17 Windbound
Like Breath of the Wild, 5 Live Studios’ Windbound is an incredibly ambitious game that blends together elements from multiple genres. The art styles are pretty similar as well, as too are some of the methods used to traverse each game’s massive open world. Granted, the one found in Windbound is quite a bit smaller and broken up into smaller chunks, not to mention sparsely populated when compared to Hyrule, yet this actually plays into the game’s survival theme pretty well.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, these survival elements bring with them cooking and crafting mechanics; both of which play an important role in keeping the playable character Kara alive. This is going to be vital while playing on the Survivalist difficulty, as dying will send players all the way back to the first chapter. Players can, of course, lower the difficulty setting to lessen the impact of death, which can in turn lead to a more laid-back experience.
10 Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact took the world by storm when it was released in late 2020 and remains incredibly popular to this day. Sure, it doesn’t offer anywhere near as much depth as Breath of the Wild, but it arguably provides a lot more content thanks to its constant updates and events. Better still, it features a fairly decent multiplayer mode and is also free to play.
Microtransactions may tarnish the experience somewhat, but, as in any game, they are optional and are not an essential part of the experience. Gameplay can become a little repetitive too, although this isn’t as noticeable as in other games thanks to the breathtaking environments and charming art style.
Recorder Wrong Warping
Fiskbit: Regarding the technical stuff: The raft and whirlwind both set Link’s direction when picking him up. Because Link gets picked up by the raft second, his direction is set to up, which determines the scroll direction. Because he’s in the whirlwind, the recorder destination (which is one screen left of the target level) is used as the screen he’s scrolling from, and the direction from the raft makes him scroll up.
Fun fact: Both the whirlwind and the raft are controlling Link’s position. The whirlwind modifies only his X position, while the raft only modifies his Y position, so he winds up moving diagonally while being carried by both.
Other Technical Information
There are a lot of small interactions and weird corner cases in this game. Here’s a section of the site dedicated to them.
Routes
Routing of this game changes all the time. But here are some resources.
If you’re better than that, you need to start looking at routes used by top runners, and do research.
Here’s some of that research:
Some notable historical routes:
Saver had an sub-30 run early, that skipped the Magic Sword. It’s a tough route, but valid, though the video has been lost to the public.
7. Stallord (Twilight Princess)
Image via Nintendo
Stallord is a giant skeleton of an ancient beast brought to life by Zant, one of the biggest baddies of Twilight Princess. Located in the desert-inspired Arbiter’s Grounds temple, Stallord is partly buried in the sand, which forces Link to move around using the Spinner, a skateboard that resembles a Beyblade. The player needs to stay above the Spinner while riding tracks on the wall to avoid attacks before finding an opening to spin towards Stallord’s fragile bone spine. There are smaller enemies in the way, and if Link hits anything, he gets thrown away from the Spinner. It’s an adrenaline-infused battle that uses the most of the Spinner. But, wait, there’s more!
Once the boss is defeated and the victory music starts playing, the sand disappears, and Link needs to activate a lock to get out of the room. Then, a massive stone pillar elevates from the center of the arena, Stallord’s head starts to float around, and a second surprise battle begins. Now, Link needs to climb the stone pillar with the Spinner while evading the fireballs shot by Stallord’s head and trying to hit the boss. The Legend of Zelda is usually a pretty straightforward franchise, so a surprise battle is always appreciated.
4. Monk Maz Koshia (Breath of the Wild)
Image via Nintendo
There’s a lot to love about how Breath of the Wild takes The Legend of Zelda franchise into a whole new direction. Unfortunately, there’s a lot to dislike, too, since Breath of the Wild has only four actual temples and the boss battles are, in general, disappointing. It was a great surprise, then, that The Champion’s Ballad DLC gifts us with one of the best bosses of The Legend of Zelda franchise.
Monk Maz Koshia guides Link through Hyrule, asking the Hero to undergo a series of trials to prove his worth. Once all the challenges are complete, the mummified monk stands up and reveals himself as the ultimate challenge. Link is immediately transported to a floating arena in the sky, where Breath of the Wild’s most demanding battle occurs.
