Skill Tree in Zelda?

[Ronin]

Good, but I don't want experience to replace actual items or prizes we would normally get. There should also be a limit to how many skill points you could get, such as in Borderlands 2 or Darksiders II, or else people could grind and become ridiculously powerful. There should also be multiple trees, each suited to a different style of gameplay, or to different abilities.

Well, I wasn't exactly planning for people to become extremely powerful really fast. More like there would be a progression in the level of difficulty as the adventure went on; enemies would start out easy or be fairly effortless to defeat, and rightfully increase in difficulty (from easy to medium to hard) before the game's end. This would allow the player to accumulate experience points accordingly, and be an optional system for casual players, again like me, as it would effectively make the game easier. Honing certain skills [or not] would give them an equal chance to overcome harder foes; or a hardcore player could omit the skill tree and play to their heart's content.

And actually, I did specify that experience could be used to upgrade weapons and more, not replace them:

So...I'm thinking that a "skill tree" supplies itself with the experience that the player garners on their adventure. In order to be able accumulate these points, they must kill certain foes (the harder they are, the more they get) or complete objectives that NPCs distribute. Once this is done, they'll have the ability to scour through a menu of "branches" [or in other words, catagories] and deduct points as they see fit. The skill tree can be used to upgrade weapons, attacks, magic, defense/offense variations, and individual pieces of armor, which I've been wanting to see added for a long time now.

The killing enemies to get exp... I don't want to have to grind in Zelda.
Now a better way to fit the style of the game with out changing it, is say when ever you complete a piece of heart or get a heart container, you also get a skill point to spend or something like that?

As I laid out above, the "grinding" would be optional; but without it, the going would get harder.

Aside from that, your latterly suggestion is good, except for the fact that, knowing Nintendo, we'd probably receive a secondary text menu telling us that we got one skill point, in additional to the heart piece/container tally. It'd be pretty repetitious to me (just how I am). Not to overrule you in any way, it might be better to gather experience just by completing missions, and do away with enemy killing for exp. You'll recall that Skyward Sword had an entire series of sidequests that we got Gratitude Crystals from. Well, this system could be likened to that, except...with experience points.

 

[audioblogs12]

If you want experience, play Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior or Golden Sun. I remember the good old days when there were ways of upgrading an item that fit the Zelda series, like throwing them into a mysterious fountain or sprinkling magic powder onto an alter to awaken a spirit from within who cuts your magic...usage. Even the shop in Skyward Sword fits the Legend of Zelda series because 1) you have to trade for better items, 2) you have to get some of the items from dungeons and 3) you can do it any time you have enough resources without the game forcing you to ever do it. Of course, there are general exceptions, but I do not think that Link's skills with a claw shot or a sword or Bombos should improve with more experience, especially since the player's skills improve more realistically with more experience. It doesn't make sense to have such a system, especially with Zelda logic.

 

[Keeseman]

I love this idea of having different skills to develop, but Nintendo would have to kind of make it more original for Zelda, in my opinion.

My favorite RPG ever was KOTOR (which I've heard is a lot like Mass Effect), in which you get experience from both battle and doing different quests. If you were to level up in Zelda, I would say you shouldn't just get experience from battle. You should also get it from completing puzzles in dungeons, or doing various sidequests/tasks. In KOTOR, the main way to get exp wasn't from battle, but was instead from quests and other various things (which often involved combat to get to, of course). I kind of think Zelda could do it like this, by allowing you to purchase new skills with a form of exp points, getting them through both combat and questing.

Then we have the Elder Scrolls, which allowed you to advance further in each skill as you used it specifically. Maybe Link could get better at Archery the more he used his bow, or increase his Stealth by sneaking by enemies (I would love to have a sneak ability). Nintendo may be able to find a way to combine both of these RPG exp types.

However, I don't think Zelda should make it quite like the BioWare or Bethesda games, but instead make it more fitting to traditional Zelda style. I don't think it would quite make sense for the words "10 EXP" to pop up every time you slashed through a Skulltula, or to have you increase in your armour ability every time a Darknut hit you. There should be some originality to it, which I'm personally glad I'm not being trusted to. (I can't come up with anything good for this...)

Nintendo should never replace Heart Containers with a Health Meter, or anything that is necessary to the classic Zelda gameplay. In this case of skill trees, there needs to be a balance between classic Zelda gameplay and these RPG exp techniques.

