3D Dot Game Heroes: More Zelda than Zelda?

I picked up this game primarily because, well, it looked like a hilarious parody of Zelda. And if a game is able to make fun of itself well enough to extract laughter out of me, well, that’s just icing on the cake. And so, I figured I would this game would be a shoo-in for me to love.

So imagine my surprise when I wake up to find 3D Dot Game Heroes failing to captivate my interest. I quickly grew frustrated by the sheer difficulty of the game—not quite as difficult as the original game or perhaps Mega Man 9, but still up there! I quickly got bored tracking down the extremely flimsy plot while trekking from one dungeon to another. I quickly grew to dislike the shallow, one-sentence NPCs who populated the games various towns. In fact, I almost talked myself into ejecting the Blu-ray disc out of the PS3, putting it back in its case, and then leaving it on the shelf forever.

But then I discovered something that I had missed the entire time.

[Demons Souls]

It's certainly more of a Zelda game than those crappy DS Zelda games.

[kingdavid]

I admit I do like it more than the ds zelda games but phantom hourglass and spirit tracks arent "crappy", just flawed.

[eagle21]

A homage is homage but let's not get carried away. 77 on metacritic didn't outscore the DS Zelda's sorry. And don't scream "teh bias"... :)

[zireno]

seriously, a score is what you are basing your opinion on?? I have almost all of the zelda games, and it is my favorite franchise. but you have to give credit where credit is due, and 3d dot game heroes is easily a better zelda than the DS games. And when you can play this game as link (with the creation tools) you can't deny the greatness of it. If you haven't played it you really should, and if you have and still think the DS games are better...well... that's that.

[eagle21]

Do you hear yourself? You can even play as Link? This game is not The Legend of Zelda and eurogamer gave it a 6/10. And I have to agree. ;)

Like I said, a homage is a homage..but let's not get carried away...lol

[nycredude]

eagle

Did you play the game? Or are you just a Zelda fanboy who reads a review and agrees with it even though it's lower than the average review out?

[zireno]

Yes i did hear myself, and yes you CAN play as link and as a true zelda fan I can recognize when a game is better than other. If you are the kind of gamer that bases his opinions on reviews instead of experience from playing the game well... all I can do is feel bad for you. At least give the game a try. I know it's a homage, but it's so beautifully executed that it FEELS LIKE a true zelda (being that it's obviously based on a link to the past).

[Cheeseknight28]

Little overboard to call the DS games "crappy" IMO, but I will say that I enjoyed 3D Dot a LOT more than I expected to. I finished it much faster than any game I've bought recently. For instance, I bought Red Dead about a week ago and I've only played it twice. Just been so busy, and not had the urge to boot it up.

To anyone on the fence about 3D Dot, I highly recommend it. It's just a lot of fun for anyone who has a soft spot for the old days. I won't say that it's better than Link to the Past, but it's certainly a damn fun game.

[kingdavid]

Fk this gen is full of meatheads.

The "metacritic" generation. What happened to judging games on your own terms?

Everyone thinks they are armchair experts because they have access to metacritic.

[zireno]

I really don't know what's wrong with this so-called "gamers" when they base their opinions on a f***ing score. It's ok if you think a game is crap based on your experience playing the game, but to take a score from [insert your favorite site] and using it to prove a point is just sad.

[dizzleK]

there are certain games like this that are what they are and either you like what you see or you don't. do you really need to wait for meta to decide whether or not you'll enjoy something like super mario? it is what it is. some games sell themselves and this is one of them.

[ElementX]

With games costing $60 these days I'm not going to take any chances of blowing my money on a bad game. I find metacritic useful to get a general idea of a game and it's flaws and good points.

[eagle21]

I bet you think all gamers think a 77 is bad?? I didn't say a 77 was BAD. But it damn sure isn't awesome so go cry about it. I damn sure don't trust when fanboy blinders give games points for just being average. A 77 is enjoyable but as a true Zelda fan, I would rather play Zelda than this. Now if this was actually made by Nintendo and scored a 77, you guys would say FLOP. But anyway, enjoy this homage....

