If you know 3D Legend of Zelda, you probably have mapped out in your head Link’s basic roster of attacks, which have stood mostly unchanged since the original Ocarina of Time. There’s the roll, the sidestep, the usual array of slashes, the spin attack, and the powerful jump attack. It’s a good move, and exactly what it says it is: you jump, then attack, and do double the damage of a normal smash. Thanks, gravity!
In Ocarina of Time, Link cannot jump freely: only when he is running up on a ledge, where he’ll jump automatically to clear the gap. To do his jump attack, then, the devs made it very easy: simply Z-target an enemy, and press A. Everyone loves this move!
In the remake, though, jumping is different. You can jump at any time using the X button, whether there’s a ledge or an enemy or nothing. This means you have to manually cross gaps, which may trip up some longtime fans. But weirder still is the jump attack, which now requires multiple inputs. You have to target an enemy, press forward, jump with X, and attack with Y. Given the short airtime on Link’s jump, this requires a pretty fast maneuver on the buttons that honestly feels counterintuitive. I kinda hate it.
Thankfully, original director and remake producer Eiji Aonuma recognized how bad this felt, and asked the team to make a workaround. It’s not explained to you in the game’s tutorial, but you can find this information in the menu refresher tutorials after you learn the jump attack in Kokiri Forest. For an easier time of it, target an enemy, tilt the stick forward, and just press A. Link will jump and attack. Blammo!
It still feels a little weird, just because the regular attack button is in a different place from usual, but it’s a lot easier to get the hang of than the clonky X + Y combo. Try it out if you’re struggling to handle enemies!
