General Zelda What Puzzles Do You Think the Series Needs?

[balloonofwar4]

I want some hard puzzles. No, not like the one Guardian puzzle in TP(while that was brain racking), but a whole slew of them, throughout the entire game. Some more ice puzzles would be nice too.

 

[Ventus]

I'll open up with saying that enemies should never be puzzles. :yes:

Anywho. We need more terrain based puzzles, and it'd be super neato to introduce logic puzzles.

 

[tketle]

If they expanded the acrobatics to Prince of Persia levels I'm sure that could provide some fresh puzzle opportunities. Also it might be neat to have Silent Hill-like riddles for finding a hidden dungeon or something.

 

[Zorth]

Puzzles that are connected to the story, clues that you get throughout the game to find a certain person maybe, or to find a lost treasure etc. Puzzles that need to be solved by paying attention to what's happening around you (story wise) and what has happened before.

 

[JuicieJ]

Hardcore parkour.

But, seriously, some more advanced parkour segments, not necessarily on part with Assassin's Creed, but some segments here and there to mix up the gameplay more. The Stamina Gauge could even play a part, making it more strategic (although I don't see why it WOULDN'T be used to begin with).

 

[Locke]

MYST. Zelda just needs to be more like MYST in almost every regard. Puzzles like the Guardian puzzle in TP and the Isle of Songs puzzle in SS should be the norm, not once- or twice-per-game occurrences. More ice puzzles, too - TP did a decent job with that. Block-pushing puzzles aren't inherently bad, they just need to be not super obvious like pushing one block along a straight track onto a switch. The one thing I'd most like to see borrowed from MYST right now is the need to look elsewhere for clues in order to solve puzzles. Zelda games have done a little bit of this, usually utilizing a standard hint system such as the owl statues in OoX, and I recall one good example in one of the later ST dungeons, but these methods tend to feel very artificial. I'm thinking of the Library in URU, finding intricate clues among the papers on a character's desk, pushing buttons and listening for sounds to try to piece together what the buttons do.

Defeating all the enemies in the room, pushing a block aside, and finding the correct item to use to overcome an obstacle have gotten old and the series needs to graduate to more advanced problem-solving that better complement the feeling of adventure. I know that Aonuma likes the MYST series and I really hope he brings that to either the Zelda series or a new IP.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I think more emphasis should be put on puzzles as a whole, but if we're talking about specifics then I have a few ideas.

For one, there needs to be more "individual" puzzles, you know? The standard ones you would see in Dungeons? Basically I feel they're somewhat hard to find in modern Zelda. For example, a typical one would be were you have one room dedicated to one individual puzzle -- think the ice block puzzle or even the picture puzzle in the Forest Temple, but obviously the designs would alternate. My point is, just more of these specific puzzles, also it wouldn't harm us to have more in the overworld as well.

Then there needs to be more implementation of actual puzzles with basic navigation. Walking, running, rolling, riddin; are all common forms of traversing the world, but yet they are rather simple and less stimulating. If the game makes the player think on how to proceed then it makes overworld navigation, not only harder, but more stimulating -- basically just making the player think more. I would refer to "duel overworlds" here, the Dark World in A Link to the Past , the past and the present in Oracle of Ages and the seasons within, obviously, Oracle of Seasons. Combining puzzle elements on such a large scale made navigation a task rather than just a simple stroll and it gave a sense of challenge to every path in the world.

An idea that I had, was an ever changing structure -- possibly a Dungeon. The is just a possibility that I have had floating round in my head revolving around Dungeon-design. Basically the Dungeon would alternate it's entire structure based on specific movements and times. This would make one typical Dungeon playthrough very different. It would be an advanced idea of a maze but the structure would change all the time -- leaving you in different rooms without you choosing to enter. The player would have to figure out how to navigate effectively, they would have to figure out just how the Dungeon structure changes, counteract the changes as well as figuring out navigating the structure. Think the Sky Keep but a lot more complicated and a lot more changes.

 

[Keese Keese]

I think thay the series needs more... puzzle puzzles, such as the Sky Keep, Isle of Songs, block puzzles (harder, though), Master Sword puzzles, etc. These would be great to spread throughout the game instead of being lucky enough to have merely one or two. The series still has its fair share of "get from point A to point B" scenarios, but I start feeling like I'm just going through the motions after awhile even though the game is still very much enjoyable.

Also... a giant maze would be interesting

 

[DarkLink17]

I would like to see more "time based" puzzles, where you have to go back in time and change things that will affect the future (like in Oracle of Ages, but just applying the premise to puzzles, not the whole game).
This could be going back in time to push a certain block that was not accessible in the present time. Or going back and grabbing a piece needed to complete the construction of a key or switch.