A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME

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The first game that Lewis ever played was “Horace Goes Skiing” on the ZX Spectrum. Yes, he’s that old.
My attempt to work out what makes Zelda tick

My attempt to work out what makes Zelda tick

I was playing Death’s Door a few weeks back – my review of the game will appear in the next issue of Wireframe – and I was struck by just how much it reminded me of the Zelda games. Which got me thinking: what exactly makes a game feel like Zelda? What exactly IS the Zelda formula?

It’s quite a hard thing to put your finger on. Sure, sword combat is a part of it, but plenty of games feature sword combat and feel nothing like Zelda. The same goes for elements like dungeons and stylized, cartoony graphics. But perhaps there’s a combination of factors that create a Zelda-like game? A ‘secret sauce’, if you will.

With that in mind, I had a chat with David and Mark from Death’s Door devs Acid Nerve in an attempt to thrash out a list of ingredients that, when combined, result in a recipe for Zelda. You can read the results in this Nintendo Life feature – see what you think!

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2 responses to “My attempt to work out what makes Zelda tick”

  1. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    It’s a pretty tough question to answer, but you guys did a great job.

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. Death’s Door is a brilliant Zelda-like – A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME Avatar
    Death’s Door is a brilliant Zelda-like – A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME

    […] Still, although it has the feel of a Zelda game, this is very much Hyrule on hard mode. Combat is slick and enjoyable, but incredibly hectic in places, and downright frought in others. Yet despite the difficulty – or perhaps because of it – I found Death’s Door to be utterly compelling. I liked it so much that I made a point of going back to collect every single item in the game, unlocking the intriguing secret ending along the way. And I also sought out the developers to ask them just how they managed to create such a brilliant homage to the Zelda games. […]

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