Veredito: Continua perfeito, sempre foi perfeito, e nunca deixará de ser perfeito.
Quando Tears of the Kingdom saiu fiz um guia pra ajudar quem, por um motivo ou por outro, não conhece Zelda direito mas tenha vontade. É normal ver a enorme lista de jogos já lançados e ficar com aquela sensação de "por onde eu começo?", e no guia eu deixei bem claro que o melhor Zelda pra se começar era este aqui.
Agora depois de rezerar ele mais uma vez, tenho mais certeza ainda que fiz a escolha certa.
Zelda: Um Link Andando na Parede não é só o melhor jogo pra introduzir a franquia. Ele é um dos melhores e mais acessíveis jogos de ação-aventura 2D já feitos, ponto. Tudo nele é tão absurdamente bem polido, bem encaixado e bem pensado que fica impossível achar qualquer defeito. Fica até meio difícil hoje, 10 anos depois que ele saiu, não ficar um pouco triste que Zelda tenha abandonado a fórmula tradicional. Até porque porque a influência que este jogo aqui teve em Breath of the Wild é enorme. Ao mesmo tempo, é sempre bom saber que a fórmula antiga foi aposentada com um jogo que acerta tanto em tudo.
Todas as mecânicas funcionam bem, todas as músicas são maravilhosas, todas as dungeons e itens e inimigos e chefes são divertidos, o jogo é bonitasso pra dedéu e tem um dos melhores efeitos 3D (talvez o melhor?) do 3DS, todos os minigames são legais, todas as áreas são gostosas de explorar, todas as sidequests são bacanas de fazer e todas as recompensas são úteis de fato. Tudo, tudo, absolutamente tudo é muito bom.
Fora a mecânica principal (andar na parede), nada nesse jogo é super único ou inovador. Ele não reinventa a roda, ele não revoluciona nada. Tudo o que ele faz de bom vários Zeldas antes também já tinham feito, e alguns discutivelmente já fizeram muito melhor algumas coisas. Mas nenhum faz todas as peças se encaixarem com tanta maestria e sem nenhum esforço.
Tipo, pensa assim: Ocarina ou Breath por exemplo são jogos enormes e excepcionais, verdadeiras revoluções, porém recheados de defeitos. Enquanto isso, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds é curto, rápido, direto ao ponto e relativamente pouco ambicioso.
Mas ele é - e digo isso sem medo de errar - absolutamente perfeito. Em todos os detalhes.
Quando Tears of the Kingdom saiu fiz um guia pra ajudar quem, por um motivo ou por outro, não conhece Zelda direito mas tenha vontade. É normal ver a enorme lista de jogos já lançados e ficar com aquela sensação de "por onde eu começo?", e no guia eu deixei bem claro que o melhor Zelda pra se começar era este aqui.
Agora depois de rezerar ele mais uma vez, tenho mais certeza ainda que fiz a escolha certa.
Zelda: Um Link Andando na Parede não é só o melhor jogo pra introduzir a franquia. Ele é um dos melhores e mais acessíveis jogos de ação-aventura 2D já feitos, ponto. Tudo nele é tão absurdamente bem polido, bem encaixado e bem pensado que fica impossível achar qualquer defeito. Fica até meio difícil hoje, 10 anos depois que ele saiu, não ficar um pouco triste que Zelda tenha abandonado a fórmula tradicional. Até porque porque a influência que este jogo aqui teve em Breath of the Wild é enorme. Ao mesmo tempo, é sempre bom saber que a fórmula antiga foi aposentada com um jogo que acerta tanto em tudo.
Todas as mecânicas funcionam bem, todas as músicas são maravilhosas, todas as dungeons e itens e inimigos e chefes são divertidos, o jogo é bonitasso pra dedéu e tem um dos melhores efeitos 3D (talvez o melhor?) do 3DS, todos os minigames são legais, todas as áreas são gostosas de explorar, todas as sidequests são bacanas de fazer e todas as recompensas são úteis de fato. Tudo, tudo, absolutamente tudo é muito bom.
Fora a mecânica principal (andar na parede), nada nesse jogo é super único ou inovador. Ele não reinventa a roda, ele não revoluciona nada. Tudo o que ele faz de bom vários Zeldas antes também já tinham feito, e alguns discutivelmente já fizeram muito melhor algumas coisas. Mas nenhum faz todas as peças se encaixarem com tanta maestria e sem nenhum esforço.
Tipo, pensa assim: Ocarina ou Breath por exemplo são jogos enormes e excepcionais, verdadeiras revoluções, porém recheados de defeitos. Enquanto isso, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds é curto, rápido, direto ao ponto e relativamente pouco ambicioso.
