Swords!

SPOILERS, kind of, so watch out.

In all of Link's adventures, Link uses a sword. You use a sword for pretty much every kind of battle, and while killing all kinds of enemies. So why is it that Nintendo didn't want to make more interesting swords? They hardly ever give us a good choice between the limited choices of swords that they have, even though the sword is the biggest part of Zelda Games. Examples?

AlTTP: Sword - Master Sword - Tempered Sword - Golden Sword. No choice- you can't even use one after you get the next one, and even if you could, there'd be no point.

OOT: Okay, so switching between the MS and the BGS was good. Still, it wasn't much of a choice, since having no shield was not too much of a disadvantage.

MM: After getting the Gilded Sword, the Kokiri Sword was out of the question. Then you could decide between that and the Great Fairy's Sword, so okay. This is probably the best choice.

WW: Hero's Sword - Master Sword. There's a choice, but why would you want to use the Hero's Sword after getting the Master Sword? You wouldn't.

TP: Ordon Sword - Master Sword - Light-infused thingamajigger sword. There would be no point in using the Ordon Sword after getting the Master Sword, so once again, no choice.

Especially in the Gamecube ones, sword choice is out of the question. What I think Nintendo should do is, somewhere along the way, gives us a choice of many kinds of swords, each with an advantage or disadvantage. Maybe a blacksmith, who says that he can make four kinds of swords, and that we have to choose one.

One would be weak but could be swung easily and quickly, one would be heavy and slower but very strong, and one would be very strong and quick but needed two hands, like the Big Goron's sword. Things like that, you know? Maybe introduce elemental swords, too- Fire Sword, Lightning Sword, Ice Sword, Earth Sword... Just a though. What do you guys think?

New types of weaponry would be interesting too. Stuff like spears, maces, hammers, and other types of staves and polearms.

I think it's the way it is because swords aren't as important as they seem. Really, it's just a generic weapon to kill stuff with, although in some games it's a sacred generic weapon. Either way, the focus is on finding and using other equipment, not just loads of sword or even weapon choices. Having many different swords is more like your standard RPG fare. Although it might be fun to have different swords, like you say, to me it really won't matter much in the end.

I think they really messed up in Twilight princess having the Ordon Sword and Shield as options after getting the Master Sword And Hylian Shield, why in the world would you use those two again?, Maybe if you uprgraded them (what I mean by upgrading, really means reaplacing) to a TP version of the OoT Biggoron sword, and you upgraded the Ordon Shield to a, I don't know, a bigger or cooler shield, or a Mirror shield (it's a classic).

In Ocarina of Time, you still keep the kokori sword and shield to be used when you go back in time again, and you have an option to use the Master Sword and The biggoron sword with proper reasons, such as the Biggoron sword is more powerful, but at the same time, it leaves you defensless (since you have to carry it with both hands leaving you with no shield), so you have a good reason to switch between swords.

I don't think you can swith between swords in Wind Waker though, which is proper, not like Twilight Princess where you still have the option to choose between the Ordon Sword and shield, and the Master Sword and Hylian shield.

I think it's a great idea to have different options between swords in future Zelda games, but each sword would have it's pros and cons, and and intelligent reason to still keep them in your inventory (not like Twilight Princess).

Yeah this is what the Zelda series has been missing, to be able to chase between different swords, they could even but a katana style sword. I would love that and they could put daggers etc.

Okay, what kind of sense would it make if a hero showed up carrying many swords and the reason why Nintendo doesn't do that would be because it would make the hero have to make too strong of a choice, because they would have to make a choice and choose a sword take this for example. Say that there's an ice sword and you choose it and you get to the fire dungeon like dodongo cave and you fight the monsters well, you would have too much of a disadvantage. If you chose a heavy and strong sword and you fought a boss who is well defensed and quick well, too much of a diaadvantage and if they gave you too many swords you'd have too much of an advantage. And the player would spend too much time basing his time on shaping his arsenal to fight bosses and dungeons and collecting swords that it would take time away from the story and strong themes (meaning like each strong and weak aspect of the story) so, it would only make the game more based on the swords than anything else such as the story or the characters and the fun dungeons. Does this help make Nintendo's point alittle clearer. The sword may be the main weapon, but it's not the only important item, so have a little understandment for how the game's bases.

You want an RPG, go play FF. You want Zelda play Zelda.

The MS is kinda supposed to be the best sword... it is the the legendary sword that is evil bane, infused with the power of the sages, and you think Link needs other swords? Also, what happens to the other swords, do they disappear? I don't think so, it's only logical that Link has them. (unless it's an upgrade) Besides, the ordon sword let's you do more challenges. Cave of ordeals, Ordon style, and other such things.

Originally Posted by Taledin

Besides, the ordon sword let's you do more challenges. Cave of ordeals, Ordon style, and other such things.

Well, I guess your right, since Twilight Princess was the easiest game in history, I guess the Ordon shield and sword are kind of the "hard" difficulty setting for TP, but come on, once you have the Master Sword, are you really going to choose the Ordon Sword? same thing goes for the Ordon and Hylian shield.

Ithink they should've cancelled the Ordon shield and Sword, and should've risen the game difficulty by a lot, and I also think Twilight Princess missed a lot of SideQuests (even though it doesn't have to do anything with the subject but whatever).

Originally Posted by Taledin

You want an RPG, go play FF. You want Zelda play Zelda.

I kind of understand your logic when you think that more swords = FF style RPG. But, that's not necessarily true. It is true that FF-style RPGs have a multitude of swords- like, a LOT of different kinds of equipment. And Zelda games are not FF-style RPGs, and should never be. But that doesn't mean they can't have more than 2 kinds of swords.

