Zelda Wii U: Cooperative Multiplayer is the Next-Gen Revolution We’ve All Been Waiting For

GenGAME writes: "Just like Ocarina of Time‘s 3D world caused a revolution for the franchise, adding a deep multiplayer component will forever change the series’ conventions. No longer will we think of multiplayer as something for spin-offs and extra modes: it’ll become a core feature instead.

"While the fact that Zelda‘s kind of 'late to the party' in terms of taking full advantage of cooperative play means it won’t completely change the way video games are made going forward, it’ll still mean that the series will at long last have dived fully into 'next-gen.'"

[Root]

Co-op...in a Zelda game

NO...just NO

I love Zelda because it takes you on an epic single player journey where you can escape to a fantasy land full of mythical things and surroundings. What people don't need is to be interupted and miss half of the stuff on screen, story related because your talking to your friend about something else. I've seen it happen to a ton of people when playing Halo for example

"Yeah I honestly don't know why she even said that to me at college I mean - Woah....what's just happened, who's he, where are we going now"

I know what some of you are thinking..."You don't have to play co-op" but the thing is like Dead Space 3 for example they would spend their time making your surrounding built for two people when playing so if you can play by yourself it will feel off.

Zelda like Fallout, Uncharted, Elder Scrolls, Hitman for example should stay single player in the campaign. Co-op should not exist in any shape or form, if you want that go play another game

[legendoflex]

Aonuma has already said that they're getting rid of the convention that you HAVE to play alone. Which isn't to say that they're FORCING you to play with others... in which case there's really no reason to worry. You'll still be able to play by yourself.

Better to come up with suggestions to make it as non-intrusive and/or actually value-adding as possible than to try to say "no, it's a bad idea to begin with and you shouldn't try it." As long as they're not forcing it down your throat, how does it hurt you to offer the option?

[linkenski]

I'm guessing they're thinking about making something similar to the tingle tuner from Wind Waker in the next Zelda game, and maybe that's what Aonuma was referring to.

[Benjaminkno]

It's be ok, don't be scared. You won't feel a thing.
Quick and painless.

[PopRocks359]

"Co-op...in a Zelda game

NO...just NO"

Four Swords ring any bells? Also the Dead Space argument doesn't fly. The primary complaint about coop in Resident Evil and Dead Space is that having a friend/cooperative companion reduces tension and therefor makes the games less scary. Zelda's not a scary experience.

Besides, Mario Galaxy had some minor cooperative elements, unlike previous 3D Mario games. Whose to say you can't just have a second player play as the fairy?

Seriously, it's amazing how people demand Nintendo innovate their franchises and when they say they're going to do so, they demand "NO, keep it the same!"

[Root]

Four Swords was a spin off and was not a main titled Zelda game.

We all know that

"Seriously, it's amazing how people demand Nintendo innovate their franchises and when they say they're going to do so, they demand "NO, keep it the same!" "

So by me saying "don't add co-op" it automatically makes me say "Keep it the exact same, don't change anything".....where did you get that from. You can do other things in the game to change it around, co-op isn't the only thing they can do to change things up

It's a single experience...you taking Link on his journey. It's something you should do by yourself, where you can enjoy the story Nintendo have created.

One minute people are saying single player games are dying out the next they want devs to waste their time on stupid co-op in games like Zelda....why

[Lord_Sloth]

I fail to see how co-op in a game that allows you to co-op with an AI (Skyrim) would ruin the game. All it does is replace an idiot AI with a person that you don't HAVE to play with. Regardless playing with a friend is always fun.

As for Zelda, I'd be curious to see how it pans out.

[Root]

Jeez....people like seem to think that they can easily just add co-op in like it's nothing

Fact is in development it takes a lot of time to get things sorted out so you can have someone with you in the game. It might seem like an easy process to do on the outside but actually doing it would take time...time which would be spent away from things which are more important, especially if it's Bethesda for example. They've even said it would take away development time from the single player.

[Lord_Sloth]

Except that it's usually a Networking team working on the Networking. Besides, I'm not asking for a full team of 4 people or anything. Just my brother.

[ElectricKaibutsu]

@Root

I agree. I love co-op games. If a game comes out with good co-op I'll buy it. I don't think Zelda needs to be like that though.

