Is Hatred of Four Swords Adventures Exacerbated by Lack of Multiplayer

[Hyrulian Hero]

So I was considering today, I don't know anyone who has played FSA with four players and thought that multiplayer was a bad choice for the game. What I'm wondering is what your opinion of the game is and with how many players you have played the game through. I think this could be an interesting exercise to see how people's play experiences affect their enjoyment of the game.

 

[Mido]

I haven't played Four Swords Adventures in a number of years, and at the time, I thought was a solid game. It did not do anything new, but the gameplay was fun; however, the fun was primarily amplified through the multiplayer feature. This feature was pivotal to the experience. I think most of the disdain for the game stems from the fact that the multiplayer had a complicated setup that required multiple handhelds and console peripherals. This made it difficult for players to reap the full experience of what FSA had to offer.

Looking back, I played the game with two players if I recall correctly.

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

The game did mostly tread old ground, for sure, but did the fact that the multiplayer experience was integral to full enjoyment make the game worse on a whole? I don't like TFH because I've never played it with friends, the game could be fantastic but I have to reserve judgement.

 

[Mido]

The game did mostly tread old ground, for sure, but did the fact that the multiplayer experience was integral to full enjoyment make the game worse on a whole? I don't like TFH because I've never played it with friends, the game could be fantastic but I have to reserve judgement.

I would not say that it necessarily made the game worse since the game was still overall the same regardless of player count much like TFH is. If anything, the multiplayer being the game's boon only makes the "full experience" of the game less accessible due to the set-up requirements. In that sense, I suppose the game would be worse. Take Left 4 Dead for example. It's a fine single player game, but the experience is amplified when one experiences the zombie apocalypse in the game with a few friends. I would argue that the game is still salvageable single player-wise while FSA and other multiplayer-oriented Zeldas seem to struggle in this regard as far as history has shown. I would definitely have to try Four Swords again to get a more accurate perspective on the matter.

 

[Night Owl]

TBH the game was most enjoyable playing it single player. I've played it with 2, 3, and 4 players, and each one had a different frustration present.

With 4 people, everything is great, but even co-op becomes competitive with the ranking system. Everything gets explored quickly, however overworld areas can stretch thin at times.

With 3 people. "No I wanted Purple!", There is one extra guy and everyone wants to command him.

With 2 people, co-op is manageable and even fun, both players get to boss around 1 extra person. Fights do break out when everyone steals the other person's extra guy becoming a chain of 3.

Single player, Formations are king. You have full control of the team and can use various formations to their full potential. Nothing is more awesome than performing a hurricane spin while in diamond formation.

Most frustrating, 3 player
Most craziness, 4 player
Best co-op, 2 player
Least stress, 1 player

Four different ways to play, each a unique experience.

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

Good points, the game being less accessible does make the game more niche but I'm not entirely sold that it makes the game worse by that merit. Frustrating, absolutely. Inconvenient, undoubtedly. Expensive...well, I play the game with a Wii, and four Game Cubes+Game Boy Players+four Game Boy Advance Connector Cables+two Game Boy Player Disks+four Game Cube Controllers+five TVs so yeah, it's expensive. But aside from the headache of getting ALL that crap together, I think the game, played to its full potential, is great. Is Dance Dance a worse game because you have to get a dance pad to play it to its full potential? Is Primal Rage a worse game because it's less fun to play alone? I don't know, I certainly consider the gathering of necessary items and soon to be ex-friends to be an obstacle to fully enjoying the game but I will say that accomplishing these things brings with it a real sense of...well, accomplishment!