I think there should be a grand total of 7 swords each with 3 factors:

power How much damage it does
Length How far it will reach
Attack speed How fast you attack with it

Starting sword which is weak, but the fastest attack speed. Pretty short.

Slightly better sword which is still pretty fast and does a bit more damage. Average length

Master Sword which is powerful and average speed of attacking and average length

Biggoron sword-esque sword which is slow attacking, but most powerful and longest range

Razor sword is very short but does extra damage due to razors on the sword. Average speed.

Rapier is average length, low damage, but the fastest speed of attacking

Scimitar which is long length, medium damage damage, average attack speed

These arent definate names, but something along the lines of these sword.
You can alternate between all of these at any time, so to harness their abilities. Say, if you're fighting a Darknut, you want a fast sword such as the rapier to get all the armour off quickly, as if you're too slow, they recover. However, if you're fighting a large horde of quite weak enemies, you're gonna want the biggoron sword as its longer so can attack more enemies, and its more powerful and will have a better chance of killing the enemies.

Originally Posted by Taledin

You want an RPG, go play FF. You want Zelda play Zelda.

The MS is kinda supposed to be the best sword... it is the the legendary sword that is evil bane, infused with the power of the sages, and you think Link needs other swords? Also, what happens to the other swords, do they disappear? I don't think so, it's only logical that Link has them. (unless it's an upgrade) Besides, the ordon sword let's you do more challenges. Cave of ordeals, Ordon style, and other such things.

I couldn't agree more, I don't think there is much need for more swords, seeing as the master sword is the greatest sword, I wouldn't see much use in having a few inferior swords too, although it is good to keep swords from earlier in the game like the Ordon sword just to play around with less powerful blades and enjoy a good battle for longer.

In OoT, I always used the BGS. I could not understand why a regularly crafted sword is more powerful than the sword of evil's bane, but hey, I used the thing until I needed to finish of Ganon.

My hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Ω

How much sense is it to have katana's, scimitars, and other such weapons in a midevil setting? The only thing you could really do is have sharper swords and maybe a bastard sword and maybe a claymore.

The Master Sword is a longsword, the Biggorons Sword is a claymore, and the Kokiri's Sword is probably a bastard sword for those who don't know. So there you go. You wouldn't use a bastard sword if you know your going to get into a fight, unless you were a child and couldn't use a longsword due to lack of strength. A longsword is good for fighting a bunch of enimies at once, as it has speed but lacks a bit of power. A claymore would be good for mano a mano cause you can cause some serious damage if you hit anything, but you would find it hard to block a fellow swordsman.

So there. OOT has already given you all the plausable weapon choises anyway. Link is also not use something like a mace or an ax, because he is a swordsman, and doesn't know how to use such weapons.

You can't actually switch between the Hero's Sword and the Master Sword. Besides, if you could, it would be your choice if you wanted to, so saying that there's no competition is stupid. Why shouldn't you? And Caael, using all those items is turning it into Runescape.

Eh, all these different sword types sound too "Final Fantasy" for me. I use the Ordon Sword in TP to give myself a bit more of a challenge. I'm quite happy with the way things are now. It makes the game simpler, concentrating more on actual fighting than worrying about what sword you're using.

Originally Posted by Malo Mart

You can't actually switch between the Hero's Sword and the Master Sword. Besides, if you could, it would be your choice if you wanted to, so saying that there's no competition is stupid. Why shouldn't you? And Caael, using all those items is turning it into Runescape.

It's not something I definately want to see in the next zelda, I was just thinking of a few variations with the swords.

After reading your posts, I think you might be right about less swords being a good idea. Even so, I think a new sword every once in a while- NOT inferior to the Master Sword- would be nice in the future Zelda Games. Think about it-

In ALTTP, Link went through four swords, and ended up with the powerful Golden Sword.

OOT and MM had three swords, and there was a choice of which to use.

But WW and TP only have two swords, and there is absolutely no choice.

Don't tell me this isn't a bad trend. Wouldn't you rather have the Master Sword tempered/magically improven like in ALTTP in future, 3D Zelda Games? Or at least to have a BGS/GFS kind of sword to choose as an alternate weapon? Having scimtars and katanas and AK-47s (just kidding) is unrealistic, especially the notion of carrying them all at once. But I think swords should be upgraded much more often than they have been in the more recent Zelda Games.

Actually, a bastard sword was usually longer than a long sword, and were commonly referred to as a "hand and a half" sword, as the grip was more than enough for one hand, and not enough for two. The Kokiri sword may be a bastard sword for children, but probably just falls under the short sword classification.

Ω

i think something that would be really cool is being able to dual wield swords.

Originally Posted by Ωμέγα

Actually, a bastard sword was usually longer than a long sword, and were commonly referred to as a "hand and a half" sword, as the grip was more than enough for one hand, and not enough for two. The Kokiri sword may be a bastard sword for children, but probably just falls under the short sword classification.

Ω

Ah damn myself! I had a brainfart. Sorry, when I said bastard sword I ment short sword.

Hmmm. I'm starting to wonder if the master sword could be a bastard sword. I still think it's a long sword, but a bastard sword would make sense, as link usually swings with only one hand.

i think something that would be really cool is being able to dual wield swords.

Once again. Link is a sword and shield style fighter. He couldn't dual weild weapons as they didn't make the type of swords in the time range that Link was in. Sure, it would be cool, but it will never happen.