Do we need a Zelda MMORPG?

In the wake of the series’ 20th anniversary yesterday, Vintage Computing states the case for a Legend of Zelda MMORPG:

Wouldn’t it be awesome to play a massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the Zelda universe? Perhaps Nintendo could make a spiffy, slick 3D one with nice graphics for their upcoming Revolution console. If not, I’d be happy if some fans simply made a homebrew 2D, top-down MMORPG using A Link to the Past as a graphical framework. Either way, there would be some serious questions to address in such a game.

Serious questions indeed, because I’m pretty certain a TLOZMMORPG wouldn’t work…

Lately Nintendo have been trying to encourage new gamers, and those that no longer play games to pick up their products and I don’t think the idea of an MMO is in keeping with these plans. With the release of the DS and the much publicised Revolution controller Nintendo are trying to simplify the gaming experiences they offer and bring it back to what is important; games should be fun… Most MMOs are too complicated for the kind of gamer Nintendo would like to welcome to their world. Sure you could call Animal Crossing an MMO, but the option to play offline exists too so in a sense it isn’t really an MMO at all…

Also mentioned in Vintage Gaming’s article is the frustration some gamers may feel through not being able to step into the shoes (and wear the hat) of Link. This has always been a hugely important element in the Zelda series of games; You are supposed to be Link. That’s precisely the reason why you have always been able to change his name to that of your choosing, and also why Link has never spoken, and will never speak, a single word. It isn’t a case of lazy localisation, Nintendo have always wanted the player to feel Link’s emotions for him, not to have them dictated by a script.

Zelda games have some of the best stories in gaming history. True, the aim is usually to save the Princess/save the world from Ganon/something to do with the Triforce, but the great thing about the stories isn’t the plots they contain, it’s the way the stories are told. Each encounter with an NPC, each boss fight, the consistantly excellent scores and, in the later games, the direction all create the feel of the games we love so well. A Zelda MMO would be sorely missing out if these elements were to be suddenly stripped away.

I love playing Zelda games because I can really get myself involved in the game; MMOs (and indeed any online games) tend to suffer from the kind of gamer that seems intent on ruining the game for all those playing by acting like a prize penis the whole time they’re playing. Having to suffer the company of such gamers would tear me away from the incredible world that is so meticulously painted time and time again by Nintendo, and all of a sudden I feel like I’ve been dropped in an Internet forum flame war… While it is true that this is only the way a small minority of gamers act online, so long as such behavior exists I’ll try my damned hardest to keep my distance from it. I’m known as having something of a commode-mouth myself, but it’s a different story when I play games. I play to have fun, not to be insulted or argue with someone I’m never going to meet.

While it might be a nice idea, I think the biggest problem here is the plain and simple truth that it could never be as good as a regular Zelda title. The reasons are obvious, as we’ve been the unlucky recipients of news that Twilight Princess is being delayed until Fall 2006. Nintendo are putting everything they possibly can into the game, and have promised us around 100 hours of play time. Some MMO gamers spend 100 hours every week in their game of choice… I’m not saying these games are no fun, but there is only so much you can do in them before tasks start to become monotonous, and therein lies the crux of the problem.

Zelda games are always among the most innovatative and freshest available. To boil one down to the type of gameplay traditionally offered by an MMO would be like Nintendo holding their hands up and saying “we’re out of ideas”.

I’m as sore as the next gamer that Twilight Princess has been delayed by a whole year. I feel a little cheated that it got so close and the rug was pulled from under our feet. But we’ll wait. We’ll wait because we know it will be worth it.

An MMO may fill the gap, but it just wouldn’t offer the same thrills as a true Zelda title. I’d much rather that Nintendo dedicate all the resources they can towards keeping Zelda games so consistently incredible than see them divide teams up to work on two half-hearted games.

That’s why I don’t think there will ever be a Zelda MMO, what do you think?