ihateyouron

@laserbolts: Would you care to elaborate? What is it exactly you find so repellent about the notion of a cooperative Zelda that you'd effectively wash your hands of Nintendo?

@commonoutlier: I have only ever played the single-player mode in Four Swords, so I can't comment on its co-op mode. However I can easily see how its competitive nature could lead to some frustrating moments.From what you have described it sounds kind of like how co-op is handled in New Super Mario Bros, eschewing cooperation in favor of wanton chaos, which is fun with a group of friends, but frustrating if you're actually trying to go for collectibles, or find hidden exits and whatnot.

My lack of exposure to Four Swords' co-op is probably why Spirit Tracks jumped to mind first for me, despite not being co-op in the multi-player sense. However with its cooperative nature, and the way the Wii-U handles dual perspectives, I felt that the mechanics of Spirit Tracks would more easily translate into a Zelda game with a larger scope.

Another interesting aspect of Spirit Tracks is the notion of Zelda taking on a more important role in the series. Perhaps I'm way off base, but I feel like the demand for a Zelda game with some sort of female protagonist has grown. Whether that be in the form of a Zelda adventure sans Link, or simply a Gender select option while creating your save file. In fact one father went as far as hacking a copy of Wind Waker in order to accomplish this for his daughter , and given the groundswell of females in the games industry revolting against sexism in the workplace, and a perceived anti-feminist sentiment in the larger gaming community. It could be perceived as a progressive move on Nintendo's part, even if they put no effort into differentiating genders.

The scope of that debate is far too great for a Zelda game to tackle, but I think considering the growing demand for female protagonist in games (or at least allowing for a female avatar of some sort for silent protagonist) it is definitely something Nintendo should consider. I'll agree with those who would argue that Link is an iconic character, and I don't think I'll ever be able to identify Link as anything but a male protagonist, but if it makes it easier for females to get into the series by having a protagonist they can identify with (if only on a visual level) then I'll learn to accept it.

To get back to the original topic though, I don't know that adding co-op really addresses what I felt was wrong with Skyward Sword, and going for something with a smaller scope, like Four Swords doesn't address those issues either, so much as it just sidesteps them by being incomparable.

@TooWalrus: When you say "More like Four Swords Adventures" Do you mean that in a purely mechanical sense? While I certainly enjoyed aspects of Four Swords, I was put off by its limited scope, and bizarre structure. It's kind of hard to hold that stuff against it though, for me it was more supplemental than something like Skyward Sword.With that said, I'd embrace something like that as a downloadable title. Anyway thanks for responding.

As far as the pointlessness of the topic is concerned, I was speaking more in general terms. I wasn't really trying to "nail down" any specifics, as obviously it will be a little while before we even begin to hear rumors about the next Zelda. I suppose what I really wanted to talk about was the series recent struggles, and extrapolate how those issues might be addressed in future games. Which I suppose isn't really relevant in this board, and has probably already been covered in several other threads.

First and foremost, this is my first post, so I apologize if this topic is out of place on this board, or if there has already been a similar topic recently. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately about The Legend of Zelda series, and the general direction Nintendo seems to be taking with the Wii U, and its proliferation of "Asynchronous Co-op," and maybe this will sound blasphemous to die hard Zelda fans, but I think that asynchronous co-op of some kind will very likely be a major focus of Wii-U Zelda.

Nintendo has already toyed with the concept of pseudo co-op in the series, by utilizing Zelda as a playable protagonist in Spirit Tracks. If you're not familiar with the game, Zelda is with Link through basically the entire journey (as a ghost) and throughout the game you will need to employ her unique abilities to help you solve puzzles. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Spirit Tracks, I think its mostly inoffensive and charming for a portable title. However (in my opinion at least) the novelty of that game mechanic wore off pretty early on in the game, and rather than "adding a new twist" on the tried and true Zelda formula, it felt more like just one big wrinkle for me to manage, and at times I think it really served to slow down the pace of the game.

With all of that said, I think its clear how a similar concept could be adapted to the Wii- U gamepad. In fact, I feel like the asynchronous aspect of the game could eliminate the pacing issues I had with Spirit Tracks. However, I'm not really sure how Nintendo would handle such a mechanic in a purely single-player context without coming back to what I disliked about Spirit Tracks.

So what do you guys think? Could you see Nintendo heading in this direction with the Next Zelda game? Do you think its more likely Nintendo will incorporate a co-op system similar to what they used in Super Mario Galaxy, or do you simply think the next Zelda title will be an entirely single-player experience?