So what are our favorite zelda items/utilities? What niches do they fill, and why have they been awesome?
Even as early as LttP, we've had what amounted to gimmick items. I'd argue that the first item you get, the lamp, is a gimmick item. Necessary, and torch lighting puzzles continue to be a staple, but what's its combat application? Is it more than nil? I honestly don't remember.
Bombs and Arrows (and bomb-arrows?
) remain staples for their puzzle solving efficacy and combat utility. Though I'm not sure how the shift from 2 to 3D effects their usefulness.
But what else?
Heavy lifting items are basically a guarantee and so is some variant on the hook shot. Both have reasonable and intuitive puzzle and combat uses.
Can we agree that these are the Zelda game basics, and that they're strong because they have a reasonable amount of irreplacable uses?