Quest Cliches

[Nick]

I thought it would be interesting to have a topic about quest cliches. This basically involves parts of quest design that are expected and perhaps even overused. Many (including myself) are guilty for them, so this is meant as a lighthearted topic.

1. The beginning overworld area has rain. I'm guilty of this with several of my incomplete quests. It is a common way to start a game.
2. Ganon is the final boss. Granted this is the expected for Zelda, it is still a cliche. Nothing wrong with it.
3. If the first item is not the sword, it is the boomerang. Likewise, the boomerang is usually the second item if the sword is the first.
   

Feel free to come up with more cliches. That is the point of this topic.

[Furion]

1. Hyrule is in peril
2. Names such as dungeon, labyrinth, fortress, cave, castle are deemed for the tri-force dungeons
3. Collect a certain amount of X to proceed through Y
4. Hammer and Hookshot come in the middle of the quest
5. Expect an area for each element
6. Northern mountains
7. Ancient bloodline of royalty
8. Super bombs are expensive and scarce
9. Hammer, Wand, hookshot, are all used only a few times in dungeons and to gain access to a secret are or progress to an area in a quest rather than having them more needed
10. He saves she
11. He is young
12. Always a kingdom rules complete land
13. " Evil " Always looses to " Good "
14. Green, Blue, Red, are the ring colors
15. Non-human intelligent races

I could go on and on....

[Shazza]

•It's always called "Oracle of" something...

•Dungeons have latin names.

•Custom tilesets try to mimic Relic's Hyrule Fantasy.

•It's a first quest remake!

•There's always music from Chrono Trigger.

[Silver]

The main item's a sword.
There be a princess.
There be a boomerang.
There be potions.
There be rupees or coins for currency.
There be something evil out there.
Something's going to take over the world.

[Ricky of Kokiri]

The hero is Link.

There is a mountain covered with snow, regardless of surrounding geography.

You need to collect eight special items, usually the Triforce.

Ganon is in his pig form.

The dungeons are usually underground.

[Furion]

You guys are kinda repeating what I said....

[Beefster]

Usually, the boomerang is too useful. I say make it optional- for a price.

There is almost always a forest, fire, and water dungeon- in that order.

[Rorschach]

Link's father is never mentioned. This has been a standard fantasy trope for years, and most questmakers are content to let it be. Even if he's mentioned, you can forget about him actually appearing- if you have a son named Link, expect to die within the month.
Ancient people are really indiscriminate about places of worship. Expect "temples" to be full to the brim with monsters, traps, and sometimes even corpses.
Ganon is not genre-savvy. He frequently keeps keys to his fortress within reach of the hero and hides powerful items in impossible-to-miss places.

[Christian]

For me the #1 most overused thing in a quest is basicly making remakes of other well-done official Zelda Games into an NES engine known as Zelda Classic.

[Radien]

I'll only mention the worst offenders that come to mind...

1. At the beginning of the game, the player is expected to complete a difficult, enemy-laden, and relatively long challenge (sometimes even an entire dungeon) without a sword.

2. A typical town screen contains half a dozen NPCs (all Oracle sprites, of course), and only one of them (if any) can be spoken to.

3. Questmaker submits this screenshot to SotW and calls the town "bustling."

4. The main character, if it is not Link, is either an ancestor or a descendant of Link. He (or she) either dresses in green, or is represented by an edited version of a Link sprite. Or both.

5. Title of quest is "Ocarina of ______" (fill in blank).

6. Title of quest is "A Link to the _______" (fill in blank).

7. Title of quest is "The Legend of Link: ____________" (add subtitle).



....I must admit I was guilty of cliche #1 when I released Master Quest, my first quest. After realizing how unoriginal the "no sword" idea was, I ditched the idea when I remade the quest.