Mas ele é - e digo isso sem medo de errar - absolutamente perfeito. Em todos os detalhes.
as of late following a friend finishing Skyward Sword for me over discord, brainworms have been revitalised regarding the Zelda franchise and i'm finding myself in a fixated race to play entries i can get my hands on. like others i was a kid who didn't have many opportunities to buy new games and would often replay the ones i did own to absolute mind-numbing ultradeath, with my usual suspect being Phantom Hourglass for the DS. along with The Sims 2 for PSP it was one of my first experiences with the Tetris Effect and i harbour a lot of nostalgia for this sequel to a game i had never even heard of, and in 2024 i'm visiting another in A Link Between Worlds.
i was an impatient and petty-minded teen when i was taught emulation by my brother and quickly grew frustrated with A Link to the Past for entirely minor reasons (2d, grid based movement and combat, the dark world confused me, link's hair was purple (seriously?)). i couldn't believe this was the same series as the toon link i knew and loved and promptly discarded it after trying to restart any interest in it over and over, my favourite Zelda song ironically being the Hyrule Castle theme; probably due to my repeated experiences of the game's prologue.
it's this background that has me feeling guilty about how much i adored ALBW. featuring 1:1 cast members of its predecessor, a light/dark world transition, a new creative gimmick in the wall merge, and an incredible supporting character found in Ravio, what i see many refer to as the best 2d Zelda game delighted me over the few days i spent playing through it. coming from my background of PH and now SS, ALBW boasts snappy and engaging puzzle design in comparison within and without the dungeons spotting the kingdom with a sprinkling of platforming, highlighted within Death Mountain. on top of it all, the wall merge remains thrilling all the way to the very last second of gameplay, its use within the final boss encounter cementing ALBW's grasp on Zelda as a whole.
the score, art direction, overall worldfeel, dungeon design, and the narrative of manipulation vs ultimate charity is enchanting. it was just such a sweet experience, shoutout to Skull Woods and the Thieves' Hideout.
i was an impatient and petty-minded teen when i was taught emulation by my brother and quickly grew frustrated with A Link to the Past for entirely minor reasons (2d, grid based movement and combat, the dark world confused me, link's hair was purple (seriously?)). i couldn't believe this was the same series as the toon link i knew and loved and promptly discarded it after trying to restart any interest in it over and over, my favourite Zelda song ironically being the Hyrule Castle theme; probably due to my repeated experiences of the game's prologue.
it's this background that has me feeling guilty about how much i adored ALBW. featuring 1:1 cast members of its predecessor, a light/dark world transition, a new creative gimmick in the wall merge, and an incredible supporting character found in Ravio, what i see many refer to as the best 2d Zelda game delighted me over the few days i spent playing through it. coming from my background of PH and now SS, ALBW boasts snappy and engaging puzzle design in comparison within and without the dungeons spotting the kingdom with a sprinkling of platforming, highlighted within Death Mountain. on top of it all, the wall merge remains thrilling all the way to the very last second of gameplay, its use within the final boss encounter cementing ALBW's grasp on Zelda as a whole.
the score, art direction, overall worldfeel, dungeon design, and the narrative of manipulation vs ultimate charity is enchanting. it was just such a sweet experience, shoutout to Skull Woods and the Thieves' Hideout.
So, 2024, That's practically 2014, right? I'm still in time to check out A Link Between Worlds? Yes, of course.
Despite it having been sitting in my shelf for some ten years by now, I knew almost nothing coming into A Link Between Worlds bar its central gimmick and connection to A Link to the Past, and even in the latter there was a bit of a surprise: in Japanese, the game is outright called 神々のトライフォース２, which would be equivalent to naming it A Link to the Past 2. It's good that they changed it in the West, not only because sequels tend to intimidate people who don't know the original, but because A Link Between Worlds has its own, unique game feel to it, almost like a reimagining, which naming it "Thing 2" betrays.
It is a direct sequel, though, that is not up for debate: it takes place in the same Hyrule as A Link to the Past, decades, maybe centuries after the events of that game. You play as, as one would guess, Link, who's the apprentice to a smith in Kakariko Village. Link's day starts out just like any other, that is, with him oversleeping and being late to work yet again. During a delivery of a commissioned sword, however, he is met with the eccentric Yuga, a man possessing magical powers who attacks the local church. Sword in hand, the descendant of the legendary hero sets out to find a solution to this new threat.
It pays not to know much about the narrative of A Link Between Worlds because, surprisingly for a Zelda title, there's a lot of depth to it: it expands upon the lore of the original game, building its story on top of established elements and motifs, while at the same time, providing us with fascinating new characters and settings. The cast is wider than that of the prequel, and the slowly unfolding narrative has a lot of twists and turns to its plot, which wraps up to a beautiful ending.
It's one of the ways in which ALBW incorporates the sensibilies of more modern Zelda design, and it goes even further than that: despite the world map being mostly unchanged from the original, the game brings a completely new twist to its dungeons, abandoning the grid-based design of the original in favor of more varied rooms. A few dungeons retaining the feel of the original while others explore other concepts, like more vertical and/or more open layouts. On the surface, some of them even resemble the DS Zelda games more than A Link to the Past.
But then comes another twist: equipment is no longer found within dungeons, being instead required to enter them in the first place. A mysterious merchant named Ravio sets up shop in Hyrule and helpfully offers to sell or lend Link helpful items, like a bow or a hammer. The economics of Ravio's shop are a bit confusing -- Ittle Dew presented a more elegant implementation of the same concept -- but it does serve a purpose in that it rewards thorough exploration while at the same time not requiring it. Plus, it's one of the game's many rupee sinks, which help solve the problem of rupees being useless that's often seen in the series. In A Link Between Worlds, it's unlikely, unless the player intentionally grinds, that they'll finish the game with maxed out rupees.
