Zorro: Can he be turned into a Videogame?

 That is an interesting question... Then again, Zorro was turned into an anime.

If an anime about Zorro can be made, a Zorro videogame is not that far-fetched...

Sonofa...

There is a Zorro game... and it's awful!! Not only that, but it uses a lot of the ideas I had in mind, but HORRIBLY IMPLEMENTED!!

While I wanted to use the PS4 touchpad as the tool to draw the Z on your opponents, the existing game that I didn't know about until I was searching for the Anime intro uses the Wiimote.

I was thinking of a RDR2 styled game instead of guns using swords...

Uh, Nefty, it's called Ghost of Tsushima...

Grrr...

OK, Ghost of Tsushima does have some elements that COULD work in a Zorro game, I don't want a Ghost of Tsushima clone. 

The mostly realistic swordfighting is something that should be replicated. The vertical exploration (climbing, moving through rooftops) should be adapted to this environment. 

The main focus of combat would be sword and whip fighting. This does not mean that he only uses those. Zorro's throwing knives would be used on special occasions. These would be mostly relegated to scripted events (the dreaded QTEs) and special actions in combat like throwing a knife at a nearby rope outside of sword range to drop a chandelier on your enemies. Or when an enemy has a hostage you can throw the knife to disarm them. (This would be a different type of scripted event)

Gunplay would be limited, since Zorro doesn't kill. The gun would be used to disarm enemies by shooting at their hands. It would be used on stealth sections to intimidate enemies before subduing them non-lethally. It will mostly be used to trigger powder keg  explosions. There COULD be missions where Zorro has to use a rifle to snipe. As his self imposed no-kill rule gets in the way of traditional sniping, your targets would change in order to incapacitate the enemy.

Other non-Traditional Zorro weapons from the era may be used sparingly.

Back to swordplay: 

While you won't face hordes of enemies, they can overwhelm you if you don't "finish them". If you simply knock them down, they'll get up after a while, unless you knock all the enemies in the area before the first one stands. Using area hazards, like a chandelier, a pile of manure, a trough are ways to "permanently KO" an enemy. Tying the enemy down is another way to "KO" an opponent. A more detailed explanation when talking about the Whip. The main two ways to "KO" an opponent with the sword are: Pantsing and Marking.

As you fight and taunt an enemy, a bar fills up. Once filled, use the trigger button and swipe the PS4 touchpad. Using a Horizontal swipe to cut suspenders and a Vertical swipe to cut belts sould cause the enemy's pants to drop and they retreat. Marking is done by swiping in a Z motion. Marking would also be used on Non-Combat Scenarios to fulfill certain missions/challenges.

Whip fighting would be similar to sword fighting, instead of a sword, a whip is used... duh! While fighting with the whip, you may temporarily bind an opponent with the whip until you approach the enemy and tue him with a more appropriate binding item (binding consumables)

Taunting: 

While past Zorro games have him spitting one-liners left and right, here I would like to give control to the player regarding  HOW MUCH Zorro will taunt. Taunting helps fill up the Finishing Move bar faster than using combos alone. Taunting before a combo fills more of the bar than taunting afterwards. On the other hand, Taunting too much will backfire and stop any further increases on the current battle.

Don Diego would be playable in certain missions full of scripted events. Most of them involve conversation trees that can have an effect on future Zorro missions.

For example, The Dons and the Alcalde are discussing how to deal with a fanily of peasants that have land that would be beneficial for a Don if these peasants stopped being there. You get a set of options:

A. Defend the Peasants: This option would make the game harder, since the Alcalde might think you'd warn the peasants and they'd warn Zorro, so he has guards to follow you all the way to Rancho De la Vega.

B. Defend the Dons: This option would make the mission easier for the first part, but the difficulty might ramp up at the end of the mission.

C. Offer a compromise: This option shows some obviously feigned interest on matters. 

D. Show disdain to the entire situation and complain. This option makes Diego look like an incompetent fop, who'd rather be home reading than discussing political matters.

The idea behind these is to allow you access to the often ignored part of Zorro, Don Diego.

These boring sections allow you access for knowledge on the current mission and on possible side missions. These also allow you to infiltrate the Alcalde's "inner circle".

If the Alcalde doesn't trust you, the game will become harder, since you'll lose access to these meetings and the guards will be highly suspect of you. Meaning they'll try to fond ways to lock you up.

Gaining the Alcalde's trust too fast will inspire jealousy from the Dons and they could hire bandits to "persuade" you.

The idea is to balance the trust between The Alcalde and the Dons.

Actions taken in "free roam" mode as Diego also have an effect on the trust. Here the actions would be far limited.

Realistically speaking, the best option is not intervening as Diego and returning at night as Zorro. But for gamers who WANT TO INTERVENE as Diego there would be 3 ways: -Active physical intervention, which involves fighting with a super limited moveset, since Don Diego "is a lousy Swordsman". (This will cause the trust of the Alcalde and the Dons to drop dramatically)

-Diplomatic intervention, which involves talking your way out of trouble and postponing any punishment for the peasants. This involves more conversation trees.

-Bumbling your way out. This option has Diego acting oblivious of his surroundings and causing accidents that force the guards to punish the peasants later. This option would trigger QTEs.

There you have it, my "ideas for a Zorro game". I didn't mention hirse riding, since that is an obvious part... I almost forgot, costume options.

As Diego, you can buy outfits and clothes in town. As Zorro you obtain outfits as you complete objectives, such as marking certain amount of Zs on enemies. Exploring certain areas can yield costumes.

Certain achievemnts would be unlocked by certain outfit combinations:

For example: There could be an achievement called: Marta es el nombre de su mamá if you wear a black mask, black cape, black gloves, black boots, yellow belt, grey shirt, grey pants as Zorro.

 Yes, the ability to change outfits is my nod to Zorro the gay blade.