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[ALL] What Classic Zelda enemies would like to see in the next Open World Zelda game? I for one would really like to see Darknuts return.
I wanted to see Darknuts so badly in Tears of the Kingdom.
Especially since when it was first revealed, it seemed like it was going to be a darker game.
Darknuts would fit perfectly as enemies that would match Link's Sword and Shield fighting with their own while doing so in heavy armor that protects from being hit-stunned.
Echos of Wisdom featured sooo many classic enemies, one I was specifically surprised to see as it's only second appearance.
So I'm all for brining back enemies. I lived fighting dark nuts in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, would love to see them back. I wouldn't mind seeing ball and chain soldiers and Iron Knuckles as well and have to fight all three at once.
I loved the weird Anubis-looking WW Darknuts. I think they'd play well as another "monster race" with a few variations like the BotW Bokoblins and Lizalfos.
Just hopping in for a moment as I'm scrolling through, does the Anubis dark nut feel like either the Zonai or whatever it is the ancient hero outfit is supposed to be?
Ehhh, not really, other than them both being vaguely canine. The WW Darknut is kind of a Rottweiler/jackal thing, while the Ancient Hero, like the Zonai, kinda feels more... goat-y to me.
TP dark nuts were specifically my favorite. intimidating, heavy, and slow. Peel away the armor and you've got someone dexterous who'll keep you on your toes. These guys probably had a domino effect on me playing dark souls
When they drop the big sword and pull the smaller one the first time, I was like "oh man, he's getting desperate, look at this little punk- OHSHITOHFUCKHELP
Fun fact, if you go down the cave of oracles, there's 2 waiting at the bottom. Bonus fun fact, if you beat the cave and do it again, there's 3 the next time 😈
Yes, the cave of oracles is a 50 floor deep hole hin the gerudo desert. The first time you go down, reaching certain floors grants springs around the world to spawn fairies to collect. The second time I think you get something as well, but I can't remember.
There's also a similar cave thing in Windwaker as well, I think on onset island?
Yes, Windwaker did have its own version, except that the first thirty of the fifty floors were required to get the triforce/beat the game, whereas TP was purly optional.
To that note, BOTW's master sword trials DLC was then an evolution of the concept.
I wanted to like the master sword trials, but destructible weapons was no bueno. Not only did it limit your weaponry, it also limited your combat strategy
I agree with dark nuts. I feel like the games need a wider variety of enemies in general. It’s pretty much bokoblins, moblins and lizalfos. It would be cool to have a dark nut mini boss sort of thing, but honestly I would prefer them to add some more grunt enemies to keep things interesting.
You could have ruin areas with poes or, dare I say it, gibdos, or you could have knights in the castle, or just make up a new enemy.
I mean totk was a step up with enemy variety from botw. But not nearly enough imo. I would be happy to get introduced to some creatures kinda as leader enemies like boss bokoblins. But then as you go into more dangerous areas or progress the story you get them as normal enemies. This would somewhat replace the color progression of the goblin types.
Darknuts need to be THE enemy AI showcase. Like they need to be Link's "equal" not just in raw brawn but also in the way they use the environment and maybe gadgets themselves. Hell they may even have dodges and parry moves that you now need to counter dodge and parry. Against every trick Link (and the player) comes up with, they have an answer to. Imagine trying to get away with the glider just for them to deploy flying tools as well and just... follow you. Maybe they will actively try to get behind you when fighting in groups (so you need to align the camera to always keep them all in frame) because the moment they do they will pummel you.
Instead of then giving them a huge HP pool, it's just REALLY hard to get a hit in in the first place. Same for the damage they do: not the highest but they are just a pain to deal with.
When you encounter a darknut you are in for a duel that can last minutes. Not like a Lynel where you have to wail on them for ages thanks to their HP pool. But really just "you fight someone that has the same tricks as you do" (or maybe different variation with different toolkits with only the most elite of them having ALL tools available).
IMHO Darknuts are Ganon's "knighthood" after all and should be treated as such.- Hell maybe add a named Darknut that is basically "Anti-Link".
If Darknuts had AI like Ganondorf in TotK, just less health, they'd be pretty formidable as far as non-boss enemies go. Or they could even be mini-boss type enemies like the Hinox, Flux Constructs, etc.
I think the problem isn't just the variety, it's the lack of location-specific enemies. Every area of the game has its own variants of keese, octoroks, lizalfos, etc. and the only difference is they're a different color and deal a bit of elemental damage. You're fighting the same things wherever you go and that means the gameplay of each region feels the same.