Monk Maz Koshia doesn’t hold any punches. He’s fast, hits hard, can become a giant that creates shockwaves, and uses copies of himself to take Link down. The fight has three distinct phases, and Link needs to perfectly dodge or deflect a lot of the boss’s attacks even to have the opportunity to hit him. It’s the perfect challenge for players who have fully upgraded Link and one terrific addition to Breath of the Wild, well worth the DLC price.
9. Stalblind (A Link Between Worlds)
Image via Nintendo
A Link Between Worlds reuses A Link to the Past’s Hyrule to offer a whole new adventure, with upgraded versions of most of the bosses we’ve already beaten on the Super Nintendo. While still familiar, the 3DS game becomes unique by including a brand new ability that allows Link to fuse with walls. A Link Between Worlds’ best boss battles, of course, use this new mechanic.
Many boss battles in A Link Between Worlds force Link to merge with a wall to avoid attacks or force an enemy to hit against it. However, only one fight makes the player think outside the box and merge with the boss itself. Stalblind is the skeletal version of A Link to the Past’s Blind, now holding a giant sword and a shield that deflects all of Link’s attacks. Unfortunately, Stalblind’s arena is also floating in the darkness, with no walls to use. So how to defeat the boss? Merge with its shield and uses his confusion to hit it in the back! Stalblind eventually throws away its shield and sends his head floating around to shoot Link, like in the original encounter. However, the added puzzle mechanic elevates the boss fight and uses the most of the wall-merging mechanic, as well.
Story
Image via Nintendo
Set roughly a few years after the events of Breath of the Wild, Hyrule faces a new threat as the evil aura known as “gloom” has been seeping out of the deep depths below the Hyrule Castle. Link and Zelda go down to investigate, only to end up separated, with Zelda missing and Link losing his vitality (a euphemism for losing all of his heart containers and stamina, really). This kicks off the search for the Princess, awakening the sages and adventuring across the land to face the Demon King, Ganondorf.
The story is pretty par for the course for a Zelda title, Ganondorf is trying to take over Hyrule and you’ve got to stop him. But each game manages to spice it up a bit, and Tears of the Kingdom gives you a new look at the beginning of the kingdom of Hyrule that is candy to Zelda lore fans like me. There are beautifully animated cutscenes, and plenty of environmental storytelling to keep you invested between finding those cutscenes in the overworld.
Compelling and epic, Tears of the Kingdom delivers on almost every storytelling front. However, the voice acting is still a bit clunky, just like its predecessor. It feels more like a dubbed anime, which is not the end of the world, but it can definitely take you out of the moment. Zelda is still a bit new to the voice acting game, and they will have a little catching up to do still.
The Legend of Zelda — 1986 год
Как и Super Mario, серию The Legend of Zelda придумал Сигэру Миямото — японский геймдизайнер, один из самых именитых и талантливых в истории игровой индустрии. Изначально Nintendo наняла молодого Миямото на должность художника, но в итоге он придумал множество игровых миров, которые до сих пор приносят японской компании огромные деньги.
Фотография: Wikimedia Commons
Первую The Legend of Zelda геймдизайнер создал для консоли NES в 1986 году — через полгода после релиза Super Mario Bros. На приключение остроухого воина Линка, спасающего принцессу Зельду и вымышленный мир Хайрул, повлияли детские воспоминания разработчика: будучи юнцом, он любил гулять по лесам за городом Киото. Во время одной из таких прогулок Миямото наткнулся на пещеру, которую захотел немедленно исследовать
Похожие эмоции и такой же трепет перед неизведанным геймдизайнер затем захотел вызывать у игроков — поэтому в серии The Legend of Zelda особое внимание уделяется пещерам, подземельям и изучению мира.
