A common concern and a commonly raised issue about video games is the effect of violence on the players. Overprotective parents complain about their children being exposed to blood and gore; fighting and feuds; bloodshed and violence. They either whine that their children will be influenced negatively and ignorantly copy the violence in everyday life, or, they whine that it is traumatizing and affecting their children mentally.
It's really not my concern about how parents control what games their children play, and it's not my concern as to what your views are on the issue of video game violence. It is, however, my concern that the Zelda franchise seems to have steered clear of anything beyond minuscule amounts of violence. And I do mean minuscule. Frankly, it's time for Zelda to get with the times and happenings in video game violence.
I'm not saying that future Zelda titles need to become over exuberant with tasteless graphics of intense bloodshed, fighting and killing, but Zelda definitely needs to move up from where Twilight Princess has left the console series. Overall, Nintendo isn't a company known for making extremely violent games. Actually, they're not really known for making much that isn't 'fun for the whole family'. Zelda is no exception.
The olden conventions used to simulate violence are outdated. They suited those times, but they can't be expected to fit in today. Flashing red when wounded just doesn't suit anymore. Small recoils for vicious blows don't either. Neither can defeated foes just 'exploding' into thin air. Why can't they leave a carcass, so that the player can feel some satisfaction in the evil they've defeated? These olden formats have carried through the series, and though more violent, Twilight Princess still isn't up with the times.
First off, Twilight Princess has the highest rating of any game in the series, and in ways, does have more 'violent action', but by no means, more 'violence'. What do I mean by that? The sword techniques of Twilight Princess are different to any before, with strong chests stabs, the Ending Blow taught by the Hero's Spirit, and Wolf Link's tearing into the chests' of poes. There's more violent action, but the outcomes are nevertheless the same as its predecessors.
Ganondorf happens to get stabbed
twice in the game. Once by the sages and once by Link, but we don't see
either of them. We can tell that none of them even draw blood, so why
do they need to be hidden from us? Why have the rating if you're going
to hide them? Earlier in the game, Ilia complains about Link wounding
Epona's leg while going over jumps. You know, that leg she points at
looks perfectly fine to me. Come one, they could've at least programmed
in a little bit of a wound. A little hairless red patch. Is that so
much to ask for? I don't know if that's avoiding violence, or just pure
laziness.Really, the only time we've seen any blood is in Ocarina of Time's Shadow Temple and Well. But yet again, I'm probably wrong. That might just be some red paint all over the floor of rooms with stocks and guillotines. There's no need for Zelda to become infested with violence and gory deaths, but there is a lot more Nintendo could, and should, be doing. There's not far to go, but Zelda really does need to take a step up in violence. It may have been unacceptable to have a wounded horse's leg in a game back in the 1980's, but this is 2009. Let's hope that Zelda Wii doesn't disappoint.
Categories: Articles
You forgot about Ganondorf coughting blood on the 1.0 version of OoT when you siad blood only appeared in the Sadow Temple/Botton of the Well...
And TWW finishing blow really surprised me... I would never imagine Link thrusting the Master Sword into Ganondorf's head the way he did, but doing it on a realistic game would probrably be too much for Nintendo...
Shadowlink: The 1.0 version of OOT was not the publicly released version - so that really has little to do with the argument presented. It's nice to note, but must be understood it was removed from the game's release.
Actually, I played Ocarina of Time and I remember blood during the final blow to Ganon's head. I really don't care about the enemies going poof when they disappear. For me, it makes the game Legend of Zelda. And the lower level of violence does make Zelda games more accessible, which is Nintendo's philosophy. You really can't complain about that, but I do agree about the physical wounding. Nintendo should add more of that, and they could do it without losing the T rating.
@Nathan: The grey cart that has the Muslim Gerudo symbol and Muslim chanting Fire Temple music also has Ganondorf coughing up blood. I heard that it was changed to green for the GC release to keep an E rating.