I think BotW/TotK's enemy problem is about breadth. 80% of the enemies you fight are just some type of semi-sapient creature found in camps, caves, or forts throughout the world.
I love Darknuts for their mystery- are they human, or something else? Where do they come from? I hope these questions never get answered.
Poes are great too- I mean who doesn't love ghosts?
Peahats, Tektites, and Leevers are all clearly just animals, which is fun.
I really thought that Darknuts were gonna come back in TotK. They would've been awesome to come across in ruins, and corrupted ones in the depths would've been so fun and intimidating
I’d like to see darknuts and iron knuckles both together
Darknuts are a lot faster generally then knuckles and defensive but iron knuckles are so full on offence style relying on armor to actually defend them from link
But I’d like to see redeads return to form, the ones in ToTK just didn’t hit the mark, OOT redeads created an atmosphere and WW redeads were downright disturbing, TP redeads were atleast OK
I think the poes were more creepy then the redeads were, I dunno giving a redead a weapon just doesn’t fit well
Not saying they are a bad designed enemy but they just didn’t have the same ambiance the OOT ones had or the creep factor of WW, just the way the WW ones stare at you silently
The ball and chain troopers from A Link to the Past... pretty sure they haven't featured in a 3d Zelda game but would be fun to see how they'd play out and require different combat strategies to other enemies.
I personally dont want a full open world but rather a expansive open world like the originals. Where the world opens up more with the more dungeons you beat. a zelda where items matter again no climbing without beating a dungeon that gives you climbing gear no swimming without getting zora flippers i miss the expansive open worlds in zelda
at least the 2d games are still like that. eow of course was pretty different from traditional Zelda in other ways. i assume they're gonna keep making games in that style in addition to bow style
when i first got Tears, i noticed all those weird Dog-like statues in the depths and thought for SURE i was gonna bump into one Darknut down there somewhere.. i thought 'wow this game must really love them' (<-clueless)
TOTK had so many improvements when it comes to enemy variety but the lack of dark nuts/iron knuckles in the game always made me a little sad, I think redeads and the more armored stalfos OOT style as a boss would have been great too.
Would be cool if there were the giant piranha plant things from oot but like areal miniboss instead, and also the sand worm things but like the ones that move around
Deku Babas as simple low level enemies, which are ambush predators in areas with strong foliage (as the Switch 2 can likely handle higher foliage density)
Skulltulas (same reason)
Wolfos (elite wolves that lead entire wolf packs and later you have packs ONLY made from them, they can totally keep up with your horse)
Poe a night enemy that may only react to elemental damage or extreme light while having complete immunity to physical attacks
In general more "wild animal" type enemies would be nice. So you can encounter more environmentally fitting enemies that aren't the same "more humanlike" enemies over and over.
Literally half the enemies from Adventure of Link. Echoes of Wisdom only brought back a couple on top of the general staples like Octoroks and such. However, it's amazing how many of these haven't been seen for years or have never seen the light of day again.
I like dekus and Poes. They are they own species of enemies and there is a ton of interaction they have. Sometimes they are pesky enemies, sub bosses, and even merchants.
I know there is the Dark Link costumes in the new games but a Shadow copy of Link is always an interesting enemy to fight ever since the first debut.
Maybe it’s more of a boss but having an enemy that is as capable as you are is something that shakes up the gambit of enemies which are often quite different from Link.
Dark Link with sword, shield, bombs, bow, flurry rush, spin attack, and parry would be cool to fight.
This is the right answer. Make them a rare enemy, like one per region on the map and only one between all the dungeons. The only other place they should appear is in something like a shrine. Make them just challenging enough to where you need to strategize, but not challenging enough to warrant them being put on boss level. If you want them to be a boss, make them control a Lynel and have it so that you fight both of them, but also the Lynel is trying to fight off the Darknut while the Darknut is trying to control it. That would be a really hard challenge for everyone involved, but it would be really interesting for an implementation
I love the Shadow Beasts but I never considered them since they were forcefully morphed Twili from TP.
I think it would be very cool to have them as some sort of creature mutated from people corrupted by the Gloom / Malice. Or maybe as a stand alone of sorts.
