Daily Debate: What is the Zelda Series’ Best Use of Non-Traditional Controls?
Posted on January 05 2022 by Mike Midwood
Nintendo has never been afraid of getting weird in the name of innovation. Leveraging the support of a dedicated fanbase has allowed them to take hardware and software risks that other companies simply wont. While they’ve occasionally asked for too much adjustment for ultimately fleeting gimmicks, their willingness to experiment has led to a variety of tangible benefits for many players. Most notable have been the non-traditional control methods that Nintendo has implemented in their recent systems. Many of their most popular franchises have integrated these bizarre inputs into major releases, and The Legend of Zelda is no exception. Which Zelda game makes the best use of non-traditional control methods?
The Wii’s motion controls are probably the most obvious example, with many actions typically assigned to buttons being replaced with various motion inputs. Twilight Princess had flicks of the Wii remote correspond to a button press, swinging Link’s sword the same way he would in previous games. Skyward Sword expanded upon this with true one-to-one motion controls, in which Link would directly imitate the player’s movements. Unfortunately, neither approach was very satisfying. Twilght Princess’ simplistic controls failed to take advantage of that game’s diverse combat options. While ambitious, Skyward Sword‘s more immersive controls were inconsistent at best, and the game itself rarely allowed for creative use of them.
Many people have maligned the touch-screen inputs of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. This has always confused me because, as many problems as I consider the DS duology to have, the stylus controls have never been one of them. On the contrary, I think this method lends itself very well to basic movement and combat. Many of the puzzles and items demand a greater level engagement as a result of these controls. Some of the throwaway microphone gimmicks can be annoying (shouting at Eddo to give me the salvage arm is maddening), but on the whole this strange input method had never bothered me. They may not add much, but they’re much more consistently functional than Skyward Sword‘s attempts.
I previously derided the motion-based swordplay of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, but those Wii titles did introduce one major improvement to a common Zelda system: infrared manual aiming. This has become the slightly less accurate gyroscopic aiming in modern rereleases and newer titles, but motion-based manual aiming has been a major boon for the series in general. Gyro-aim helps to mitigate the rough inelegancies of imprecise joysticks. With the prevalence of slingshots, hookshots, bows, and throwable objects in the Zelda series, this almost invisible tweak has been a tremendous benefit to a console-exclusive series. It’s such a great (and usually optional) inclusion, that I’m frequently frustrated by its absence on other consoles with controllers harboring the same technology. Gyroscopic aiming is a perfect example of Nintendo’s willingness to diverge generating a unique benefit for their players.
What do you think? Which is the Zelda series’ most effective use of non-tradional controls? Should the Zelda series include more in the future? Let us know in the comments below!
Hi, I’m Mike Midwood and I’m a Senior Editor at ZeldaDungeon! Video games and literature are my greatest joys in life. An avid Zelda fan, some of my other favorite games include the Resident Evil and Dark Souls series. I hope you enjoy my content here on ZeldaDungeon!
“The sword has no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.”