 

[HyruleHistory10]

I think the exp should be like the original FF. you gain exp as you use the magic. why should your nayrus love increase if you are not using. This why you can focus on what you want to fight with.

I also think that the cpu in the game should be registered so that as you increase your skills the ai gets smarter and more difficult. It is not that hard to do and other games have done it b4. this way you will not become op when you increase your skills.

 

[Networker1]

I like the idea of skill trees, seems like most people do. The main problem is how you get the points, like others suggested I would like to see them apper after defeating a boss. Maybe you could get them as rewards for some sidequests, as an alternative to pieces of heart. (i.e. most "go kill this" sidequests result in skill points, while "retrieve this" challenges give rupees or pieces of heart. [why do so many people carry around pieces of heart in OoT? It's creepy])

 

[Dekunub]

I have felt that Zelda needs something fresh and exciting but this may be jumping the gun for now. my main reason being, die hard fans like me would freak, and criticize it. It would also end up like an mmo likely, and cause all kinds of issues. So I am really against skill trees for Link. I do however think if they started by adding certain proficiencies with items and weapons it could lead to a good path and bring new life into the series.

 

[New Link]

I wouldn't like to see a skill tree in a zelda game. Whenever I play an RPG or game with multiple endings, I always felt like I am missing a part, or spend hours ranking up in XP. I love zelda because you can 100% it in any run and I have lots of fun not having to worry about upgrading items and swords. At least with XP. Gondo's shop was al right

 

[Shroom]

Like a few others have said, I don't quite think it'd fit.

One of the best things about Zelda is that in most cases you, the player, determine how good you are with certain weapons and in this sense you can pick your own "skill tree" or play style. Do I want to snipe enemies from afar with my bow? Or go up close and start swinging my sword? Maybe I want to use bombs in combat (and SS was a step in the right direction to make this a possibility). In most cases Zelda doesn't undercut you with how good you can be with a certain weapon or item from the start, it comes down to how much you practice with it. SS's upgrade system would be an exception to this, adding more punch to weapons as you upgraded them, and things like the bow can become more powerful against certain enemies based on elements you add to them.

Now I wouldn't be opposed to adding magic back into the game, but I would rather them keep it with the traditional format of you getting the spell as an item at whatever point in the game. I just would rather Link not turn into some wizard, when he's almost always been a knight with his primary weapon being his sword.

 

[JuicieJ]

Like a few others have said, I don't quite think it fit.

One of the best things about Zelda is that in most cases you, the player, determine how good you are with certain weapons and in this sense you can pick your own "skill tree" or play style. Do I want to snipe enemies from afar with my bow? Or go up close and start swinging my sword? Maybe I want to use bombs in combat (and SS was a step in the right direction to make this a possibility). In most cases Zelda doesn't undercut you with how good you can be with a certain weapon or item from the start, it comes down to how much you practice with it. SS's upgrade system would be an exception to this, adding more punch to weapons as you upgraded them, and things like the bow can become more powerful against certain enemies based on elements you add to them.

You could still do these things if a skill tree were to be added. There's no reason it would magically take them away.

 

[Shroom]

It just sounds as though, like with a good bit of skill trees I see in games, you start with a nerfed weak version of whatever ability, and as you level up it gets stronger but it adds an unnecessary grinding element. Zelda has the weaker version of weapons, but instead of forcing you to grind (I guess SS would be an exception to this, but I rarely found myself grinding) you're rewarding with stronger versions as you progress with out it feeling tedious. The only thing I could see as being tedious are ammo upgrades through mini games in some games, but a lot of the time the mini game has something to do with whatever ammo upgrade you receive thus increasing your skill with said item.

Skill trees may be seen commonly in other RPGs and may add some replayability, but in LoZ, to me anyways, it just comes off as awkward.

 

[JuicieJ]

It just sounds as though, like with a good bit of skill trees I see in games, you start with a nerfed weak version of whatever ability, and as you level up it gets stronger but it adds an unnecessary grinding element.

That's basically how the upgrade system worked in Skyward Sword. I rarely had to grind for a treasure piece, and the bugs were always in the right spots at the right time. I don't see why Nintendo would screw up with experience points after that.

 

[Kupsacker]

Yes, skill trees would be magnificent.

 

[Drahsid]

No.


Just, No, Horid idea, you 'tryin to break "the law of zelda"? The Legend Of Zelda™ is simply not an RPG.

 

[Draymorath]

Sounds interesting, I'll take it!