Okay, so, just at a first glance, Legend of Zelda is, currently, a lot like Metroid. I was kind of hoping that it'll at least start off with some kind of story to let me know what I'm actually supposed to be doing but alas. I guess maybe I have to go somewhere to unlock a cutscene? Anyway, here goes my first run of the game.
Like most RPG/adventure games, I get to pick my own name! But I'm going to stick with using Link because I'm unoriginal (and a stickler for being faithful to the character) and I have 3 hearts. I'm going to immediately assume that it's game over when I've run out of them. Hopefully, like with most Mario games, I have the option to regain them come a certain point.
The cave looked a bit ominous so I decided to go to the left, ONLY TO STUMBLE ACROSS A HEARD OF MONSTERS. NOOOOOOO!! It's a lot like with Metroid where you're not THUNKED into the beginning of the map with only one clear route; you have plenty of choices to pick from. The obvious way to go would be the cave but if you're a coward like me, you'd pick the path of the least resistance...
Which is OBVIOUSLY NOT THIS WAY. So I went back to the previous map and went down the cave and got me a sword from an old man. I don't even know how long that old man has been there for, waiting and waiting for somebody to come down those steps to find him...but then HE DISAPPEARED!! Is his only role in this game to arm me with a sword? Such a sad existence!! If you push the A button, you THROW the sword like a LASER. That's friggin' amazing (and also weird but we won't go into schematics here...)
Moving on...
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1 DEATH LATER
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Okay, so I got overly ambitious with trying to kill every monster in the map, but at least I know when to leave things well enough alone now; I know when I'm beat...
Let's try again...but BETTER...
(On another note, monsters do not respawn if you ever wanna backtrack to a previous map. Very nice.)
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ANOTHER DEATH LATER (where the music sounds suspiciously like the battle theme in pokemon...)
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Obviously, I didn't learn my previous lesson all that well...
The nice thing about this game is that you can continue after you die with the things in your inventory and the crystals you picked up without losing them. The downside of that is you'll go back to the very first map you appeared in. A bit annoying, but not bad considering the benefits!
It'll be handy if they provided a map so I knew WHERE TO GO, otherwise I'm kind of just...bumbling around hoping for the best. Although, if I go to the left of the map enough times to find another cave, I do get told to find an old man at the graveyard. Spooky...
I'm assuming that this game relies a lot of visual memory so you know where to go. I don't see the option of a map so unless you actually take note of where you're supposed to go, you'll most likely just end up going around in circles.
I feel like drawing myself a map to keep a track of where I am.
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DRAWING MAPS ARE SO HARD. I DIEEEEEEEEE. I ALWAYS DIEEEEE. I'M ALWAYS LOSTTT!!! Oh mah gaahhhhh...I always die before I can get very far into the game...this is so hard. DX Whyyyyyyyyy...
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Quick Q & A for Legend of Zelda. (Time for some more serious business.)
1. How would you describe the genre of the game? How is this evident in level design, storytelling and gameplay?
Legend of Zelda is an adventure/role playing game. While the world itself is simply designed, the objectives within each map is clearly defined. It reminds me a lot of Pokemon where the moment you try to venture into the tall grass and vast outdoors, you are stopped and given a pokemon to help your journey along. In Legend of Zelda's case, you're free to go about as many maps as you want but you are weaponless and more likely to die than not. You're required to go into the cave, putting your faith in a shadowy place, in hopes it'll turn to your benefit which, indeed, it does. The storytelling is not immediately clear but the gameplay is easy enough to follow through - just keep going until you hit your next destination.
2. How does your chosen game(s) tell its story? Is it successful?
Much like it was with Metroid, I'm not sure what the story for the Legend of Zelda is actually about. I know enough backstory passed from word of mouth from other players but, in my own personal experience with the game, I am utterly lost. This seems to be an ongoing theme but I'm hoping the next game I play will be more forthcoming with the story details. At the very least, enough to give us a basic idea of what we're doing.
3. Does your game encourage exploration? How does this affect the pace/meaning/structure of the narrative?
There are so many routes to pick from and, if you're able to keep yourself alive for long enough, you're more than able to explore through each map and defeat the monsters within them. Like with most RPG games, you are forced to explore the maps to get a general overview of what's to come. In the case of the Legend of Zelda, you're placed in a world full of monsters and your only way forward is to arm yourself and fight. How many fights or maps you have to go through (without a guide) is entirely up to the player. If the player so chooses, they can simply take their time with the maps, exploring every nook and cranny to their liking. It should not affect the storyline in any way as the amount of time you play the game is not counted by the second or the minute. You can spend as little or as long as you want and you'll still possibly get the same result in the end.
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Well, all in all, I actually like playing Legend of Zelda a lot more than Metroid...(sorry, Samus). I'll be trying to play Castlevania next time and, apparently, it's going to be hard...I'm not looking forward to that. XD
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