The potential problem with this setup is that each dungeon assumes the player has one specific item and only that item, and simplistic puzzles can arise from having a single answer to any problem. "Oh no! I'm stuck in a puzzle in the Bow® Dungeon™! Whatever shall I do? I guess I will use my Bow®!" Fortunately, A Link Between Worlds's level designers were aware of this issue, making full use of the game's 3D nature to create complex rooms, and also incorporating a variety of stage elements to support the creation of each dungeon, preventing the one-answer problem and making each one feel unique. The result was some of the best dungeons in the series.
One mechanic shared by every dungeon is the wall traversal: it's the one thing that drew the most skepticism on my part coming into the game, and I cannot believe how wrong I was. The wall mechanic is, at the same time, mind-bending and intuitive, creating a complete paradigm shift on how dungeons are traversed while still feeling perfectly natural to the game. There are a myriad different ways in which A Link Between Worlds uses its central gimmick in its many environments, exploring verticality, connections between rooms and so on.
It's the cherry on top that makes the game, more than excellent, feel irreplicable. A Link Between Worlds is a fantastic reimagining of a classic game that's so dear to my heart, blending its iconic motifs and clever design philosophies with more modern aspects of Zelda games' design. Don't be like me: don't wait for a full decade to play it. It's a treat that deserves to be enjoyed.
Despite it having been sitting in my shelf for some ten years by now, I knew almost nothing coming into A Link Between Worlds bar its central gimmick and connection to A Link to the Past, and even in the latter there was a bit of a surprise: in Japanese, the game is outright called 神々のトライフォース２, which would be equivalent to naming it A Link to the Past 2. It's good that they changed it in the West, not only because sequels tend to intimidate people who don't know the original, but because A Link Between Worlds has its own, unique game feel to it, almost like a reimagining, which naming it "Thing 2" betrays.
It is a direct sequel, though, that is not up for debate: it takes place in the same Hyrule as A Link to the Past, decades, maybe centuries after the events of that game. You play as, as one would guess, Link, who's the apprentice to a smith in Kakariko Village. Link's day starts out just like any other, that is, with him oversleeping and being late to work yet again. During a delivery of a commissioned sword, however, he is met with the eccentric Yuga, a man possessing magical powers who attacks the local church. Sword in hand, the descendant of the legendary hero sets out to find a solution to this new threat.
It pays not to know much about the narrative of A Link Between Worlds because, surprisingly for a Zelda title, there's a lot of depth to it: it expands upon the lore of the original game, building its story on top of established elements and motifs, while at the same time, providing us with fascinating new characters and settings. The cast is wider than that of the prequel, and the slowly unfolding narrative has a lot of twists and turns to its plot, which wraps up to a beautiful ending.
It's one of the ways in which ALBW incorporates the sensibilies of more modern Zelda design, and it goes even further than that: despite the world map being mostly unchanged from the original, the game brings a completely new twist to its dungeons, abandoning the grid-based design of the original in favor of more varied rooms. A few dungeons retaining the feel of the original while others explore other concepts, like more vertical and/or more open layouts. On the surface, some of them even resemble the DS Zelda games more than A Link to the Past.
But then comes another twist: equipment is no longer found within dungeons, being instead required to enter them in the first place. A mysterious merchant named Ravio sets up shop in Hyrule and helpfully offers to sell or lend Link helpful items, like a bow or a hammer. The economics of Ravio's shop are a bit confusing -- Ittle Dew presented a more elegant implementation of the same concept -- but it does serve a purpose in that it rewards thorough exploration while at the same time not requiring it. Plus, it's one of the game's many rupee sinks, which help solve the problem of rupees being useless that's often seen in the series. In A Link Between Worlds, it's unlikely, unless the player intentionally grinds, that they'll finish the game with maxed out rupees.
The potential problem with this setup is that each dungeon assumes the player has one specific item and only that item, and simplistic puzzles can arise from having a single answer to any problem. "Oh no! I'm stuck in a puzzle in the Bow® Dungeon™! Whatever shall I do? I guess I will use my Bow®!" Fortunately, A Link Between Worlds's level designers were aware of this issue, making full use of the game's 3D nature to create complex rooms, and also incorporating a variety of stage elements to support the creation of each dungeon, preventing the one-answer problem and making each one feel unique. The result was some of the best dungeons in the series.
One mechanic shared by every dungeon is the wall traversal: it's the one thing that drew the most skepticism on my part coming into the game, and I cannot believe how wrong I was. The wall mechanic is, at the same time, mind-bending and intuitive, creating a complete paradigm shift on how dungeons are traversed while still feeling perfectly natural to the game. There are a myriad different ways in which A Link Between Worlds uses its central gimmick in its many environments, exploring verticality, connections between rooms and so on.
It's the cherry on top that makes the game, more than excellent, feel irreplicable. A Link Between Worlds is a fantastic reimagining of a classic game that's so dear to my heart, blending its iconic motifs and clever design philosophies with more modern aspects of Zelda games' design. Don't be like me: don't wait for a full decade to play it. It's a treat that deserves to be enjoyed.
