Zelda: A Link Between World's offers player freedom

[Wolfpup]

By "breaks the traditional Zelda formula", you mean goes back to the original Zelda formula? The NES version allowed you to tackle the dungeons in any order.

Yeah, I've been bothered with how Zelda's been even since the SNES one. The first two are much more open, and there's a sense of exploration. By 3 it's become much more linear.

I actually feel the emotions I felt playing Zelda 1 and 2 more from Fallout: New Vegas than I do the new Zelda games. It feels more like what I expected it to evolve in to, back when I was imagining it playing the NES games.

i thought there were parts of of dungeons that you couldn't pass until you found items from the previous ones. like you would need the candle to light a candle that would open a door. or you would need the bomb to go through a wall, that you would find in a previous dungeon.

pretty sure all the zeldas have been that way. i was always a fan of that because you COULD go into the later dungeons, but you would quickly find out you either can't pass through an early part of it, or your weapons and health were way too low to even try to attempt to go through it.

To an extent that's true, but it's still easy to beat dungeons way out of order. I don't think I ever finished them in the "right" order any time I've played them. I'm sure I never started with 8, but I'm also sure I did them massively out of order most of the time.

The game's just got a much better sense of exploration than the new ones IMO. I hated how it got that even navigating the environment was a pain, you'd be blocked, couldn't go there, etc., etc.

 

[Dumac]

Rent your way to victory

Sadly, this game also includes the series' worst gameplay design decision in years: offering every single game item in one fell swoop. Very early in the quest, Link's house becomes a "rental" shop, where players can pay 50-100 in-game rupees to rent any item they want. Boomerangs, bombs, bows, and arrows—this is the only way to find and equip almost all of the dozen-plus items in the game, and the rental lasts semi-permanently at that. The catch is that if you suffer an in-game death, the rental house reclaims your rented items, and you must pay all over again to re-equip.

Worse, one of the most enjoyable parts of a Zelda temple is that feeling of item discovery—of walking up to a tough stretch, knowing you need a new item to tackle it, and then getting some new booty midway that opens up the puzzles you've been walking past futilely for about ten minutes.

This honestly sounds awful.

 

[cmdrdredd]

This honestly sounds awful.

Welcome to last month

 

[Dumac]

Welcome to last month

New info on the specific mechanics of item renting is coming out with the game reviews.

 

[cmdrdredd]

New info on the specific mechanics of item renting is coming out with the game reviews.

Yet the game still averages over 90/100

 

[Dumac]

Yet the game still averages over 90/100

And?

Diablo 3 was averaging 90+ (still at 88)
DmC was averaging 90+ (still has an 85)
SimCity was averaging 90+
Dragon Age 2 was averaging 90+
Oblivion has a 94

I disliked all the above games. I don't trust the opinion of mainstream reviewers at all, nor do I often agree with them.

-all items are rentable from the get go, taking away any feeling of progress
-game is short, around 12 hours
-dungeons are unsatisfying, as you don't get anything out of them
-world map is small and empty
-characters and story are bland and not memorable

That is what I've read in multiple reviews, and it sounds awful. We'll see in a couple of months as players have time to play and digest the game.

 

[cmdrdredd]

And?

Diablo 3 was averaging 90+ (still at 88)
DmC was averaging 90+ (still has an 85)
SimCity was averaging 90+
Dragon Age 2 was averaging 90+
Oblivion has a 94

I disliked all the above games. I don't trust the opinion of mainstream reviewers at all, nor do I often agree with them.

-all items are rentable from the get go, taking away any feeling of progress
-game is short, around 12 hours
-dungeons are unsatisfying, as you don't get anything out of them
-world map is small and empty
-characters and story are bland and not memorable

That is what I've read in multiple reviews, and it sounds awful. We'll see in a couple of months as players have time to play and digest the game.

And I expect YOU have played it and know everything about it. Great...no quit trolling the thread.

Quite frankly there is only one review that is below 80/100. So what you think obviously is not the norm. If it was awful it would show it in reviews. It doesn't.

