3 ms·

You’re viewing the risk from the point of view of hindsight. Of course it wasn’t a risk, what we got was successful. Put it in context back before the game exi

You’re viewing the risk from the point of view of hindsight. Of course it wasn’t a risk, what we got was successful. Put it in context back before the game existed. The Zelda games are selling well, but they’re never Nintendo’s most successful games. What they are is Nintendo’s most revered. They have a great formula, designed by Miyamoto and polished to perfection by his successors. The critiques are getting deafening though. It’s getting too linear, the dungeons are turning slowly into content tubes, and the time spent on story is too long. What do you do? You don’t do Breath of the Wild to break the mould, you do Link Between Worlds. Link Between Worlds is less linear, and harkens back to the SNES for its story and interaction. You take a step back from your mould, you redefine it. But then BAM! They completely redesigned everything with Breath of The Wild. Link Between Worlds is but a mere footnote. That’s gutsy, and risky.

bombcar 5y ago
I agree it's gutsy, but I don't really see the risk - if BotW had "flopped" it would be a footnote like Link Between Worlds; it wouldn't have sunk the company. Arguably it could have damaged the Switch's reputation. Interestingly it seems Nintendo understood that it could possibly not succeed, by where they placed the story in the timeline. Nintendo, at least ever since the success of the Wii, hasn't been unwilling to make gutsy moves - but even then they do them in ways that they have fall-back positions if they're not as successful as they'd like.
- mercer 5y ago
  While I agree with your comment, and while this is probably a bit pedantic, I'd argue that gutsy implies there being a risk. Sure, with Nintendo the risk is not something like bankruptcy, but then again the word 'risk' doesn't just mean "a game that risks the company's future".

bombcar 5y ago

I agree it's gutsy, but I don't really see the risk - if BotW had "flopped" it would be a footnote like Link Between Worlds; it wouldn't have sunk the company. Arguably it could have damaged the Switch's reputation. Interestingly it seems Nintendo understood that it could possibly not succeed, by where they placed the story in the timeline. Nintendo, at least ever since the success of the Wii, hasn't been unwilling to make gutsy moves - but even then they do them in ways that they have fall-back positions if they're not as successful as they'd like.

mercer 5y ago
While I agree with your comment, and while this is probably a bit pedantic, I'd argue that gutsy implies there being a risk. Sure, with Nintendo the risk is not something like bankruptcy, but then again the word 'risk' doesn't just mean "a game that risks the company's future".