u/EtruscanKing023

So, first off, it needs to be said that it's been insanely vague as to what Termina is suppose to be over the years. Like, more vague than even most Zelda lore gets.

One common idea is that it's actually a sort of imaginary world created by the Skull Kid using the power of Majora's Mask, or whatever it is the Zelda Encyclopedia says.

Another idea, or at least so I've heard, is that some guide from way back in the day quite literally calls Termina another world. Then again, I've also heard people say that the original Japanese is vaguer and could mean that Termina is just another land.

Finally, there's an Aonuma interview from around the time of MM3D coming out, and he makes it sound like Termina is actually just another country in the same world as Hyrule.

In the event we go with the explanation that it's another country, I've seen a lot of people question how exactly that can be reconciled with Link falling down that giant drop at the start of the MM in the Lost Woods. My question is: What if Termina is actually just a subterranean world like Subrosia?

It has a sky, but underground worlds in pop culture being so deep that they have their own sky and biomes is nothing new. Furthermore, while I haven't played the Wild era games, I've seen people say that there's a gigantic, bottomless void somewhere in TotK. I'm not saying that's where Termina is, but it shows that these massive distances can theoretically exist in the setting.

What do you think? At least vaguely interesting to think about, or total nonsense?

This started out as a copy of a post I made on r/Zelda a while back, but the talk of remakes got me thinking about it.

Going in, I was honestly expecting to find Spirit Tracks frustrating or boring due to its quirks. In general, I've always had the impression that the DS/Wii era of Nintendo aged somewhat questionably. Not due to graphics, at least in my opinion, but due to the sheer number of gimmicks that were being packed into games at the time.

Instead, I found what might genuinely be my favorite Zelda game of all time. It's too hard to definitively pick a single favorite, but Spirit Tracks is a strong contender. So far, I've played OoT, MM, ALttP, ALBW, MC, and ST. I dropped Wind Waker after the Deku Tree. I'm also still currently playing through TP and OoA, though I haven't touched TP in a few weeks since getting back into Pokémon a bit.

Firstly, Spirit Tracks has one of my favorite overall soundtracks out of any of the games. Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask match it, but it's a near thing. I honestly can't think of a track I actively dislike in any Zelda game, but Spirit Tracks just has something to what feels like every moment. The basic dungeon theme doesn't have me going wild or anything, but it pairs perfectly with the dungeons nonetheless.

The graphics are cute and charming, but that's to be expected when you're dealing with the Toon art style. What I do want to call more attention to, though, is Link's engineer outfit. I was disappointed when he got rid of it so early into the game, and I was thrilled when I found out that you could get it back through a collectible system that was not at all taxing or tedious to complete.

I really enjoyed the gameplay. It says in the rules that emulator talk is allowed, so I assume that it's fine for me to say that I played the game with MelonDS. That being the case, I used the mouse instead of the DS stylus, I had blowing mapped to my B key instead of having to manually blow every time, and I also had a much larger screen than was available on the DS. Maybe that affected my experience, but I found the gameplay to be smooth and intuitive. There was never any point where I was fighting with the controls.

I loved the navigation system. The gates that they give you for fast travel aren't really that useful, but I was fine with that. The combination of music, graphics, and controls meant that I was more than content to just sit back and relax while riding across Hyrule. Planning routes and making sudden changes in direction to avoid the Dark Trains was a highlight, as were the battles with mobile enemies chasing down the train.

Lastly, it easily has my favorite incarnation of Zelda so far. In fairness, this is one of the few Zelda games where Zelda is personally there at every step of the journey, so she also just had a lot more time, (relative to the scope of the game), to show off. My only real complaint is that I wish she had more to do in the actual dungeons, instead of just in the Tower of Spirits.

All of that to say that I would love it if Nintendo ever did a remake/reimagining for this game that added more quests, gave Zelda even more to do, made the overworld significantly larger, gave more lore for the new Hyrule, and just generally expanded on everything that was already there. The dual screen, microphone, and touch controls are the only things I'd actually want to go instead of being expanded, even if my MelonDS config meant that none of those things were a real problem in my playthrough.

