Link Vs. The Horde

[Rytex]

Those of you who have seen me on ZD over the last year and a half know that my dearest ambition in Zelda was to see Link face an entire army single-handed. Well, when I entered the Last Hurrah for Ghirahim (as I call it), saw his funky dance moves, and basically prepared to enjoy a time-based race to the bottom, suddenly Bokoblins started charging me. I choked up because it seemed my dream had come true, but it was soon mellowed. The army was sequenced, making it so much easier to beat (not to mention the power of the Master Sword). I personally wanted a battle like Sora vs. the 1000 Heartless from Kingdom Hearts 2, where you are completely surrounded on all sides and you fight to obliterate them all.

Now, I would never want it so laughably easy (*coughcough*REACTIONSYSTEM*coughcough*). I would want it challenging to the point of The Adventure of Link difficulty. I would want the enemies attacking all at once instead of "The Ninja Effect," where only one enemy attacks you at a time (so named because in situations of intense martial arts sequences, it allowed you to see what was actually happening, rather than have the ninjas block all the action). I would want them displaying the sort of logic a typical human displays. I mean, that wouldn't come without the enemies accidentally attacking each other, but Skyrim has done it, why can't Zelda? I mean, in Skyrim, NPCs use PC tactics against PCs! Dragons will lead trolls to PCs and watch you wear each other down while breathing fire on you both, then when you kill it, the dragon'll completely mow you down, which only proves that this sort of AI coding is possible. That's the smart AI I want to see, but I want to see the Army AI programming also. To test the AI of enemies, I spawned 50 Stormcloak Soldiers (Long live the Empire!) and attacked them. ALL 50 ATTACKED ME AT ONCE! That proves this sort of AI Coding is also possible.

Long story short, Zelda Team still hasn't made this dream happen in a good way yet. Now maybe Zelda Wii U will do this? What do you guys think on the issue?

 

[Sir Analog]

I think the problem is Nintendo doesn't want to make it too hard for people. Granted, the Master Sword was über powerful and you could just spin attack them all, but it would have been nice to have had a smarter, more challenging fight. Like in inFamous, for example. Especially the second one, where you had the scenario of the enemies attacking each other or you facing an onslaught of enemies coming at you while you tried to bring up the power. You're right, the technology is possible, I think Nintendo just wants to keep it as user-friendly as possible.

 

[DeletedUser9]

My only quarrel with the Horde Battle was that enemies dropped hearts, so I was able to complete it at full health. It was designed to whittle you down, not to take you out in itself. I actually thoroughly enjoyed this battle, and I don't agree with much of what you're saying.

The enemies did attack you in groups. If an enemy was in range, it would attack you. This includes being surrounded by Bokoblins, getting shot at by archers, and having bombs chucked at you. Even the higher-power enemies like the Moblins and Stalfos would gang up on you if you weren't careful. I realize the game let you run past everything, but as far as I know there wasn't a timer, so I basically killed everything except for the one or two that just ran past me (for some reason). I get your reference to the 1000 Heartless battle, but to be honest, in my eyes that's basically exactly what this was, with some slight differences to account for shifting series and genre. I'll agree it could have been harder, but I imagine it will be on Hero Mode, so I have no serious complaints. This was one of my favorite moments of the game.

 

[JuicieJ]

I'll agree it could have been harder, but I imagine it will be on Hero Mode, so I have no serious complaints. This was one of my favorite moments of the game.

Heh. Just wait 'til you try it in the Hero Mode Boss Rush. No potions to heal yourself. It's a slaughterfest...of Link.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Heh. Just wait 'til you try it in the Hero Mode Boss Rush. No potions to heal yourself. It's a slaughterfest...of Link.

Ohhhh yeah, I forget that it's actually part of the Lightning Round boss rush. That is awesome, let me tell ya. I skipped the Lightning Round almost entirely so I wouldn't make Hero Mode too easy for me, but I'm going to love it on Hero Mode.

 

[JuicieJ]

Ohhhh yeah, I forget that it's actually part of the Lightning Round boss rush. That is awesome, let me tell ya. I skipped the Lightning Round almost entirely so I wouldn't make Hero Mode too easy for me, but I'm going to love it on Hero Mode.

It really wouldn't be any easier. There are times when you can get hearts in the normal quest in the Lightning Round (including the Horde Battle), but in Hero Mode? Abso-stinkin'-lutely nothin'. You're on your own with your sword, shield, and skills. That's it. Combine that with the fact that you can't take the two Life Medals in with you, you're in for one hell of a ride in that Horde Battle. Trust me, it's a blast. (Quite literally. Stupid bombs...)

 

[Ninten*]

If you thought that was easy, wait until Hero Mode (without any Heart Medals). Had to use like 1 1/2 Heart Potion ++ (or something like that). And it would be easy if you just run past them. But taking the time to kill every single one of them is harder. But it was fun. Besides, Ghirahim summoned them to keep Link busy. He didn't care if Link made it as long as he (Ghirahim) was able to complete the ritual.

 

[TheMasterSword]

I personally loved t. I mean, sure it was sequenced, but it had the mblins and stalls, and they were chucking bombs at you so you had to time the attacks as well as deflect the arrows!

 

[Rytex]

You guys don't seem to understand that I have completed Hero Mode Boss Rush. I did give it a try. And it was slightly more difficult, but even without potions or a Heart Medallion, it was still easy to me. Maybe it's because I've done Human vs. Army with Skyrim and was able to formulate tactics, but it was no different except I took two hearts of damage as opposed to none.

 

[Lil'Link]

i kinda enjoyed the hord, although, by the time i got to the boss, i only had like, 3 hearts... i think it shuolda been a bit easeir, no archers,and all of them drop hears. but i also think it should be harder, with more moblins and stuff...

 

[JuicieJ]

You guys don't seem to understand that I have completed Hero Mode Boss Rush. I did give it a try. And it was slightly more difficult, but even without potions or a Heart Medallion, it was still easy to me. Maybe it's because I've done Human vs. Army with Skyrim and was able to formulate tactics, but it was no different except I took two hearts of damage as opposed to none.

Well, you're obviously one of those gamers that's freaking insane at the games he plays. People like you really shouldn't be so quick to call something easy when it's not so easy to most others.

 

[sailorgirl221]

i've actually enjoyed the horde really. it gave me the rush of " OMG hurry up and kill the monsters!!" i have no complaints about it at all.

 

[MoblinPiglet]

I never really cared about having a horde of monsters, instead I look for really challenging monsters.

 

[Rytex]

I was NOT insane. I had as much trouble with this game as your average Zelda game.

Plus, I found out that there's a bit of programming that removes the intelligent AI from the Bokoblins for that segment. Guess they thought it would be too difficult if the AI were normal.

 

[cucco002]

I liked this battle a lot, I just finished hero mode and they gave me trouble, I was lucky that I didn't have to fight them (or Demise) to get my shield. And talking about the lighting round, that you can battle the horde whenever you want makes up for not having Bilocyte

I was NOT insane. I had as much trouble with this game as your average Zelda game.

Plus, I found out that there's a bit of programming that removes the intelligent AI from the Bokoblins for that segment. Guess they thought it would be too difficult if the AI were normal.

all the bokoblins worked different, the common red bokoblins didnt block, the ones with the blue bandanna blocked, but they were able to take more hits than a normal red bokoblin. The blue ones used different attacks, and they were a lot more resistant to attacks. I think none of them run away from bombs, like they usually do