Até então, eu nunca tinha jogado A Link Between Worlds, e me arrependo amargamente de não ter feito isso antes. Esse é, definitivamente, o melhor Zelda 2D/isométrico já feito. Claro que A Link to the Past sempre vai ter uma marca especial e inigualável no meu coração, até pelo fator nostalgia que mexe bastante comigo, mas ALBW é a perfeita evolução de tudo que o seu antecessor fez de bom. Algo que o remake do Link's Awakening conseguiu resgatar de certa forma, mas que poderia ter sido melhor traduzido dentro de seu próprio contexto.
Pra mim, o maior diferencial que esse jogo tem é o fato de que, finalmente, a liberdade de exploração e de escolha do que e como você vai fazer retorna para a franquia. E, apesar de inicialmente eu ter estranhado a lojinha de aluguel de itens, depois de um certo tempo pensando sobre ela, cheguei à conclusão que foi uma ideia genial, e perfeitamente alinhada com a história do jogo (vou me conter para evitar spoilers). E por falar em história, essa possivelmente deve ser a melhor e mais fechadinha história de todos os jogos dessa franquia!
A mecânica nova que possibilita o Link de se transformar em uma pintura para se mover pelas paredes foi um acerto absurdo! Essa adição, juntamente com mais perspectivas tridimensionais, trouxe mais opções de level design para a resolução de quebra-cabeças e calabouços e aprimorou ainda mais a experiência de resolvê-las. Além de todos os benefícios que essas possibilidades trouxeram para a exploração do mundo, e é claro que a Nintendo, com toda sua maestria em fazer experiências memoráveis em video-games, iria saber aproveitar bem.
São pouquíssimos os pontos negativos, mas se eu fosse citar alguma coisa, seria que eu ainda prefiro a trilha sonora do ALTTP em comparação a essa, mas essa trilha sonora definitivamente não é ruim. Longe disso, é sensacional! Acho que é muito mais uma questão de como eu me acostumei com a acústica do SNES para as músicas e efeitos sonoros de Zelda. Mas quando falamos de todas as demais evoluções, esse jogo realmente beira a perfeição!
Pra mim, o maior diferencial que esse jogo tem é o fato de que, finalmente, a liberdade de exploração e de escolha do que e como você vai fazer retorna para a franquia. E, apesar de inicialmente eu ter estranhado a lojinha de aluguel de itens, depois de um certo tempo pensando sobre ela, cheguei à conclusão que foi uma ideia genial, e perfeitamente alinhada com a história do jogo (vou me conter para evitar spoilers). E por falar em história, essa possivelmente deve ser a melhor e mais fechadinha história de todos os jogos dessa franquia!
A mecânica nova que possibilita o Link de se transformar em uma pintura para se mover pelas paredes foi um acerto absurdo! Essa adição, juntamente com mais perspectivas tridimensionais, trouxe mais opções de level design para a resolução de quebra-cabeças e calabouços e aprimorou ainda mais a experiência de resolvê-las. Além de todos os benefícios que essas possibilidades trouxeram para a exploração do mundo, e é claro que a Nintendo, com toda sua maestria em fazer experiências memoráveis em video-games, iria saber aproveitar bem.
São pouquíssimos os pontos negativos, mas se eu fosse citar alguma coisa, seria que eu ainda prefiro a trilha sonora do ALTTP em comparação a essa, mas essa trilha sonora definitivamente não é ruim. Longe disso, é sensacional! Acho que é muito mais uma questão de como eu me acostumei com a acústica do SNES para as músicas e efeitos sonoros de Zelda. Mas quando falamos de todas as demais evoluções, esse jogo realmente beira a perfeição!
I can't believe I spent the last 10 years sleeping on this game and it ends up in my top 3 Zelda games of all time.
The music?? The snappy gameplay and mechanics??? The characters??? The dungeons?? Bosses?? The worlds??? They went CRAZY on this for no damn reason!! While looking stunning for a 3DS game and running smooth as hell. My only super minor complaint is the in-game art style's identity isn't as outstanding as the rest of the series but that really doesn't matter when you made the best 2D Zelda ever.
also Ravio is my GOAT this isn't for discussion
The music?? The snappy gameplay and mechanics??? The characters??? The dungeons?? Bosses?? The worlds??? They went CRAZY on this for no damn reason!! While looking stunning for a 3DS game and running smooth as hell. My only super minor complaint is the in-game art style's identity isn't as outstanding as the rest of the series but that really doesn't matter when you made the best 2D Zelda ever.
also Ravio is my GOAT this isn't for discussion
There's something so delightful about this game after playing Tears of the Kingdom. The new open world Zelda games are completely overstuffed in a world that's incredibly vast. In contrast, A Link Between Worlds takes about 2 minutes to get from one side of one of it's maps to the other. It's a compact, cozy open world that respects your time and isn't littered with repetition. You get the joys of doing things in your own order and striking out on your own path to do whatever objective strikes your fancy, while still having well-crafted linear dungeons as well as an engaging story. See, Nintendo? You can do an open world and still have a game that satisfies someone wanting a traditional Zelda, the blueprint was here all along!
Still one of my favorite Zelda games. A lot of it is a remake of A Link to the Past, but it basically just takes everything from that game and makes it significantly better. Dungeons are great with a lot of unique mechanics that make them far more than just remixes of ALttP's dungeons. Bosses are pretty similar to ALttP's, but still much improved upon. I also love the wall merging mechanic and how it allows for tons of creative puzzles throughout the game.