That said, I just don't see any way that it ever happens. After Phantom Hourglass, I genuinely think that this game is the literal least likely of any game in the entire series to ever receive a remake. And maybe it's less likely than Phantom Hourglass, even, in the event that Phantom Hourglass could somehow be a DLC or sequel to a Wind Waker remake.

I started thinking more about this yesterday when I was responding to comment on my BW post, but it feels like every generation of Pokémon has a very clear visual design for the most part. I can look at a Gen 3 Pokémon and just feel that it's Gen 3, or a Gen 8 Pokémon that looks Gen 8.

To an extent, the same goes for the designs of the locations and characters. It'd be less exact, definitely, but I really do think that you'd be able to vaguely pinpoint what's from Sinnoh, what's from Kanto, and so on, even if you weren't otherwise that familiar with these regions.

What would you say is the design aesthetic/language of each region, or even just the few that you can name? I myself can't really put a name to it, just recognize that it's there.

When I was little, really young, I remember utterly despising Black and White. Not because of what they were, mind, but because of what they weren't. Game-wise, Raichu was my favorite Pokémon, and I couldn't look past Raichu not being readily available. Anime-wise, I had only really known Diamond and Pearl as Pokémon, and so I couldn't look past Dawn and Brock no longer being present.

After actually beating a Pokémon game for the first time with Pokémon Y, I went back to Black and White with fresher and somewhat more learned eyes. I made it to the first town or so before bouncing off of it because I still didn't find the designs or characters particularly interesting. I played ORAS and didn't look back for another decade. Then, a couple of years ago, I was doing a marathon. Gen 1 remakes, Gen 2 remakes, Gen 3, Gen 4, and then Gen 5. After basically not being able to put Gens 1 through 4 down, I eagerly started on Gen 5 with Pokemon Black. I went with Oshawott as my starter, since I wasn't feeling Snivy and I actively dislike Tepig, and I got to playing. I burned out almost immediately, right in the forest after the second Gym.

Finally, this year, I decided to tackle Gen 5 again with Pokémon White. I knew that I would probably get bored with the regular starters, having already quickly given up on many attempted runs with them before, so I even used the randomizer to swap Oshawott for Gothita, one of my favorite Pokémon lines, with the intent of doing a Psychic-only run. While I did give up on this after Clay due to getting bored and not really liking any of the Gen 5 Psychic Pokémon other than the Gothita line and Sigilyph, I did manage to stick through the game all the way to Alder.

In the end, my final team was Gothitelle, Sigilyph, Galvantula, Haxorus, Lilligant, and Zekrom. Opposite my original plan of all-Psychics, this team ended up having a lot of variety that made the battles fun for me, although I did grind too much in a lot of cases. I had trouble with the Elite Four and Ghetsis, but the rest was mostly smooth after Clay.

Even still, I found myself really struggling to stick with it towards the end, and I have no real interest in doing any of the post-game content. And this is coming from someone who played FireRed, HeartGold, Ruby, and Platinum back-to-back a couple of years ago.

After returning to Gen 5 so many years after the fact, I realized that I feel a very particular way about Gen 5: There are no "okay" designs here, at least for me. Most of the Gen 5 designs, I dislike. The ones I don't dislike, I see as some of the best in the entire series. For example, I love the entire team I built in the game. Great, great, great Pokémon. But the rest of the designs really do feel like they contributed to it turning into a bit of a slog later on.

