New Zelda 3DS: A Link to the Past 2!

The above video is a first look at some gameplay of the first original 3DS Zelda game, due to come out later this year. It has been confirmed that it will be in the world of A Link to the Past, but for some reason they aren't outright calling it a sequel. It most likely is a sequel, but I guess a prequel could be possible as well.

Yesterday, it was discovered that a Spanish website, Xtrafile, listed Majora's Mask 3D for sale. Seeing as today was the next Nintendo Direct, some Zelda fans thought this might indicate that the long-awaited remake would be announced today. But instead, we got confirmation of an original title, as well as some gameplay footage and concepts.

Not everyone is happy with this, however. Some things to consider:

1. MM3D All those in Operation Moonfall (the fan-based petition for Majora's Mask 3D), for instance, were hoping to see the remake happen. I happen to be part of that. Does this make MM3D less likely to happen? At the very least, it might make another remake a low priority right now. After all, fans already have Ocarina of Time 3D, and The Wind Waker HD is coming later this year. More remakes wouldn't be good for their image. Nintendo's been doing a lot of remakes lately, and fans want a new game, so ALTTP 2 seems like a good way to go.

2. Graphics ALTTP 2's graphics, at least in my opinion, seem rather odd. Some people are complaining that it doesn't use the full potential of the 3DS, such as OOT3D did. Rather, it continues the 2D, top-down formula of most Zelda games, straying only slightly from the look of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, incorporating more of the ALTTP art style. The big problem with this is that, while it isn't a remake, it sure as hell looks like one so far, since all we have to go by is the graphics.

3. Link Turns into a Drawing While this seems like a cool new concept at first glance...it's very strange. Especially because the camera angle changes drastically; this feels almost cruel, since it shows us basically the kind of angle we wanted the entire game to use. Can we be hurt while we're on the wall? Where does this ability come from? Why did anyone come up with this idea in the first place?

4. The Bones In the trailer, we see Link deflecting some bones thrown at him, and, in proper bad-3D-movie form, they fly up at the screen. Can we expect more of this gimmick?

5. The Map This game will use the original ALTTP map. This could be problematic, because this makes it even more like a remake. Not very many game series reuse the entire world map. Off the top of my head, the only ones I can think of are Okamiden and Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal/Heartgold/Soulsilver (and these had their own maps, with the original map being unlockable). I'm sure there are more games that do this, but it's not generally seen as a good thing. New games are supposed to be innovative, not repeat the same old patterns--and repeating the entire map is the worst way to do that.

6. The Magic Meter(?) Is it, though? Strangely, the green meter on the side goes down when Link uses his hammer as well as when he turns into a drawing. Weirdest of all, it goes down when he shoots arrows. Some have speculated that these are magical arrows, but as I look closely, I don't see any indication of that (no red, green, blue, or yellow light to indicate magic, nor any special marker on the arrow that would distinguish it from a normal arrow). Is this, instead, a stamina meter, like the one in Skyward Sword? If so, is the Zelda franchise going to be implementing this from now on? Because...that thing can get pretty annoying.

Overall, most people just want to see what the story for this one will be. Sequel, prequel, or, more intriguing, the same area in a different timeline? While this last one is least likely, it would be cool for Nintendo to use the official timeline to their advantage for once, perhaps giving a story happening in the Adult or Child timeline around the same time as ALTTP is taking place in the Decline Timeline. Perhaps they could use this formula for other games, letting us revisit maps from other games with new histories applied to them. While I bashed the idea above, I personally would be all for it. The fact that they won't explicitly say whether this is a sequel or not gives me hope for something more interesting, but I doubt any of my crazy ideas will be the truth.

UPDATE: Bill Trinen has confirmed that this game will be a sequel.
http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/zelda-3ds-comes-after-a-link-to-the-past-in-the-timeline

So, what do you think? Is Nintendo going the wrong route with this one? Are they getting back on track? Or is it too early to tell?