AoL's Difficulty Exaggerated?

[Qwerty0805]

Does anyone else think AoL's difficulty level is exaggerated? I'm not saying that it isn't a tough game, but compared to what you'd think from what everyone says about how difficult it is, it's not that hard.

I'm only up to the sixth palace, so if there's a sudden spike in difficulty or something, then I could understand that, but so far it seems much easier than people say it is.

[basement24]

I would agree that it is elevated beyond what it actually is. Yes, it's a difficult game, and yes, it's the hardest of the Zeldas, but it is by no means the merciless juggernaut that most claim it to be.

The key is levelling it up, playing it smart with your magic / health, and not going beyond your limitations. If you run and jump over enemies and keep on moving, then you are never going to gain XP. If you don't gain XP, you won't level up, and then yes, you will be in over your head.

The two things that get me through the game are if you have full magic and a bottle's dropped, and you have less than 100% health, then use your life spell then grab the magic bottle. It's a simple tactic that keeps you alive. The other is if your'e about to level up and you reach the boss, then don't beat him. Go level up, then tackle the boss as you get a free upgrade after defeating it. Using these two tactics are what keep me alive, and on par with the difficulty increase.

I think elements that are harder would include the maze through the mountains, and the occasional relentless enemy like the red Dairas, but really they are not that much harder than some of the other no-hints mazes or powerful enemies of the NES days. As for the maze-like temples, they really aren't hard to follow if you play them smartly. Explor a whole floor of a temple without using an elevator. If there's nothing else on that level, or a roadblock like a keyhole, then use one and only head down one level. Explor it. If you find a key, head back up and use it to keep moving.

I never understood the complaint about starting at the beginning when dying, but this seems to be a huge complaint amongst people who think it's hard. It's very easy to get back to the location you were at with little problems. Yes, enemies will ahve returned, but you can then use them to gain XP again that you may have lost.

So really, I think the difficulty comes from the mentality that modern games should hold your hand. AoL does not do this. It has to be played smartly and with thought out planning. I think most who find it one of the most unforgiving games of all time are just too used to the in-game instruction manual tutorials and overhead HUD maps of today. If AoL is taken slowly, and with thought, it's not hard to take care of. I'm not saying it isn't hard, because it is, but it's not as hard as people think it is.

And yes, it can be done without online FAQ's and walkthroughs as well!

[Sparky]

It depends where you're hearing it's difficult from.
Before I played through it, I was warned it was quite difficult, and even with leveling up, and maxing my attack, defense, magic and life, it was still quite a challenge.

It's not near as impossibly hard i've heard from others since then though.

[Skull_Kid]

I don't think that it is exaggerated.
Come on, let's compare to other similar games for NES at the time:

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest- Apart from being very different from the first title(and third for a matter of facts), the game was insanely hard and random.

Final Fantasy II: This is kinda different, because while having a structural similarity, the change of the level up system made it one of the hardest RPGs to handle, even nowadays.
Games with level-up system(rpg's or not) tended to be very hard back on the late 80s

[Shadsie]

*Raises hand*

I think the difficulty of it lies in the very strong enemies, and that can be compensated for by careful "hunting" in the fields - leveing up between palaces. It's also frustrating to end up back at North Palace when you die (exception being the Great Palace), but you do get three lives before you cack it. Maybe it's that I played the game mulitple times when I was a teenager, but when I see people talking about how they've never beaten it because it's so very hard, I feel a little weird because I remember beating it multiple times. I even beat it some months ago on a borrowed Collectors' Disk copy for old times' sake.

I don't think things are much more difficult than they get in the sixth palace on average... I think that most people are used to puzzle solving in Zelda games rather than just rows and rows of really strong enemies, and I think most are not used to the side-scroll style for Zelda.

Or maybe we're both just good?

Personally, I actually found Majora's Mask more difficult than AoL.

I had to ask for help/use a borrowed manual for MM, but have never used anything like that for AoL - just grew up playing it. MM had all that weirdness with the time travel, while AoL was something I found pretty straightforward.

I *do* think AoL is harder than the rest of the Zeldas, though. It's more in just having very strong enemies, for me, and as I said, leveling up is your friend. If you take the time to do that and use your Life spell wisely, that is the trick to reaching and defeating Dark Link.