I can kind of understand the complaints about progression with the item renting system, as you can buy all of them super early into the game which can kind of ruin the mystique of what you'll find in each dungeon. However, it never really bothered me. I feel like the Maiamai hunting to upgrade your arsenal helps make the progression more interesting. Rupees being your main reward doesn't really matter since this is one of the few Zelda games where you don't have those dumb wallet upgrades and where rupees are actually really useful.
I've also always really loved the story of this game. There's not that much, but for what little there is, it's surprisingly interesting. The ending especially is fantastic and super satisfying.
The worst thing about this game is finding out that the guy who directed it is now working on the 1-2-Switch games, which might be the biggest demotion in video game history.
I can kind of understand the complaints about progression with the item renting system, as you can buy all of them super early into the game which can kind of ruin the mystique of what you'll find in each dungeon. However, it never really bothered me. I feel like the Maiamai hunting to upgrade your arsenal helps make the progression more interesting. Rupees being your main reward doesn't really matter since this is one of the few Zelda games where you don't have those dumb wallet upgrades and where rupees are actually really useful.
I've also always really loved the story of this game. There's not that much, but for what little there is, it's surprisingly interesting. The ending especially is fantastic and super satisfying.
The worst thing about this game is finding out that the guy who directed it is now working on the 1-2-Switch games, which might be the biggest demotion in video game history.
Best game in the franchise. Great artstyle, With an ingenious mechanic.
Beating every Zelda in timeline order 15/20:
A Link Between Worlds works remarkably well as a direct sequel to A Link to the Past and provides a Zelda experience that's entirely unique. Once you reach Lorule, the game just shrugs and says "yeah, go wherever you want, I'm not a cop." Being free to tackle the dungeons in any order you choose and having the items be unlocked through a shop rather than in dungeons does wonders for the dungeon design. In my opinion, having the items and dungeons work this way allows for the most free-form, puzzley, fun dungeons to explore. In a way, it reminds me of Breath of the Wild's design in that "every direction is the right direction." Even though each dungeon isn't necessarily tied to an item, the dungeons still have strong identities and fantastic theming, even if they're nearly all borrowing from A Link to the Past. Puzzling out these dungeons is absolutely the best part of this game. Not having dungeons to rely on, the items themselves lack a bit of identity, I think. For example, beyond the house of gales, I used the tornado rod maybe once? I didn't feel much incentive to use my entire arsenal like I did in ALttP. While part of me enjoys how much of A Link Between World's identity is owed to A Link to the Past, it also lacks some identity because of it, which is probably why I forget about this game a lot. The music is great, the story is great and the wall merging mechanic is wonderful. It's over pretty quick but it's so much fun to blast through I don't care.
I love A Link Between Worlds and how its non-linear structure lends to engaging dungeon design even if it feels a bit lopsided at points.
A Link Between Worlds works remarkably well as a direct sequel to A Link to the Past and provides a Zelda experience that's entirely unique. Once you reach Lorule, the game just shrugs and says "yeah, go wherever you want, I'm not a cop." Being free to tackle the dungeons in any order you choose and having the items be unlocked through a shop rather than in dungeons does wonders for the dungeon design. In my opinion, having the items and dungeons work this way allows for the most free-form, puzzley, fun dungeons to explore. In a way, it reminds me of Breath of the Wild's design in that "every direction is the right direction." Even though each dungeon isn't necessarily tied to an item, the dungeons still have strong identities and fantastic theming, even if they're nearly all borrowing from A Link to the Past. Puzzling out these dungeons is absolutely the best part of this game. Not having dungeons to rely on, the items themselves lack a bit of identity, I think. For example, beyond the house of gales, I used the tornado rod maybe once? I didn't feel much incentive to use my entire arsenal like I did in ALttP. While part of me enjoys how much of A Link Between World's identity is owed to A Link to the Past, it also lacks some identity because of it, which is probably why I forget about this game a lot. The music is great, the story is great and the wall merging mechanic is wonderful. It's over pretty quick but it's so much fun to blast through I don't care.
I love A Link Between Worlds and how its non-linear structure lends to engaging dungeon design even if it feels a bit lopsided at points.