[Ahmay]

if you talk to one of the ladies.
in the castle at the beginning she says..

"i bought this demon's game, wanna trade, its too hard."

[thePatriot]

3 d dot game heroes sits on my desk unplayed Why God why???

[kingdavid]

I have to admit, its a pretty awesome game. Not what I was expecting!

[Aphe]

Um, no. It just rips off Zelda. It offers nothing new except the ability to make your own character in a Zelda clone.

The only reason I'll get it is to give me something to play until the real Zelda shows up.

[zatrox]

Actually, the size of the world, all those little secrets, etc. Do make a great game. This was what I was saying the other day, it does accomplish somewhat being more Zelda than the new Zeldas. Well, even when IMO, the dungeons aren't all that great. I'd say it's more of an Old School action-RPG than a Zelda, thought. I must disagree than it's a Zelda clone because of that.

[PirateThom]

No, that's the thing, it is a blatant copy of Zelda, I doubt anyone would disagree with that. It knows its a blantant copy. It doesn't care, it's a homage and a very tasteful one at that. It does everything the 2D Zelda games do, from the vast overworld map to dungeons with bosses and secrets to a sword that is more power with full health and so on. And it works in the game's favour to wear its heart on its sleeve like this.

While Zelda is the obvious inspiration, there's references to other games in there, especially From Software's games (Demon's Souls and Armoured Core).

[zatrox]

@Aphe
Nah bro, the main inspiration of the game are Zelda mechanics. Not saying it's actually a Zelda "rip-off", because it does has the same mechanics as Zelda, but it also adds something else that really make it seem more of an old school Action RPG, think about YS.
It does rip offs some stuff from Zelda, but adds new stuff as well. I.E. The big sword, etc.
@Aphe
It does adds some new stuff, and when the game does plays somewhat like Zelda, the point here is than it does NOT try to hide it.
Dante's Inferno didn't had any refferences to GoW, while in 3DDGH there are waay too much jokes regarding Zelda.
"It's too dangerous to go alone, take this!"

[Aphe]

The thing is that while I can understand games that pay homage to titles in their games, I can't quite respect someone who totally rips off a game.

Let me take Dantes Inferno. Wasn't that a homage to God of War? No, it was a rip off of GOW.

I can appreciate a dev that kicks back some respect to a game in a homage in their title, but to make a game that totally rips off someones game is a bit much.

[Colonel-Killzone]

LOL this should be interesting to see.

[PirateThom]

Honestly, I think it's the best Zelda game since Link to the Past, because I never really saw eye to eye with 3D Zelda games. I don't hate them, they don't bother me, just never enjoyed them that much.

[zatrox]

The article makes a great point, I was also dissapointed there wasn't all that much exploration in TP. It didn't felt like an overworld or anything, and was kind of linear. That's why I miss old Zelda games, even Wind Waker, they had all those little secrets over the world for you to explore and discover. This was absolutely one of my favorite parts of 3DDGH (as well as when you say "No" and get hilarious answers) in the little time I've played it by now. The whole world is filled with little secrets, those things we all love. This is why, IMO, 3DDGH actually makes a better Zelda game than TP, even when I have to play it more.

[MajestieBeast]

Its certainly more old school zelda then any other game i love it so far the cameo's of demons souls among other things and the music is just pure retro goodness.

[washingmachine]

well,i hope its good fun cause i ordered it lol. im sure it will be

[despair]

must get this soon...i like the price point also.

[josephayal]

I HAVE THE GAME, AND I LOVE IT! IS LIKE 'A LINK TO THE PAST' IN 720P

[KillerPwned]

I just got this game yesterday and cant` put it down! I love how its so much like the good zelda games. I think this may become a rare find for the ps3 someday. I urge anyone that likes these type of games to get a copy right away.

[Neko608]

You have to look at some of the little intricacies of the game that make it more of a throwback/homage than a ripoff.

