Here’s a 3D 3rd person sword fighting game I like, Leareth: Ninja Gaiden 2. Zelda should’ve been like NG2, except probably without the blood and dismemberment to make it PG. NG2 (and probably God of War) is the natural evolution of 2D overhead hack and slash like Zelda and Secret of Mana. The point to these games is simple: unrelenting action. Add in some non-linearity for dungeon selection and secrets and boom, you have what I think Zelda should’ve been.
I dunno, I always liked the puzzles and exploration best about Zelda, not the action. I felt the mix was quite good.
I’d also like the overworld to have more secrets (instead of them being in side areas), but its size was impressive back then when running around like stupid was still fresh. I disagree about the combat; the optional Z-lock was a great solution that allowed the player to focus on the foe without being disoriented. It was also more advanced than the previous battle systems, though the frequency and the challenge of the battles were galling (other than the Gerudos, Stalfos, Dark Link). At least that was fixed in TP.
Having an autoplay function would solve the memorising problem, though you could always look up the songs. So, how about them howling parts in TP? I’d say decade-long series not producing new classic tunes is the natural state of affairs, because the older songs have been played far more. I liked enough tracks, especially the windmill hut and the lost woods, but that’s a matter of taste. The midi didn’t exactly help.
I disagree that the whole point of games like Zelda is unrelenting action. The NES Zeldas were considerably more demanding in the action department, but each following game got easier (complying to the great NES>SNES downward shift in difficulty). Even in the first games I’d say the exploration and the (sometimes elementary) puzzles plus the item gathering are what set the Zeldas apart. If it was all about the unrelenting action, who would ever put down Ninja Gaiden to play Zelda? Personally, I’m pace-agnostic and wouldn’t mind seeing some faster-paced Zeldas for a change.
Non-linearity for dungeons would be cool even if it’d give you less chances to use the items you get from dungeons.
Dark link is probably the only fight I really really enjoyed in OoT. The Z targeting is too dumbed down. You Z target, wait and hit. Its not particularly complex and it slows things down a bit. You’ll rarely ever have multiple targets to really worry about or strategise or prioritize.
I hated TP mainly because of anything involving the wolf part. The rest was tolerable.
Something I never understood about the new zelda games: why don’t they just use the classical Zelda theme? The new OW themes suck in comparison. Way back when Zelda came out, the concept of the overworld was fresh and interesting. Then I realized that it was large empty and tedious to travel in after 15 minutes of running around.
I don’t mind games with puzzle solving and exploration (look at my Lufia 2 shrine). I just did not like the way it was done in Zelda. In terms of 3D action with exploration and puzzle solving, Vagrant Story is by far more enjoyable than Zelda. And it has pacing and a story and replay value.
The Metroid Prime series (well Prime 1 and 3) were a superior evolution to 3D than Zelda. Prime 3 for the Wii actually made relevant use of the Wiimote and nunchuck, unlike TP.
I hated Vagrant Story’s puzzles. The box-pushing puzzles seemed completely out of place and tacked on, and were way harder than they needed to be. X-X
Nonsense, the only hard puzzles are in the unnecessary part of the game or to get tresasures. You’re rarely ever obligated to solve anything.
That’s definitely not how I remember things. There were a metric ton of box-pushing puzzles and you needed to them constantly.
Thanks, I meant to ask you what you thought of Metroid Prime, as I thought MP had less action than the former games.
I don’t know about the overworld theme, perhaps they want to avoid being accused of rehashing things (which of course they do)? The overworld I liked best was in ALTTP because other than your first interactions you can do more stuff when you get more items, pass to the dark world etc.
There should have been more (threatening) enemies in OoT (in MM you drop down a hole and have to fight two 12-hit dodongos in closed spaces for a piece of heart), but as the first try for a 3d battle system I liked it. There are some battles where you have to abandon it and there were more moves than the former games. Sure, nowadays cut, slice, thrust, jump attack, rolling and evading/backflip wouldn’t cut it, but they are better than hit button, 8 directions, (jump).
I haven’t played Vagrant Story, I’ll give it a try if I can.
Btw, Pong, the arcade version, is exactly 36 years old as of November 29.
The console version was released a year later.