|
Garr's The Legend of Zelda (NES)
|
| [February 18, 2007 02:09:07 PM]
|
Gamelog assignment from the classics list session 2 due 2/23
Start Time: 9:45am
End Time: 10:40am
As I began my second session in Zelda I realized I remember a lot of the game and I was able to bust through the second dungeon in no time. I think one of the most exciting and entrancing parts of Zelda is the music. I get excited the second I turn the game and hear the wonderful theme song playing through with pride. Also the repetitious music played in the dungeons is so compelling in the sense of spooky and dangerous. The music is major play back of good old times when I played Zelda as a kid. I think the use of the same music over and over in the game would be something frowned upon in games made now days but it also engraves the feeling of the game into a song so that any time you hear it you think of the excitement of the game. Also the sound effects of killing monsters, the boss breathing hard, being damaged, all these sound make the game play even more exciting.
I believe the one thing that all players feel after a session of Zelda is pride. Proud of figuring out the puzzle, proud that I beat the fourth dungeon, proud that I beat the whole game. Unlike most game Zelda doesn’t make players more powerful if they continue to kill random monsters and just ignore the story. The bragging rights come from beating parts of the game, experiencing one of the best designed games of all time. There certainly is a thrill from killing monsters and just exploring the gameworld but the game relies on delayed gratification of getting through short term goals that lead to the ultimate goal of beating the game. I would like to know more story throughout the gameplay just because Zelda is such an interesting game I would like to know what’s going on as I play, but I enjoy the original Zelda better then any of the newer Zelda games that have a defined story so the style of letting the player image what’s going on is very effective.
Zelda is an amazing game in all accounts even though there are major design features missing such as story, instruction, and setting but the game still flows. I believe that even though this is a very analyzed game that came out many years ago, it is a more complex design that in some senses is more evolved than most games that are made in present day. Zelda could teach us a lot about making games that let the player experience rather than showing the player a experience.
add a comment 
|
| [February 18, 2007 12:33:31 PM]
|
Gamelog assignment from the classics list due 2/23
Start Time: 8:20am
End Time: 9:10am
The Legend of Zelda is a game that defined the adventure genre and even though I have played through and beat the game in the past I found myself drawn to playing it again for this assignment because I still enjoy its style and puzzles. Zelda Is very unique in the fact that the game begins without explanation or tutorial and lets the player figure out the controls abilities and story through playing the game. Even finding the dungeons takes skill or random luck because you don’t get pointed in the direction of the next dungeon after beating the previous one. The whole game lets the player figure things out for themselves. Though this would seem like a bad thing for most games especially with current games that have dozens of bottoms combos and features but in this classic NES game it lets the player explore and learn which surprisingly increases the gameplay experience.
When I started playing again for this assignment I realized how much I enjoy this top down style of game play because it allows for a cool style of fighting and dodging enemies. I found that dodging enemy fire is still hard even with my increased gaming skill from when I last played the game. The enemies are well thought out in the sense of being hard yet beatable. I found the enemies that pop out of the sand hard to deal with but the move back when you hit them so as long as you keep them in front of you its very doable. As for the level design, everything is masterful from the outside gameworld to the perfectly constructed dungeons. The dungeons are especially well done in the sense that there are puzzles that must be done in order and there are secrets to get to but everything is logical and possible for the player to figure out. For example, the player may see there’s an extra room on the map but no door to get there so the player places a bomb on the wall and BOOM! you solved the puzzle. For a game without instructions Zelda is very user friendly.
The core game mechanic is pretty simple: shoot sword if you have full health otherwise run up and stab the monster, find a way to open the door by getting a key or pushing a block, throw boomerang to stop enemy then run up and hit him. The amount of options available continue to grow as the player beats dungeons such as acquiring the ladder to get across small bodies of water. This reward of more items/abilities and more health keeps the player interested because the levels get harder but the items get better thus rewarding the player for continued play. Even though there are a number of rewards then game can still get incredible frustrating because the puzzles get increasingly difficult. The main problem I have ran across is finding the next dungeon which makes it hard to progress the game by beating a dungeon if you can’t find it.
The uniqueness of Zelda is unmatched by any game to date because it allows the player to experience the game for themselves rather than being led through and experience.
add a comment
|
|
|
 |
Garr's The Legend of Zelda (NES)
|
|
Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 18 February, 2007
|
|
