Hobbun said:
I love Zelda as well. So besides the dungeons, puzzles, items and boss encounters, is the actual gameplay (combat) similar to Zelda? Does it also use a lock-on feature in combat?
I ask about the gameplay because I remember reading at least one of the reviews that indicated the controls are a bit overly complex. Which concerns me a bit.
Your main sword is mapped to square, two secondary weapons mapped to triangle and your gear items/weapons R2. When your locked on to an enemy you can use any of your ranged gear items without having to manually aim, a la Zelda's boomerang, slingshot, bow, hookshot, etc. Throw in the ability to change out the mapped weapons in realtime with the touch of a button and you have a very versatile system for weapon variety mid-combat.
R1 acts as a dodge/block button that I would compare to Link's ability to sidestep and backflip while locked on. The mechanic is that when R1 is depressed you block, block at the last moment and you execute a counter attack. Move the left stick while R1 is depressed and you will dash/dodge in the direction pressed.
I haven't had a lot of issues blocking that some people report, but I would have to add that it's tricky because you cannot be touching the left thumbstick at all and you can only block certain attacks. Learning what you can and cannot block is part of the game. It's a safe bet that if it is a big and nasty attack you are better off just avoiding it altogether with a dodge.
The only issue I had at first were with the items that require you to manually aim, but that is usually related to puzzle elements when you aren't dodging 8 enemies at once. Think Link queuing up multiple targets with the boomerang.
Overall, I really like this combat system as I don't feel I'm button mashing and on apocalyptic I really have to respect the tougher enemy types and fight them accordingly. And when you're in the zone, it just flows and you feel like a badass.
