Daily Debate: What Zelda Gameplay Mechanic or Item Did You Not Connect With or Enjoy Using?
Posted on January 11 2024 by Sean Gadus
In its long and storied history, the Zelda series has gone through a lot of changes in gameplay, world structure, story design, and presentation. While Zelda games generally build off of ideas in their predecessors, most games also include new mechanics and design concepts in order to keep the experience fresh or push the series forward. While these new mechanics or design ideas are usually well-received by fans and critics, not every player connects with every mechanic. Some mechanics or items might feel clunky to use, while others might be underutilized across a player’s full playthrough of a game.
With this in mind, what Zelda gameplay mechanic, design concept, or item did you not connect with or enjoy using?
The first mechanic I think of when discussing this question is dowsing from Skyward Sword; a game I am currently replaying. My biggest complaint about dowsing is that when the player uses the mechanic, it abruptly changes the player’s viewpoint from third person to first person. The change in viewpoint feels very awkward, and dowsing generally slows down Link’s movement. When dowsing, it feel like I am bumbling around the area rather elegantly exploring it. Some of the uses of dowsing could be easily replaced with hints from characters in the game world or map markers, which makes me feel like it was not totally necessary as a mechanic. Additionally, while you can eventually dowse for valuable items like Goddess Cubes, treasures, and rupees, the dowsing upgrade is given too late in the game to be useful in my playthroughs.
Building/crafting Zonai vehicles and contraptions in Tears of the Kingdom is another mechanic I have not connected with. I am generally not interested in crafting vehicles or devices in video games, so I had very little enthusiasm when this mechanic was added to the Zelda series. While I acknowledge that players have created some incredible inventions using Ultrahand, I generally avoided using the mechanic if I can. Outside of a few flying machines using Zonai Wings as the foundation, I did not spend time crafting vehicles or contraptions. I am grateful that the developers made it possible to complete Tears of the Kingdom without having to do too much building.
What do you think? What Zelda gameplay mechanic, design concept, or item did you not connect with or enjoy using? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
