A few sites are reporting "exclusive information" from Swedish magazine "Level 82" about the next "Legend of Zelda" game. However, it seems like a case of "too good to be true."
When a veritable treasure trove of information seems to spill out of nowhere, about what is no doubt a big story item, it's cause for concern. Factor in that it's a few days after April Fool's, and better bring your salt lick.
Nintendo had announced a new "Legend of Zelda" game was indeed in the works in late January, but offered sparse details, saying only that it would address traditional aspects of the franchise, such as "completing the dungeons in a certain order," with an emphasis on single player gaming. Producer Eiji Aonuma declared it would be a back-to-basics title, but at the same time, will cause players to "rethink the conventions of Zelda."
Information about the next "Zelda" game has since been lacking, so it was a hard thing to swallow when Redditor Jejmaze threw up an old (February) issue of "Level 82," saying the magazine had details about the next title, meant for the Wii U. The first cause for eyebrow raising is the late nature of the "news." Apparently realizing their folly, the entry has since been removed from Reddit, but GameRanx still had a hold on some of the "details."
Noting the questionable nature, GameRanx's Ian Cheong writes, "The part where the whole story gets fishy is that suggests the main character can choose to play as any race you want, with each race having a different storyline and offering a different playstyle for the player to experience. According to the magazine, this allows puzzles in the dungeons to have multiple solutions."
A "Legend of Zelda" where Link switches races? It's an interesting "Majora's Mask" spin, but just doesn't sound right.
Sure enough, a few Swedish readers of the mag came forward to say that the magazine was actually more of ideas, or possible directions the new game could go take. Couple the cover picture's "Wind Waker"ish cartooniness (which, while stylized, is not official Nintendo art, and commissioned by the magazine), and the story's title of "mellan drom och verklighet," (my umlaut consideration not withstanding) which translates to "between dreams and reality," and there you go.
