General Zelda What Are You Better At, Puzzles or Combat?

[Sir Quaffler]

I'm equally good at combat and puzzles in Zelda games, I tend to be pretty competent in combat and most of the time I can solve the puzzles without too much trouble. But as for which one I prefer...

Hmm, this one's pretty hard for me to figure out. Depends on how good the in-game combat is, really.

If it's really simplistic like the earlier Zelda games and the 2D games then I tend to like the puzzles more. That's what I liked about LA, the combat was pretty bare-bones but the overarching puzzle of the Face Shrine had me stuck for like an hour. I like stretching my cerebral muscles and the Zelda games are a good way to keep my mind going without being overly frustrated (most of the time... that one puzzle in the top floor of ST had me stuck for 3 hours.)

But if combat's more in-depth and complex then I tend to prefer the combat. This is mostly for the 3D games. Going back and re-solving the same puzzles is fun in its own way, but in the 3D games my carnal instincts take over and I want to kill everything on-screen in the coolest way possible. The combat's much more visceral in the 3D games and so I tend to gravitate towards fighting rather than strictly thinking-man problems.

 

[ihateghirahim]

I just had a random and crazy thought that combat is easier because you generally know what you're supposed to do rather having to figure that out. Crazy right?

 

[Ventus]

I just had a random and crazy thought that combat is easier because you generally know what you're supposed to do rather having to figure that out. Crazy right?

Which is good in many ways.

 

[CynicalSquid]

I just had a random and crazy thought that combat is easier because you generally know what you're supposed to do rather having to figure that out. Crazy right?

I'd rather have that than extremely cryptic puzzles like some games have.

 

[Ventus]

I'd rather have that than extremely cryptic puzzles like some games have.

But...that's simply the nature of things. Combat isn't supposed to be some tricked out puzzle. You're living in the moment, can't afford to pull any punches, and your objective is clear as day: beat the :? out of your enemy whilst taking minimal damage.

Puzzles, though, are supposed to be slow and minor-to-major head scratchers. Trying to blend each other just doesn't work out, it creates more nuisances than anything as evidenced by Skyward Sword's foes.

 

[JuicieJ]

Ventus, I fail to see how analyzing your foes on the fly to figure out how to go about attacking them prevents you from living in the moment. If anything, it makes the moment more intense since you're not just going in and hacking away with no skill required.

Anyway, I'm pretty equal with both .

 

[Panik!]

Puzzles and creative item usage always keep entertained and I'd say I'm better at them than combat. It's when the combat is a puzzle that provides the most satisfaction, but I still enjoy the combat enough alone.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I suck at combat, and I solve the puzzles fairly quickly, depending on the difficulty and type of puzzle (ice block puzzles... ugh)

 

[Trio the Punch]

I don't think combat in the Zelda games has been actually difficult since Adventure of Link, so I'd say I'm better at that. The puzzles in Oracle of Ages kick my *** especially, but all of the puzzles are usually the trickier parts of the game for me. That said, I also generally find them the most entertaining, certainly more than combat. The only exception being truly excellent boss fights, which are my favorite things in video games in general. Too bad Zelda doesn't exactly have a lot of those to go around these days.