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Thursday 24 January, 2008
GAMEPLAY 2:
During my second gameplay session I came across some other interesting aspects of the game. In both the top right section and bottom left section of the map, there is an infinately repeating screen. In this screen, 3 of the exits lead to an identicle version of the map (or so it seems) and only one of them leads out. I assume there is probably more to this, but I have yet to discover it, and I refuse to use any online walkthrough.
Another interesting aspect of the game is that appearently the levels dont have to be done exactly in order. Although I assume some items are required for doing later levels, and that you have to do them all eventualy to get all of the tri-force; but nevertheless my 2nd dungeon I entered turned out to be the 3rd level.
After beating the second(3rd) dungeon I am up to 5 hearts and I have started to realize that this is both an advantage and disadvantage. As it turns out, when you have full life in this game, you can shoot your sword across the screen. This is extreamly handy in that you dont have to risk being damaged as much. However every time you die and choose to continue, you only respawn with 3 hearts and have to adventure about to get the rest restored. It seems that the further you get in the game, the punishment for dieing is stronger. I definatly think this is a good feature, its both simple and effective.
DESIGN:
What design elements make this a good game?:
I think the fact that this game is easy to pick up and play make it an amazing game. It is very simply, you walk around, pick up items, kill enemies. There are some small easy puzzles, but overall its just fun to bash some baddies and go on your adventure. RPG games get caught up in the story and characters and seem to lose the fun of just going on an adventure, where as this game does not.
What kinds of challenges does the game provide?:
The game has 2 general modes as far as I can tell. There is your standard outdoor world, where you run around slashing through bad guys and finding new areas. Then there is the dungeon world, in the dungeon there are a limited number of rooms. Some rooms provide different challenges such as defeating all the enemies, or pushing some block to open a door. In the second to last room there is always a boss who is gaurding a piece of the tri-force. Each boss has a different scripted encounter in which you must find a way to defeat it.
Who does the game keep these (challenges above) interesting?:
I think the game does so by making each dungeon, and areas of the outdoor world different. Each dungeon also has a different boss, as described above, so you have to find a new way to beat them. Some bosses, or levels require you to have special items. By collecting these items from other dungeons you increase what you character is capable of, and it helps to keep the game interesting.
What ideas does this game give you for your own game project?:
One thing I got out of playing this game, is I realized how annoying tutorials can be. Its nice when a game is just intuitive enough that you can start playing with realitivly little instruction. When I play a game I want to jump right into the bashing of monsters, waiting around while I go through some silly tutorial in every game I play gets annoying.
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