A whole article on a single knit-pick? Oi.. Nintendo (and most of us, too, hopefully) know that visible wounding, there or not, would do little, or nothing to alter the Zelda experience. If anything, it may injure the game's intended presentational position (I know my vocabulary is horrendous, but I'll try to make myself clear.) A couple weeks ago, I was watching Gamespot's interview with the creative director of Red Steel 2, Jason Vandenburghe, while the game was being demoed live during E3. While I was watching the gameplay footage, I noticed the quirky death animation of a foe. He was slashed with a katana, fell to the ground, and FLICKERED out of existence. It seemed a bit odd to me, especially since this design choice was clearly intentional, and the interviewer noticed this quirk too. He asked Vandenburghe why this and no blood? It was more than just to get a Teen rating from the ESRB. He defended the design choice saying this: "What we're doing.. What I found is that when you put that kind of violence in a game, that kind of gore and decapitation and that sort of thing, the game can become just about that.. That's all they want to talk about.. That's not what we're offering.." Nintendo doesn't want to offer that. I'm glad that most of the Zelda fanbase does not want intense bloodshed, just more realistically portrayed wounds. But without blood, they will just amount to bruises and dry cuts, something which a sizable, double-edged sword just doesn't deliver. If these pleas are heard, the game will enter the uncanny valley and look even worse(insert another discussion I'm lazy to divert to here.) Also, keeping these old-school and seemingly dated quirks (like the red flashing and the corpse-poofing) preserve the game's self-awareness and charm, preventing it from being an overly serious and pretentious game(in the sense that the entire game tries to become a fat thematic boat, gravely narrating about the dark truths of life and death and blah, blah, blah,... NOT in the sense that the Zelda series itself could ever be called pretentious. That'd be like shunning God for acting all "high and mighty.") It could only seem pretentious if the game took itself seriously while entering new territory. Try to keep it lighthearted.
I get what you’re trying to say, but I think bad guys spontaneously combusting after defeating is a much greater effect than just having them lie dead and suddenly not be there anymore when you re-enter an area.
I think it’s more visually pleasing and stimulating.
The Wind Waker’s art style gave it “character,” and Twilight Princess borrowed a lot of that in its use of the effect, but it still seemed to fit perfectly for me.
We’ve already established a universe split up into several “realms.” What’s stopping us from accepting dead creatures vanishing in a puff of dark smoke from one of them?
Yes, there should be more violence in Zelda. Not a whole lot, but a little more would be nice. In my OoT version, Ganondorf coughs up red blood, and I saw this the first time when I was eight. I thought he was vomiting (silly me!) but when I beat it for the hunderdth time later and I knew it was blood, I was ten and it still didn't bother me.
I think the reason they let us see the stab in TWW was because Ganondorf was a gigantic ugly monster in that game, and it wasn't like you were even stabbing a human (or hylain) whereas in TP, he actually looked like a Hylain. (kind of)
Well, Ganondorf has silver blood in Twilight Princess anyways, you can clearly see it drip when you fight Ganon.
Though there was one moment in Twilight Princess with some blood. I completely overlooked it and just saw the scene during my last playthrough. xD
After restoring the Light Spirit Faron go back to Ordon in Uli and Rusl's house. You'll see Rusl on the couch real bloodied up, it's kinda gross. And he's mumbling through his nightmares as Uli tries to help him.
Can't believe I never bothered to go back to Ordon after the restoration. xD
? I don't recall seeing blood in the fight with Ganondorf in TP. Are you reffering to the stab wound on his chest? But I got my game 6 months after it hit the stores, so maybe it was edited out by then.
there should be a little more violence on zelda games,but i change things a little bit here,like how about "fantasy" enemies like miniblins dissapearing in a puff of smokes,like poes desapearing in a puff of smoke too(theyre ghosts what did you expect) but more realistic guys like darknuts just dying and falling to the floor and staying there like for a minute,also im thinking you could use the dead bodies as blocks to press switches,like interacting with the dead bodies,i dont know if you get me,i really liked wind waker because when dead,most enemies drop their weapons,imagine using a stalfos club or bulblin bow or iron knuckle's ax
Valid points, but I don't think realistic violence is what they need to be focusing on for the next title. I would suggest Nintendo start coming up with something new and exciting in the world of Zelda. An innovation that rivals Majora's Mask or Wind Waker would be a nice change (and pretty flippin awesome). After the trailer for Spirit Tracks, which was basically Phantom Hourglass on a train, I NEED something else. Whether or not that means I feel like I'm actually killing something is pretty irrelevant to me. But, it is something to think about.
I agree and disagree to a point. For one, as a fanboy and being almost 23, I agree in the sense that I personally would like to see a bit more... shall we say... visible wounding. However, there are reasons it's not in.
Nintendo wants to do one thing forever with Zelda, and that is keeping it accessible to most everyone. A a T rating for Twilight Princess, the game was still highly accessible, and so hyped it actually became the second best selling Zelda title of all time. Why was it rated T? More realistic in terms of killing enemies.
Now, if they started throwing blood in, even the slightest, it could push the game to a M rating... and while I will still buy it, unfortunately my 16 year old sister would not be able too. Nintendo simply will not go down that path with Zelda.
As for that final blow on Ganondorf in TP... I too wonder wide they purposely hid it form the audience. After all, in TWW, they had no issue showing me thrusting me sword right through his head. So, what's the issue in TP? Is he simply to realistic looking for the game raters? Unfortunately with more realistic graphics comes greater restrictions on what you can do with violence and such.
Oh, and enemies going poof is lame in a TP styled game. But awesome in a TWW style game. So in general I think the bodies should stay on the ground and maybe just vanish over time. You know... like in every other game in existence.