the main problem with the games in my view is that the CDi sucked and no one bought one. not that they couldn't have made the gameplay less terrible, but they were given a year to make two games with FMV animation. that's nuts.

at the time, the Zelda cartoon was the most prominent adaptation, and fully-animated cutscenes in a video game, even shitty-looking ones, were a novelty. I can absolutely see why they made it the way they did, and they did great considering the time, budget, and design restraints they were under

though tbf the last time they allowed someone to play dolls with Zelda it didn't work out so hot

something tells me Nintendo wouldn't really be willing to cede enough control to a creative such that they could make something weird and fun though. they've cancelled multiple third-party Zelda projects over the years because something spooked them

now if this was like some sort of weird side story playing around with underdeveloped characters and plot threads, like some sort of creative writing sandbox for a director that cared and knew what they were doing, that'd maybe be something I'd want to see

this isn't to say that I don't think the series has any story potential, but the typical Zelda formula is just too generic for me to really care about. I play these games for the atmosphere and puzzles. the plot has never been a draw, and Nintendo historically hasn't been interested in it either

Zelda is a fun series and I enjoy the characters and plot scenarios, but these are not narratively-driven games, and Nintendo's attempts to create a strong narrative in recent games hasn't stuck the landing to me. feels more like a market response than a natural shift in direction imo

as someone who was outside this scene until recently (and in some ways still is), I feel like the only time I've ever heard about Smash in the past was when someone got publicly exposed for being a predator after years of abuse. it's upsetting to see that this still continues to happen

we definitely need explicit, zero-tolerance guidelines for appropriate behavior like yesterday. at the bare minimum. this shit has got to stop

I have this same problem but with the claymore

slight correction: every race from the senior-year Victoria Mile to the end of her career (but not the URA Finale) is like this