 

[exdeath]

Better be something... Finding the new item in every dungeon and thinking "oh!!!... thats what those wierd things back there are for!" is like THE highlight of Zelda dungeons.

Kinda worried...

 

[Larnz]

Better be something... Finding the new item in every dungeon and thinking "oh!!!... thats what those wierd things back there are for!" is like THE highlight of Zelda dungeons.

Kinda worried...

Yeah I agree its a staple of what makes Zelda Zelda.

 

[Dumac]

And I expect YOU have played it and know everything about it. Great...no quit trolling the thread.

Not hyping a game = trolling?

Did not read where I said

We'll see in a couple of months as players have time to play and digest the game.

Plus, I didn't say it WAS awful. I said it SOUNDS awful. So obviously I didn't play it (although I actually did play through one dungeon at SDCC, but that obviously isn't enough to judge the whole game).

Quite frankly there is only one review that is below 80/100. So what you think obviously is not the norm. If it was awful it would show it in reviews. It doesn't.

Again, I don't trust reviews. See the games I listed before. They all had great reviews and, in my opinion, were not great games.

Secondly, I've seen reviews that don't use scores point out some serious flaws. The section I quoted is from arstechnica.

 

[Geosurface]

I'm looking forward to this game. I didn't play LTTP until years after it came out. I skipped SNES and got a Genesis instead (which didn't see much use) but the original Zelda was huge for me.

I wish they'd remake the original with this game's engine. That'd be fun to play. Or would it?

 

[purbeast0]

Better be something... Finding the new item in every dungeon and thinking "oh!!!... thats what those wierd things back there are for!" is like THE highlight of Zelda dungeons.

Kinda worried...

yeah i agree. it was fun going into a dungeon in the old zeldas that you weren't "ready" for yet, and within the first 2 seconds you see that you can't pass a part due to not having an item yet. then later on in another dungeon when you found it, it hit you like "OOOH now THAT is what i need for that part."

i agree that it's lame that you can just go rent stuff to use whenever. once again, nintendo is dumbing down games to make them easier to attract more main stream audiences. back when i was a kid i enjoyed having to think to beat LTTP. i guess they just think kids are stupid now.

 

[gothamhunter]

yeah i agree. it was fun going into a dungeon in the old zeldas that you weren't "ready" for yet, and within the first 2 seconds you see that you can't pass a part due to not having an item yet. then later on in another dungeon when you found it, it hit you like "OOOH now THAT is what i need for that part."

i agree that it's lame that you can just go rent stuff to use whenever. once again, nintendo is dumbing down games to make them easier to attract more main stream audiences. back when i was a kid i enjoyed having to think to beat LTTP. i guess they just think kids are stupid now.

Maybe I'm confused, but isn't that how it'll still work, at least partially? You go to a dungeon, find something you can't do yet, and so you go back and be like AH OK, that's what that item's for.

The only difference is the items being gated in other dungeons instead of fully available. IDK, I'm not that worried about it and I'll wait to pass judgement.

 

[purbeast0]

Maybe I'm confused, but isn't that how it'll still work, at least partially? You go to a dungeon, find something you can't do yet, and so you go back and be like AH OK, that's what that item's for.

The only difference is the items being gated in other dungeons instead of fully available. IDK, I'm not that worried about it and I'll wait to pass judgement.

yeah but if you've already looked at everything you can "rent", you will know what you need immediately upon going into the dungeon. they are basically spoon feeding you how to do it. before, you had no clue what you needed to get past the part or where you would find it in the adventure. now you know exactly what you need and where it is. takes a lot of the exploration and discovery fun out of it.

 

[exdeath]

yeah i agree. it was fun going into a dungeon in the old zeldas that you weren't "ready" for yet, and within the first 2 seconds you see that you can't pass a part due to not having an item yet. then later on in another dungeon when you found it, it hit you like "OOOH now THAT is what i need for that part."

i agree that it's lame that you can just go rent stuff to use whenever. once again, nintendo is dumbing down games to make them easier to attract more main stream audiences. back when i was a kid i enjoyed having to think to beat LTTP. i guess they just think kids are stupid now.

