This Game's AI - Do You Like It or No?

[Ventus]

Well?


I don't like this game's AI personally. The problem with Skyward Sword's AI is that no enemy has a mind of its own. They literally gape at the sight of your sword, and their AI is determined by the placement of your sword whether it's in the air, to the side, in a ditch, whatever. You know the Fishing Rod glitch in Twilight Princess with the final boss? Well, it's applicable with nearly every enemy in Skyward Sword. Nintendo really messed up with this game. Between TP's crappy enemies and lack of difficulty, and this game's loopable AI, I think I'll pick TP.

How would I fix it? Make the AI so that it is proactive - it takes steps ON IT'S OWN TO ATTACK. Make it so the AI is RETROACTIVE - it recalls how you react in certain situations and it adapts to your motions so you have to adopt a new game strategy. Make it so the AI is NOT a joke.

Okay, enough of my ranting. What are your thoughts on SS' AI? How could it be improved?

 

[JuicieJ]

Honesly, since when has Zelda's AI been all that impressive? The enemies are pretty much as intelligent as they were back in the N64 days and in WW. And, hell, it's sure better than the AI in TP. Good Lord, those enemies were idiots...

Thing is, though, the AI worked differently in this game. Enemies were designed to react to the position of the sword instead of just staring at Link and barely defending themselves -- which is why the "fishing rod" thing you mentioned is in the game. That was completley intentional on Nintendo's part, and it added a sense of realism and strategy to the combat. (Seriously, real-world combat involves strategy like that. Getting the enemy to lower his or her guard.) I found the enemies to be smarter than ever before in this game, as they actually reacted to every move you made, whereas in past titles they sat there and let themselves get hit. It was different than what we're used to, which was the entire point of the game. It was a new kind of Zelda. A new formula. A new groundwork. Zelda's not going to be the same anymore with pretty much everything, and that includes the AI in the console games.

Now, I do agree that the enemies could have attacked more in SS, but I can forgive this. It was a new control scheme, so easing us in by getting us used to reading enemies' defenses for once was perfectly fine. I expect the enemies in Zelda Wii U to be more agressive, as we'll be used to the MotionPlus control scheme. You gotta keep that stuff in mind.

 

[MW7]

The AI was alright. Even though enemy interaction makes up a significant portion of the game I still don't think it's worth the trouble of making it amazing (which what your retroactive idea sounds like). I'd much rather see extra sidequests or another dungeon. They easily could have the AI less predictable though by just making some enemies randomly attack you right away instead of standing there like idiots waiting for you to attack. Overall the AI was well above average for the series though, and the only Zelda game that really was good in this respect was Adventure of Link (along with its various faults like being able to exploit several enemies' coding).

 

[link's hat]

i didnt like the enemies in SS sword that much, but just because they were all the same no matter where you went. with a few exceptions. but i thought that the way they fought was ok.

 

[Dragoncat]

I didnt see a problem with it. The quadro babas seemed to be smarter than the average man eating plant...they would either close their mouths, bite me, or switch the direction their mouths were open the instant I hit them. The staldras did similar. They actually moved one of their heads out of the way of my spin attacks.

And not all of the enemies stood around and waited to be attacked. I remember some bokoblins that would turn around and see me and attack on their own.

 

[WikiEezEpic]

i think it was fine

 

[Fig]

Honestly,the AI in Skyward Sword was much better than in Twilight Princess since all you had to was basically wave the Wii Remote like crazy and there, you defeated the enemy. In Skyward Sword, at least the enemies react to the positioning of your sword, so that's a major improvement to the series. Besides, you will have to change your position of your sword in order to deliver an attack to the enemy. Therefore, I don't think the AI wasn't much of a disappointment, but more of an improvement to one of tye greatest franchises in the video game history.

 

[Beckira]

Fighting enemies with AI in Skyward Sword was really irritating, but not because they were challenging. Like a younger sibling repeating everything you say, they were infuriating because they weren't difficult, just repetitive and tedious. I'd like to see more AI like you've suggested here, particularly the retroactive quality. That sounds for incredibly interesting gameplay.

At the same time, I'm more forgiving of Skyward Sword because they're at least taking steps in the right direction. Twilight Princess involved wild swinging of the WiiMote, Skyward Sword was a step above that with more meditated strikes, and I expect the WiiU Zelda to be even further along in the sophistication of random encounters. At least that's what I'm hoping.

 

[Link and Cuccos]

I found the AI in Skyward Sword to be better than previous games. I liked that the enemies were more challenging, especially the simple ones. Also, the skutellas were the hardest in SS. In OoT, they were ridiculously easy. I couldn't believe that I was actually having trouble with a freakin' skutella at the beginning for the first time when I played SS. Nintendo was successful with SS, and I would like them to take the concept they have even further in the Wii U.

 

[Night Owl]

AoL had roughly the same or less in AI capabilities than what is in SS. In AoL, Besides having the enemy be actively engaging you, Darknuts would always shift their guard and make it difficult for you to hit it. It is also a 2-D Side scroller, You didn't have the freedom of movement you did in SS. You couldn't sneak up on enemies and take them out and they would turn around if you got behind them. Jumping at them or rushing them were the only ways to get a cheap hit on some enemies.

SS besides being 3-D, which gives you the ability to attack from any direction, we had more items at our disposal to take out enemies. Rushing and jump attacks made quick work of Bokoblins but if you got into a still fight you were almost in the same predicament as AoL Link with Darknuts. The shield bash also made enemies considerably easier. Of course the enemies slowness to strike was their greatest down fall. Had they been quicker to try to hit you, I'm almost certain the game would've been more difficult.

SS could've been better if the Enemies didn't take so long to strike, and if keese would've attacked like they do in OoT which is without warning.

 

[notdoppler54321]

they`re defintly smarter than tp i like them better cause they aren`t all idots

 

[unknown]

I think that the AI was okay, but it should have increased in difficulty as the game went along, or been more difficult to figure out, unless the bokoblins were more primitive than they seemed as a race. In the grand scheme of things though, when has the AI ever been that great in a zelda game? It just isn't a focus for the game it seems.

 

[Braivety]

I think that would be amazing. If you had to change strategies to kill stuff. Great idea

 

[fused_shadows]

I think the AI in Skyward Sword was easily the best of any Zelda game, which for me satisfied me. I didnt love it, and didnt hate it.

 

[videogamenerd10]

I liked the AI in Skyward Sword. The AI was smart and prevented you from "waggling" your way through the whole game. You had to use strategy in order to beat each enemy and I liked that .