As for the story, I didn't really like it. I can see what they were going for, but something about it just ended up feeling really awkward. For one thing, the actual lines themselves felt very stilted, way more so than the other Pokémon games. I know that localizing lines instead of being literal is controversial, but I felt like you could really see the Japanese sentence structure in almost every line of dialogue in this game. Conversations did not flow naturally or casually in English at all, even by the standards of Gens 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Beyond that, I couldn't really get too invested in N. I like the concept itself a lot, and I can easily see why he's so liked, but it felt like the story was moving too fast for me to really even form much of an opinion on him. It's in, what, the third meeting with him that he declares himself to be the king of Team Plasma? I already knew about that going in, but I don't think it would have been some shocking reveal even if I had been unaware of the plot. The same with Ghetsis, where he's transparently evil from the very start, and he has cheesy "slip-up" lines where he's even more blatant about himself.

The Team Plasma grunts' dialogue also wasn't subtle. Again, I'm not pretending that Team Magma or Aqua had some riveting dialogue for every grunt, but even playing through Emerald at this very moment has not caused me to encounter dialogue like Team Plasma's. I think there's one point where a grunt even says, verbatim, "I won't tolerate opinions that are different from my own!"

What did I miss here? People obviously love these games for a reason. Did the game just not click for me, and that's it? Or is there something else I'm missing here that really messed with my experience? It's not the starter thing, at least. Playing through with Oshawott would not have changed my overall experience, just made me use a Pokémon I like less than the one I ended up using.

EDIT: Corrected a few things, but the fact that I was in a bit of a rush writing this means that there are probably plenty more errors.

I'm singling out Zelda and Ganondorf here, since they're the only two "returning" characters.

To my knowledge, we don't actually know whether or not the remake is going to have voice acting at all. I personally really hope that it does, but I also understand why many people wouldn't want it to have voice acting.

That said, in terms of solely personal preference, I would like for Zelda and Ganondorf to either have different VAs, or have the same VAs putting on a very different voice. The Zelda and Ganondorf seen in OoT are entirely separate people from the Zelda and Ganondorf in TotK, and I'd like that separation to be reflected in their voices.

Of course, this is an aesthetic thing. I obviously don't want Patricia Summersett or Matthew Mercer to lose out on a role that they really want or even need either, so I'd only want them replaced here if they themselves were cool with it, and I'd still want them to come back whenever the Wild era versions of the characters show up in any Zelda media.

Like the title says, right now I'm not really looking to upgrade. My PC still works good, and I'm hoping that it stays that way for a long time to come. Still, if it does suddenly break down or something, I'd like a good idea of how much I'm going to spend replacing it, (or even upgrading), for the purposes I need.

My GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, and my CPU is an Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3600 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s).

I already have a PS5 and will soon hopefully acquire a Switch 2, so the few modern games that I actually want to play are thoroughly covered. Otherwise, the vast majority of my gaming consists of older games from about 1990 to 2015, be it through online storefronts or, (only if lacking a way to pay the developers/publishers of the game), emulation. The few newer games that I play on my PC are non-demanding indies, and I'm not overly interested in changing that.

Right now, I'm satisfied with 1080p and 60fps. The thing is, I've heard that CRT shaders make a very real, very important difference in the visual quality of several of these older games. At the same time, I've heard that CRT shaders don't really show up well at all on a 1080p monitor. That being the case, I'd be looking to upgrade to 1440p gaming, or, even better, 4K.

If I were to decide to upgrade, how much would I be looking at spending? What about for just replacing my current setup should anything go wrong? Let me know if I need to provide more info, since I'm really tech-illiterate.

P.S. Since it seems to be a commonly asked question in this sub, I unfortunately cannot get to a Microcenter. The nearest one would seemingly be a ten-hour trip there and back, and that's before factoring in any traffic or stops.

I guess the fact that I can't form an opinion makes this entire post sort of pointless to begin with, but I guess I'm just curious to see who else feels this way.

On one hand, I've seen a lot of remakes or remasters that have, in my opinion, kind of gutted the atmosphere of the original. Demon's Souls 2020, Oblivion Remastered, and Batman: Return to Arkham come to my mind as examples. Furthermore, the little bit I've seen seems kind of... modern generic. I know that's a vague descriptor, but it feels like one of those things that you either know or don't know.

