- Joined
- Dec 18, 2010
- Location
- Idaho, USA
So, as a person who values tradition, I have to admit that I was ever so slightly irked by Nintendo's decision to give Skyward Sword a six-heart start instead of the traditional three, but after beating the game and thinking about it, I absolutely agree with it. I thought it was simply an effort to continue the unfortunate trend of making games easier and easier throughout the years. One may not realize while playing, but that six-heart start actually serves a purpose: To, in the end, make the game harder. And, for Zelda, an increase of difficulty is something I absolutely approve of.
One of the interesting things about Skyward Sword is that even the smallest, most basic enemies, such as Keese and Deku Babas, do a single heart of damage. The half and quarter heart damage counts are nearly nonexistent, with only the smallest enemies doing half, and only environmental damage (in example, water lillies) doing a quarter heart. There is a reason for this, but I'll get to that in a minute.
At the start of the game, having even the most basic enemies doing a heart of damage while only having three hearts; well, it could be rough. Three mistakes, and you're dead. This, combined with only one's starting gear, could potentially make the game a bit frustrating. Therefore, Nintendo gave you six hearts at the beginning to deal with. Now, fast forward the game. You have the True Master Sword, 15+ hearts, and all that great stuff. Yet even the most basic enemies still do a heart of damage to you, with more significant enemies doing two hearts of damage. Now, how I play Zelda, I love getting hearts. I get as many hearts as I can on all runs of the game. For me, this is great.
The end result is to make the game more difficult in the long run, while still making it manageable in the beginning. This is a good thing. In previous Zelda games, you could have 15+ hearts and make tons of mistakes with life to spare. Not so in Skyward Sword. However, I think that Nintendo should expand upon this a little bit in future games. It seems to me that too many of the "significant" enemies still do a heart of damage like most enemies. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most bosses and minibosses still did only one heart of damage. I think most of the bosses should have done 2-3 hearts of damage, with the minibosses (depending on how far into the game the player is) should have done 1-2 hearts of damage. It's not until the final boss do we have a boss who does two hearts of damage. If they were to bring back three or four heart damage bosses, I'd be ecstatic. Remember Volvagia in Ocarina of Time? That's possibly my favorite regular boss in the game, and it's amazing because of the great contrast between regular enemies and this boss, who does four hearts of damage. It makes the boss feel more like a boss, and gives you, the player, the feeling of dealing with something big. You don't need to emphasize with Link, because the feeling happens to you.
This doesn't match up with the fact that Octoroks do a full heart if you mess up with your shield. With the bosses doing the same amount of damage as regular enemies, it makes them, as bosses, feel less intimidating and boss-like. This, combined with the fact that all weapon-wielding, Link-sized (or close to it) enemies (which make up a fair portion of the game's minibosses, and some of the bosses) can be shield bashed, well... it makes the minibosses and bosses, like I've already said, less intimidating.
Ultimately, I think Nintendo should have stepped up the bosses as well if they're going to step up the regular enemies.
Thoughts?
One of the interesting things about Skyward Sword is that even the smallest, most basic enemies, such as Keese and Deku Babas, do a single heart of damage. The half and quarter heart damage counts are nearly nonexistent, with only the smallest enemies doing half, and only environmental damage (in example, water lillies) doing a quarter heart. There is a reason for this, but I'll get to that in a minute.
At the start of the game, having even the most basic enemies doing a heart of damage while only having three hearts; well, it could be rough. Three mistakes, and you're dead. This, combined with only one's starting gear, could potentially make the game a bit frustrating. Therefore, Nintendo gave you six hearts at the beginning to deal with. Now, fast forward the game. You have the True Master Sword, 15+ hearts, and all that great stuff. Yet even the most basic enemies still do a heart of damage to you, with more significant enemies doing two hearts of damage. Now, how I play Zelda, I love getting hearts. I get as many hearts as I can on all runs of the game. For me, this is great.
The end result is to make the game more difficult in the long run, while still making it manageable in the beginning. This is a good thing. In previous Zelda games, you could have 15+ hearts and make tons of mistakes with life to spare. Not so in Skyward Sword. However, I think that Nintendo should expand upon this a little bit in future games. It seems to me that too many of the "significant" enemies still do a heart of damage like most enemies. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most bosses and minibosses still did only one heart of damage. I think most of the bosses should have done 2-3 hearts of damage, with the minibosses (depending on how far into the game the player is) should have done 1-2 hearts of damage. It's not until the final boss do we have a boss who does two hearts of damage. If they were to bring back three or four heart damage bosses, I'd be ecstatic. Remember Volvagia in Ocarina of Time? That's possibly my favorite regular boss in the game, and it's amazing because of the great contrast between regular enemies and this boss, who does four hearts of damage. It makes the boss feel more like a boss, and gives you, the player, the feeling of dealing with something big. You don't need to emphasize with Link, because the feeling happens to you.
This doesn't match up with the fact that Octoroks do a full heart if you mess up with your shield. With the bosses doing the same amount of damage as regular enemies, it makes them, as bosses, feel less intimidating and boss-like. This, combined with the fact that all weapon-wielding, Link-sized (or close to it) enemies (which make up a fair portion of the game's minibosses, and some of the bosses) can be shield bashed, well... it makes the minibosses and bosses, like I've already said, less intimidating.
Ultimately, I think Nintendo should have stepped up the bosses as well if they're going to step up the regular enemies.
Thoughts?
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