The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015)

Multiplayer Zelda is something that has always been better in concept than in execution. Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures could be lovely multiplayer experiences in their own right, but they were and still are marred by a high barrier of entry. Unless you've got interested friends with the correct consoles and link cables, these games are simply not very playable.

Tri Force Heroes promised to remedy this by introducing online play. Back when it released, however, I felt very disappointed by the shoddy random matchmaking. Finding people to actually stick with you for an entire level without encountering any connection issues was a rarity. Today, I wasn't even able to find other players using the random matchmaking, like at all. Despite this, Tri Force Heroes is still the easiest way to enjoy a multiplayer Zelda, if you can find someone to play with via places like Reddit or Discord. That is... Until April 2024 (One month from the time of writing), when Nintendo shuts down online functionality for the 3DS and Wii U. After that, the only way to enjoy this game online will be to use a fan-maintained server replacement such as Pretendo, which I believe requires a jailbroken 3DS, and hence has a higher barrier of entry.

In any case, that was not the only reason that I put Tri Force Heroes down. It also features a crappy solo experience, lacking conveniences that were present in Four Swords Adventures and Four Swords - Anniversary Edition. Solo play is extremely plain here, requiring you to micromanage all three Links without the ability to summon them to your location or to have them follow you automatically.

However, despite this, I still enjoyed Tri Force Heroes a tad more than Four Swords Adventures, and it really boils down to the structure of the game. Four Swords Adventures was a huge game, featuring long, handcrafted levels that almost always overstayed their welcome. Tri Force Heroes feels more similar to the original Four Swords, in that it presents smaller, more digestible levels. These levels are further broken down into four tiny separated sections that usually don't last more than five to ten minutes a piece. They can range from a single puzzle, a series of combat encounters, or even a boss battle. I found it surprisingly easy to blast through the game, since even when there was an annoying puzzle or enemy type, it never lingers for too long.

Tri Force Heroes also takes care to craft a grander gameplay loop to incentivize you to complete levels, and even replay more difficult versions of them with added modifiers. This ties to the game's story, which sees Link travel to the strange fashion-obsessed land of Hytopia. Princess Styla has been cursed with ugly unremovable tights by a witch called Lady Maud. Therefore, it makes sense that Tri Force Heroes requires Link to don a variety of fashionable outfits during his adventure. Completing levels rewards you with materials which you can use to craft these outfits, which give you unique bonuses that can help you while adventuring.

It's completely different in tone from basically every other mainline Zelda game, but the lighthearted plot doesn't really bother me. If anything, I enjoyed the humor and got a kick out of seeing Link try crazy costumes and dresses while adventuring. It helps that Tri Force Heroes has a surprisingly fantastic soundtrack and vibrant visual design that holds up quite well.

It's been almost a decade since Tri Force Heroes, and Nintendo has not attempted another multiplayer Zelda in this vein since then. Part of me hopes that they don't drop the concept entirely, because when you can get a proper group together, it really was a lot of fun. But in order for such a title to be widely accessible, it needs to perfect matchmaking and gameplay stability. When Nintendo is simply giving up on their past games and systems entirely, as they are here, it doesn't inspire much confidence for future online excursions.

I bought this game in May 2018. Finally got a group together to play in May 2021 (by hitting up the Zelda subreddit). Played steadily over the summer, then lost momentum when classes started back up. And we finally beat the game in January 2022. And that's the thing holding this game back.

The idea of a multiplayer Zelda is really fun, but in practice, it's just too difficult to get three people together to play regularly. The actual gameplay of Tri Force Heroes is a lot of fun! There's quite a lot of cooperation required, and the puzzles can be pretty tricky. Bosses are unique and can be quite difficult. But it's hard to really get in the flow of the game when you can only play for half-hour spurts every week or so. Sure, there's single player functionality, but I found it tedious and too difficult. Maybe in its heydey when more people were online you can just hop on the server and join up with three randos. I never tried that, but maybe it could have worked.

Between collecting outfits and the Den of Trials, there's a lot of bonus content that can be fun if you're really into the game. I would have preferred if the levels were actually connected, so it didn't feel like a Mario platformer, just jumping from level to level, but that's not a big deal. Just make it more difficult to get fully immersed in the world.

I do recommend this game if you have two friends to play it with. It's definitely not the worst Zelda game.