Скриншоты: игра The Legend of Zelda (1986) / Nintendo
Скриншоты: игра The Legend of Zelda (1986) / Nintendo
Скриншоты: игра The Legend of Zelda (1986) / Nintendo
Первая «Зельда» значительно отличается от того, что предлагает Super Mario Bros. The Legend of Zelda — не платформер, а экшен, и вместо вида сбоку там проекция сверху. К тому же Линк, в отличие от Марио, может перемещаться в любом направлении, чтобы исследовать огромный фэнтезийный мир. Сам Линк при этом — одетый в зелёную тунику представитель эльфоподобной сказочной расы Хилиан. Впрочем, сходство со знаменитым водопроводчиком у героя всё-таки есть: Линк, как и Марио, всеми силами старается спасти принцессу. Вообще, сюжеты практически всех частей «Зельды» — типичные мономифы, где герою, чтобы достигнуть цели, необходимо пройти сложный путь, переполненный испытаниями, в результате измениться и, конечно, восстановить во вселенной равновесие сил.
«Обычный мальчик оказывается вовлечён в череду невероятных событий и становится героем. В рамках этой концепции я хотел создать игру, где у игрока действительно создавалось бы впечатление, будто он путешествует по большому миру, исследует его, знакомится с его историей», — подчеркнул Сигэру Миямото.
В конце 1980-х восьмибитный Хайрул поражал масштабами и дарованной степенью свободы. Игрок сам мог решать, какой участок на карте исследовать в первую очередь. Пройти игру в один заход было весьма непросто, поэтому разработчики задумались о возможности сохранять прогресс — и в итоге The Legend of Zelda стала одной из первых игр с функцией сохранения. Приключения Линка в Хайруле цепляли и запоминающейся музыкой. В то время в играх уже можно было услышать разные музыкальные мотивы, но после релиза первой «Зельды» другие разработчики стали гораздо чаще задумываться о создании качественной музыки и проработке саунд-дизайна в видеоиграх.
The Legend of Zelda должна была стать ролевой игрой, но в процессе разработки Сигэру Миямото и его команда отказались от привычных систем опыта и прокачки и, по сути, изобрели новый жанр — приключенческий экшен, где герой развивается и получает новые способности после того, как находит спрятанные на локациях уникальные предметы. Авторы даже спроектировали для хранения найденных вещей специальное меню, своего рода инвентарь. Сейчас подобными меню никого не удивишь, но тогда это было смелым шагом со стороны геймдизайнеров.
Картридж The Legend of Zelda с мануалом. Фото: Amazon
«Я хотел привнести в видеоигру дух приключений. Люди, которые в то время играли в компьютерные ролевые игры, хвастались силой своих мечников и звонили друг другу по вечерам, чтобы обменяться информацией. Мне показалось это интересным», — вспоминал Миямото причины создания первой The Legend of Zelda.
The Legend of Zelda стала бестселлером консоли NES — к 2019 году продажи игры составили 6,5 млн копий.
#7 Snowpeak Ruins — Twilight Princess
Similar to Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess had some excellent dungeons to explore, and Snowpeak Ruins is certainly one of the best. It’s not really a dungeon, but rather an abandoned mansion now inhabited by two yeti lovers known as Yeto and Yeta. The Mirror of Twilight has made Yeto’s wife ill, and players are tasked with retrieving a key required to unlock the room it’s stored in.
However, Yeta keeps accidentally directing the player to various soup ingredients which are as useful as they are comedic. Players can bring those ingredients to Yeto and get some awesome healing soup out of the deal. Snowpeak Ruins has such a unique vibe because of all the goofy interactions between Link and the yetis, but also because of its interesting location.
Twilight Princess
Similar to The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess gives players the ability to traverse and view Hyrule from two perspectives. Obviously, there is the regular Link as a Hylian trying to stop Zant and Ganondorf’s plot. Then there is Link’s wolf form which allows him to view things from the Twilight Realm version of Hyrule.
Solving puzzles, defeating dungeons, and interacting with NPCs as Hylian and Wolf Link make Hyrule even more expansive with so many hidden details exclusive to each form. Of course, you also have mysterious locations such as Snowpeak Manor with little to no explanation but fit within the bleak world.