I doubt Nintendo will mess up the Zelda franchise by needless adding things. There hasn't been a bad Zelda yet so I'm not worried. Maybe the co-op could be simple like the Tingle Tuner or the 2 player mode in Super Mario Galaxy. I doubt this will turn into Army of Two.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

All of you make good points

BUT I think I am more with "Root".

Making Co-Op and Single Quest BALANCED in a game like Zelda, won't be as simple as some may think.

I like Changes and I trust Nintendo with them BUT...
THIS IS ZELDA WE'RE TALKING ABOUT- Only, 1 Every Counsel GEN- so, the stakes are high.

So, ROOT please keep voicing your logical concerns and maybe Nintendo will read it and make their new Experiment better.

Don't get me wrong, I'm buying it (no matter what) but I wouldn't mind a new Favorite Zelda.

[NameRemoved0017]

Co-op works in single player games like fallout if they integrate it like they did into saints row 3.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

then can add co op if they want but id like the core gameplay to still be solo.

[AznGaara]

I think for a 3D Zelda they should do what the Souls series has been doing. Not really co-op but the ability to leave messages or be sommuned by someone would be interesting.

[ZoyosJD]

A soul of Link from legends past is an awesome concept, but as long as the game never requires another player. If it's made for two and you get stuck with AI when you want to play because no ones on, internet goes out, or you just want to play alone, etc. that would just suck.

[ShaunCameron]

Yeah. Just what the industry needs. More pointless multiplayer. It seems that some people are really that lonely.

[Root]

Especially when people keep bloody moaning single player gaming is dying out.....

It's one or the other guys

I'm quite surprized I thought if it came to Zelda people would stand their ground and say "Keep that away from Zelda" but no...it's "Sure guys waste your time on co-op so I can show off to a friend for a few hours, don't mind the other stuff" /s

[Warj]

I actually wouldn't mind seeing another 4 Swords type since I didn't get the chance to play the earlier two properly.

But for a main entry, I would prefer it to remain single player. I am not against the option to have a co-op campaign. While I loved Skyrim as a solo adventure, my brother and I are waiting to play through again because someone is working on a multi-player mod for PC. Done well, the co-op could add replay value. Again though, it has to be optional.

My primary concerns are:
A) It is a copy of other games (such as the author demonstrated by mentioning classes, which I complete disagree with) keep it a Zelda game, not a clone with the Zelda name.
B) It is tacked on like the star bit collection in Mario Galaxy, instead of a proper full application where each player has equal responsibility for success and/or failure.
C) It takes away from the main game's development *cough* Mass Effect 3 *cough*.

I'm wary anyway given Skyward Sword and Nintendo's leanings for hand holding lately, but while difficult, I try to keep an open mind until more information becomes available.

[1upgamer99]

No Co-op. There are games I like to play with friends, and Games I don't...BOPS, the new RPG coming to Wii U and things like that yes. Zelda, no. I want to feel at one with the game! If I have someone else playing with me it would not add to the experience.

[legendoflex]

...but the new RPG coming to Wii U DOES have co-op.

[CatXFlash]

Keep multiplayer as far away as possible from Zelda. Nuff said.

[kirbyu]

Wasn't there multiplayer in 4 Swords Adventure? And couldn't the multiplayer in the new game be optional?

[Summons75]

Legend of Zelda = story driven game that should never ever have multiplayer.

4swords adventure = gba spin off that was only puzzle after puzzle followed by boss battle. Was it good? Extremely but would it work in a Zelda where everyone is expecting standard Zelda game? No. Just put 4swords on the virtual console when you launch the gba section, this way everyone wins. :)

[CatXFlash]

Yeah or add it to Super Smash Brothers and have a 4 swords type of adventure for every character.

[TruthbeTold]

Not sure if I want this, but what if there were Link and Sheik specific dungeons? You could do them in any order, at any time, and you could even have one player playing Shiek with the game pad, and another playing Link on the T.V. in different parts of the game, simultaneously? Now THAT would be a 'Next Gen' type of jump to me.

[3-4-5]

* 10 possible people Link partners up with during quests in this Open world Zelda game.

* Player 2 can control any one of those players when Link is doing a quest with them.

So many possibilities.

[herbs]

I would like to see local and multiplayer coop where player one is Link controlled with improved motion+ combat and the second (3rd or 4th) player as a beast ally controlled with the Gamepad. It would be awesome if Link could summon his horse a wolf or a falcon and other players could assist him in varied ways using one of the Tri-Beasts :)