Do You Think a Regenerating Health System Would Work in Zelda?

[Dio]

I was thinking today about how a regenerating health system could work in Zelda. If you don't know what I mean then I'm talking about where you can take a certain amount of damage before dying, but if your health gets low you can avoid being hurt for a certain amount of time and your health will go back up again.

How I would make it work in Zelda:

There would still be a row of hearts and heart containers could increase the length of the row as usual, however this row could refill itself after link not taking damage for a while. There would be more focus on combat, combat would be much more intense and enemies would have to be more aggressive ensuring that links health is going to get low very quickly if the player is not careful. Bosses and mini bosses would require more skill because not only would the player have to figure out the method to their defeat but also avoid getting hurt too much and finding some cover when necessary. Most people complain about how easy combat has become in Zelda recently. This would help to change that.

It would be an evolution in the gameplay of the series, something that has not been experienced in Zelda before. I don't really consider heart collection a core part of the series that would be missed, it is just a thing you have to do, it's not like finding hearts is difficult anyway, so it is really just a chore which involves you finding a pot and hitting it with your sword. This would streamline the health system making gameplay flow a bit more smoothly during fights. You would not be running to the edge of a boss arena to find a conveniently placed pot with a heart in it instead you would be avoiding the attacks of a fierce boss for long enough to have recovered from your last beating. For those who love smashing pots, there would still be rupees to find in them and house owners to annoy when you break their antiques.

Red potions and normal heart collection would be gone but fairies would still remain, this time around they would be much more rare and would cost a considerable amount of rupees to buy in a store.

I would be all for a system like this in the next Zelda for Wii U. Do you like my ideas? Or do you have something different in mind that you think might work?Or do you just not want the health system to change at all? Tell me what you think.

 

[A Link In Time]

Hell, I'm all for this idea. One of the greatest I've seen in awhile. I agree that games with a regenerating health system tend to be a whole lot harder. Just try playing a FPS game (which usually has regenerating health) on the highest difficulty. That's quite a feat! The only problem, however, would be if this would too radically alter the way people play most games in the series. I think not, however. you can never be too sure. I can imagine people starting to take a more stealthy approach with a regenerating health system.

Personally, Zelda isn't ready to adopt this ambitious new proposal of a health system for the Wii U version.

Sorry for the low quality screenshot but this just about proves that a heart based system will remain in the Wii U game:

I'd personally like to see regenerating health come into play at least once in the franchise's future and if that doesn't work, then there's always a return to the traditional system.

 

[Trio the Punch]

I really like this idea. I think it could be implemented pretty seamlessly and would be a huge boon to the series. Kudos on the excellent idea that I have nothing negative to say about.

 

[n3rdatheart]

I don't know how much I like that idea. I mean, I definitely think it would work, but I think that not being able to just gain more life so easily is part of the challenge. If I'm out of potion and fairies in a dungeon, and I'm low on life, it's part of the challenge to just keep going until I find more hearts or die.
Though I'm all for harder bosses and combat in general. I'm more of an attack first, ask questions later kinda girl, so that seems like more fun
I think that your idea would be interesting to see in a game, and it's not like I wouldn't play if that was the system they used, I just prefer the original system...

 

[D00MED2CREAT]

That would be a nice thing to implement. Would be nice to have.

 

[Legendary Goron]

Hmmm I don't really think this would be good in a zelda game.

 

[JuLeDoS]

It'd be nice, but I think a game even better suited for it would be Kid Icarus Uprising. The health pickups were kind of limited in my opinion.

 

[Mrflamexd3]

If you want to make it more combat involved, then you could do that. I mean it's fine as it is, and you could be fighting enemies, and if the better you do (no damage, minimal damage, kill all of them really fast) the more health you get back. i'm not really sure, i'm fine with what we have now.

 

[ocarina hero]

yes but i think it should shut off during a boss battle then it would make a already easy game easier

 

[Jeeen]

That's a really good idea, but yeah I don't think it should be present during a boss battle.

 

[Fred Flintstone]

I would love it. The last game I played that had regen hp was balder's gate for the gcn and I loved it. To have focused fighting along with Zelda's traditional puzzles would be extraordinary. I think red potions would stay in and even recovery hearts but the hearts would be in useless places and/or they would be extremely rare.

 

[Mikau94]

I'm not a huge fan of the idea, but if it was implemented really well I might like it, but I think that Nintendo should stick with a regular health meter. Regeneration hearts sound like it would be too easy. Some people would just run from enemies whenever they lose even one heart. The health "bar" has always worked for the franchise, I say, "If it ain't broke, dont fix it".

 

[Batman]

It's certainly an interesting idea. I've never really thought about it before, but I'd probably be in favor of something like this.

 

[Makarthekorok]

No. Zelda is largely split up into puzzles and battles and it wouldn't make things very difficult if you could just hide in the corner or work on a puzzle while waiting for your health to come back.

 

[Beckira]

No. Zelda is largely split up into puzzles and battles and it wouldn't make things very difficult if you could just hide in the corner or work on a puzzle while waiting for your health to come back.

This. The thing about games with regenerating health (at least the ones that I've played) is that combat becomes the largest aspect of the game. The way Zelda is now, it's a pretty even split between combat and puzzling, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. The only way a regenerating health system wouldn't make the game too easy is if there were many more enemies in every area.

Besides, I honestly think that there's a considerably larger amount of strategy involved to know when, how many, and what kind of potions to bring along.

For those arguing the easiness of combat, I actually thought that Skyward Sword did a good job of combating (hyuck hyuck) this issue. Enemies were all different, requiring different tactics to face each one. When you were suddenly attacked by a swarm of different types, you'd have to be able to figure the most effective way to kill them all while abstaining from as much damage as possible.