With just 24 hours to go until the Nintendo E3 Press Conference, Zelda Informer have posted a set of rumors about the forthcoming Wii Zelda title, stating they're "99.9% sure" these are accurate. Read them at your own discretion, folks.
Claiming that their rumors (and remember guys, these are just rumors) come from a German translator -- one who had been hired to help prepare Eiji Aunoma for his speech -- Zelda Informer's list of Zelda Wii rumors reads as follows:
- The new game will simply be titled "The Legend of Zelda", without any subtitle.
- The story will take place several hundred years before Ocarina of Time (take that timeline fans!) and will tell the story of how the Master Sword came to be created. I'm assuming this will link in some way with the legend that the Deku Tree tells in Ocarina.
- The girl depicted in the artwork is named 'Zoriana', and plays an integral part in the game's story (think Midna from Twilight Princess)
- The game will have two separate difficulty levels, as designed by Aunoma himself -- against Shigeru Miyamoto's wishes. The 'Normal' mode will be of average difficulty, for novice players, whereas the 'Hero-mode' will make the enemies tougher, and won't include the "Super Guide" (as seen in Super Mario Galaxy 2).
- Like Okami, you may have to 'draw' a specific symbol on a door in order to open it.
- The hookshot returns, and brings with it a new ability -- the ability to swing, much like the grappling hook from The Wind Waker.
- The Bow and Arrow will employ a system similar to that of Wii Sports Resort -- pull the nunchuck back in place of the string, and point your Wii Remote where you want to shoot.
- As has been stated before, the dungeon/world traversal has received a huge overhaul. So much so, that it will be impossible to tell where the overworld ends and the dungeon begins. There may be dungeons with no bosses, and bosses with no dungeons (ie. Shadow of the Colossus). Tomorrow's on-screen demo will be that of an ice 'dungeon' and will also be playable on the show floor.
Not forgetting the previous rumors we posted, I have to say I could not be more excited for Zelda Wii. But, that being said, I have to doubt the validity of these rumors. Nintendo are always frighteningly good at keeping secrets, and to see such a large amount of information leaked early... Well, it's a little surprising.
I've also no doubt that the first rumor in the list is false. While Miyamoto may have wanted to keep Galaxy 2 a story-free zone, he has gone on record as saying that Zelda is a franchise perfectly suited to storytelling. A lack of a subtitle hints at a lesser focus on story (after all, all titles are designed to encompass the product in some way) and it's this I find hard to believe. Besides, we already have 'The Legend of Zelda'... it's just 20 years old. There's no way that Nintendo would disregard themselves in that aspect. If the source behind these rumors are credible, it's possible that the script was written with a possible leak in mind, and only Aunoma knows the game's true title.
Either way, whether these rumors are true or not, we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Keep checking Game Rant for more news as it comes in, and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Zelda Informer