[Chrono]

Towards Dangerous Hyrule and the Red Valley of Death, it can get quite difficult. And the Great Palace has one of the best mazes in the entire Zelda series, you will also encounter plenty of new difficult enemies. But I can still beat this game in a few hours.

[dumb180]

I dunno.. Shadow Link is pretty phenomenal if you don't use the corner crouch trick. Maybe some of you guys can handle him easily, but I can't handle him at all that way.

Everything else is pretty easy in this game though, once you learn each enemy's weakness and get used to the controls. Just keep going. Once you get into a rhythm, you don't really even need to level that much.

When you compare it to the more recent titles in the series, I suppose it is a very tough game. Just imagine if someone played TP as their first Zelda, and then played AoL immediately. They'll probably judge this game in the context how easy/difficult they thought Twilight Princess was.

[ironknuckle1]

i just for the first time beat the first temple because i always lose to ironknuckles. but now that im past it and have gained a couple of levels it seems easier

[MrMosley]

AoL is difficult, but its not impossible. I don't think anyone really makes it out to be an impossible game, except those who do not attempt to fully complete it. Gamers more or less aknowledge that it is the most difficult Zelda game and a pretty difficult NES game all around, keeping in mind that a lot of NES games were pretty hard. In my opinion, the difficulty comes from the continuous starting over at the North Palace every time you get a Game Over. To have to go from the North Palace all the way to the Great Palace over and over gets tedious, especially when the enemies are very difficult in those areas close to the Great Palace and can cause quick deaths if your not careful. Not to mention the Great Palace itself, which has the most difficult enemies on top of being a huge maze. Without knowing the right path to go, one could spend hours just trying to navigate the Great Palace to the end.

[Zarom]

I remember dying and dying all the time during my first playtrough (which I stopped playing because it was too hard...) And having to restart everytime at the North Palace. The most aggravating thing ever is when you're like at 4800/5000 points... and you die. Anyway, I think that it's a pretty tough game, but once you play it many hours and get use to it, it seems definitely a lot easier. Now I can beat that game in a few hours only, so give me 1 day and I will be fine. The bosses are all hard, and most of the enemies, especially the iron knuckles or Goriya are hard as hell.

So I would say no, AOL's difficult is not exagerated at all.

[ironknuckle1]

just got to the third temple, id have to say the game is hard but i like the feel of it now that i have a bunch of spells because i can keep myself alive

[CZG]

The Adventure of Link - Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.
One of the hardest games I've ever played (together with the original Legend of Zelda and .... The Turtles on the Commodore 64). Hard, but not impossible. Hard, but not unfair or something. Just practice a lot!

But there are a few bit/bot enemies and those small spike things, normally very easy enemies, on edges of instant death gaps like water or lava. Or even worse, the water or gas bubbles and flying rocks in the desert. Loosing a life because of falling down was kinda annoying (that's why the 3D Zelda games are pretty neat, you don't jump yourself).

[Evil Space Fish]

This game made me literally break NES controllers as a kid. I remember each time my pops and I had to go to the mall to get new controllers. The first was when we attempted to get the Magic Hammer. Those red Lizards (lizaflos?) throwing the axes made me so angry that I slammed the sticks as hard as I could into the wall and the wire closest to the actual controller split cuz I pulled it too hard. The next trip to the mall was in the town of Kasuto (not the hidden one, the one with all the Moa's that are invisible) and those damn eye-punks were wasting me. The sticks ended up mashed into the ground, I broke the A button out of the pad.

After a few years of therapy and I got a little older, this game isn't as bad as I remember... until I got to Great Palace and the Bird Knights started jumping all over and messing me all up.

[Brandikins]

The game is hard, but as you get good at it you'll find it more fun than it is hard. Back when I played it the first time on my collector's disc, I didn't know about online guides and such. I was able to get the first five crystals returned without help. I could never find the Hidden Palace or New Kastuo. I thought the Great Palace was the sixth, but I could never figure out the force field. Now looking back, I see that Link returns the six crystals and goes to the Great Palace.