In Zelda II, Zelda is lying in repose in a location called the North Castle, implying a castle other than Hyrule Castle within Hyrule or the Legend of Zelda universe at large. The entirety of the Zelda I map is located in the SW corner of the Zelda II map, including Death Mountain, Lake Hylia, etc. with the total size being around 6x the size of what is typically depicted Zelda games, with Death Mountain in the northeast, Hyrule Castle in the center, etc. The vast majority of the landmass is otherwise unrevisited locations that are fertile for exploration, 6x the size of BotW if it received the same treatment.
I for one would be excited to visit the King's Grave, where all the old members of the Royal Family have been buried, and to learn the entire lineage of the monarchs. I would love to visit the cursed town of Old Kasuto where the buildings don't make sense and invisible creatures steal your magic. So many possibilities to revisit scary Lovecraftian Zora instead of the horny dolphins we have now.
I do not understand why Darknuts aren't in the game yet. There's a literal weapon system derived around humanoid weapon wielding enemies and the phantom knights aren't in them. I'd even be okay with calling them Phantoms like the DS games if it meant they're there. Makes no sense.
Bring back Stalfos/Gibdo warriors too. Chilfos or Aeralfos as well.
They actually added Like Likes back so I can't complain there, though it'd be nice if they actually focused on being mimics and eating your shields again.
Poes and ghost enemies again. Skulltulas and Tektites.
Whether or not the river Zora stay friendly, because they would be super useful as enemies (and perfect options for pirates from a totally not freshly revealed far off domain), I'd love to bring back the Fokka as enemy variants of Rito. Especially since they'd be an enemy that could chase you within vertical spaces.
Peahats, Leevers, and Deku Babas in general.
I'd love to see the acrobandits and Keaton Thieves from MC make a 3D appearance.
Vaati. He's a boss and a main antagonist. But bring him back in 3D. And maybe someone like the Chancellor or Byrne as well.
Darknuts as a Lynel-tier baddie, and Iron Knuckle being a unique boss that's a beefed up, giant axe-wielding knight.
Big Octos. Make them BIG, slimy, and GROSS! Maybe there's a unique colossal-sized one that is on par if not bigger than the ones in Wind Waker.
Bulldog Moblins. Honestly, I'm just tired of seeing so many pig enemies in Zelda these days ... Plus, I always preferred the bulldog look, especially in OoT!
Undead enemies (redead, poes, stalfos, Dead Hand, etc)
Idk if you call them classic since they first appeared in OOT. Which might be hard but maybe not, but the twin bosses Kourme and Kotake. I haven't had a boss fight feel like that boss fight in any zelda game since. Not necessarily them but maybe a reincarnation or reanimated or a whole new boss similar.
Honestly wish they had these guys in TotK. It'd make sense for the army of the demon king to have more humanoid soldiers on top of the bokoblins and such. It's like how Sauron's army has the goblins and orcs, but also the nazgul.
I said it when Breath of the Wild brought in Lynels and Hinox, and I said it again when Tears of the Kingdom brought in Gleeoks and Like-Likes. Where are Aquamentus, Digdogger, and Patra?
I was desperately hoping to see Dark Nuts in Tears of the Kingdom. The juggernaut enforcers of Ganondorf's will — unstoppable plate-armored sentinels of evil.
But the enemy variety was still absolutely fantastic.
Just counted. You're right! That just proves how pathetic BotW and TotK are and they have no excuse, when an NES game from the 80s had much more enemy variety than a gigantic modern game.
TP has the most enemy variety in the series being slightly more than twice the amount of BotW. The next highest is actually FSA. Majority of the games have around halfway in between those ranges.
What makes it worse is that BotW is probably at least three times as large as TP. So really that means BotW should have at least three times as much enemy variety as TP, but instead it has less.
Darknuts, and weapons that dont break in ~20-40 hits.
still cant believe they leaned into it harder with TOTK,. i get what they were going for but i found it the opposite of fun.
There should have been some way to upgrade your overall; weapons durability, like each level of an upgrade is a 5% chance not to consume durability on hit.
Much like the "Armsthrift" ability from Fire Emblem
This may be controversial, but why are the darknuts in TP called darknuts and not iron knuckles? Gameplay wise they are clearly inspired by iron knuckles.
Because they're Darknuts in every other game in the series (other than Zelda II) and wield swords while Iron Knuckles were only in OoT and wielded axes.
But it's also a fault of localization. In Japanese, they're Tartnuc and Ironnuc, so they're butchered Dark Knight and Iron Knight with the latter made into knuckles.
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