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Do we really need a jump button?

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Not for 2D Zelda (the Roc Feather works fine), but for 3D games, a jump button is essential for all future titles. Having such an agile Link, flipping and leaping on button prompts, only to be completely unable to jump or dodge normally is insane and is actually my least favorite thing about TP and am very grateful that BotW and TotK actually allow Link's movement to match his fitness.
 
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While I never minded the autojump of previous games, I think the general gaming environment is such that for a 3rd person adventure game, a jump button is basically standard practice. Is it absolutely necessary? No, but the lack of one would definitely seem out of place for most players. I was actually recently watching my sister's first runs of Wind Waker and Ocarina, and this was one of the complaints she had as someone who's gotten into games more recently. Another feature I'd compare to this is control of the camera with the right stick. Older Zelda's didn't have this. If you wanted the camera to face a certain way, you needed to use the L button. That scheme works, but having the right stick control the camera is user-friendly and has become for all intents and purposes standard practice.
 
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Super useful for deciding you’d rather glide down slopes, or for more nuanced leaps where you might want to jump early or late, etc. Also just climbing over small things like logs or fences.
 

Mikey the Moblin

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The addition of a dedicated jump button in "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" was indeed a significant change from previous Zelda games. It allowed players more freedom and control over Link's movement and opened up new possibilities for traversal and exploration.

While the jump button may not seem necessary for certain actions that could be mapped to other buttons, it's important to consider the design choices and gameplay mechanics of "Breath of the Wild" that make use of the jump button.
Thanks for the input chatgpt

If you look at how botw uses jumping and compare to how it uses crouching it's pretty easy to see what jumping is missing. No, crouching isn't necessary, but an entire facet of the gameplay is built around minimizing noise with crouching. It gives you additional angles to approach fights with sneakstrikes, it lets you catch horses and rare critters, and can let you squeeze into small spaces to explore. When you look at what jumping actually uniquely does for you, all I've really been able to point out is that it lets you paraglide down hills, which just amounts to a bit of time save and doesn't really add new gameplay.

At the end of the day is it really a big deal? No, but I do want to see new Zelda tighten up its control scheme in the future if they continue to take this path. Maybe allow us to initiate bullet time purely from a jump, or introduce platforming elements akin to what you might find in a souls game
 

Hyrulian Hero

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Loved the auto jump in the old 3D games. I can't think of another effect that would have better used an entire button on the joycons but no, a jump button probably isn't necessary. Then again, the world of BotW/TotK are intent on giving us a sense of freedom and traversal was a main focus so I suppose it makes sense..
 
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Mikey the Moblin

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Souls games aren't really lauded for their top notch platforming. May be setting the bar a little low on that one.
If anything the Dark Souls games were designed to intentionally make platforming frustrating.
by which I meant platforming is never the focus but includes segments that require a baseline of character control, like anor londo rafters
not saying they should literally put bed of chaos in zelda (although it would work better there...)
 

RamboBambiBambo

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A dedicated jump button was necessary for BotW and TotK.

For the first time we received a free & fully explorable open world experience from Zelda, which required that the entire landscape to be curtailed to how Link could move and maneuver. With it being open world and fully scalable thanks to the climb-everywhere mechanic, Link could essentially be at any point in the map. So to better sell on the realism and ensure that all the landscape looked more natural and less artificial, it made sense to add a dedicated jump button rather than just make all the jumps equidistant as they were in previous games.

Add in the facts that Link can also alter the speed at which he moves thanks to potions and food, well auto-jumps can become complicated.

Not to mention the addition of the glider allows traversal to be made easier by simply jumping as the player directs it. Going full sprint to the apex of a hill and then jumping to pull out the glider makes traversal to the next hill quicker. That feat would be impossible with the autojump system as Link would just run downhill instead.
 
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