First-time
user experience shows a time when players had more patience, back when gamers
could say that the time they’ve spent playing games could equate to reading
novel sized amounts of text. The game starts at a deliberately slow pace, with
unskippable cutscenes and even repeatable blocks of text to tread through if
the player isn’t paying attention. Whether it was a limitation of the hardware or
not the fact is that it leads to a decreased interest in replayability for
players who are less patient with reading the same things over and over again.
While the game’s narrative
progression is a linear experience the world is by no means a straight line, each
set piece is strong and distinct, and with clear level design that emphasizes
the importance of exploration. The game creates a language with the objects
that populate the world that the player can quickly process and interact with.
Dungeon doors are different from doors on the overworld but they are always consistent.
Each treasure tier has their own corresponding chest which lets the player prioritize
which treasure to go after and know what they’re in for before they even open
it.
One concept that makes the world
of Hyrule interesting is its use of foreshadowing mechanics. From the moment
the player starts traversing the world they come across symbols, objects,
contraptions, and even collectable items that player can’t interact with for
the time being until collecting a certain item or progressing further in the
story. This creates a sense of wonder and discovery in the player as these
linger in the back of the players mind creating a desire to backtrack to
previously explored areas in hope of discovering something new. These never
become obnoxious since these are usually only found through exploration off the
main path. They don’t come off as a means to impede the player but rather to
entice the player and create a sense of “fullness” to the world.
While the game presents itself
as an “action-adventure” the game’s combat mechanics are actually pretty
simple. They never get more complex than the standard mash attack, hit enemy
with weapon a when in state a, so on and so forth. While not all items that the
player can find have offensive capabilities nearly all offensive weapons have
secondary functions. Swords cut through grass, shields reflect projectiles and
light, bombs blast open openings to new areas, hammers smash rocks, and arrows
and slingshots are used to hit switches. In fact when placed in situations with
heavy combat the game because tedious. As a result the world is sparsely
populated with creatures, with many areas having less than a handful on enemies
on the map. The game stands stronger when the enemies are used in the context
of a puzzle. This is where the bosses shine, as each boss essentially on large
puzzle that reinforces mechanics that the player has learned throughout the
dungeon.
A lot of what has been described
could be said for any good Zelda game. Some new mechanics that separate this
installment from the others are most notably, the ocarina instrument as well as
the adult and child time switching mechanic. What’s interesting is that the controls
for playing the ocarina are trying to simulate playing an actual instrument.
The game could have just as easily just had the player selecting a song from a
list to play automatically; however, it probably wouldn’t have been as
memorable. This is an example of trying to establish a game feel with the
player needing to learn how to play the ocarina as if it were a real instrument
to create stronger immersion. The time switching mechanic also reinforces
mechanics foreshadowing as the player wonders how earlier areas of the world
have changed after so many years. Unfortunately while it would’ve been
interesting to see puzzles that utilized this time jumping mechanic there was
only stand out experience, the dungeon in the desert, which really explored
this mechanic in new and clever ways.
Some elements which did seem to
bog down the experience a bit was the contextual hint system, also known as Navi
the fairy. Whether the idea was to make the character intentionally annoying or
not the problem was that the game urged the player to get help from this
character and even if the player never responded to Navi the game would
sometimes forcefully trigger Navi. There was definitely a sense of frustration since
Navi would occasionally break the flow of the game.
Lastly the world is wrapped
around a strong visual aesthetic. Regardless of graphical fidelity, the game
has very strong level design which clearly splits the world up into smaller
chunks that were varied not only with art assets but also with themes. For
example the forest area emphasizes illusion and deception, the woods are all
about going through the correct path in a maze like forest. Here the map is no
longer present and each opening could take the player back to the beginning.
This extends into the courtyard maze leading into the Forest Temple, which is a
dungeon with literally twisting hallways and a layout that flips upside down.
Each dungeon and locale incorporates its theme into the level design creating a
world that begs to be explored with each area being meaningful and interesting.
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