Veterans know all the tricks

If the thread title confused you i apologize. Anyway i saw this:

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/zelda-n...lda/#more-7545

While looking around the homepage of ZU and it got me thinking. What could they possibly come up with? I'd like opinions on new items and how they could solve puzzles in creative ways and whether or not you think the article has some truth to it.

Anyway my opinion on the article is that it is 100% correct. But it's not just the puzzles. When i played my first Zelda game( Technically it was ZA DX but i really got hooked when i played WW) i just wanted to break my controller because of the challenging boss fights and puzzles. Now that i've become a more avid Zelda fan WW is easy. TP, OOT, and MM were too because they all had rather similar puzzle elements which is kinda what this guy believes when he said that if TP came out before OOT then OOT would be considered too easy.

So again, thoughts?

OOT would not be too easy when it came to the fighting though, maybe just the puzzles only.

Fighting in OOT is easy because it's rather clunky and not as precise as TP and WW. Also it was new territory in terms of how Link would fight so that could have something to do with it. Still some of the times i got hit in OOT were pretty damn cheap. MM didn't have this as much.

I know all the tricks...but I get stuck replaying ALttP still. And I've beaten that game at least 5 times. =/ What's up with that? I think the older Zeldas were less linear and more random. How was I suppose to know I had to pull the statue's tongue?

Zeldablue: Pull the statue's tongue? Which dungeon was that in? I get stuck in some of the newer games too. For instance i forgot that you need to go talk to Telma after restoring light to the Lanayru province. Don't ask me how that happened but it was just a weird moment where i couldn't think. ALthough the old games were more challenging i agree with that but i don't want the game to be so hard that you can't get to the end. This is why setting the difficulty would be a good idea.

Yes. Even if they don't make new puzzles for the next game, adding difficulty levels that change the amount of damage enemies give would add so much to it. I'm really surprised that it hasn't been done yet in Zelda. It's not a new concept by any means.

What I think would be ideal would be if a higher difficulty level changed some of the enemies AI or weapons. Or a higher difficulty gave them the ability to use a special attack that could devastate you if it hit you.

Zack: My difficulty settings.

easy: Slightly harder than TP or WW.

Normal: Game is exactly the same enemies just have higher HP

Hard: Enemies are adaptable(Bulblins will take cover when attacking, Kargarocs fly more complex patterns when you take out your bow)

Brutal: In addition to the Normal and hard additions you face even more enemies.

Ultimate: Same as Brutal only now enemies take off more damage and each boss has a finisher move that complely kills you in one hit regardless of how many hearts or fairies you still have.

Originally Posted by Oni Dark Link

Pull the statue's tongue? Which dungeon was that in?

ZeldaZealot can answer this, it was in ALttP, Ice Dungeon(forgot the dungeon name), that is the first time you meet against that puzzle, ZeldaZealot believes that it only appears about 3-5 more times through the rest of the game.

Originally Posted by Oni Dark Link

Enemies are adaptable(Bulblins will take cover when attacking, Kargarocs fly more complex patterns when you take out your bow)

Regardless of difficulty settings, I think this should be in the next Zelda game. Smarter CPUs will make battles a lot more interesting, instead of the tedious "run around and slash everything until they're all dead" concept they've been going with so far.

I'd like to see more dungeon specific puzzles. Instead of just making variations of torch lighting and eye switch shooting puzzles, make more that are unique to that dungeon.

Something I'd like to see is some new twists on classic puzzles along with new puzzles.

I remember that someone once mentioned to take the usual block pushing puzzle, but add ropes to some of the blocks. Only those blocks would be able to be pulled. It's the same puzzle, but a new twist.

Some other ideas like that. Rather then using the hookshot/clawshot to pull you towards something, why not use it to pull something towards you? TP already did this a bit, but could expand on it.

Just 2 small simple examples, but they'd still give you a fresh feeling

The giant's Puzzle in TP was very hard. At least for me.. it took me almost an hour to get it right.

There is some truth to it, veterans probably have an easier time solving puzzles than newbies. The puzzles are similar to old puzzles in previous Zelda games, though I have to give Nintendo some credit for creating very original and entertaining puzzles in WW and TP. Puzzles are fine.

As I've said before, they need to create a harder, or preferably a more intelligent, AI that takes some sweat to defeat. In some games, playing on a higher difficulty means that normal enemies take 100 hits or something stupid like that, that's not challenging nor fun. It's just annoying. I'm saying that the enemies should be smarter. The Metroid Prime series do a pretty good job on this as the enemies jump around, use shields, take cover and/or group up to take you down. They don't take many hits in general, but one needs to be careful anyway.

I remember the original LoZ when you'd enter those dreadful rooms full with Gibdos, Pol's Voice and Iron Knuckles. THAT was - and still is - challenging. I usually need a potion or two to survive in those rooms. In the new games, the balance is off as Link is too over-powered

Wrath: Yeah but then we'd have people complaining about how the new puzzles were underutilized.

Jin: Good idea. What about using the ice arrow to put out torches instead of light them. Or having certain types of blocks that can only be moved with certain items? There are a lot of possibilities.

Exziron: God i hated that thing!

Senap: Adaptive AI is definately something to consider. I also like my idea of finisher moves. Is there anybody else that thinks this is a good idea?

I think they should do something that I admired in MC. They gave you the Zelda standard items outside of dungeons so all the new items could be used to full potential in new puzzles and what not. I think new puzzle possibilities can still be achieved, but they be more item involved.

I fully agree. I think that with the inclusion of new game mechanics, an adaptable AI (and taking out all hearts in the grass) would all make for a game that makes us veterans proud.