Okay so you already have a caveat to your own rule. The CD-i game totally count as they used the same name. I don't know how much control Nintendo had with the Capcom Zelda game but they would fall under your issue with the CD-i games. Why make the category in the first place?
This is truth af, the true legacy of Zelda is that most things connected to it have dope music
No, it is fairly simple. The Capcom games were directly supervised by Nintendo (and eventually much of the staff of the teams that did those moved on to Nintendo) and had the name. And Nintendo was much loser with their IPs in the 90s, hence the CD-i games, which were unsupervised completely.
Yep the youtube description says a random generated overworld and dungeons! (Wich is pretty neat imo)
For me, calling something "mainline" actually has more to do with gameplay than story canonicity. This game has the whole rhythm and roguelike thing going for it, which is different enough from other Zelda games that I'd call it a spinoff rather than a mainline game. Hyrule Warriros, Triforce Heroes, and Four Swords are also different enough gameplay wise that I would classify them as spinoffs.
Was gonna say the same thing!
If it makes any difference, the first game has gotten a lot of pretty universal praise. And I mean, considering that the dev has literally only made the one game, and they impressed Nintendo enough with it to let the borrow the Zelda IP, that should give some idea of the quality. That and the music posted 10 or so pages back certainly piqued my interest for sure! Just checked and it has an 87% on OpenCritic [96% critics recommend] and an 86% on MetaCritic, too.
The definition of mainline and spin-off also comes down to whatever the people behind the scenes want it to be.
I like this approach a lot, but we run into issues with the top-down Zelda and the Third-person 3D games as they play very differently yet are the two formats that retain the most influence over what some people consider the canon that matters.
Again not so simple if you have to explain all this to someone asking why some games are or aren't canon, part of the series, or worth ignoring.
That's one way to go at it. though whats the purpose of the category? Don't play the games Nintendo doesn't list as canon? When discussing mainline canonicity or story content, should we ignore Triforce Heroes? Does link know anything about Crossbows?
Now you're talking about a super-small subsection of players who only cares about canon. Not even Nintendo gives a shit about canon. BotW is canon but was made in a way to flip the bird at discussions on canon
But... you made a post describing yourself as that small subset. You're talking about yourself.
I don't know how you got that out of my post. My point was Nintendo outright tells us in the games are canon or not. And they also stopped caring about canon themselves. BotW pretty much shows that.
Im not talking about canon. I'm asking why we make our categories. Canon is one way.
I'd say most people use the gameplay of the games as an indicator for mainline or not. Hyrule Warriors? That's a spin-off Warriors game. OoA/OoS? Mainline, traditional gameplay. In the end it doesn't matter and you do you.
Gameplay is one of the better ways to describe what kind of game you like because categorizing preference is one of the fastest ways to get across what you like about a series, especially with a series as broad as The Legend of Zelda.
Like I said, you do you. If you don't agree, that's fine. You're more of an exception and honestly making something an issue that isn't one at all.
I believe there's a demo on the Japanese eShop. I would try it before plunging down the money for it. Not that the game isn't good but the concept takes a couple of runs to get used to and it's not everyone's cup of tea. I love the game though, the music is amazing. Love finding that shop keeper.
Haha I don't have an issue with any of this, it's fun to talk about this stuff. Though saying I am an exception to some imaginary rule is the type of category bullying that takes place when people think that a series is only one thing and can't be another because it has a name or plays a certain way.
Oh nice, I'll check out the demo then if there is one. Hearing the OG game is $20 is slightly hard to swallow, but if I love it, I'll have no issue supporting the devs in that case.
Just checked, it is on the Japanese eShop and you can play it in English.
I'd say the mainline 2D Zeldas and the 3D Zeldas are very similar and definitely the same genre, compared to spin-offs like Hyrule Warriors and Crossbow Training.
Yeah! I like this explanation a lot because its why I don't like BOTW. Almost all the Zelda games conform to the same dungeon and boss structure.
I like this game's style and the Link's Awakening remake style. I would like to see more of the remake's game play.
Eh, not really. There's a pretty clear cut line between what Nintendo considers mainline and what they don't. Check the official source