The Hero is Defeated
This storyline is a little more straight-forward than the other two (which are intertwined), and it involves the defeat of Link at the hands of Ganondorf during the events of Ocarina of Time, who is then sealed away within the Dark World that he has created. This timeline also features the most games from the Zelda series on it. According to official sources, the “Hero is Defeated” timeline is covered by A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, Oracle of Seasons & Ages, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, The Legend of Zelda, and finally, The Adventure of Link, in chronological order.
All of these games involve periods in which Hyrule rises to prosperity only to fall again. They also involve several points in which Link and Zelda defeat Ganon, seal him away, destroy him, or otherwise block his resurgence (which is due to the many enemies that keep trying to resurrect him or take his power). The seven sages of the game world are also frequent targets in these games. Ultimately, the timeline ends with Link defeating Ganon at the end of Adventure of Link.
The Fire Temple
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (1998)
The Fire Temple dungeon is filled with a red mist from the lava that’s always beneath Link’s feet and enemies such as Like-Likes, Flying Tiles, and flaming skulls that fly add a creep factor to the location. The Fire Temple is also a large maze that gives a sense of claustrophobia as well as the feeling that Link could be burned alive at any moment.
What really delivers on the creepiness, however, is the music that is slow and ominous. It gives the idea that something is going to pop around the corner and scare the player. It gets even scarier when some copies of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have an alternative track that features a terrifying chanting.
4 Anodyne
Anodyne looks and plays like a 2D Zelda game from the SNES era and features some equally eclectic scenes and settings as well. Due to it having been released more than two decades later though, it’s perhaps a lot less visually impressive than those classic Zelda titles once were. That’s not to say that it isn’t enjoyable though, nor that it doesn’t still look great when viewed in the right light.
A sequel to the game was also released a little earlier this year and, much like Oceanhorn 2, it sees a somewhat dramatic shift in art style and perspective. It too looks a lot more Breath of the Wild than its predecessor, although struggles to measure up to either due to its muted color palette and an overall lack of charm.
Adventuring
Image via Nintendo
While this is the same Hyrule from Breath of the Wild in terms of lore, it manages to be different anyway. Adventuring is one of the biggest draws for Zelda, and Tears of the Kingdom is no different. It was insane that in Breath of the Wild, you were able to just run straight to the final boss with a stick in your underwear, and its sequel really doesn’t want you to do that. You are encouraged to turn stones, look around and just generally get up to some tomfoolery.
Brand new areas are ripe for exploring in the sky and underground with the sky islands and the chasms that have appeared since the upheaval, and I’ve had a blast running around and using the new Zonai devices to cause some mayhem. Even the original overworld is new to explore, Koroks are in new spots, there are caves to spelunk in and new settlements have been built since Link defeated Calamity Ganon that you can run around in. Even though it’s technically the same Hyrule, it feels fresh, and it’s rewarding and just plain fun to explore it all.
Drops
Drop Rates
The chance of getting a drop from group A is 80/256 = 31%.
Group B: 104/256 = 41%
Group C: 152/256 = 59%
Group D: 104/256 = 41%
Forced drops
However there are also the consecutive kill counters. Kill 10 enemies without getting hit (by an enemy, even a non-damaging bubble, or by the whirlwind from the recorder) and you’ll get a forced, guaranteed 5 rupee drop from the next enemy that drops items (not in the X group). Kill the 10th enemy with a bomb instead, and instead of a 5 rupee you’ll get a forced, guaranteed bomb drop!
Kill 16 enemies in a row and you get a fairy drop forced, but only if the 16th enemy is capable of dropping an item (not in the X group).
Note that if the 10th enemy does not drop items (in the X group), then killing that enemy with a bomb means the next drop that does happen will be a bomb. Killing that 10th enemy with the sword or any thing else will mean the next drop will be a rupee, even if you kill the next-dropping enemy with a bomb. It’s the actual 10th enemy kill that counts, not the succeeding enemy that drops items.
However if the 16th enemy does not drop items, the fairy drop will be skipped entirely, and another one will not happen unless you get hit and the counters reset.
