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Friday 25 January, 2008
Gamelog #2 Entry 2
GAMEPLAY:
My second attempt at Zelda was not as enjoyable as my first couple hours playing. This could be because I was not playing it with anyone or because my nostalgia had lessened. The game became very repetitive and I find myself not caring about Link’s health. Before I was careful not to lose life and very meticulous with my actions. The lack of storyline has definitely contributed to my detachment from the game. There is no story line throughout the game, at first this was fine as I remembered the basic storyline of the game but now it seems like I was just running around randomly killing monsters.
The games use of rubies as a way to buy new items also made me unenthusiastic to play. Many of the items in the game seem overpriced and when they are finally attainable, they are the most part a lackluster. An example of this was for a new shield I had saved up for my entire time playing Zelda which ended up being only slightly better than the one I began with. The over priced and underwhelming items in the game definitely did not create an incentive for me to keep playing the game.
The other problem that ruined my game play experience was that there were items that were mandatory to progress through dungeons in the game that cost hard earned rubies. In my opinion this was flawed, I feel that items should enhance you as advance through the game, not be required. The expensive items required to advance made the game very repetitive and underwhelming.
DESIGN:
The world that Link lives in is very vast compared to many other NES games. For the hours I have played I have just become familiar with land and am no where near mastering it. One aspect of the world that I most admired was that when entering a new area, the entire screen shift to show the place you were entering. This kept me in suspense as I never knew what type of monster I would be facing until the screen shifted into the new zone.
One aspect of design that I did not enjoy was the reward system. As you progress through the game you get new weapons, items, and health. There is no “experience” for killing enemies, only rubies to collect and new items to buy. This is the main reason I prefer games such as final fantasy, where you gain levels and learn new abilities as you progress.
Another problem with the design was the sound. I am aware that they are only working with 8 bit sound but the tremendously repetitive dungeon tracks are just not enjoyable. At one point I had to mute the sound for fear of insanity. While the tunes for wandering around Hyrule are fun and catchy, the repetitive dungeon tracks did not enhance the level design.
The best part of game design for Zelda was the variety of secret areas and destructible environments. These were a very creative use of the gameworld space which strengthens the game replay value. Secret areas are definitely something I would like to put into my game because of the rewarding feeling of discovery. I feel this greatly improves the game by creating an environment that feels interactive. The player is able to engage the environment as well as the enemies, putting them in control of the gameworld. The secret areas and destructible environment make this game much more interactive and more enjoyable to be in.
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