After watching about three hours of the stream earlier Im not wholly disappointed with the game but am pretty lukewarm on it.
Two main issues.
The basic interaction mechanics dont look that great to me. A lot of it is admittedly personal preference. But I think one of the reasons TP was so good was because of its dungeons, and its dungeons were great in large part because of its items and mechanics.
Most items were very fast in that game. The boomerang, spinner, hookshots, even the dominion rod all operated in a very immediate way that made them fun to use. There was a kinetic feel to them because of how fast they operated, how they tied into the level design, and even their sound design contributed to it.
Mechanics in this game just seem so, damn, slow. Theyre not bad per se; I think theyre even pretty interesting. But the hang gliding, rock climbing, fire starting, and slow motioning just completely fail to jive with my preference for fast paced gameplay on a basic level. Even the rune abilities, while cool, seem ungainly, but that could be just the player playing them. But from what Ive seen they lack the elegance of past Zelda mechanics.
Even more worrisome to me though is the overworld design. I wouldnt say its barren. But the design seems far more naturalistic than I would have expected.
Id prefer a grid based approach where each section on the map operated as its own little gameplay segment. Like Wind Waker or Zelda 1. Definitely not the dungeons in the overworld approach of Skyward Sword, but more like taking OOTs various non dungeon segments and then taking those and placing them in a non linear overworld.
For a non Zelda example, MGS3 has sections of the jungle that are all pretty distinct, and feature specialized gameplay elements. Each section would have a base, or a swamp, or a cave, or something else that really made it unique. Even the sections that actually looked like a forest usually were pretty seriously designed in terms of having traps or enemies present. Id rather see that type of approach, even if it was also non-linear (which I have no problems with; I loved Zelda 1).
Basically, theres plenty of gameplay here (though it does seem pretty diffuse at some points), but I wish each section of the world featured a different gameplay hook, distinct from each section adjacent, and not really operating in conjunction with anything next to it.
To go back to OOT, that game has you dodging rocks to get your first sword and then later working your way through mazes in later sections in the forest. The desert has the stealth section with the Gerudo Fortress and then more specialized gameplay in the desert beyond. Death Mountains trail has you battling Tektites before avoiding volcanic rocks. Theres a very clear focus in level design and gameplay in each area. Taking the type of diversity seen in OOTs overworld and incorporating that into an open, non-linear adventure on a screen by screen basis is what I would have found more interesting.
But then again, it does have you riding on horseback fighting gigantic monsters and shooting them with arrows while the entire area explodes around them. And that goes a long way.