Muito bonitinho e gostosinho de jogar c: Primeiro zeldinha 2D que eu joguei, muito bom recomendo amigos
Taking a game I already loved and remaking it with new content and improved quality of life is a recipe for a perfect game, that being A Link Between Worlds. I love A Link to the Past, but I had a few issues with it that stopped it from being a perfect score, such as how obscure some things can be, such as needing the Fire AND Ice Rods for the Turtle Rock boss. How do they fix this? Well, the items you need for each dungeon are shown in front of the entrance, so you just need to bring that item and you can do the dungeon. Okay, so I just need to figure out which dungeon each required item comes from so I know what order to do them in. Nope! Instead, all the items you need can be rented or bought from Ravio's shop, meaning you can fast travel there, rent or buy the item, and go back to the dungeon. The only instance of a dungeon being required to access another is Thieves' Town before Desert Palace as the latter requires the Sand Rod, which the Sage you save from the former has. Other than that, the dungeon order is completely free in Lorule, which not only adds to replayability, but allows for more freedom than A Link to the Past did. The renting system is also just a great idea in itself, and you get tons of Rupees per dungeon so you'll be able to buy quite a few items and rent the rest as you go. The dungeons themselves are also just really interesting and fun to play, I love small things that they changed like Turtle Rock having the shape of an actual turtle instead of a different layout. I also think the Merge gimmick is one of the best gimmicks I've seen in gaming because of how unique and creative it is and what it allows this game to do. The game makes a great usage of it's camera to hide certain areas but has a map that allows you to find said areas. Even annoying gimmicks like the Dark Palace needing you to switch the Lantern on and off still makes for pretty good content and fun puzzles that keep me invested and I think there was only one or two dungeons that I wouldn't put in A or S tier because of how high the bar is for good dungeons and puzzles in this game. There's also a bit of story which isn't anything super crazy but it's a lot more fleshed out and sort of acts as a bit of a continuation from A Link to the Past which was really neat, but while it's still a pretty basic story, it adds quite a few elements that make it actually pretty engaging rather than just a regular quest. I'm not trying to say A Link to the Past has a bad story because for it's time it was pretty good, but this game gives the story a lot more meat on its bones that make it more interesting and better. The characters are pretty great here too, I love that the Seven Sages are all characters you meet on your journey rather than rescuing seven random girls we've never seen before that are important. Ravio, Hilda, and Yuga especially are the highlights (as they should be) and it's pretty easy to like them. Also, the final boss of this game is really epic and the final shot of the Bow of Light was really cool. Overall, I would say this game is worth checking out for both fans of A Link to the Past (and Zelda itself), and the general public as this game has quite a lot of quality of life changes from its predecessor while giving a great challenge to its players as well.
Ravio one of the best side-characters in gaming
The best 2D Zelda by far
The Zelda Series had reached a point in the early 2010s where the formula was starting to get old, specially considering the lack of innovation the series had in the 2000s, and as much as I think that time was the peak of Zelda games, one day the series had to change, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was the start of that.
The game embraces non linearity in a smart way, bringing innovation to the series while also staying true to its roots, in an even better way than BOTW did(BOTW is still better overall tho). This was a breath of fresh air after how obscenely linear Skyward Sword was.
The new mechanics are amazing, the double worlds mechanic are way better implemented than ALTTP, and merging into walls is really fun, both in puzzle solving and as a movement option.
It's also a pretty easy game to 100%, the heart pieces are all simple to find and some are really creative, and lots of the quests are really fun to do, specially the Maiamai collecting, which is my favorite collecting quest in the whole series
This is truly an amazing game that every Zelda fan should play.
The Zelda Series had reached a point in the early 2010s where the formula was starting to get old, specially considering the lack of innovation the series had in the 2000s, and as much as I think that time was the peak of Zelda games, one day the series had to change, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was the start of that.
The game embraces non linearity in a smart way, bringing innovation to the series while also staying true to its roots, in an even better way than BOTW did(BOTW is still better overall tho). This was a breath of fresh air after how obscenely linear Skyward Sword was.
The new mechanics are amazing, the double worlds mechanic are way better implemented than ALTTP, and merging into walls is really fun, both in puzzle solving and as a movement option.
It's also a pretty easy game to 100%, the heart pieces are all simple to find and some are really creative, and lots of the quests are really fun to do, specially the Maiamai collecting, which is my favorite collecting quest in the whole series
This is truly an amazing game that every Zelda fan should play.
Perfect top down zelda, feels great to play
One of the best games on the 3ds
I love 2D Zelda so much and am very glad I finally got Citra to run this without my potato PC taking flight.
While this doesn't hit the highs of other 2D Zeldas for me, particularly in the dungeon area, the experience was wonderful. The painting gimmick is fantastic and very well done, and the item shop idea is a nice wrinkle in the Link to the Past formula. It was interesting to have the option of renting the items and the tension of having to rent them again if Link's dungeon delving went awry...until I realized that would never happen.
I don't play Zelda for the difficulty or anything, but Link Between Worlds has to be the easiest game in the franchise, and one of its core mechanics is based around the player dying, which just didn't mesh well with me. I only bought a few items to upgrade, and rented the rest because I did not die a single time in my entire playthrough. Again, I don't play these for the difficulty, but it did kind of bum me out that this mechanic was just not ever going to apply.
I do think, however, that at the same time this does qualify Link Between Worlds to be one of the most beginner friendly games in the franchise...however it also relies a bit on knowing the series to get the full experience out of it.
All in all though, this was a charming and fun game, and really scratched the 2D Zelda dungeon diving itch. The redone music is fantastic, and the dungeons fit their themes very well. I have to say, kicking that clown's ass was a pretty good time too.
While this doesn't hit the highs of other 2D Zeldas for me, particularly in the dungeon area, the experience was wonderful. The painting gimmick is fantastic and very well done, and the item shop idea is a nice wrinkle in the Link to the Past formula. It was interesting to have the option of renting the items and the tension of having to rent them again if Link's dungeon delving went awry...until I realized that would never happen.
I don't play Zelda for the difficulty or anything, but Link Between Worlds has to be the easiest game in the franchise, and one of its core mechanics is based around the player dying, which just didn't mesh well with me. I only bought a few items to upgrade, and rented the rest because I did not die a single time in my entire playthrough. Again, I don't play these for the difficulty, but it did kind of bum me out that this mechanic was just not ever going to apply.