Well given all kids today know is Call of Duty. They get frustrated and turn it off and say it sucks when there isn't a waypoint straight ahead or if god forbid there is a fork in the road! Crap, more than one direction to go, wtf is this sheeeeee... /dumb stare, looks to adult gamer "what do I do?" "this game is boring" "why are they talking, skip it" "when can I kill stuff?"

And my favorite, running into a room of guys 30 vs 1 head on Rambo style and getting slaughtered in 3 seconds and being sent back to the beginning = "this game is too hard".

:awe:

Sigh...

 

[gothamhunter]

yeah but if you've already looked at everything you can "rent", you will know what you need immediately upon going into the dungeon. they are basically spoon feeding you how to do it. before, you had no clue what you needed to get past the part or where you would find it in the adventure. now you know exactly what you need and where it is. takes a lot of the exploration and discovery fun out of it.

Maybe. I mean I feel the nostalgia of LTTP like everyone else, but because of what you mentioned the game only had an open world FEEL to it; maybe in this one it really will be open world since you can adventure in the order you desire. Personally whenever I played and I got to somewhere I couldn't go, I wasn't filled with awe and wonder thinking of what I needed, it was moreso "well, I'm not allowed to go here yet, time to find where I'm SUPPOSED to (forced to) go". Maybe instead it will be "I feel like trying this path first. Oh I need that item to go this way? I'll go grab it and return. Glad I didn't have to wander around trying to figure out what to do with this dirt rod"

Again, I'll pass judgement after I play it, but this is Nintendo - they rarely make dumb decisions on their 1st party IP's, ESPECIALLY the Zelda series.

 

[exdeath]

Open world and any order you want is overrated.

Give me treasure hunting and finding the big dungeon item.

I mean, allow exploration and even out of order dungeon exploration and even boss completion to SOME extent, but you MUST have areas of the world or dungeons gated by key item gains. This has been the formula for Zelda and Metroid both for decades.

So you can go to the fire dungeon but you can't kill the boss (or it takes 100 times longer) without the ice wand found in the dungeon because you need the bow from another dungeon to get to the treasure room.

 

[Owls]

Nintendo needs to bring an updated LTTP type Zelda game to the WiiU. I seriously regret purchasing this damn thing and I haven't turned it on in months. I bought it for Zelda and where is Zelda? They released a remake I already played. Sigh. Sorry for the rant.

 

[Dumac]

Nintendo needs to bring an updated LTTP type Zelda game to the WiiU. I seriously regret purchasing this damn thing and I haven't turned it on in months. I bought it for Zelda and where is Zelda? They released a remake I already played. Sigh. Sorry for the rant.

Super Mario 3D World looks amazing to me. It isn't a Zelda game, though.

 

[artemicion]

Of the reviews I've read, none have addressed how the dungeon boss difficulty scales. If you can finish the dungeons in any order, does that mean all of the bosses are scaled to be defeatable by a three-heart Link?

 

[stockwiz]

if I remember right once you got the mallet in LTTP (first dungeon) you could get into the main town and do that dungeon and get the best grip gloves (4th dungeon or something like that) , which then let you get the final bottle and upgraded (level 3) sword, a bunch more pieces of heart, etc.. I always did this first thing.

The last few times I played the parallel worlds version which I enjoyed more because you can become a walking god in it late game though it starts out hard.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Saw a thing on Slickdeals saying Walmart would be selling this bundle for $200 Nov 22-23rd.

Here's a link to the ad

http://weeklyad.walmart.com/Walmart/BrowseByListing/BySearch/?StoreID=2495310&searchtext=zelda

 

[Silver Prime]

lol Zelda games are always top of the line, cant say any of them disapointed, Ninja gaiden was top tier too, and the latest one was just a barf'd up, rip off of god of war like feel, yet it got good ratings lol, ratings now days means nothing...I await the game my self to judge.