In some rooms that drop an item (such as the 5-Stalfos room in Level 1 that gives a key at the end), one enemy will act like it was holding the drop like a stalfos with a visible key, or a gibdo with a visible bomb. As a result, that enemy will never drop anything, and it will be able to store a forced drop and/or bypass a fairy drop, just like enemies that never drop items.
Note that splitting a Zol into two Gels, or splitting a Vire into two Keese, will not count as a kill or a consecutive kill. Killing one of those split Gels or Keese will not count as a kill for drops, but will count as a consecutive kill. Yes, there are some circumstances that are an exception to this. If the Zol is trapped against a barrier, it can sometimes trigger an extra ‘kill’ that way. A kill sound in place of a split sound indicates that this has happened. This does not occur with Vires.
Further note: Multiple simultaneous kills will not take you past 10 on the consecutive kill counter, per Darkwing Duck. If they would take you past 10 they leave you at 10 instead.
Advanced strategies: If a forced bomb/rupee or forced fairy drops, the consecutive counter for bombs/rupees is reset, but not the counter for fairies. So no matter how many hits you get on Manhandla with one well-placed bomb, the 10 count is reset after defeating him. The same is true of Dodongo. Likewise with a «Hippo Fairy» (going into a Patra with 7 on the consecutive counters, so that the Patra’s center will be kill #16 and get a fairy), the bomb/rupee count resets to 0. Credit to Khananaphone for this discovery.
This means that if you get a forced fairy drop, the next consecutive bomb/rupee kill will not be at 20. It will be at 26. So bomb/rupee drops work in one of two methods:
- 10, (Fairy at 16), 26, 36, 46…
- 10, (Skip fairy at 16 by killing non-dropping enemy), 20, 30, 40…
Credit to Darkwing Duck for this discovery.
Неразгаданная тайна острова Мекар в Дыхание дикой природы
Прямо к западу от леса Корок находится остров Мекар, скалистое плато, которое возвышается над водой таким образом, чтобы защитить единственное безжизненное дерево, которое существует посреди небольшого обнажения, от течений реки внизу. Остров, названный в честь Макара из приключения Zelda: The Wind Waker, бьют сильные ветры, которые дуют с суши во всех направлениях, что делает полет на параплане сложной задачей. Если Линк заберется на дерево и встанет в центре, сильный ветер начнет дуть на восток, но сразу же прекратится при спуске.
Сам ландшафт маленький, бесплодный и усеян костями животных. На земле лежит валун, который обычно содержит семя корока, но когда этот своеобразный и неуместный валун поднимается, Линк может найти простой кремень. Под веткой дерева горит огонь, и если Линк отдохнет в этом месте (или быстро переместится туда в темноте), из земли появится комбинация из девяти Сталкоблинов, Сталмоблинов и Стализальфоса. Тем не менее, это одни из самых могущественных противников-сталей Breath of the Wild, поскольку они вооружены высокоуровневым снаряжением, таким как оружие из кости дракона, стальные луки и даже бомбовые стрелы. Можно было бы ожидать какой-то награды за победу над девятью могущественными врагами в ближнем бою, но игрокам ничего не дается взамен за выполнение этой сложной задачи, что делает включение этого острова еще более загадочным.
На некоторые вопросы можно будет получить ответы, когда где-то в 2023 году выйдет прямое продолжение, Breath of the Wild 2. исследовать Королевство Хайрул, создавая теории о происхождении древних реликвий и племен. Будем надеяться, что некоторые из оставшихся загадок, найденных в The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , будут раскрыты в ближайшие годы, поскольку они, несомненно, продолжат расследование страстное сообщество.
2 Guardian Slideshow
The Guardian Slideshow quest can be activated by talking with Loone at Puffer Beach near the Faron Sea. Link will need to take pictures of three different types of Guardian enemies; Guardian Stalkers, Guardian Skywatchers, and Guardian Scouts. Guardian Stalkers can be easily found below Central Tower and Guardian Skywatchers are common around Akkala Tower. For Guardian Scouts, players will need to travel to a shrine that issues the challenge A Minor, Modest, or Major Test of Strength. Showing Loone the three pictures will award Link the ancient orb that he can then place on the nearby pedestal to activate the Shoqa Tatone Shrine.
