Breath of the Wild Issues with the new horse controls?

[ReveredPartisan]

To me, and, I'm sure, to many, Epona reached her peak in Twilight Princess-- her ease of control and fluency were unmatched throughout the series in their intuitiveness and responsiveness, and the level of freedom you were given while riding her was a huge improvement over OoT and MM. Of course, given the expansive over world boasted of in Zelda U, necessary changes were made to Epona, of which I'm sure you're all familiar.

These new controls remind me heavily of Shadow of the Colossus, for the PS2; now, I've played SotC (or at least the vast majority of it), and I have to say, TP's horse controls are far superior. The fundamentally indirect nature of the SotC controls prohibit you from making sharp turns or general minute-decisions while in combat and close quarters; and while SotC didn't really have any horse combat sections, TP certainly did, and they were in many respects incredibly intense and atmospheric, some of the most brilliant sections
of the game.

Now, this wasn't a problem in SotC, and, in fact, it was necessary, as the horse was used mainly to traverse lengthy fields, and full analog control simply wouldn't be suitable; Zelda U seems to be going the same route, so SotC controls will be necessary, but I also don't want to sacrifice the pristine control scheme of Epona, primarily because that would mean sacrificing horse combat and intricate overworld design along with it.

Perhaps a compromise could be struck? What if SotC controls were the default, but when you held the analog stick forward, the game partially switched to TP controls and you were given direct dictation over Epona's movements?

What do you think?

 

[Musicfan]

Epona controlled the same as she has in all the other games. You run at a fence. She jumps. She turns just as well as she did In OoT. The turns were not sharp but wide if you wanted to go anywhere at any decent speed.

I have no concern for the controls. The only thing horse combat add was more restrion to the control that you had while fight. If the enemy made a sudden turn it was to easy to lose them due to eponas wide turns. It could further extend the time a battle took. It was faster and easier, for me,to end battles with a single arrow for each bublin.

 

[ReveredPartisan]

Epona controlled the same as she has in all the other games. You run at a fence. She jumps. She turns just as well as she did In OoT.

...Sure about that? I suggest you go back and compare both games' Epona.

Turn sharpness is relative; obviously, we can't have a horse turning at a 90 degree angle; as long as the turns are fluent and somewhat congruent to enemies' turns (as they are in TP-- at least for me), it should all work out; this is something I worry will be absent in the new game.

 

[Musicfan]

Ok I compared them useing videos. There was very little diffrence. The main diffrence was that TP looked smother due to better animation. If you had the space in OoT, along with the ablity to swing your sword. The battle would have still played out the same way. They do not feel the same simply due to the scale of hyrule.

 

[ReveredPartisan]

Ok I compared them useing videos. There was very little diffrence. The main diffrence was that TP looked smother due to better animation. If you had the space in OoT, along with the ablity to swing your sword. The battle would have still played out the same way. They do not feel the same simply due to the scale of hyrule.

Videos don't cut it; of course they seem the same, they're the same controls. I just compared them through playing the games, and there is definitely a difference-- In TP, she feels like an actual, sentient horse, rather than a motorized brick.

Even if aesthetic is involved, it doesn't somehow detriment the final result. Ultimately, through a multitude of variables, tangible or intangible, Epona in TP feels lighter, smoother, and more responsive than her OoT counterpart.

 

[Musicfan]

You said it yourself the game play is the same.

You are getting that feeling due to better animation and a larger scale Hyrule.

Let me put it to you this way. Epona in OoT is a bull in a china shop. In TP Epona is a bull in the roman coliseum.

 

[A Link In Time]

While I also enjoyed the horse combat in Twilight Princess, I've come to terms with Nintendo wanting to take riding Epona in a different direction with Zelda Wii U. Even before we knew the specifics about slow motion arrow shooting dismounts from the Game Awards footage, the idea was hinted at during the E3 reveal trailer.

To that end, sword combat was featured prominently in the Twilight Princess reveal trailer. It was to be a feature that differentiated TP from its predecessors.

It's refreshing to see that Epona is handled differently in each game she appears in. It allows several games to feature similar elements, but present them in new and exciting ways. Guiding Epona in a more general direction makes smart use of the Wii U Gamepad. I'm sure slow motion arrow shooting dismounts will play a larger role in the game than we've been privy to thus far.

 

[ReveredPartisan]

You said it yourself the game play is the same.

You are getting that feeling due to better animation and a larger scale Hyrule.

Yes, the controls are the same, but Epona in TP runs on an improved engine, not only increasing the quality of her animation, but also her fluency, responseiveness, etc. I don't know how else to communicate to you that TP Epona is far superior.
Besides, even if the difference is purely aesthetic (which it isn't), the better animation still improves smoothness, adding to immersion of the player into the gameplay itself.

Furthermore, the larger scale of the world has absolutely 0% input, because Hyrule Field in TP is broken into segments, each one roughly equivalent to or less than the size of OoT's overworld.

 

[AncientPoe]

Personally, I always liked making Epona rear to attack. From a stand still, you could jerk the controller back towards you, then let it slacked. She would rear high into the air, and depending on how long you held the control stick back, either bring her hooves down in front of her, or do a 180 and then bring the hooves down. You could also heel epona into a 90 or 180 degree turn from a standstill or walk, as well as perform an immediate leap into the saddle and boost if you mounted from the rear. So, yeah I have to agree with OP. A lot more fluid and useful control options in Twilight Princess than in Ocarina of Time (where you sometimes had to back her up like a car).

But I'm not gonna try to form an opinion on the Wii U controls until I'm holding the controller. It's just too early to make any kind of legitimate judgement.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

but no one's even played it yet so how do we know if its good or bad?

 

[ReveredPartisan]

but no one's even played it yet so how do we know if its good or bad?

We don't necessarily; but seeing as the new control style is nearly identical to that of SotC, we can make predictions as to the functionality of the horse. It's not really a matter of good or bad, per se, but rather a trade off between two different styles of play. The TP setup was excellent for smooth control and battles, while SotC controls were better suited for traversing expansive (and lengthy) fields.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I thought the only change was that you can literally put the gamepad down and Epona will ride around for you without you ever having to control her. I think it'd be best to let this horse control thing work, but also let people control Epona like in TP if they so choose.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

We don't necessarily; but seeing as the new control style is nearly identical to that of SotC, we can make predictions as to the functionality of the horse. It's not really a matter of good or bad, per se, but rather a trade off between two different styles of play. The TP setup was excellent for smooth control and battles, while SotC controls were better suited for traversing expansive (and lengthy) fields.

seeing and playing something are two different things

 

[ReveredPartisan]

seeing and playing something are two different things

True; but, to my knowledge, I have played with the new controls, and I've observed that the difference between them results in two fundamentally different approaches. Even if the Zelda U controls are vastly superior to the SotC controls (and I have no doubt they will be), the central nature of the controls prohibits you from riding with the level of direct influence which you had in TP.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

I wouldn't say if the horse controls are identical to how the SOTC horse controls were yet. Zelda U won't be out for a long time until it does, so I think it's best to make judgement when it's out.