Sword Beams, Should They Return?

[Djinn]

Going all the way back to the very first Legend of Zelda, Link's sword fired magical beams when all hearts were full. But OoT and after the beams were removed. Now they are set to return with Skyward Sword after only appearing in the 2D titles all this time.

True there have been arguments that they were too cartoon fantasy and that they take away from other weapons like the Bow and Arrow or the slingshot. And that they have been gone from the more realistic playing 3D titles since OoT and that should remain the same. Although I never considered the swordbeam appearing in a 3D title taking away from anything because of the heart requirement, the fact that arrow ammo is much easier to come by, and the fact that the bow can be aimed perfectly at a target. I also think that Twilight Princess was lacking in long range weapons, at least ones that successfully hurt an enemy. The bow was useful as always but I rarely used the slingshot or boomerang. And the clawshot was not really a weapon. I have also never heard any argument for their removal from the current 2D games, even if they also include the Bow. It could be that I just have not seen the arguments yet.

But what are the opinions on them? Should they return? Should they never have left? Why would you want the beam present or not?

And if so what circumstances would you want for them? Should they still only work when hearts are full, only the Master Sword should shoot them, or should something extra like the Light Ring of the Oracle Games make them possible, maybe an extra quest similar to the Boggoron quest that could upgrade the sword into a magic shooting one.

 

[KratosFan]

I personally believe that sword beams, in fact, should NOT return. My reasoning for this is that they simply make the game too easy. Think about the first time you palyed the original zelda (if you did play it) you probably stayed as far away from the enemies as possible and shot sword beams at them. However, doing so could easily get you hit, and therefore lose your sword beams.

BUT nowadays, as I hope we all know, the games are rendered in 3-D instead of 2-D. The 3-D rendering makes it too easy for the player to defeat enemies because they can abuse the 3-D environments to their advantage. Back when the games were 2-d there wasn't much you could do to dodge attacks right? but ever since the 3-D switch, most enemies could be easily avoiding with shield, backflip, aide jump or rolling, because the 3_D games focus more on the Puzzles and dungeons than the combat (which i personally think is a good thing). If they did bring back sword beams, the already easy combat would be mostly non-existant and wopuld make the combat parts of the game pretty dull, because you could stand from afar, fire lazers, and dodge attacks easily.

so basically, I say No they shouldn't come back, UNLESS it's in a 2-D game, but I don't see them making too many more 2-D games in the near future

 

[collinbollin]

i agree with kratosfan, for the most part. they would take away from the game because the player would abuse it, but if they made it that it had a 3 limit and the charge is rare, the i am all in, just make sure that that player wont be able to abuse it

 

[Heros Temporis]

I think that Sword Beams in a 3D title would make the game too easy, look at the Fierce Deity Mask in MM for example. Every boss except Twinmold becomes a complete joke. In my experience, the 2D games, especially the original three, (though I have not played a whole lot of them) tend to be more difficult enemy-wise than the 3D games. I prefer just using my sword unless I'm Fierce Deity, anyway.

Perhaps I'm just saying this because OoT was the first Zelda game I played, and it's still my favorite of them all. You're always more than a bit biased towards your first game in the series, because those are, in simple terms, your original standards for the series.

 

[Michael Heide]

I say bring back the sword beams - but only for the final boss battle. In that final cut scene before Link faces the true villain behind all the evil that has happened, the fairyesque character from the promos sacrifices her personality and truly becomes the Master Sword, charging it with power. And that gives Link the ability to shoot those beams.

 

[nicktheslayer]

I say keep them! They only kill weak enemies, (Bats, rats, etc), and they only stun the larger ones. Then they could be used for puzzles, that require lazers beams?

 

[Atheistbigred]

SPOILER ALERT:
Actually the sword beams has been there you probably haven't noticed them or im just being stupid, in majoras mask fierce deity link shoots sword beams when targeting an ememy, in the DS titles you shot sword beams when finishing the side quests. you guys probably already knew this but im pointing out just in case.

 

[Fullmetal]

I think that the return of sword beams in 3D titles would be interesting, but unncecesary. If you ask me, the should stick to the 2D titles.

 

[DCMN]

I say keep them! They only kill weak enemies, (Bats, rats, etc), and they only stun the larger ones. Then they could be used for puzzles, that require lazers beams?

Pretty much this, could lead to an interesting dungeon.

 

[flaming pickle]

Absolutely. They were great in past games, and will hopefully be in the future games. Possibly SS?

 

[Dr3W21]

I very much think that they should return. They were great in other games (especially LA, due to the fact that they were just as powerful as direct contact), and I think that they would be a great addition to future 3D Zelda Games.

 

[blubb]

As most of you already pointed out: Sword beams + Z-targeting = mega-abusive! That's probably the reason why they were taken away from OoT and the following 3D games (the only exception being Feirce Deity Link, but which I think is just some kind of gimmick). So how could the developers get around that problem? One possibility would be making sword beams cost magic, as it was in MM. Another one would be to simply disable Z-targeting while firing sword beams (they've done something similar already: you couldn't Z-target Fyrus in TP), so the player would have to decide: Either waste arrows but benefit from Z-targeting or conserve them and use sword beams while aiming manually, this decision would be depending on how quickly the enemy moves. Or they could limit the frequency at which you shoot the beams or give them some charging time.
So generally I think that there are many possibilities to re-introduce sword beams to the series without making things too easy. It would be some relief to see more fantasy and magic turn back after the series has advanced so much technologically.

 

[MrLuigi]

A 3D Zelda with sword beams is as easy as taking candy from a baby.

 

[Michael Heide]

It depends how common the hearts to refill your energy are. If they are rarer than, say, in Twilight Princess, and if you can only shoot at full health (like in the 2D Zeldas), then the difficulty increases a lot.

 

[Pocket Asian]

The way I see it, there would have to be certain conditions to use sword beams. First, bring up A Link to the Past. When you first started with the regular sword, it could not fire beams if I recall correctly. Only the Master Sword could do that. I think they would need to implement that into a 3D game if they bring them back. Second, in Majora's Mask, Fierce Deity was given sword beams. The thing about Fierce Deity's sword beams, though, is that they ate up magic. They would also have to put that in a future game so they can't be spammed. Then of course, you need to have full health.

In short, yes, I would like to see them return.