Adventure of Link Why Does Everyone Think Zelda 2 is Such a Hard Game?

[Awesomehylian]

Honestly I would just say unfamiliar game mechanics. If you played it when it first came out and you were used to games of that era, it probably wasn't as hard. But if Zelda II is one of your later Zelda experiences (I think for most people it is), then you're dealing with a ton more restrictions on your behavior, your gameplay style and maneuverability. Most people aren't used to playing serious platform games like that anymore.

I've been playing the original Zelda game and the hardest part (besides having to burn every tree in order to find the correct path to continue) for me is when I am battling many enemies at once in an enclosed space. Not only are they not what I'm used to seeing in an enemy group, but my character is incapable to combating them in the way I usually would.

 

[Shadow Blade]

Games have been made user friendly both intentionally and by the technology games are built around evolving, video games from older eras are less user friendly and take longer to get used to when played by a majority of people from current and younger eras thus creating the feelingly of a much greater level of difficulty than what might have been experienced by players of its own era.

The Legend of Zelda is in my opinion actually a hard game for the reason that there are areas of the game that have little to no suggestion as to how you should gain progress.

 

[Anna1986]

This is the single hardest game ever lade. I have platinum on dark souls 1-3. I have finished master trials on master mode in Botw. I think I anm one of the very few in the world having beaten this game. Many are lying. It took me 35 years of training to do it. Unless you are ready to devote half a lifetime to master hhis game, do not play it.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

b/c it is a hard game

is it the hardest the NES has to offer? most certainly not, but unless you grew up on those games or know what to expect, zelda 2 is gonna be a tough time for many people, I think its great fun personally but the frustration can be a bit much sometimes

 

[HyruleHooligan]

It’s not as hard as everyone thinks. The difficulty everyone faced when it came out was having to grind for levels cos you lose your exp at game over or switching off. This wasn’t a common mechanic, especially in Europe and America, at the time and many people plain didn’t understand how it worked. Once you’ve made it across the sea to the 5th town you should be set for that. Death Mountain is tough, but I always make it my objective to simply get the hammer. As long as I pick it up I don’t mind losing a life or getting a game over as I can get back to that point easily enough for the rest of the loot.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Because it is a very hard game. Adventure of Link is from a more primitive era of gaming where the exact mechanics of design weren't ironed out. It's from an era where arcades were still king and where playtime was often drawn from unreasonable difficulty that led to repeatedly playing the same sections of level over and over.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

it is a challenging game, but the challenge is mostly fair and very doable. I think its hardness level is overblown, and a lot of it by bandwagoners who hear what others say, and regurgitate it whether they've given it a fair shot or not. There are 3 very aggravating difficulty spikes to it however, and the final dungeon is a huge pain.

 

[HyruleHooligan]

The second quest in the original LoZ game me a lot more trouble than AoL did. These days I’m guessing a lot of people haven’t even bothered playing the second quest, and if you haven’t I’d seriously urge you to do so! If you’re judging AoL’s difficulty only by the original first quest you’re doing the game a disservice, you’ve missed a fun challenge and some of the design sensibilities of the time.

 

[YoungGanon23]

Its my favorite Zelda game

 

[Hero of Pizza Time]

The fact that the enemies are harder than average to kill is only part of it. Perhaps the biggest reason why it is considered the most difficult Zelda game (and quite possibly one of the most difficult games of all time) is because when you get a "game over", you go all the way back to the starting area of the game rather than the beginning of the dungeon like most Zelda games. That means that you are prone to getting attacked by enemies in the overworld and losing a good bit of your health before you even reach the dungeon. On top of that, you lose all of your XP when you get a "game over," so grinding in this game is not necessarily as effective as it is in other RPGs.

There is also more than just combat/platforming difficulty. Much like Castlevania 2, it is not always clear how to progress. Sometimes you need an item that you have no idea even existed. And the way you go about getting that item is often random and nonsensical. It's almost as if the game assumes you have a walkthrough.

 

[Chevywolf30]

It's almost as if the game assumes you have a walkthrough

It's called the Nintendo magezine

 

[HyruleHooligan]

There is also more than just combat/platforming difficulty. Much like Castlevania 2, it is not always clear how to progress. Sometimes you need an item that you have no idea even existed. And the way you go about getting that item is often random and nonsensical. It's almost as if the game assumes you have a walkthrough.

You have to take into account that back in the day when people relied on magazines or the Nintendo hotline for information, as well as word of mouth, there was nothing else but pure exploration and experimentation. My friends and I would play this game together for hours and a lot of discovery came from just mucking about when we got stuck. It’s how I found the mirror, the water, the upthrust and the ocean heart container. At the time this game world was enormous and a lot of the fun was exploring every corner of the map and trying anything you could think of just to see what would happen. Try playing any adventure RPG without a guide these days!

 

[AncientPoe]

I would say it's because the game can still be quite punishing. Extra lives in the world do not respawn and you mostly have no control over when you find them so they may not be much good. Game Overs bring you all the way back to the start. There is almost a limited amount of magic to be found in dungeons, so using magic to make your life easier or to just explore can make it so that dying is the only way to continue. It is also very very bad at telegraphing some of the ways the game is gated off. You relied on tip mags or schoolyard talk to learn what to do. I love that game, but it does have quite a few traits that make it unpalatable to some types of players. But honestly, it's probably more at home in this era thanks to internet resources.