Hi. As the e-mail title suggests, I’ve been pondering the reason why combat in Modern Zelda (namely Skyward Sword) looks and feels so unsatisfying compared to the combat in Classic Zelda. Obviously it has to do with Nintendo’s mentality that everything must be made into puzzles, but there’s got to be something more substantial than that. There’s got to be a physical change in the game design.
Well now I’ve figured it out; Telegraphed Attacks.
In Classic Zelda, there are no telegraphed attacks. The enemies are constantly moving and/or attacking and you have to survive by moving around them and striking when and where they’re weak.
In Modern Zelda, enemies can’t be hurt until they have performed a telegraphed attack. Skyward Sword is full of these kinds of enemies. You can’t kill the Deku Babas until they telegraph the position of their mouth. You can’t kill the Stalfos Knights until they have performed their telegraphed sword attack (this was the same in OoT). And you may recall The Wind Waker’s “parry attack” move, which was simply waiting for a button prompt.
Telegraphed attacks are what turn combat into puzzles, removing any and all real spontaneity and depth from the gameplay. This is a problem I’ve had with other games. I don’t know about you but I can’t stand playing Punch Out. I got the Wii game last year and I always felt it was a glorified puzzle game because it was entirely built around telegraphed attacks. And just recently I got Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which was much better than Punch Out because it gave you choice as to how you fight, but any depth to the combat was ruined by the reliance on telegraphed attacks to create an illusion of strategy. As it stands, the game is just a glorified button-masher.
Super Mario Bros. has no telegraphed attacks. Sonic the Hedgehog has no telegraphed attacks. Contra, Mega Man, Castlevania, Metal Slug have no telegraphed attacks. These games are still awesome for precisely this reason.
This is a good email as you are pointing this out. It is as if the bad guys are waving a flag at you saying, “Hi there! I am going to attack you now! Get ready!” It’s so lame and unexciting.
Another thing that would greatly improve Zelda would be the removal of ‘auto-jumping’. Even WoW has manual jumping in it. Jumping does not deter the ‘mass market’. Jumping would greatly add to the combat of the game. It was extremely satisfying in Zelda II to jump and attack (or maybe a downward thrust). While there is ‘jump sword attacks’ in modern Zelda, it is all automated and feels ridiculous and most unsatisfying.
The few people who think Modern Zelda is the knee’s bees (I suppose they do exist) are lately making the complaint, “You guys say you want to change the formula of Zelda! But all you guys do is say to change it! Where are the specifics?” We’re giving specifics if you guys bother to listen. And most of these specifics were utilized in Classic Zelda.
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