This is a guest article written by RebeccaHD of the Zelda Informer Forums. If you’d like to write your own guest article, we encourage you to send us your work here.
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Zelda series has seen many types of “second playthrough” modes: Second Quest from the original Legend of Zelda, Master Quest from the bonus GameCube disc Ocarina of Time + Master Quest as well as the 2011 remake Ocarina of Time 3D, Second Playthrough from The Wind Waker, and Hero Mode from Skyward Sword, as well as in The Wind Waker HD. I am the kind of player that loves replaying games, so I really appreciate Nintendo’s putting the time and effort in to give the curious consumer a little extra on his or her second time through the games. Beyond replaying games, I’m the kind of player that loves challenge, and, in my experience, “second playthrough” modes tend to offer sizable challenge for my tastes.
The latest model to be used in the series is the Hero Mode model. As I stated in the opening paragraph, it’s featured in
Skyward Sword and The Wind Waker HD. Its alterations include the following: all damage taken is doubled (where a ChuChu may deal one fourth a heart’s worth of damage in a regular playthrough of TWWHD, it will deal one half on Hero Mode), hearts cannot be obtained except through the use of potions (exceptions are made in SS: the Heart Medal which makes hearts spawn in the usual places except very rarely, and sitting on stumps regenerates health as well) and, at least with SS, many scenes can be skipped. For many players, these are substantial alterations to the original playthrough that breathe new life into an old game.
Do the Hero Mode changes breathe new life into an old game for you? Read Rebecca’s thoughts and more after the jump!