Chapter 895: Redefining Level Design
In terms of puzzle levels, if "Dark Souls" showed the world what RPG level design should be, then "The Legend of Zelda" redefined the very meaning of "level design."
Of course, "Dark Souls" embodies this through a player-torturing approach, filled with despair-inducing traps everywhere, forcing players to suffer repeatedly and seek optimal solutions. Occasionally spotting a bonfire or shortcut almost brings tears of joy. But "The Legend of Zelda" is the exact opposite—a small shrine contains numerous mechanisms and various elements. The only frustration comes from trying many methods without solving it yet, but once solved, players can't stop praising their own cleverness.
The entire puzzle system is divided into three tiers: Korok Seeds - Shrines - Divine Beasts.
Korok Seed puzzles are relatively simple. For example, seeing a ring of lily pads in the water—just jump from a cliff into the center of the pads to find one. A circle of small stones on a mountain—move a nearby stone to fill the gap, and you find another. More complex ones require fishing an iron block from the water and placing it among a pile of iron blocks in a specific shape to find yet another.
Shrine puzzles, however, ramp up the difficulty by a notch.
Shrines come in different types. Some are directly exposed on the surface—enter and challenge immediately. Others are surrounded by thorns, requiring special methods to get in. Some are simply buried underground, only accessible after completing side quests.
For instance, on a certain tower, players encounter a bird-man playing an accordion. After talking to him, they receive a poem. Based on the poem's clues, players must land on a shrine buried in the ground. As time passes, when the tower's shadow overlaps with the shrine's location, they shoot a fire arrow at the tower, activating the shrine.
Some shrines are hidden in mazes. These mazes have walls taller than mountains, impossible to climb when Link's stamina is low. Players truly experience the agony of navigating a labyrinth. But once stamina is maxed out, they can cheat a little by climbing to the top of the maze walls and finding a shortcut.
Inside a shrine, players must use all their abilities to trigger various mechanisms. Sometimes, it requires not just intelligence but also quick reflexes. For example, some mechanisms demand players jump at a precise moment and use Link's time-slowing ability to shoot a distant switch. Less dexterous players may need many attempts to succeed.
The puzzle elements in the four Divine Beasts and the final boss battle reach the highest difficulty. Players must apply the experience and knowledge gained from shrine trials to clear them.
Before the Divine Beast battles, Link must enter the villages of the Champions, complete main quests, and gain NPC assistance.
In the first phase of a Divine Beast battle, Link cooperates with NPCs to approach the beast. While fending off its ranged attacks, he shoots arrows at its red weak points to stop it.
In the second phase, Link enters the Divine Beast's interior to complete a complex puzzle level. These levels are far larger in scale than shrines, with difficulty skyrocketing. Each Divine Beast's level is meticulously designed to match its unique characteristics. For example, the Water Divine Beast is an elephant. After gaining partial control, Link can manipulate the elephant's trunk to rise or lower, climbing to its head, or using water sprayed from the trunk to blast open mechanisms and access previously unreachable areas.
Moreover, these Divine Beast interiors are fully three-dimensional levels—not just layered floors. Different parts affect each other, requiring players to have strong spatial thinking to solve puzzles. To accommodate this design, "The Legend of Zelda" even uses 3D cutaway views as maze maps.
The four Divine Beasts are: the elephant in the southeastern wetlands, the lizard in the northeastern volcano, the camel in the southwestern desert, and the eagle in the northwestern mountains. Each corresponds to a unique region and village, with distinct customs, cultures, and side quests. For instance, the wetlands are home to the Zora (fish-people), the mountains to the Rito (bird-people), and the desert to a village of women—Link must even cross-dress to enter.
In the third phase, Link battles a phantom of Ganon in a boss fight. Each phantom has different abilities, difficulty levels, and strategies. After defeating Ganon's phantom, Link officially tames the Divine Beast, gaining special Champion blessings and exclusive Champion weapons.
Even harder than these is the Trial of the Sword.
In this trial, players cannot bring any weapons or equipment—everything starts from scratch. From picking up small branches on the ground to defeat the weakest Bokoblins, gradually acquiring better weapons, the battle difficulty skyrockets. It's a true ultimate challenge—fail midway, and you must start over. Even confident hardcore players may need many attempts to clear it.
If "Dark Souls" takes a single level design style and pushes it to its extreme, then "The Legend of Zelda" is a dazzling display of variety—from easy to hard, simple to complex, covering everything. Players always get completely different experiences in the game.
In terms of combat systems, "The Legend of Zelda" is equally excellent.
If Souls-like combat created a new model for melee weapon games in the parallel world, then "The Legend of Zelda" tells everyone what else melee combat can do beyond that style.
Beyond classic elements like shield circling, parrying, dodging, and stealth backstabs, "The Legend of Zelda" offers richer choices in many areas. For example, smoother archery techniques and various elemental arrows, Link's time-slowing ability triggered by perfect dodges or mid-air bow draws, weapons usable normally or thrown, shields even usable as surfboards...
The most controversial aspect is the weapon durability system.
In other games, when weapon durability runs out, you can repair it, and it's as good as new. But in "The Legend of Zelda," when durability depletes, the weapon is completely destroyed. To get it again, you must farm for it—except for the story-given Sword of Evil's Bane (Master Sword).
Upon first encountering this, most players feel extremely uncomfortable. "I just got a great weapon, and it breaks after a few uses? Then I, a noble hero recognized by the Sword of Evil's Bane, have to fight with Bokoblin clubs? I can't bear to use good weapons!"
After collecting a bunch of cool and powerful weapons, players find they can't bear to use any of them. In the end, only the indestructible Sword of Evil's Bane feels safe to use—chopping trees, cutting grass, no problem!
The mighty Master Sword reduced to such a state—truly a lamentable sight...