Difficulty Settings?

[Ventus]

Frankly, all the answers were great. It seems that most of you want different puzzles. That's not to say that I don't, but you have to remember that the current-gen Nintendo consoles can't have an epic adventure and a 1337 version of that epic adventure without disc swapping. I could be wrong by the time the 3DS comes out, though. I think PhantomTriforce's example would be the prime example of difficulty settings. I like the idea of less enemies, a helpful guide, and easier puzzles within dungeons.

That reminds me of one thing. With SS and it's WiiMotion Plus feature, puzzles could easily be switched around between enemies, whether it be a "kill X enemy in Y time" or "kill X enemy, leave Y enemy standing", or even something entirely unrelated to enemy count! I seek a Legendary mode within SS. Hah.

 

[Turo602]

I think it'll be a great addition to the series. Picture playing on hard with tons of enemies that block more, hit more, and take more hits to kill. Especially Skyward Sword, since you are fighting in a more tactical style.

 

[kokirion]

Am I really the only one who voted against?

I think it's a bad idee:

- it will take more time to make a zelda-game

- It's something like different endings in a small form, it is messing with the story idee of the series.

 

[Turo602]

Am I really the only one who voted against?

I think it's a bad idee:

- it will take more time to make a zelda-game

- It's something like different endings in a small form, it is messing with the story idee of the series.

How? Making a game harder doesn't really mess with the story at all. It just makes the enemies stronger and you weaker plus more enemies then before.

Maybe there should be an intense mode.

 

[kokirion]

How? Making a game harder doesn't really mess with the story at all. It just makes the enemies stronger and you weaker.

That's true, but there are different types of the game. It's just a tiny thing but it won't fit in the story. But I think it will be a great idee if they add something like an arena where you van battle enemys (and where you can choose their strenght)

 

[Turo602]

That's true, but there are different types of the game. It's just a tiny thing but it won't fit in the story. But I think it will be a great idee if they add something like an arena where you van battle enemys (and where you can choose their strenght)

I still don't see how it messes with the story. Many games have hard modes, and nothing is changed besides the difficulty.

 

[Baysiderulez]

Ok I have tried to write this post a few times today and my computer kept messing up resulting in my nice long post lost. I am going to end my day with this post and hopefully move on from there.

KyKy mentioned that Nintendo mentioned that there would be some difficulty monitor with SS. The thing I believe he is talking about is that Pulse monitor they announced <click here>. There was an article (although it wasnt that one) that mentioned that the difficulty would increase as your pulse increased. I doubt Nintendo intends to follow through with this claim. Mainly because the skyward sword demo didnt include the pulse monitor. Nor did the entire Nintendo presentation even mention or hint at its existence.

Difficulty isnt something that should be feared. The original game was plenty hard. And I played it as a 5 year old. Yes I did get stuck. And I went and asked my parents for help when I did... But it wasn't impossible. Some of the enemies were slightly difficult as well. Thats all apart of the challenge.

There are two major problems when it comes to an easy game
a) you dont get your money's worth when its beaten so easily
b) it doesnt hold your attention because you can zone out while playing

a) games are heck of expensive these days... and if youre going to pay $40-60 for a game you might as well get the full value out of it. $40 can buy me a year subscription at Club Pogo.... But only one week of zelda entertainment? I'm sorry but something is jacked up with that. Now I'm not expecting a zelda game to take me a year to completion. But longer then 40 hours would definitely be desired.

Twilight Princess was just that... too easy. Which leads me into my second point.

b) non difficult games leave nothing to be envisioned. There were 2 difficult puzzles in TP and if you stepped back and looked at it you even saw that they hand fed you the answer. I'm staying vague because I do not wish to spoil anyone who hasnt played these challenges yet. But what is wrong with a difficult game that fustrates you and makes you stop playing for a few days to allow you time on how to think about beating a puzzle. Games that make you think broaden your horizons and help you in your future as well as makes the game more interesting to play.

Difficulty... Master Quest is the best modern day example we have of a true zelda game... well rather one that stayed true to its roots. Its difficult in the sense that you MUST think outside the box to survive. But the enemies themselves werent that much more difficult. MQ you also had Navi to guide you around, but things weren't laid out in front of you as they were in OoT or even TP. Its games like MQ, LoZ, and AoL that really help you grow. When you get frustrated at your Zelda game. That means they are doing something right. And you will feel much more accomplished when you get over the obstacles.

Zelda doesn't need multiple difficulty settings. It needs to be more difficult in general, and Challenge young minds as well as old to think outside the box.

 

[(◕‿◕✿)]

Definitely. Adding difficulty settings wouldn't affect the story, I don't understand that argument. For example,

The amount of hits it takes to kill an enemy​

How advanced the AI is, how responsive enemies are to attacks (e.g., as soon as you attack, they strike back, or even attack on site, particularly enemies with bows or similar)​

How challenging the puzzles and obstacles are*​

*This is the only one (besides redesigning a boss to make it more difficult or something of the sort) that would have any affect on the story. An example being a dungeon with a maze that leads to a antechamber or other such room before the final area of the level, at easier settings, the path is more direct and there are less things in the blocking you, the way you go about it/items you use are different, thus leading to a slightly different chain-of-events and potential outcome. However, this would still be minor, unless the boss or follow-up ( or preceding events) were changed as well. Even so, the alterations would likely be minor enough that the difference would be largely overlooked.

Difficulty levels would increase not only the overall satisfaction from completing tasks and the game itself, but also the replay value. If you played the game on "Easy" or "Novice" the first time, and didn't have much trouble, you could try it on Hard or whatever later as a challenge. I think in this case, altered chain of events and dungeons would actually be a bonus.

Am I really the only one who voted against?

I think it's a bad idee:

- it will take more time to make a zelda-game

- It's something like different endings in a small form, it is messing with the story idee of the series.

- It would only take more time if they implemented the aforementioned method of changing puzzle and dungeon difficulty. Otherwise, they could just edit the programming of the AI and values of the damage effectors.

>different endings in a small form

what? How so? Unless the final dungeon were edited in a such a way that the outcome was different, I don't see how this applies.

 

[February Eve]

- It's something like different endings in a small form, it is messing with the story idea of the series.

We've actually already got that in the Zelda franchise, though. Ocarina of Time has the Master Quest, and Wind Waker has its second quest, which doesn't change nearly as much but still does change the story slightly (for example, "The Hero's New Clothes".)

And personally, I always want the game creators to have making the game that's in front of them the best it can be as their top priority, not trying to make it fit into the rest of the series. Doing both would be ideal. But I certainly wouldn't want a game to be less than it could be because the creators felt hemmed in by previous titles. Which, thankfully, I don't think they do. Though for what it's worth, I think they know their audience, and do their best to give us easter eggs and nods to continuity when it's appropriate to the story as well.