I do think, however, that at the same time this does qualify Link Between Worlds to be one of the most beginner friendly games in the franchise...however it also relies a bit on knowing the series to get the full experience out of it.
All in all though, this was a charming and fun game, and really scratched the 2D Zelda dungeon diving itch. The redone music is fantastic, and the dungeons fit their themes very well. I have to say, kicking that clown's ass was a pretty good time too.
A great callback game to the Link to the Past gameplay formula. The mechanic of swapping between worlds and phasing into a wall to become 2D is constantly used in unique and fun ways.
It's been a long time since I've played it, so I can't give any informed opinions as my memory of it is hazy at this point, but I do remember it being very fun as a kid who hadn't played a Zelda game like this before.
It's been a long time since I've played it, so I can't give any informed opinions as my memory of it is hazy at this point, but I do remember it being very fun as a kid who hadn't played a Zelda game like this before.
that ending plot twist got me gasping for fucking air what the hell people
so we are at that point in the marathon where i will just skip whatever i want and play the games in whatever order i want and thats like what real freedom is all about
this is a “remake”/sequel of a link to the past but in reality its just a complete reimagination most of the main things are left untouched like the structure in a 3 + 7 dungeons the overworld is the same most of the items are the same too like theres actually a good 50% of the core game thats actually the same but the new stuff is absolutely fucking UGHHHHHHH I LOVE IT
main gimmick is basically the same this is a classic top down zelda of course so the main gameplay is the same as always you go around dungeons go through some shit puzzles and get some heart containers you go through this loop for like 10 times and than that's the fucking end
now as I said this is the same exact thing of a link to the past but they spiced shit up here and thats by adding the painting technique or whatever the fuck it's called basically you can smash yourself into a wall and go 2d into that and basically just traverse the entirety of the wall walking idk it's better to just play and see it because it's more clear when you do it than when you explain it and that actually make for some interesting mechanics here and there if you ask me
the overworld also got adapted to this new gimmick and you can see some different heart pieces here and there that you can get with this ability and shit like that
and the same happened with the items they were kind of remodeled to be used to this kind of new iteration of the game even though most of them still function the same but this time they're all available at the beginning of the game thanks to ravio's shop that can lend you some stuff and later you can also buy them . this is a new addition that I found really interesting and pretty fun since if you die in a dungeon the loan shark gets on your ass and takes them back so yeah thats some new strategy added to the game even tho this is a pretty easy game compared to the original one at least
the dungeon got revamped A LOT too I was definitely not expecting that if you ask me but I guess they also took advantage of the new 3d engine to make some bomb ass perspective play here and there and while sometimes I got really stuck due to me completely forgetting that the wall mechanic exists and shit like that but hall of fame of worst shit ever is of course the ice ruins because why the fuck would you make the floor slippery and the desert palace that FOR SOME REASON ??? like the boss is so hard for me and I don't really understand why I had to do it like 10 times maybe im dumb as fuck but the others were kind of a breeze to go through with some ups and downs i was not the cleverest guy in my class honestly so of course this was gonna happen
tho in general I feel like the pacing is kind of better because YOU KNOW where the fuck you have to go and also it's kind of easier/interesting to play it after alttp because you know the position of the dungeons but you're gonna get like uh ? because the dungeon are different and that's fun
clearly being a successor / whatever of alttp theres also the dark world and everything I already said applies to the dark world PLUS the way you get to the dark world is less messier than alttp and there's fast travels here and there so I don't have to go fucking crazy when going from one point to the other and as I was saying you go from one world to the other through cracks in different parts of the realm and its pretty convenient since there's a LOT of cracks and when you also add the fast travel this game is a breeze to go through
so yeah in general the gameplay is pretty much the same AND apart from the incredible artistic overhaul it's incredible to see how hyrule was completely untouched like they also realized how sick and tight the original one's design was perfect absolutely fucking perfect but in general the little chibified aesthetic of it all is super sick and I cannot believe how smooth the game plays it's honestly jawdropping
so yeah there's that yknow this is zelda this is all the same stuff again and again the game is great play it bla bla bla
so story stuff and this is HEAVY SPOILER please don't go ahead
so the story is basically the same but with some changes you don't go rescue zelda and the sages are characters who are turned into paintings by the evil lord whatever so you go into the dark world there's actually a princess of this world called hilda she explains the situation the fact that the triforce of their world is shattered yada yada whatever some hours later you get back and in reality she's the bad guy whatever because she wanted the triforce back and THEN ravio shows up and its actually DARK WORLD LINK ??????? OG MY GOD YOU DONT UNDERSTAND GUYS THE WAY MY JAW DROPPED I GASPED FOR AIR WHAT THE ACTUAL OWMGKWNFLWMLDLWLDLWPDLWLWLPWLW WHO THOUGH THIS WAS OK TO MAKE ME PISS MY PANTS and he talks too the fuck ????? and he's hot as hell ??????? I don't get it well whatever you get back to your world and zelda and link wish for the dark triforce to be back and we cry this game is so fucking insane
great game the blue lizards are still hot as fuck
