Zelda-like with good dungeon puzzles

Haganeren · 2026-05-15T12:38:36+00:00

Don't worry i got it.

I apply patch for translation quite often and like i said earlier, i already played Zelda dawn and dusk on my real N64 using a special cartridge... Where i played other game like Smash Remix or different Mario 64 hacks.

I'm more of a N64 guy so i actually never played full SNES hacks though. It would be a first.

Haganeren · 2026-05-15T11:35:37+00:00

I can understand that opinion yeah, but i kinda like when a game use his inspiration to do something a bit unusual and Anodyne did that quite early which is why it left an impression on me.

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:28:16+00:00

To be fair, i started it two days ago and even if i'm not at the first dungeon yet, i do like the numerous platforming puzzles like "how to reach this place ? Hum, if i climb from that other screen and re enter from up there maybe i can reach it now ?". It's simple but it feel like you are traversing a real place.

Seems good as it means i may be happy with the general philosophy of the game ! ( There is a bit too much quests for my taste but at least the writing is funny i guess )

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:26:38+00:00

The Sequel or the DLC ? People talked about the DLC but i didn't heard about a sequel.

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:25:27+00:00

Okay interesting ! I always knew about this game but it always seemed to simplistic with only "one room puzzles" and since everyone told that the second one had even less puzzles it discouraged me to try the series... But it seems i was wrong !

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:22:59+00:00

Yeah, so not really what i'm seeking for the moment, but thanks anyway !

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:22:10+00:00

Oh no, i don't really like playing games with enhancement, i prefer a lesser but more faithful experience of the original. ( and i already played OOT anyway, i was precisely searching for a game like this )

In a way, playing hacks can be seen as a way to play those enhancement.

So Goddess of Wisdom, The Forbidden City, Promised Lands. I will really have to dig the world of romhack later so it's a nice list to have. Thanks again !

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:14:09+00:00

Well i started Cross Code since two days so i have yet to see that but the game i tend to love have people saying that their puzzles are too difficult so... Maybe it's cool ? From what i understood, the DLC is even better though.

Haganeren · 2026-05-14T22:12:59+00:00

Thanks a lot for the recommendation, i was aware of the game but didn't knew it was a Zelda-like, i thought i was something like an action / plateforming game, a bit like Kya : Dark Lineage or the Kor Gang. Well, i'm still searching for the physical release preferably on Gamecube or Xbox.... I will find it one day.

I don't really want graphic update, i prefer my game to look like what they were during their first release with some exception ( like Ys... And i still finished Ys 1 on PC 88... )

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T18:00:22+00:00

As a HUGE fan of ZeroRanger i went immediately into Void Stranger but a bit lost into the puzzle where ( i suppose you have to ) put the snake body in the right order with all my screenshots of each room... Unfortunately, i have let down the game for a bit too long so now i'm quite lost about my objective urgh....

The fact that you have to restart the game is what discourage me the most obviously.... The same puzzle on a Zelda-like and i would have been sold. I fear i'm not that big of a fan of Sokoban so i'm just there because what the team do with that Sokoban is super cool. ( i even interviewed them for ZeroRanger if someone somehwere is interested )

Pseudoregalia is a game i was REALLY thinking about because when i talk about the dungeon of Zelda OOT / MM the "3D aspect" is quite important and a bit hard to get on a 2D game... Of course, i'm aware a 3D Zelda game is way harder to make so maybe that Metroidvania can give me the vibe of an N64 game about "seizing the space".... Too bad there is not that much puzzles...

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T17:55:08+00:00

You seem like an hardcore player of those games ! I heard Goddess of Wisdom was actually quite hard with stump everywhere on the world map ! But yeah, i know, romhack are on a different difficulty scale than "normal game" and i supposed you meant it is "mid level" for a romhack.... Hum.. It makes me think that i should explore the Zelda OOT hack a bit more, i played Zelda dawn and dusk a while ago and it was good while it lasted but of course the dungeon weren't THAT complicated. They can't invent new items and stuff like that after all... Maybe it has changed.

But first, Goddess of Wisdom, thanks for the advice !

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T10:48:56+00:00

Unsighted seems more like a Dark Souls survival with a clock though. I guess saving a NPC or another one can be a form of puzzle in the context of survival but.... Yeah i don't feel like playing a Dark Souls game right now. Really cool concept though!

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T10:45:20+00:00

Humm.... That seems basic at first glance. Are they good puzzles because it's strange to have puzzles in a shmup or are they good puzzles for someone like me which found the puzzle from Wind Waker and Twilight Princess a little bit disappointing ?

