• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

Do You Ever Find It Predictable?

Chevywolf30

The one and only.
Forum Volunteer
Joined
Sep 29, 2020
Location
The Lone Star State
Gender
Manufacturer recommended settings
I actually love damage sponges because big number go brr
But there's gotta be more to it, like friede in ds3 or great gray wolf sif in ds1
Oh yeah, damage sponges are fun, but they get boring a whole lot quicker than something strategic.

Also, keep shilling for Dark Souls there, I'll get it eventually.
 

twilitfalchion

and thus comes the end of an era
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Location
Crossbell State
I feel like Nintendo definitely has the creative potential for finding a balance between the two extremes, though I fall on the side of preferring shaking it up more often than not. Settling into an overly predictable formula is like starting from scratch for every game; neither are conducive for maintaining a series' identity while being innovative.

Perhaps finding a balance between the two is where the next game should fall. But eh, ultimately Nintendo has a vision they're going for. I don't personally want a return to rehashing Ocarina's formula again and again, tbh. It's not a bad formula, but anything that's overused is gonna get stale. And the same can be true for the current style of 3D Zelda if they don't make enough of an effort to really keep things ambitious with BotW2.
 
Joined
Mar 15, 2020
Location
United States
It's nice to have a formula, but there's also a point where circling a boss until they attack and you can stab their eye gets a little predictable. How do you think ninty can deal with this without compromising what makes zelda zelda?
Lol that was the entire philosophy behind BotW. It's the first Zelda to not follow the same formula since OoT, which didn't really overhaul the formula but just adapted it to 3D.

I haven't played Souls, can you still do moderate damage in between the openings or are they only hurtable after they leave themselves open? Cuz like, my issue is it doesn't feel like you're making progress in the fight when you're just sitting there blocking until you find a chance to attack (or use the item you just got a few minutes ago before it stops being relevant the rest of the game). I would wanna be dipping in and out and stuff. Monster Hunter would be a good example of that done well.
Souls plays pretty similar to Monster Hunter. I think you would like it if you like MH. And yeah, you can damage enemies at any time. Off the top of my head, I don't think any bosses/enemies even have a single moments where they can't take damage and you have to wait for them to become vulnerable.
 

Mikey the Moblin

sushi is a suspicious hello
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
Location
southworst united states
Gender
Dude
Off the top of my head, I don't think any bosses/enemies even have a single moments where they can't take damage and you have to wait for them to become vulnerable.
[Bed of chaos intensifies]
I was talking about the fact that most bosses will instantly punish you for just randomly swinging. You usually have to wait for them to make an attack that opens them up and then punish it or estus etc
 

Mellow Ezlo

Spoony Bard
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Location
eh?
Gender
Slothkin
Zelda is extremely predictable. Even BotW has its fair share of typical Zelda-moments. But tbh, it's part of what makes the series great. I mean, if it ain't broke, right?

Though I do agree that sitting waiting for a boss to reveal a weakpoint is boring combat design. BotW's bosses can be made very short work of by simply spamming arrows so I would argue they are also poorly designed fights. MM had great fights and I really wish we could return to its style since you weren't limited to one item and you couldn't (for the most part) just spam. Though that game as a whole is "unpredictable" for Zelda standards, even moreso than BotW.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

wah
ZD Legend
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Location
Iowa
Gender
Lizard
Incredibly.

I don't think I should be able to accurately predict the structure of the next Zelda game when nothing about the game has been shown off yet.
 

Stitch

AKA Patrick
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
I think people tend to forget just how diverse the series already is. The largest reason for people thinking that Zelda is an incredibly repetitive franchise is because they played the same game for almost a decade before the next one came out. The main series games are all labors of love made by people who go out of their way to make the finished product the best possible game they can. It doesn't always pan out to be what they wanted it to, but it is always evident that somebody at least tried. There are similarities between games, but that's because that formula is what people (both developers and players) keep coming back for. We also have to remember these are games made for kids...yes, KIDS...and they deserve to have fun as we once did when we first bombed a secret bombable wall, when we first beat the dungeon of the Great Deku Tree and then watched it wither away as we ditched one life for another of blissful adventure. I think a lot of people in gaming communities tend to forget that these are games, and many great games have formulas that haven't changed in centuries. Fun is not equivalent to new, my heart will always pound when I open my eyes at the count of ten and look around for my friend as it always will when I volley that energy right back at that demon lord Ganon(dorf).
 

Skull_Kid

Bugaboo!
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Location
Portugal
Not gonna lie, all Zelda games other than your first (and even that will be) are super predictable. TBF Zelda isn't a franchise which main focus is a solid, plot twisty narrative, it's always more about the stellar game play
 
I think there are enough games that deviate from the pattern (Zelda 2, Majora's Mask, Breath of the Wild) to make the series still feel fresh because then you only have about a dozen or so mainline games that stick closer to the series template. And that's across 35 years of the franchise.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

wah
ZD Legend
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Location
Iowa
Gender
Lizard
I know it's old news from me, but yeah. Zelda's story and gameplay is something I've looked at with a more skeptical eye ever since Skyward Sword's release, and it's hard for me not to view it as just repeats of the same structure and story.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

wah
ZD Legend
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Location
Iowa
Gender
Lizard
Is there a difference between using an item at the right moment vs something like dark souls where you have to wait for them to open themselves up to attack so that you uh don't get blasted

I think the key difference is that the player gets to decide what that right moment is, versus something like Zelda telling you what the right moment is. The Dark Souls method requires more poking and prodding on the part of the player to figure out what the ide strategy is.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
I think all the older Zelda's pre BoTW tended to reuse a lot of the same puzzles so much so that they became obvious to solve. However BoTW had many puzzles that differed and made you use your brain. Some were easy but I can't deny that many presented a challenge or were unique to the series.

What was predictable was the look of the interiors of shrines and dungeons as they all had the same look to them. I want some variation next time in dungeon designs as all the past games have had but in regards to the actual puzzles I want them to build on the legacy of what BoTW did.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom