The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
is a drastic departure from series tradition, and at times, it shows
real potential, with clever design rivaling the best of the series’
past. But those moments are few and far between. The rest is just filler
in a shallow game that tries a slew of new things, but accomplishes
only a few.
Tri Force Heroes is Nintendo’s second original Zelda title on 3DS after 2013’s stellar A Link Between Worlds.
This new incarnation, however, is structured as a multiplayer title
with a loot system, gear crafting, and cooperative dungeons with short
run times.
The story opens on Hytopia, a realm
wherein a witch has cursed Princess Styla with a brown, form-fitting
body suit. The princess feels ugly in her new garb, and the Hytopian
king puts out a call for adventurers to break the curse with a grand
ballroom dress. From there, you wade through a series of puzzles and
combat arenas in search of materials to break the curse.
Nintendo
has told farfetched Zelda tales before, but Tri Force Heroes pushes
that sentiment even farther. It tells a story of fashion gurus and
designer dresses, complete with eccentric personalities and fashion
tips. At first, the whimsical plot was so weird, it captivated me. But
as it progressed, it deteriorated, with such poorly written characters
and such inexplicable plot points, I dreaded every cutscene’s approach.
This game’s final boss embraces the fashion angle so literally, it feels
as if Nintendo talked itself into a corner, only to justify the
grievous plot at the last second.
Despite a few great bosses, most demand similar cooperative maneuvers to bring down.
During
your travels, you’ll collect materials to fashion your own new outfits.
This loot system provides a rewarding feedback loop at first: complete
dungeons, gather materials, fashion outfits, and gain new abilities. The
Kokiri Clothes let you fire three arrows at a time. The Goron costume
grants the ability to swim in lava. Some outfits change the way you
approach dungeons entirely, making this new approach to character perks
one of the entertaining ideas present in Tri Force Heroes.
But
earning these bonuses becomes a chore. Tri Force Heroes doesn’t present
the traditional Zelda open-world structure--instead it implements what
feels just like a series of challenges. A warp room in the castle brings
you to the Drablands, where you solve puzzles and slay monsters in
expected Zelda fashion. Yet these dungeons are repetitive. Each begins
with item acquisition, and proceeds through two more rooms before the
boss or wave-based skirmish rear their heads.
And
these dungeons are short--I finished most in under 15 minutes. This is
an effort to facilitate the loot system that demands repeat
playthroughs, but it has a negative effect. The puzzles--except for a
few--seem too simple. You learn how to use each item. You learn their
applications. And just when it seems Nintendo might delve deeper into
the branching possibilities of the challenges at hand, the dungeon ends.
More
often than not, there's a boss at the end of each area. My favorite is a
giant Stalfos skeleton that only crumbles after all three heroes use
their unique items to bring it down. But this is one of a small number
of clever bosses, in a game with a slew of repetitive others. The vast
majority of them ask the same question: how many heroes do you need to
stack on top of one another, and when should you do so?
In
Tri Force Heroes, puzzles center around Totems. This gameplay conceit
allows players to carry one or both of their partners, and sometimes
throw them in the hopes of reaching distant ledges, or attacking taller
varieties of monsters. It leads to rare great moments when teams solve a
puzzle not as individuals, but as a collective council with three
essential members.
Heroes can throw each other
across gaps, only to retrieve the one left behind with a subsequent
boomerang throw. Others require stacking to hit otherwise untouchable
switches. And I adore the fire temple, complete with all of its
disappearing platforms and hazardous machinery. It encourages teamwork
more than any other area. It’s one of those shining places where Tri
Force Heroes capitalizes on its conceptual potential, comprising puzzles
that encourage teamwork, vertical thinking, and careful motor skills.
There's a taxing dichotomy between the solo and cooperative modes, and the overall experience feels fractured.
But
a day later, I replayed the same puzzles. Only this time, I tried them
in single player. And when it comes to this mode, Tri Force Heroes
stumbles. In place of fellow humans, Nintendo provides you with
doppels--heroes that, when not being used, become lifeless statues. You
can switch between them with the handheld’s touch screen, but moving
each hero to the exit means carrying the others for much of the time.
By
choosing to play by yourself, you invite a level of micromanagement
that transforms otherwise clever dungeons into heavy slogs. The
solutions to the puzzles are the same, but some bosses, and some
dungeons, are exponentially harder on your own.
Because there's no online voice chat, emotes are essential to communication.
One
example: a certain early boss focuses on one hero at a time, leaving
its vulnerable tail open to other human players’ swords. But in
single-player, switching between doppels, throwing the lifeless shells
onto ledges for hearts, all while avoiding nearby lava pools, is an
ordeal. There’s a taxing dichotomy between the solo and cooperative
modes here, and despite the few puzzles that balance the two well, the
overall experience feels fractured.
This rings
true when returning to puzzles as well. Once you’ve beaten a dungeon’s
boss, Nintendo offers challenges that alter your approach. One removes
your swords, arming you only with bombs. Another hangs monsters from the
ceiling, forcing your team to keep moving at a hurried pace. Another
adds balloons to each room, asking you to pop them before moving to the
next, all the while focusing on enemies, as well as the puzzle at hand.
These
twists can make multiplayer more fun, as your group adapts to the
changes imposed on them. However, some of them are near impossible on
your own. It widens the gap between multiplayer and single player even
more.
There are several barriers preventing Tri
Force Heroes from being great. But through it all, one of the series'
greatest traits remains strong even here: the exceptional music. Lilting
flutes, snappy strings, and tense battle drums pervade every area. The
music reminds me how compelling this franchise can be, and how great it
often is. Nintendo has deviated from the norm with the series
before--but this time, many of its changes don't work.
Consider
this: in single player, Nintendo grants you the option to skip entire
sections of each dungeon, so long as you're fine with the prospect of
less loot. I avoided this route, but considered it often. There are
hints of a great game here, and when three players are cooperating in
frantic battles, or working through dynamic puzzles, it shows.
But
like its story of fashion and surface appeal, there’s not much depth
here, and the facade fades with time. Tri Force Heroes offers us the
means to work together, but not enough reason to do so.
