In terms of puzzle-solving levels, if "Dark Soul" told the world what the level design of RPG should be, then "The Legend of Zelda" redefines the meaning of "level design".
Of course, "Dark Soul" is embodied in a way that players are abused. It is full of desperate conspiracies everywhere, forcing players to suffer continuously and find the best solution. Occasionally seeing a bonfire and shortcuts is simply touching. crying; but "The Legend of Zelda" is just the opposite. A small shrine contains many organs and various elements. The only frustration is the irritability that has not been solved after trying many methods, but Once unraveled, players raved about their wit.
The entire puzzle-solving element is divided into three levels: Yahaha-shrine-beast.
Yahaha's puzzles are relatively simple. For example, if you see a circle of duckweed in the water, just jump off the cliff and fall to the center of the duckweed, you can find one; there is a circle of small stones on the mountain, move the stone next to it If you put it in the gap, you can find another one; if it is more complicated, you need to fish out iron blocks from the water and place them in a specific shape on a pile of iron blocks, and you can find another one.
The difficulty of the puzzles in the shrine has risen a notch.
There are different types of shrines. Some are directly exposed on the ground, and you can directly challenge them when you enter; some are surrounded by thorns, and you must use special methods to enter; some are simply buried underground, and you must complete side missions to open them. .
For example, on a high tower, the player will meet a birdman playing the accordion, and after talking to him, he will get a message of a poem. According to the information in this poem, the player has to land on the shrine buried in the soil. As time goes by, when the shadow of the tower and the position of the shrine overlap, the player shoots a rocket towards the tower, and the shrine will activate.
There are also some shrines hidden in the maze. The walls of these mazes are all higher than the mountains. When Link is weak in physical strength, he can't climb up at all. At this time, the player will really experience the pain of walking the maze. But after the player's physical strength is full, he can skip class a little bit and climb directly to the top of the maze to find a shortcut.
After entering the shrine, players must comprehensively use their various abilities to trigger various mechanisms in the shrine. Sometimes not only some wisdom is required, but also a certain amount of hand speed is required. For example, some organs require players to jump up at a certain moment and use Link Time to shoot at distant organs. Handicapped players must try many times to finally complete it.
The puzzle elements of the four divine beasts and the final boss battle have reached the highest level of difficulty. Players must pass the various experiences and knowledge they have gained in the trials of the shrine to pass.
Before the divine beast battle, Link had to enter the village where the divine beast Yingjie was located, complete the main quest, and get help from the NPC.
In the first stage of the beast battle, Link needs to cooperate with the NPC. After getting close to the beast, while resisting the long-range attack of the beast, he shoots the red key parts of the beast with a bow and arrow to stop the beast.
In the second stage, Link will enter the interior of the beast and complete a complex puzzle-solving level. In terms of scale, the scale of the levels of the beasts far exceeds that of the shrines, and the difficulty also rises linearly. The level of each beast is carefully designed, and it is very in line with the characteristics of the beast itself. For example, the divine beast of water is an elephant. After gaining partial control of the divine beast, Link can manipulate the trunk of the elephant to change from low to high, so as to climb on top of the elephant's head, or use the water sprayed from its trunk to wash it down. Turn on the switch to open some areas that were not accessible before.
Moreover, these mythical beasts are completely three-dimensional levels inside, not just as simple as layering, but different parts will affect each other. Players must have good three-dimensional thinking to solve the puzzle. In order to adapt to this level design, "Legend of Zelda" also specially used 3D perspective as a maze map.
The four beasts are elephants in the wetlands in the southeast, lizards in the volcanoes in the northeast, camels in the deserts in the southwest, and eagles in the mountains in the northwest. Each kind of mythical beast corresponds to a unique area and a unique village, with different customs and side missions. For example, the race in the wetland is mermaid, while the race in the mountains is birdman, and there is a village of women in the desert. Link has to become a master of women's clothing to enter.
In the third stage, Link will engage in boss battles with Ganon's clones. Each clone has different abilities, difficulties, and fighting styles. Yingjie weapons.
Even more difficult than these, there is such a thing as the Master Sword Trial.
In the master sword trial, players cannot bring in any weapons or equipment, everything starts from 0. From picking up twigs on the ground to fight the weakest little monster Pokbrin, step by step to get more advanced weapons, and then the difficulty of the whole battle rises linearly. It is a veritable ultimate challenge. If you fail halfway, you can only start from the beginning. Furthermore, even a confident hardcore player may have to challenge many times to pass the level.
If "Dark Soul" is the same level style that keeps getting more difficult and reaching the extreme, then "The Legend of Zelda" is a fancy showmanship, from easy to difficult, from simple to complex, everything is included, players will never Can have a completely different experience in the game.
In terms of combat system, "Legend of Zelda" is equally good.
If it is said that soul-based combat creates a new mode for cold weapon combat games in parallel worlds, then "Legend of Zelda" tells everyone what else can be done in cold weapon combat besides soul-based combat.
In addition to the classic shield-holding duo, shield counter, dodge, sneak backstab and other elements, "The Legend of Zelda" has made richer choices in many aspects. For example, smoother archery techniques and arrows with various attributes, link time triggered by perfect dodge and bow in the air, weapons can be used normally or thrown, shields can even be used as skateboards...
Among them, the most controversial one is the setting of weapon durability.
In other games, the weapon can be repaired after its durability is lost, and it will be perfect after repair; but in "The Legend of Zelda", the weapon's durability is used up, which means that the weapon has completely exploded. If you want to get it again, just Continue to brush - except for the Exorcist Sword (Master Sword) given by the plot.
When I first came into contact with it, most players felt very uncomfortable. How the hell did I just get a good weapon, and it ended up blowing me up before I had a few cool shots? Then I am a hero, a knight recognized by the sword of exorcism, and I can only fight monsters with Pokbrin's stick at ordinary times? If you have a good weapon, you are not willing to use it!
After the players collected a bunch of cool and fortified weapons, they found that they were reluctant to use any of them. In the end, the exorcist sword, which was not durable, didn't hurt to use it. It was used to chop trees and mow grass. Nothing wrong!
It is embarrassing that the dignified master sword has been reduced to such a point...