3 Hob
Many people wrote Hob off as just another Breath of the Wild clone when it was first released, but there is far more to it than that. Granted, the game’s art style is incredibly similar, it’s full of engaging puzzles and it features a silent protagonist, but these things are typically implemented in their own unique ways.
The manner by which the world opens up as players solve puzzles and unlock new powers offers a nice twist on some of the classic Metroidvania titles and combat is both intuitive and rewarding in equal measures. In many ways, the sci-fi setting feels like the perfect combination of Breath of the Wild and the PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn.
Загадки BOTW — Где была Зельда во время содержания Бедствия Ганона?
В течение ста лет, проведенных главным героем Линком в Храме Воскресения, принцесса Зельда была оставлена содержать Бедствие Ганона в стенах замка Хайрул. Понятно, что она не в физическом мире, так как ее нигде не найти в самом замке, но она может поддерживать открытую линию связи с Линком на протяжении всех событий игры, предположительно посредством телепатии. Первоначально некоторые предположили, что в ее борьбе с Бедствием Ганон до BOTWВ основной истории Зельда была перенесена в Священное Царство, священный мир, навсегда связанный с Хайрулом, который, как говорят, является местом упокоения Трифорса. Однако это мнение было развеяно, когда стало известно, что Зельда, похоже, не постарела за сто лет содержания, что несовместимо с тем, что произошло бы, если бы она действительно жила в Священном Царстве.
Когда происходит общение между Линком и Зельдой, голос Зельды сопровождается светом, который, кажется, исходит из похожего на кокон аппарата, в котором заключен Бедствие Ганон. Однако, когда Линк разрывает кокон после входа в замок, появляется только Бедствие Ганон. Это подтверждает теорию о том, что Зельда в Breath of the Wildнаходится в ловушке внутри самого зверя, не физически, а в духовном смысле, поедая Бедствие, как паразит, со временем ослабляя его. Это также может быть то, как она может проецировать слабые места на Каламити Ганон, когда она помогает Линку во время финальной битвы. Конкретное местонахождение Зельды остается загадкой, но эта теория кажется вполне возможной.
Skipping Patras
Walking through Patras is a special case. It turns out that the orbiting eyes of the Patra don’t actually exist hitbox-wise right away. This gives you time to walk through them. This is important for being able to actually skip the first Patra in level 9, when going toward the Old Man who talks about the Next Room. It’s also great for trying to skip the second Patra, on the way back from the Silver Arrows, going toward Gannon.
Note that when walking through that first Patra, there’s a trick to it. You can’t just walk through the door. You have to hesitate after unlocking the door, before going through, and stabbing your way through the eye that will otherwise hit you.
Skipping the second Patra going toward the Silver Arrows is a matter of getting a good pattern of movement, and getting your block clip quickly and accurately.
Sadly the Patra before Gannon cannot be skipped with present knowledge.
Additionally, in Level 9 there’s a special «reverse» block clip that’s very useful to get done quickly, to get out of the wizzrobe room immediately south of the Silver Arrows. It’s in theory a standard block clip, but it’s coming from the opposite direction most runners do a block clip from, and it’s under immense time pressure.
14 Darksiders 2
The Darksiders series has gone through many changes since first making its debut back in 2010. There are some pretty big differences between its four entries, but many consider the second of these, Darksiders 2, to be the franchise at its absolute best. The Deathinitive Edition of the game, which was released in 2015 is hands down the best way to experience it.
At its heart, the game is an action RPG with hack and slash elements and some wonderfully thought-out puzzles. In this regard, it’s easy to draw similarities between it and Breath of the Wild, though the tone and color palette of Gunfire Games’ title is often a lot darker. There’s not quite as much to see and do either, although it will still provide completionists with more than 40 hours of entertainment.
Вне божественного зверя Вах Наборис
Вернитесь в город Герудо , наденьте одежду, чтобы представить, что вы девушка, и отправляйтесь в дальний конец города , чтобы еще раз поговорить с вождем Риджу . Вооружившись Громовым Шлем , она предложит помочь вам начать битву с Божественным чудовищем Вахом Наборисом .
