r/zelda

Hi everyone! I have a memory I can't explain and I'm hoping someone here knows the answer.

Around 15 years ago (roughly 2011), I played Four Swords from A Link to the Past & Four Swords on a GBA emulator on my PC, completely alone, and I beat the whole thing, including the final fight against Vaati in his palace, with the platforms leading up to him. I just rewatched some videos and it's definitely the same battle.

I know the original GBA version is multiplayer-only and that single-player was only added in the Anniversary Edition for DSi/3DS. But I'm pretty sure I played it on a GBA emulator, not on a DS.

So my questions are:

- Did a modified ROM or patch exist back then that enabled single-player in the GBA version?

- Or could I have been running two emulator windows linked together without realizing it?

Any info or links would be really appreciated. Thanks!

So here you are after having spent weeks adventuring in deadly dungeons, collecting these eight instruments, falling in love, finding out that the island is a dream and everything fading away, you wake up on a raft. You’re probably shell shocked, traumatized, etcetera and you see the Windfish fly overhead and you smile…. AND THIS MOTHERFUCKER CAN’T EVEN GIVE YOU A RIDE TO SHORE?!! He just leaves your ass in the middle of the ocean on a raft with no supplies?!! What the hell?!! Fuck you Windfish!

Hey everyone. Longtime lurker but I wanted to post about my recent play through of several Zelda games. I am someone who never gravitated much toward Zelda when I was younger, but understood the franchise success and respect.

Prior to this year, I had only dabbled in the franchise (played the first game sporadically throughout the years and BoTW a little bit when it released). I think this gives me a little less bias toward nostalgia and nostalgia-farming from Nintendo.

Of the games I’ve played/completed here is where I’m at:

1. Majora’s Mask - wanted to dislike this conceptually but it’s really just too good. By the end, I appreciated every choice they made with this game. I’m hoping for a remake that expands the original concept (so not 1:1 at all).
2. Link’s Awakening (remake) - easily the best top-down game and a very satisfying game design. The plot is very clever and existential.
3. Ocarina of Time - this was the second one I finished and the ending made me cry. Very excited for the remake.
4. Oracle of Ages - easily the most challenging of the traditional top-down games when it comes to dungeons. I really liked the story in this one too.
5. Oracle of Seasons - also challenging but for different reasons. This one is more forgettable than Ages but similarly satisfying to complete.
6. Minish Cap - initially I absolutely hated this game and the size gimmick. About half way through I started to appreciate it more and by the end, really enjoyed the game.
7. Skyward Sword(HD)* - I’m still playing through this but I’m pretty confident that it’ll remain here in the ranking. I enjoy it so far and think it’s less clunky than some seem to claim.
8. BoTW - controversial 😬. this was the first one I finished and initially thought it would clearly remain the best Zelda game. I was wrong. While I appreciate the change up in direction and overall game design for what it is, my opinion is that they dropped the ball in several ways. They could’ve included more traditional dungeons without much of a problem while maintaining the open-world aspect. There is virtually no satisfying story beats. The ending is pretty boring and oversimplified if you do the divine beasts.
9. ALTTP* - also controversial but this game just isn’t keeping me that invested. I’m not really enjoying the combat style and the story is not holding my attention. I think it’ll remain right around here even once I complete it.
10. Four Swords coop - played this with a friend and thought it was really fun. It’s this low by default due to how short it is.
11. Wind Waker (GC) - VERY controversial that it might need a trigger warning. I’ll start with the positives first: the plot, art direction, and whimsy in this game are all some of the best in the series. Unfortunately, gameplay is the ultimate point of a video game for me. Wind Waker is easily one of the worst games I’ve ever played (of major studio releases). Every. Single. Mechanic in this game (down to basic movement) is unpolished, clunky and overall not fun. In fact, I don’t think I can find one redeeming quality. I will probably never understand how so many people put this in their top 3 or even #1 for some. My only thought is that there is a lot of nostalgia farming in this game for OOT-era fans and that for many others, it was likely their first Zelda as a kid.

Games I plan on playing when I can:
ALBW
Zelda 2
ToTK

*not yet complete

Edit: wasn't trying to be offensive. Also, I am playing Twilight Princess next. I'll update after if anyone cares.

Shoutout to that one MM Wii U remake concept trailer made back in 2012

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Passed Skyward Sword for the first time on the Switch (HD version). I’ve passed almost all Zelda games and this game is horrible.

