Nintendo has experimented with the idea of a multiplayer Zelda for a while now.
First there was the extra Four Swords mode included with the Gameboy Advance port of
A Link to the Past.
It allowed two to four players to join up and solve a myriad of puzzles and challenges.
It was short, but set up the basis of a good idea; one that was expanded with the release
of Four Swords Adventures on the Gamecube.
But that had a high barrier of entry if you wanted to play it the way was intended as
it required multiple GBAs and link cables.
Now, with the release of Tri Force Heroes, Nintendo has created its most accessible multiplayer
Zelda to date.
But do the changes it makes to the Four Swords formula make for a better or worse experience?
Tri Force Heroes is odd as a Zelda game.
The story takes place in the new kingdom of Hytopia where fashion is prized above all
else.
And no one was more fashionable than Princess Styla who brought happiness to the kingdom
with her very presence.
However, an evil witch curses Styla to forever wear ugly tights forcing the princess to hide
in shame.
With the people of Hytopia scared to be stylish for fear of the curse, the King puts out a
call for a trio of heroes to stop the witch and save the kingdom.
The stakes couldn’t be lower, but the game recognizes this.
Much of the dialog plays up the silliness of the whole situation and is actually quite
funny the few times a story sequence takes place.
It’s all just an excuse to have the hero be able to dress up in different outfits when
challenging the levels.
And I do mean hero because this is not Link.
In fact, Link, Zelda, Impa, and Hyrule are all missing from this game.
The hero is actually someone who has the same pointed ears, sideburns, and hair style as
the heroes of legend.
When three of them work together, they become the Tri Force Heroes.
Your character is simply one of the three.
It’s an odd choice yet despite this, the game does feel like a Zelda title.
The Triforce is represented and there are many nods to the series across the board,
mainly in the form of the costumes.
Unfortunately, I never really got a sense of Hytopia.
I only ever saw the castle and a little of the surrounding area.
All that’s really available to explore is a single mini-game, a camera store where pictures
can be shared on Miiverse, the costume shop, and an item store where materials can be bought
in order to unlock more costumes.
There are some funny characters walking around, but it makes everything feel rather small.
Thankfully, the main game is a lot of fun.
There are eight areas to explore with four levels each and, for the most part, they can
be challenged in any order.
If you want to take on the fourth level first, you can.
If you want to go in order, you can do that.
You want to just go all over the place depending on your mood, it’s completely possible.
But it also maintains a gradual arc in difficulty.
The first area is the only one available at first, then the next three open up, then the
fifth, then the sixth and seventh, and finally the eighth.
It provides a sense of openness along with a steady increase in challenge.
However the levels are similar in how they operate.
Three items are available as soon as it begins and the three players must decide which one
they want to use.
The items are always tailored to the challenges ahead and the heroes must work together in
order clear everything.
Each player has a sword but no shield, the spin attack, and a dash.
But the items actually do go a long way in diversifying the combat.
There are even novel new ideas that are used with the each of the items that help make
the challenges feel fresh.
But the key new aspect of Tri Force Heroes is the Totem mechanic.
At any time, the heroes can pick one another up in order to reach enemies or puzzles just
out of reach.
It’s a way to emphasize teamwork which is a necessity in every level.
Fortunately, while the Totem mechanic is often used, it’s not always required.
Sometimes the team will be split and must use their items in conjunction in order to
solve the current puzzle.
Becoming a Totem never wore out its welcome and always felt like a natural extension of
the gameplay.
But there is an issue with it.
If you are picked up by another player, you cannot get down on your own.
You’re pretty much at the mercy of that player.
Now that’s not always a bad thing, but in certain situations, you might have a plan
but someone decides to Totem when you don’t want to and disrupts everything, leading to
a loss of hearts.
It feels strange that there’s no option to get down from the Totem on your own.
It could be that the developers wanted to emphasize teamwork and didn’t want someone
to act contrary.
But the teamwork is enforced simply by including a shared heart meter.
If anyone is hurt, it’s taken from the team’s pool of hearts.
Lose all eight and the team loses a life, forcing them to replay the current stage of
a level once again.
Each level only provides three fairies with no way to earn more.
Lose those fairies and you must restart completely.
And this is by far one of the hardest Zelda games in years.
There is never an enemy that only takes away a half heart.
It’s always the full hearts which means they can drain quickly if the players are
overwhelmed by enemies or if they all fall into a pit at the same time.
