The newest issue of Hobby Consolas magazine has revealed a plethora of new information about the next GameCube-based Legend of Zelda title. The original report was written by a media member who went to Japan and played a few demos, gaining exclusive details in the process. According to said report, the game will geographically be the largest Legend of Zelda game to date, as it is estimated to be between two and three times the size of the Nintendo 64's Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. The chunk of time will be spent in this huge world could potentially be 70 hours. With that in mind, the horse that Link has been seen riding in the promotional trailers looks more important than may have been previously suspected.
One of the demos sets players in control of a teenage Link adorned in farmer's clothing and living in Tauro Village. The reporter said that the village was quite massive and had many different zones. This is likely to be one of the first areas, if not the very first area players will experience, because the town worked like a big tutorial to help give instruction and teach the game's basics. While this might sound like a chore to series veterens, long-time Zelda fans were also in mind when these first activities were being planned. Director Eiji Aonuma is sure that those players will still find the opening segments entertaining. Of course, this tutorial may be in place due to the fact that the gameplay will be somewhat evolved from previous Zelda titles; it might be similar in concept and purpose to the in-game instructions found in The Ocarina of Time.
The second demo the writer played took place on a ranch. Link was on horseback and given the task of guiding cattle into the proper stalls within an allotted time period. Link was also on horseback in the third demo, but the mood was not as lighthearted as it was in the second demo. This is because other mounted warriors were attacking Link. Thus, the player's job was to take out the enemies, which was done by using a sword or a bow and arrow. All the while, Link had to dodge attacks from near and far.
The game's controls will feel familiar to those who've played previous games in the series. Automatic jumping returns, as well as trigger-based targeting, which requires use of the GameCube controller's L button.
Of the graphics, Eiji Aounuma revealed that the character models were made in a manga style. When talking about the game's clear water, he mentioned that the clarity would open up a "subaquatic" world but ended his teasing at that. Aounuma is saving most other information for E3.
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