The intentional translation errors are hilarious:
- "Life up got!"
- When you log a monster into the bestiary (by continuously smashing it with the bestiary itself, a giant book) the word "GET!" pops up
- The quake spell is called "Normal Map" (What the...?!?!... when you get it the cleric or whatever even tells you the name makes no sense)
- Read some of the descriptions for the items in your inventory, they are hilarious

There are also some great min-games (The tower defense is a blast)

I think some of the reviewers really didn't get this game... all of their gripes were put in there INTENTIONALLY because that's how games USED to be. You weren't spoon fed what to do next. I absolutely love this game.

[Figboy]

and having actually GROWN UP with the Zelda's of old, I can say that 3D Dot Game Heroes does the homage justice.

The game is so full of references and nods to an era that I won't be able to relive that I can't help but fall in love with it.

It's charming, endearing, and genuinely fun to play.

It takes the tried and true Zelda formula from the 80's and updates it in more than just visuals (some of the tweaks to the formula, like the sword upgrading actually make it, in some ways, BETTER than the old school Zeldas).

To me, 3D Dot Game Heroes feels more like Zelda than the CURRENT iterations like Windwaker and Twilight Princess (which i also enjoyed; although Twilight Princess wasn't really as good as i hoped it would be).

as for the plot of the game? come on, man. Zelda isn't rife with drama and intrigue. it's about a little elf dude trying to save the land from an evil wizard and rescue princess Zelda. 3D Dot Game Heroes is roughly the same, but with a more self deprecating nature. it makes no qualms about being an homage to old games.

the comment about the difficulty of the game frustrating the guy is hilarious to me, because, to me, it displays how completely spoiled current gamers are by what the gaming industry calls "difficulty" today.

back in the day, it took us MONTHS to beat Super Mario Bros. nowadays, you can go through just about EVERY game released in a weekend. it's kind of sad.

i'm all for more approachable game design, but to try and say a game isn't very good because it's "hard" is to short-change the game.

3D Dot Game Heroes should feel right at home for anyone who's enjoyed the Zeldas of old. it's also not even CLOSE to being as hard as, say, Demon's Souls.

i actually wish there were MORE games done in the style of 3D Dot Game Heroes (the 3D pixel style). a remake of something like Final Fantasy 1-3 done in this manner would be awesome to me.

as a child of the 80's, playing 3DDGH was like a trip down memory lane. me and my wife and buddy got a real kick out of trying to figure out what the various references in the loading screens were (there's over 100 different loading screens, with many of them referencing everything from Double Dragon to Castlevania to Super Mario Bros and then some).

truly a fantastic game, and i think From Software knew when they published this game that it wouldn't click with everybody. it's a love letter to 8 bit gaming.

[ForeAllEternity]

I couldn't have said it any better.

[bart999]

It's hilarious when you think that whether your thing is Zelda, GTA, Metroid, Fallout, even Uncharted or a handful of other franchises, we're all just playing different games whose genesis began with the original Zelda adventure games.

btw I've been playing nothing but Red Dead Redemption and it's just brilliant.

[Gen0ne]

My initial score was a solid 8 then as the game wore on, some of the retro trappings that I thought were charming began to annoy me. Thus, slightly lowering my score to a 7.75. Things like, not being able to move diagonally. I lost my big sword, I don't know how many times because an attack was coming 2 o'clock and my guy only defends at 3, 6, 9, and 12. So I'd get hit even if I was blocking. That pissed me off. The map needed a zoom. Some of the world was really tricky to navigate and the map barely helped matters. There's a couple other things that got to me, but the one thing that really bummed me out, was the lack of a grander scale. If they're gonna replicate Zelda, they should've taken dungeon design elements from OoT and Majora's Mask. The dungeons were boring and a bit of a chore. With no real cool dungeon game play twist that Zelda is known for. Also, getting back to my grander scale complaint, in the dungeons is where the art team should've taken off. I was hoping for giant block gears that changed the landscape, rolling boulders, platforms that lower and raise and all that good Zelda sh!t. But none of that happened. It's basically A Link to the Past, nothing more, and certainly nothing less. For better or worse. It's a decent game, but they should've taken it up a notch. In summary, it's good game that could've been awesome.

[TANUKI]

Epic game is epic. This game holds a special place in my heart and gaming collection.

[jriquelme_paraguay]

remember this?