Daily Debate: Should Zelda Games Have an “Easy Mode”?

As surely as the sun will set, a new FromSoftware release will set the video game difficulty debate industrial complex in motion. Their newest masterpiece, Elden Ring, has rekindled the arguments about challenge and accessibility that have cropped up with previous titles like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. These games have a reputation for being extremely difficult and controversy swirls around their consistent lack of an easier difficulty setting. The Legend of Zelda series has also never included an easy mode in its main series; it’s actually only ever had additional challenge modes, but this polarizing topic has never surrounded the legendary franchise. Considering how much Elden Ring has been compared to Breath of the Wild, this is somewhat surprising. Should Zelda games include an easy mode?

While I think the difficulty of FromSoft’s games is often overstated, they’re undeniably harder than Zelda games are, Zelda II notwithstanding. Difficulty is a subjective measurement, but challenge in these games usually stems from needing to figure out what to do. Combat and execution are pretty simple once the intended way forward is discovered. With the exception of the series’ earliest games (I’d say starting with Link’s Awakening), Zelda games are very accessible and won’t turn too many players away with their level of difficulty. Beyond that, the player’s willingness to explore and do collection can often mitigate the challenge down to a virtual triviality. Ganondorf himself is unlikely to stand a chance against the Biggoron Sword and twenty armored hearts. Still, it isn’t unthinkable that some people could find some Zelda games too demanding of their skill and free time.

When people suggest that easier difficulty settings be added to games, the game that comes immediately to mind is God of War (2018) and it’s “Give Me a Story” mode. I imagine that this kind of balancing is what people want to be included in games where combat is a core element of gameplay. God of War isn’t particularly hard on its standard difficulty either. This mode exists for people who are exclusively interested in experiencing the game’s narrative or world, and don’t want to invest time or energy learning the game’s combat and systems. The player is granted such an enormous statistical advantage over enemies, who have reduced strength and aggression, that spamming standard attacks will get them through every encounter. Elements like armor, upgrades, and buffs become essentially superfluous and the player is free to breeze from cutscene to cutscene, set piece to set piece. Zelda games also take advantage of immersive worlds and set piece moments, so some players may want to be able to ignore the game’s other systems in favor of those experiences.

What do you think? Should Zelda games include easier difficulty settings? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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