It's really hard for games to tie a complex story into the mix.

At least when they're not of the RPG or action adventure genre.

You could consider GTA part of the latter, but it's a type of action adventure where the actual missions only serve one purpose which is to help you gain access to new places and other goodies to have more fun with.

The missions are fun at first but they do get repetitive sometimes and there's no replay value to be had in them. In Zelda and most action adventure games, sidequests, explorable areas, special items and other optional content are a great way to give the game replay value after you beat it as well as give you something to do when you get stuck in a certain dungeon or mission, GTA offers the same thing but it gives you SO MUCH to do that it often feels like a chore when you have to stop playing around and get back to business.

They need to make a game with the same kind of massive free roam environments that GTA has but combine it with Zelda's super fun missions, challenges and sidequests.

that's like asking to be able to drink a rock.

what makes a Zelda style game so great is the thread that ties together all the missions, challenges and sidequests. it provides the player with a sense of having overcome a challenge by opening new possibilities within the world rather than completing a chore so you can get another checkmark on a list.

what makes a free form game really free form is the removal of said thread.

i'm sure there are people out there who would try, but then again there are people out there who legitimately think that a new rock supergroup will surpass its original bands.

Just because it's a very ambitious idea dosen't mean it wouldn't work. And I think you're wrong, GTA has plot threads just like Zelda but unlike Zelda they're throwaways. And I don't know why you can't have both a great story campaign AND a huge free roam environment where everything is accessible.

I think a Zelda where Hyrule is as big as San Andreas could work. In fact I would love to see a Zelda game where Hyrule is incredibly vast and expansive, like Wind Waker but without the padding. As in more dungeons, treasures, side quests and even optional story progressions. I think they could achieve this without compromising what the series is all about, which is exploration, so how do you expand on a series that is all about exoloration? Give us more stuff to explore, that's how.

MM and TP were fantastic games but they didn't feel much grander than what OOT originally offered, WW had about the same amount of content as well (in fact, it has the shortest story campaign of any Zelda game besides MM, with only 7 dungeons) but it got around it by making the world feel larger than ever before, which was cool even though it was mostly just a clever way to make the game feel bigger than it actually was.

I do think it's time for the series to expand it's scope a little bit wider. And I hope the next Zelda for the Wii accomplishes this to some extent.

actually if they did it to the scope of Fallout3 it could be awesome. but larger is not always better. especially if you get the urge to play through again someday.

speaking of, you (or anyone else on these boards) know anyone who's ever played through a GTA game story more than once? everyone i know beats it and then it's over. done. wait for the next one with random sessions of ultra-violence just for poops and chuckles until then (for those who don't have MadWorld)

i think the reason for this is like you said, throwaway plot lines. at the same time i don't want to read a book (or have one read to me through voice overs) when i play a video game.

That's because they're throwaway elements that serve no purpose other than to make you feel like you earned more privilages.

That's why I'm saying it would be a great idea to have a game that takes the massive free roam environment of GTA and combines it with the exciting quests of Zelda.

As with cutscenes, they could be made skippable or perhaps be interactive (and thus avoidable) like the Half Life series.

http://picture.yatego.com/images/474...demon_soul.jpg
Demon's Souls

Frustratingly Awesome

how the hell do you get out of the first post-tutorial room?

i spent 20 minutes running around that effing room. 'this is where the REAL Demon's Soul starts' ok! fine, you're 'borrowing' from Legacy of Kain, whatever. HOW DO I LEAVE THE ROOM? 4 seals embedded into walls... ok, and... none of them do anything.

hmmm, i'll check everyone else's blood splatters. so... everyone else is just climbing to the top and committing suicide over and over again too. this game is AWESOME.

*ejects disc and goes back to Borderlands*


it looks awesome, the concept is solid and not overdone. but i absolutely ABHOR games that borrow from the garbage attitude of dungeon master / story teller vs. player. silly player, you should have paid close attention to a seemingly trivial detail that i had absolutely no intention of pointing out as being important to you.

like how to actually access the effing game world.

I just beat COD4. I thought that the storyline was very good, but that the missions in the middle of the game were very weak. The first few and the last few were great. The multiplayer has a great layout, but I hate most of the maps. The graphics/art style bugs me a lot as well, it's just grey, brown and dull green all mushed together. A great game, but not the masterpiece that everyone makes it out to be. 8.5/10

Also: I prefer Battlefield Bad Company.

The archstone BEHIND that one guy sitting on the stairs (Has a blue outline) is the only one that works at the start. So you must have missed it. It should be shining.

I downloaded and played the Demo for Left4Dead 2 today. It was super fun, cooler zombies, different weapons, and melee weapons as well. Gonna be just as fun if not funner than the original.