1. The forced motion control did not age well, and this game didn’t deserve a remaster. This game’s controls are fucking horrible. You’re locked into basically 1 way to kill anything with the sword - forced to use directional swings, stabs, etc. The first boss fight is like a fucking tutorial on swinging. Ghirahim will just stand around with his arm sticking out - you can literally stand in front of his face doing nothing but moving your sword around and his hand will follow. It’s extremely pathetic. I almost quit the game rolling my eyes that a fucking boss is standing around waiting for you to use motion control.
2. Monsters also parrying a lot of attacks is extremely aggravating. And it doesn’t help the stick sometimes doesn’t register the direction if you’re using a Pro Controller. There are so many forced sword battles that require directional swings - it’s just so annoying.
3. Since the right stick takes the sword, no camera. You have to hold down L to use the 2nd stick as a camera. Really annoying.
4. Item selection fucking sucks. Main issue I have is selecting an item immediately uses it. You can’t just select an item to prepare to use it because it will use it immediately - which is annoying because Link immediately turns around to use the item. As in, if you have Link staring at you, and you use an item hoping the camera will reset to the direction Link is looking at - no. Link will do a 180° and use the item in the direction the camera is looking at.
5. Item selection sucks even more for items that require holding because you have to tap the item button twice to use it. Want to use the gust bellows? Well you have to tap once to take the item out, then hold to use it. As opposed to just holding it to immediately use it. You can’t do that because the item selection opens up and it’s extremely annoying. Even worse when not all items work like this.
6. Item selection fucking sucks and if OOT remake is like this, I’m going to fucking scream.
7. Forced motion control for some items sucks. A lot of items can be used with the item button but then there are some special ones like the whip or bombs to work using motions. And it’s an ugly experience using a Pro Controller having to use the item button to take it out, then the right stick to use it in a direction.
8. Because of the non-consistent usage of items, I’ve accidentally opened up the item selection by accident too many times in the middle of battle because I hold down the item button to use an item but of course you need to tap twice to use an item.
9. I’m not a fan of the pouch mechanics. Upgrading bags (seeds, bombs, quiver) seemed like a let down since at the start you have limited spaces so a shield and bottles at first takes priority. And then when I finally have enough pouches for all the upgraded bags - I didn’t even bother with them because you don’t actually need them. The game always has seeds, bombs, or arrows available when necessary for a puzzle. I ended up just selling any bags I upgraded.
10. The pouch selection is also kinda annoying because you can select things you can’t even use and I just find it odd. You can select the medals and nothing happens obviously but they are kept as pouch items so they are there to select.
11. Fi is fucking annoying. I read she was toned down from the original game but she’s still fucking annoying repeating shit I just saw with my own eyes.
12. So much fucking repetition: visit the 3 lands 3 times, get 15 sacred balls 3 times, gather 20 tadpoles, fuck Ghirahim 3 times, fight Pirate twice, fight Imprisoned 3 times - why is all this filler shit necessary??? Several forced sword directional battles and surprise - the last boss is also a forced sword directional battle.
13. Ghirahim is the biggest loser of an enemy I’ve seen. Could they have made a more pathetically looking villain? Every time I saw him, I cringed.
14. Constant traveling back and forth back and forth back and forth in the air. Like at least give me something to fly faster.
15. I’m not a fan of the musical instrument. Some games use directions as notes. The harp? Well stroke it left and right. And you don’t even play any of the songs you learn - they’re all played automatically in specific spots forced by Fi.
16. Item selection fucking sucks still.
17. I hate having to push the left joy stick for shield. You can’t use the L button since it’s used to control the camera with the right stick.
18. The game felt like it just kept dragging and dragging on. 3 tablets? Good. Now 3 flames? Okay… oh 3 trials? Okay… oh 5 songs… fuck it felt like this game would never end.
19. I’m not a fan of items that break with use such as the shields, but the upgrading mechanic was nice.
20. Stamina wheel is annoying. Especially with directions swings, sometimes I accidentally used a spin attack and found myself getting beat the shit out of because I have to wait. Especially in the final hoards.
21. I passed the game with 2 hearts left and 0 bottles. The sword fights with parrying are extremely aggravating. Swinging in specific direction only for Demise to parry them anyway. And it got more annoying with the electric sword. I legit wanted to rip my hair out. The shield was useless here because attacking after blocking got parried anyway. It was basically luck if your hits landed. Jumping back or sideways didn’t help when the swings still hit you.
22. Dowsing was just added for the motion control pointing functionality. Boring mechanic. And Fi would activate what to look for. If she could already do that, the fuck is the point of me doing a lot of work to get to a point only for her to say: uhhh actuAllY you can dowse for it. Why not tell me from the start?

Overall, this game is fucking horrible mostly due to controls + repetition. A good story ruined for no reason but to force motion controls on you. 10/10 would NEVER play this garbage again.

PS: the item selection still fucking sucks. Also, wth was the point of all the dowsing slots?? At most only 2 were filled in.

it’s a long standing fact that when you beat a boss in a Zelda game, you don’t get to see more than a cutscene of what comes next. you’ll usually get a completion save, maybe something like the mirror shield in minish cap, but you do not get to actually play or talk to anyone you saved.

Well, despite the oracle games being the first games I remember learning about before they released, and despite beating seasons a few years back, today on second completion (I fell off ages last time, wanted to do it right) I learned these are the exceptions!

Obviously it’s common knowledge that you can beat either game and unlock a password to transfer certain stuff and make the next act more like a sequel, but I did not know loading seasons back up i’d be able to talk to Din, see every location set to spring by default, and that they’d be all these characters with post game dialogue, to me that’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a Zelda game.

Seeing as I’ve went more than half my life not knowing this, and how big a fan I am of the series, I wanted to share it and bask in the coolness that is zelda games where you actually have a post boss experience of sorts.