At the same time, the only shot we even saw was Link lying down in a dark room. And it was a perspective that only showed one side of his body, no less. If we'd seen even just Kokiri Village in daylight, then it'd be easier to tell how this whole thing is going to go down. But, for all I know, the actual game could end up using that kind of "detailed anime" look that Final Fantasy uses so much in games like FF10, FF12, FF13, Advent Children, and the FF7 Remake trilogy, and I would love that.

I see so many people saying that it looks great or it looks terrible, but I really just don't feel comfortable forming an opinion either way. Anyone else kind of frustrated with this, even if they do understand why Nintendo would go this route?

Sorry in advance for how vague this is going to sound in the first place, but I don't really know how to explain it other than to say that the 2009 Demon's Souls has a certain vibe that I struggle to find in most games.

Even among its successors, I don't really get this vibe. I get a bit of it in Dark Souls, especially in the Undead Asylum, Firelink Shrine, the Undead Burg, and the Painted World of Ariamis, but it's totally absent in any of the following Soulsborne games.

If I had to provide games that don't really fit the vibe, at least from what I've seen and played of them, I'd say:

1. Dark Souls 2

2. Dark Souls 3

3. Bloodborne

4. Elden Ring

5. Demon's Souls 2020

On the other hand, if I had to list games that did fit that kind of vibe, I'd say:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, especially the original 2006 GameCube/Wii release

2. Shadow of the Colossus, especially the original 2005 PS2 release

3. ICO

4. King's Field IV

5. Prison of Husks

6. The original 2006 release of the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, especially the Nehrim: At Fate's Edge total conversion mod

I guess the running theme of games that do fit the vibe are 2000s, (or 2000s-esque), graphics combined with a dreary, dark, but not necessarily gross-out aesthetic. So, if anything in this post even made sense, does anyone have any recommendations beyond what I already listed above?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have!

EDIT: Tried to add some clarification as to which versions of Twilight Princess, Shadow of the Colossus, and Oblivion I meant.

EDIT 2: I just realized that I should clarify a point of possible confusion regarding Oblivion. Obviously Oblivion as a whole isn't dark and dreary at all, but certain areas of the game, such as the fort dungeons, still give me the same vibe as what I'm looking for.

I'm not banging on the exploitation drum or anything, since it's firmly established at this point that Pokémon genuinely enjoy battling and find it an enriching experience.

What I'm curious about is why a Pokémon would specifically seek to be caught by a Trainer, rather than just fighting other Pokémon in the wild. Why go through the convoluted process of ambushing humans, seeing if they're worthy, and repeating until the Pokémon in question finds a Trainer that's satisfactory enough?

Is it that friendship with a human hits different compared to friendship with other Pokémon, or is there some kind of metaphysical thing going on where the bond gives them an actual boost in power? I know that the player's Pokémon are stronger than wild Pokémon, but I don't know if that's purely a gameplay thing or not.

For me, it's a remake of Spirit Tracks. I'm playing through it for the first time right now, and the game has just been great fun.

I was honestly expecting to hate it going in due to its quirks, but it's holding its own against Ocarina of Time itself for me. The music rivals Twilight Princess for the best of all the Zelda games I've played so far, the gameplay is fun, the puzzles are fun without being frustrating most of the time, and it easily has my favorite Princess Zelda of all the games I've played so far.

I would love it if Nintendo ever did a remake/reimagining for this game that added more quests, gave Zelda even more to do, made the overworld significantly larger, gave more lore for the new Hyrule, and just generally expanded on everything that was already there. The dual screen, microphone, and touch controls are the only thing I'd actually want to go instead of being expanded.

That said, I just don't see any way that it ever happens. After Phantom Hourglass, I genuinely think that this game is the literal least likely of any game in the entire series to ever receive a remake. And maybe it's less likely than Phantom Hourglass, even, in the event that Phantom Hourglass could somehow be a DLC or sequel to a Wind Waker remake.