Could Hero Mode Be Better?

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.

The

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.

Double damage is significant in that it is always on and cannot be deactivated. If a player were to jump off a cliff on accident, he or she would have to be wary of taking two hearts of damage versus the previous one. If a player planted a bomb, or hit at the yellow ChuChu/Technoblin with bad timing, he or she would take much more damage than what would typically come to mind. There are items that negate damage entirely, such as Guardian Potion+ (

SS) and Magic Armor (TWWHD); however obtaining said items tends to be a hassle in itself, and players forgo these one-trick-wonders for the sake of completing the game. Naturally, they will be beaten around by enemies previously seen as “too easy,” and the double damage aspect will give them a run for their money.

To make double damage even more significant is the second alteration: the inability to obtain hearts in the normal fashion. For example, my fourteen-year-old brother started a Hero Mode file of SS and said, “Taking a heart of damage is no problem, I have the grass nearby.” I told him the truth, and his jaw dropped. Essentially what had happened was that my brother relied too much on life; he did not dedicate his time to fighting death. Without heart drops, the focus on what potions a player has becomes much more apparent, and it also creates dreadful situations. Great changes for many players out there…but not great for me.

I may come off as a narcissist, or inflating my ego, however I am simply stating the truth as I see it: I do not find these alterations to be substantial. They do not, on their lonesome, provide any sort of challenge for me. In order for Hero Mode to provide a challenge for me, there are many small changes in addition to the pre-established ones that need to be made.

First comes improved enemy Artificial Intelligence (AI). More than anything, I need enemies to actually hit me. If one remembers the Bokoblin of

SS, they would often sit around changing their stances rather than attacking Link. A Hero Mode playthrough does not change this at all; they still change their stances more often than they initiate attacks. Nintendo could very easily program Hero Mode enemies to be more aggressive. Completely different AI on Hero Mode playthroughs would be amazing, but basic changes like more aggression and detecting Link at longer ranges are the bare necessity. Double damage doesn’t mean anything if I am not hit. No heart drops means nothing if I take no damage. However, if the enemy AI were more aggressive—or better yet, changed from aggressive to counter-based—then double damage and potions-only would be very significant. I might even consider going out of my way to grab the Magic Armor instead of pushing through without it!

Second comes changing some contents of the in-game world. If one recalls the Second Quest of the original Legend of Zelda, it had a completely revised exterior overworld as well as completely redesigned interior dungeons. Even the Master Quest of Ocarina of Time featured differently designed dungeons, and got a mirroring in Ocarina of Time 3D Master Quest. Hero Mode, however, does not change the layout of dungeons or the overworld. At this point in time, it’s only wishful thinking to get a redesigned overworld; it was only managed in The Legend of Zelda because over half the cartridge was not used when the original game was completed. However, changing the dungeons requires only changing the “actors”—codes that designate which enemies, environmental objects, and context actions exist where—and this is actually easier than one might think. Hackers have managed to do fiddle with the insides of Ocarina of Time using a nifty program called “Utility of Time”, but Nintendo has all of the original access to the Zelda titles. It would not be far-fetched to say that the Big N has, or would have, a much easier time redesigning dungeons.

Next in line comes creating true desperation with the “no heart drops” change. On its lonesome, it does sound like a formidable alteration to a first playthrough, however potions still cost the same as any other playthrough. If potions were made costlier in addition to no heart drops, players would be forced to get better rather than rely on fairies, potions, et cetera. It would force players to pull out all stops in order to make sure that they barely scrape by, let alone complete the game.

And last would be a form of punishing players for deaths. This is Hero Mode; anyone who attempts this mode should know what they’re doing as they would be seasoned veterans of the game in question. Perhaps players could be penalized by losing rupees per death (this is utilized in Four Swords), or they lose ammunition (utilized in Capcom’s Resident Evil 6‘s No Hope difficulty), or even worse: they are made temporarily inefficient via handicapped ability to deal damage?

To recap: I do not think Hero Mode is a proper Second Playthrough mode. I wish for better enemy AI, changed dungeons, and more desperation. When I think of “Hero Mode”, the idea that springs to my mind is that players should fear death, cling not to life but to their Master Sword, and fight back the evils of Skyloft, the Great Sea, Hyrule, and any other land the Hero may venture through.