There are moments when the game just feels brutal and can become frustrating.
But when your team is able to successfully work together and clear that difficult moment,
it feels really good.
Tri Force Heroes can be incredibly satisfying if you have a good team.
There is a sense of individuality when playing though thanks to the various costumes.
Successfully completing a level rewards players with materials that can be used to create
new costumes.
These can range from powering up the different items, to increasing the amount of hearts
or rupees that drop, to enhancing Link’s natural abilities.
Each one is useful in its own way depending on the level or items available.
It helps provide variety when replaying stages since that’s the most efficient way to get
rare materials though they can be bought at a super high price.
But even when I didn’t have a new costume, the levels still provided variety.
Every single one has a set of three unique challenges that offer up better rewards.
These can be as simple as navigating the level in the dark or as difficult as racing the
clock to finish the level.
There are 128 in total which leads to a lot of gameplay for those that become invested.
Oftentimes, I found them much more fun than the standard levels.
Others they were so hard that it became incredibly maddening.
The game offers up plenty of ways to play on a team.
Players can choose to join up with random people or friends online.
This can even be mixed and matched.
Let’s say you only have one friend available.
The two of you can join in the friend lobby and then request a random person to fill the
third slot.
And this is important because three players are required to play online.
It feels like a strange choice at first, but the levels are clearly designed for three
players.
Another bonus is that if a player chooses a later level, it’s still possible for the
others who haven’t gotten that far yet to still play.
While playing online, I experienced both flawless connectivity and really spotty connections.
Many times the action will pause while trying to sync everyone’s gameplay.
It really seems to depend on how good your team’s internet is.
If one is slower, it will affect the rest.
But when everyone’s connection is good, then I didn’t notice lag at all.
And while there is no voice chat, the emoticons that players can use to communicate with each
other work surprisingly well.
In fact, I sometimes felt that I worked better with the team with the emoticons then when
talking over Skype.
However, I do wish there was an option to call out to specific players.
Sometimes I figured out the solution, but the person who had the necessary item didn’t
know what to do which led to some minor frustration.
Local and Download Play are available as well with Download Play covering everything except
for the new Arena mode.
The Arena is surprisingly fun, at least in small spurts.
Players choose one of eight available maps each with their own quirks.
The items available in each are listed as well so strategy can come into play when choosing
a costume.
This can lead to unfair advantages but the chaos of three players trying to beat on each
other can be a real joy.
Plus the winner can earn new materials as well.
It didn’t keep my attention for long but it can be a good way to break up the gameplay,
at least for a little while.
It should be noted that not much has been said about the single player, and there’s
a good reason for that.
It’s incredibly tedious.
Rather than taking control of all three heroes in formation, players must switch between
them on the fly by tapping the touch pad.
This transfers the hero’s soul between the stone Doppels.
In this way, the player can situate them in order to solve puzzles.
The Totem is available as well with the bottom hero controlling the movement and the top
Doppel momentarily coming to life to swing his sword or use an item.
It’s a system that gets the job done, but the problem is that it feels like work.
The Doppels must be carried to their destination or controlled individually.
It makes everything take way longer at best and at worst, teamwork moments are incredibly
frustrating.
Timing specific actions or working together to best an enemy can be so agonizing that
I would fly into a rage.
It seemed fine in the early levels but by the end, it was a mess.
Single Player simply isn’t worth the effort.
The presentation though is excellent across the board.
While it uses the same engine as A Link Between Worlds, there are plenty of new assets on
display between the level design and enemies.
Everything has a classic feel that really stands out.
And the soundtrack is incredible.
There’s a great energy to each song and the main theme is simply amazing.
It’s so good that there’s really not much else to say.
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is probably the best multiplayer Zelda attempt yet.
But I must qualify this because I prefer co-operative games to competitive.
Outside of the Arena, there’s no competition aspect to the gameplay, something that Four
Swords Adventures was able to combine with players working together yet still competing.
There’s also not much to explore in Tri Force Heroes.
It’s solely focused on puzzle solving and fighting enemies.
If that appeals to you, then I highly recommend it.
There are still some issues with the multiplayer and playing with random people could lead
to annoyances, but I still feel like this a truly fun experience as long as you stick
to multiplayer.
If you only have the option to play Single Player, skip it.
But with that being said, I liked Tri Force Heroes a lot.
It’s a streamlined Zelda experience that truly celebrates the idea of working together.
Thanks for watching and be sure to stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Zelda and other
things gaming.