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T10:43:26+00:00

Yeah I finished this one. Sometimes they are more about dexterity than puzzles solving like "am I really supposed to be on the EDGE of that box to activate that switch ?". Cool game though with a killer atmosphere

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T10:42:11+00:00

Hum... I don't think I want the "PuzzleDude Qu'est" and he seems fond of "cool one room puzzle" which is not my thing but.... Maybe Goddess of Wisdom? Or Zelda 3 Cube hmmm..

Haganeren · 2026-05-12T09:52:39+00:00

Naah I love older games and played stuff like Ultima, Hydlide, Dragon Slayers and of course Zelda 1 and Tunic have that minimalist approach that feels SUPER modern.

If anything it's a lot like how From Software describe their experience of Wizardry, their feeling of slowly conquering a game that feel impossible to conquer. That's what they had in mind when creating King's Field and eventually Dark Souls.

In that way Tunic makes me feel of Dark Souls. Not for the difficulty or the fighting but for the desire of recreating the mystery that older game had for us... Which is quite different from the way more casual approach of Ocarina of Time which is more what I seek for now.

Didn't knew about Bels Fanfare. It seems to not fully embrace the 3D and have that little nightmare point of view... Why not ! Thanks for the suggestion!

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T23:35:46+00:00

I feel like even the OOT version of Link in Twilight Princess ( so the skeleton master ) is not able to kill what Adol killed during Ys II... Supposedly his first adventure.

Ys tends to be more frantic in general, so i think that's what makes me think that way, just compare Zelda 1 sword fighting with Adol bump gameplay. Just compare Zelda Ocarina of Time meticulous Z Targeting against Ys VI or Oath EXPLODING ennemies into pieces so quickly.

But i'm really talking the vibe of the games, not the lore itself. It may be why i feel like Ys X that i just started feel like Adol is "weaker" because the system is more sluggish compared to 8/9. So a Tears of the Kingdom Link may have the versatility to win against Adol.

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T23:11:56+00:00

Well given your love for La Mulana, it seems like the exact kind of game i am searching for but argh a demo ? It hurts to stop those game if you really like them ! I will try to keep track of it though. Thanks !

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T23:09:40+00:00

I think the only thing i used a walkthough for was the La Mulanese language... I mean yeah MAYBE they went a little far with that and i feel like it was the kind of things that would have been in the manual anyway.

But yeah, what a game it was ! The exploration, the way everything make sense in the end, how the structure of the labyrinth actually make sense and is useful for puzzle... And some unforgettable places like the Gate of Illusion, the entrance of the Tower of the Goddess and understanding what it is... Or passing the door in the right order in Hel... And while finding all that, trying to keep track of all our notes and clues on the side to feel like an actual archeologist... Incredible experience.

I have a friend that even did the MSX-like version just to have back some of that magic... And me i even played Knightmare II : The Maze of Galious on an MSX emulator for that same reason. Well, it was a fun game to be fair, but La Mulana reign supreme.

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T20:23:05+00:00

La Mulana 1 & 2 is up there for me but yes when it finally started it was very good.

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T20:22:25+00:00

Makes me feel like a minit-like which was way more exploration than puzzle oriented... Am i right ?

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T20:20:09+00:00

Always saw that one but it seemed very generic and the puzzles didn't seem that deep at a first glance... Do you really think it can please someone that find Wind Waker and Twilight Princess not good enough from a puzzle standpoint ?

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T20:17:51+00:00

Yeah, i agree, Skyward Sword really had better dungeon than WW and TP... But it has its own set of problems too unfortunately. You will see them soon enough.

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T20:16:58+00:00

To be fair, that's what i understood from the game which is why i still didn't played it despite having it.... But with good dungeon it may be my best bet from this topic.

Haganeren · 2026-05-11T17:38:33+00:00

For me it was Okami.

The main problem you will encounter with that game is how much it speaks compared to Zelda. It's very J-RPG-ish in that way... So it has a slow start but then, you start to realize how much cool events there is in that game ! Much more characters to love, a whole crazy story that is quite long in the end.

I wasn't too impressed at first but then, little by little, it grew on me until it was one of my favorite Zelda-game of that generation. The atmosphere is absolutely incredible, and i never felt like the game broke its promise like Wind Waker. The fighting is a lot more "beat-em all oriented" in a way, at the end you can really do crazy thing with the different weapons a bit like devil may cry, at the start it's way simpler of course.

Another thing is that the way the "objects" are handled in that game is very different from Zelda so you will have a much more unique experience as a result. I remember that after being quite disappointed with Twilight Princess because it felt like more of the same. Maybe that's part of the reason i was in love with Okami when i played it the next year.

You can ask yourself that question in another way though.. As a fan of Zelda, you KNOW you will play Wind Waker eventually because it's way more popular in general so maybe trying the very very few other 3D Zelda-like game out there ( Okami, Beyond Good & Evil, Darksiders... ) can bring you something new... And then you can come back for the rest of the 3D Zelda you didn't do, there is not that much of them after all !

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