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Go take a look at Megaman. The games were fun, with lots of jumping and shooting. But they turned it into an RPG. You may argue with me, but Megaman lost a lot of its luster since the X days. A few elements of RPG are good, but don't go too far. So I will say it right now. ZELDA IS NOT AN RPG! It is adventure/action/RPG. Notice adventure is first. I've heard people talking about putting in 15 swords, 10 shields, 10 types of armor, and even talks of making it turn based fighting. If you want that, go play Final Fantasy (not that I'm insulting FF, I like them too). But Zelda has centered more on exploring and fighting and such, not on juggling weapons and stats. A few swords are ok. Heck, I'd even kind of like to see armor as well. But don't make it like FF or their clones. Five maximum.
Next, we deal with plot. Is it just me, or is the whole rescue the princess thing getting dull. I must admit they are getting very imaginative about it, but there has to be something more. It is my opinion that the entire storyline revolves around the Triforce, not Zelda (but Legend of Triforce just sounds funny). Focus on that. If they bring back Ganon, make sure he dies and stays dead. And please, Nintendo, pay attention to the present storyline. I don't want to have to rewrite all my theories. Keep the epic feel. Tell a deep story while still keeping the young'uns excited. Focus on the Triforce. Give Link some soul searching questions and let there be a personal struggle as well (we saw a glimpse of it with the kids' questions at the end of MM). And while we're on the subject, DON'T use the same characters as in OoT and MM.
And please, Nintendo, don't fall into the graphics trap. We know graphics sell systems. We also know graphics are great. But we all also know that we'd rather be playing Space Invaders (well, I would) than a cheaply made game with great graphics. Don't just make a prettier version of OoT. That's not your style. Work on gameplay more than graphics. That's not to say I don't want to see Link looking even better than that fantastic demo, but that's not what matters. And don't turn into a Square by emphasizing the FMV (full motion video) instead of the game. Real time cutscenes are more than adequate. Presentation means more than beauty. So Nintendo better not just become another graphics junkie.
There are other pitfalls to avoid, but I trust Nintendo. I think. I guess I'm just worried. Here we are, less than two years from the next big Zelda game. And I just don't want to be disappointed. Everyone's bound to screw up sometime. Let's just hope Miyamato's not counted in that "everyone" department.