8 replies to this topic

[Orithan]

Now that the quest has been making progress, I would like to ask the community about something that might potentially be important. The community response to this question will influence the plans I have for the quest. This is very far off though and will be made after the initial release.

Should there be content exclusive to Hero Mode and if there should be, then what do you think should be exclusive? I am asking this is because I have plans to make a ridiculously hard optional bonus dungeon that is accessible in the endgame stretch of the quest and completing it will grant you access to game-breaking abilities (which does not count towards 100%). However, as per my plans, the dungeon will only be available on Hero Mode for an optional challenge for those who manage to brave through what is planned to be the hell that is Hero Mode.
Now, I am questioning wherever the Hero Mode restriction is going to be the case. On one hand, I consider the dungeon to be an optional challenge that only the players who manage to brave Hero Mode can access and they are rewarded greatly for managing to survive this torment. On the other hand, I also see it as a big insult to Normal-Mode players by hard-locking a large amount of content away from them; telling them that playing it on Normal Mode is not enough to access the last lot of content in the game.

Opinions?

 

Edit: To clarify, Hero Mode is unlocked from the start.

Edited by Orithan, 08 December 2015 - 10:07 PM.

[Deedee]

Hero Mode Only sounds like a big incentive to get people to play Hero Mode. Lock it.

[Shane]

Nevermind, I misunderstood the question at hand as a result of being half asleep. But regardless I wish you good luck implementing Hero Mode!

[Orithan]

The quest will have Hero Mode unlocked from the start, FYI. You don't need to replay the quest in order to unlock Hero Mode.

 

The quest's Normal Mode difficulty will be quite high, with Hero Mode being much harder. Hero Mode isn't a simple 2x Damage taken thing most Zelda games and stuff like Isle of Rebirth do though.

Edited by Orithan, 08 December 2015 - 10:10 PM.

[Mani Kanina]

If it's only the bonus really hard dungeon? No, looking that to hero mode sounds dumb to me. By locking it you're basically making it so for people to see that last final thing in the quest, they are forced to replay the entire freaking thing again. That is, to me, the definition of padding. The hero mode version of the dungeon is going to be harder in the first place anyway, so if players want to challenge themselves with the ultimate challenge they'd have to do a hero mode playthrough.

If you're happy to "cheat" players out of the bonus dungeon of the quest unless they do a hero mode playthrough, then by all means, do so. But know that the end result is most likely that the majority of the playerbase will never bother to see it. Either because, A. Don't care about replaying the quest, B. They don't fancy the idea of playthrough the quest at a harder difficulty.


But I digress, I don't mean to say that locking content behind a difficulty setting is wrong, but it depends on the context. Replacing puzzles with harder ones for a harder difficulty setting makes perfect sense to me. (And is probably something that more games should do, most just up the damage/health on enemies.) Aside from Zelda 1 being a very crud game, it works an example of this idea. All the levels in the second quest are entirely different from the ones in the first game. But you're not REALLY missing out on any content if you don't play it, just harder puzzles and combat. Same with the master quest edition of OoT, (Though, with that one you could argue that some of the dungeons are easier, not harder.)

Edit: You posted while I was typing this up, anyway.

The quest will have Hero Mode unlocked from the start, FYI. You don't need to replay the quest in order to unlock Hero Mode.

Even if it is available from the start, given that standard mode is, well, standard. Most players would choose this for the authentic experience. Plus, jumping into a new game on the highest difficulty setting? Mean, you can do it, but it's not really plausible to assume that any large portion of players will do that.

Edited by Lunaria, 08 December 2015 - 10:14 PM.

[Moosh]

I say lock it. I'm assuming this dungeon will be of the level of difficulty where the only people that will want to play it are those who start in Hero Mode anyways.

[Avaro]

You could maybe have 2 versions of the dungeon. One for normal mode and one for hero mode. That way people who play normal mode are less likely to complain.

[CyberGamer1539]

Lock it. Only Hardcore players should get the best rewards.

[Orithan]

So. I've decided on a verdict.

 

The Extra Dungeon will not be locked to Hero Mode. I have determined that would be a bad design choice and lower the overall quality of the quest, as well as being a massive insult to normalmode players.

 

Thank you for your time.