Когда все будет готово, возьмите напрокат песчаную печать и отнесите ее к маркеру на карте. Возьмите золотой лук изнутри здания (это круто, потому что позволяет увеличивать масштаб) и поднимитесь по лестнице наверх, где Риджу даст вам 20 бомбовых стрел .
Перед тем как начать, самое время надеть резиновые колготки . Впереди много молний (и даже в конце этой миссии), так что они не повредят. Нет резиновых колготок? Ознакомьтесь с нашим путеводителем по святилищу Шае Катха.
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План? Оседлайте своих морских котиков и выстрелите Ваху Наборасу в ноги. На самом деле это довольно просто. Вам даже не нужно беспокоиться о том, чтобы управлять своим песчаным котлом. Просто сконцентрируйтесь на стрельбе по ногам.
6. Mazaal (The Minish Cap)
Image via Nintendo
The Minish Cap’s unique ability makes Link shrink down and explore a whole new Hyrule hidden in plain sight, so bosses who incorporate this size-changing ability are obviously well-ranked. Mazaal comes first by the way it not only uses a unique ability but also forces the player to think fast and juggle all their tools to defeat it.
Inspired by Aztec idols, Mazaal tries to grab Link with its colossal stone hands. It wouldn’t be a Nintendo game if Mazaal didn’t have weak spots on its hands that need to be hit both with the arrows and then with the sword to stun the boss. While Mazaal is on the ground, Link must use the Minish Cap to shrink down and go inside the stone colossus, destroying pillars that hold it together. After Link hits the first pillar, Mazaal fills his insides with sand, forcing the player to quickly equip the Mole Mitts to dig around and find the right pillar to hit. This is a puzzle battle that uses Link’s diverse arsenal and special abilities, making it highly memorable.
8 Hyper Light Drifter
The 8-bit art style found in Hyper Light Drifter predates even the very first Zelda title, but while the game looks pretty different to any of Link’s adventures, it can end up playing fairly similarly at times. Combat is fast and frantic and there’s a decent variety of enemies; just as there are in Zelda games.
For as simplistically rendered as the game’s world is, there’s still plenty to explore and players are encouraged to do so by the inclusion of numerous secret areas. The game’s menacing tone will likely remind players of the dark world in A Link to the Past too, although the vastly different art styles make it difficult to draw too many visual comparisons.
8. Crayk (Phantom Hourglass)
Image via Nintendo
Both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks deserve a lot more love than they get. Yes, they have their issues, but using the DS double screen as a boss-battling mechanic is a genius stroke. The best example of how two screens can be creatively used in unique challenges is Phantom Hourglass’ Crayk, a giant hermit crab that guards the Temple of Courage.
Crayk wanders around the boss room until it decides to rush in Link’s direction, crushing our hero. Link must shoot an arrow at him to stop the giant crab just as he’s rushing. It’s all a matter of standing your ground, aiming, and firing. Pretty straightforward, right? Well, what if Crayk is invisible? Link fights against an invisible boss in one of the DS screens, while the other screen shows Crayk’s point of view. That means players must synchronize their shots by paying attention to Link’s positioning and also using what Crayk sees to reveals the invisible boss position. Few bosses are as creatively designed as Crayk.
9 Oceanhorn: Monster Of Uncharted
The first Oceanhorn game looks and plays a lot like Grezzo’s Link’s Awakening remake. It seems to have drawn a lot of its inspiration from the series in general, but it’s far more than just another Zelda clone. It’s fun, looks stunning, and features some fairly decent puzzles to boot. After selling more than a million copies, it even got a sequel.
Released on Apple Arcade in late 2019, Oceanhorn 2 is more Breath of the Wild than it is Link’s Awakening. Both the art style and combat mechanics are reminiscent of the Nintendo game and the story even centers around three sacred emblems that could perhaps be likened to the triforce. Despite being announced some time ago though, a PlayStation port of the sequel is yet to materialize.