellent. I believe that the incorporation of a more open environment, and more open character development is exactly what the other games need. I felt the ability to develop a personality of my own in this game instead of playing by pre-set rules. However, there are problems with this. While the sidequests are awesome, they get repetitive. I want more sidequests and more open-endedness in the other games, but Oblivion goes too far. It simply has too much to keep it interesting. The developers should have "dressed down" a little bit. Also, the gameplay is sub-par to Zelda's and the main story is lacking to Tales.

So here is how I stand. I propose a game, hopefully from the Legend of Zelda franchise (since I love it so much) combining the superior elements of Zelda, Tales, and Elder Scrolls. From the old Zelda template will be taken the excellent dungeons, puzzle solving, and the absolutely superior items. This ought to be kept going full guns. However, I also propose to cut out the focus on collecting things all the time in favor of a storyline with more twists and turns, much as I experienced in Tales of Symphonia. I would encourage the developers of this game to play both ToS games in order to get a feel for what I'm talking about. I do recognize that for expansive environments and excellent dungeons reminiscent of Zelda the storyline may have to be scaled down from the levels of ToS but it is worth it. In addition, the open-endedness of the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion in particular, needs to be included. There needs to be side quests, a wide variety of items, and the oppurtunity for individual character development that the first two aforementioned series lacks. Once again I recognize that not everything can be done, and to retain the classic elements this will need to be scaled back from the levels of Oblivion, which is fine because Oblivion probably overdid it anyway.

Also, a few requests of my own. I love mystery, so the storyline needs to have some mysterious elements to it. I'm also a huge Stephen King fan, and I'd like some darker Stephen King-esque elements involved. I'd like there to be some element of conspiracism involved. I'd also like it to be set in the typical quasi-medieval world of most games of this type, although I'd like there to be the element of a more advanced past civilization perhaps not up to par with modern times, but maybe with some steampunk elements thrown in. Anyway, that's my proposal. I doubt anybody will pick it up, but if you do I will appreciate it deeply.