ALSO ALSO ALSO THE MUSIC GOT REMADE UGHHHHHH THE THEMES ARE INSANE DID YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO THE DARK WORLD THEME OH yeah it's called lorule now whatever GRAAAAAAH
so we are at that point in the marathon where i will just skip whatever i want and play the games in whatever order i want and thats like what real freedom is all about
this is a “remake”/sequel of a link to the past but in reality its just a complete reimagination most of the main things are left untouched like the structure in a 3 + 7 dungeons the overworld is the same most of the items are the same too like theres actually a good 50% of the core game thats actually the same but the new stuff is absolutely fucking UGHHHHHHH I LOVE IT
main gimmick is basically the same this is a classic top down zelda of course so the main gameplay is the same as always you go around dungeons go through some shit puzzles and get some heart containers you go through this loop for like 10 times and than that's the fucking end
now as I said this is the same exact thing of a link to the past but they spiced shit up here and thats by adding the painting technique or whatever the fuck it's called basically you can smash yourself into a wall and go 2d into that and basically just traverse the entirety of the wall walking idk it's better to just play and see it because it's more clear when you do it than when you explain it and that actually make for some interesting mechanics here and there if you ask me
the overworld also got adapted to this new gimmick and you can see some different heart pieces here and there that you can get with this ability and shit like that
and the same happened with the items they were kind of remodeled to be used to this kind of new iteration of the game even though most of them still function the same but this time they're all available at the beginning of the game thanks to ravio's shop that can lend you some stuff and later you can also buy them . this is a new addition that I found really interesting and pretty fun since if you die in a dungeon the loan shark gets on your ass and takes them back so yeah thats some new strategy added to the game even tho this is a pretty easy game compared to the original one at least
the dungeon got revamped A LOT too I was definitely not expecting that if you ask me but I guess they also took advantage of the new 3d engine to make some bomb ass perspective play here and there and while sometimes I got really stuck due to me completely forgetting that the wall mechanic exists and shit like that but hall of fame of worst shit ever is of course the ice ruins because why the fuck would you make the floor slippery and the desert palace that FOR SOME REASON ??? like the boss is so hard for me and I don't really understand why I had to do it like 10 times maybe im dumb as fuck but the others were kind of a breeze to go through with some ups and downs i was not the cleverest guy in my class honestly so of course this was gonna happen
tho in general I feel like the pacing is kind of better because YOU KNOW where the fuck you have to go and also it's kind of easier/interesting to play it after alttp because you know the position of the dungeons but you're gonna get like uh ? because the dungeon are different and that's fun
clearly being a successor / whatever of alttp theres also the dark world and everything I already said applies to the dark world PLUS the way you get to the dark world is less messier than alttp and there's fast travels here and there so I don't have to go fucking crazy when going from one point to the other and as I was saying you go from one world to the other through cracks in different parts of the realm and its pretty convenient since there's a LOT of cracks and when you also add the fast travel this game is a breeze to go through
so yeah in general the gameplay is pretty much the same AND apart from the incredible artistic overhaul it's incredible to see how hyrule was completely untouched like they also realized how sick and tight the original one's design was perfect absolutely fucking perfect but in general the little chibified aesthetic of it all is super sick and I cannot believe how smooth the game plays it's honestly jawdropping
so yeah there's that yknow this is zelda this is all the same stuff again and again the game is great play it bla bla bla
so story stuff and this is HEAVY SPOILER please don't go ahead
so the story is basically the same but with some changes you don't go rescue zelda and the sages are characters who are turned into paintings by the evil lord whatever so you go into the dark world there's actually a princess of this world called hilda she explains the situation the fact that the triforce of their world is shattered yada yada whatever some hours later you get back and in reality she's the bad guy whatever because she wanted the triforce back and THEN ravio shows up and its actually DARK WORLD LINK ??????? OG MY GOD YOU DONT UNDERSTAND GUYS THE WAY MY JAW DROPPED I GASPED FOR AIR WHAT THE ACTUAL OWMGKWNFLWMLDLWLDLWPDLWLWLPWLW WHO THOUGH THIS WAS OK TO MAKE ME PISS MY PANTS and he talks too the fuck ????? and he's hot as hell ??????? I don't get it well whatever you get back to your world and zelda and link wish for the dark triforce to be back and we cry this game is so fucking insane
great game the blue lizards are still hot as fuck
ALSO ALSO ALSO THE MUSIC GOT REMADE UGHHHHHH THE THEMES ARE INSANE DID YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO THE DARK WORLD THEME OH yeah it's called lorule now whatever GRAAAAAAH
Link Between Worlds is perfect and is quite possibly my favorite 2D Zelda. I know the item "rental" system is a bit contentious but I really liked the freedom it gave you to basically tackle the game in whatever way you pleased.
Hard to believe it's been over a decade since the last original 2D Zelda game and who knows if we ever get one of these again.
Hard to believe it's been over a decade since the last original 2D Zelda game and who knows if we ever get one of these again.
The first time I played this I thought to myself "uhh I don't like the visuals on this one" and now I wonder how could I have such bad taste a few years ago.
It's a love letter to A Link to the Past, probably better in every way except overall difficulty, which is a bit low imo, but everything else is top notch. Also some of the boss designs are just way too good.
There's not much to talk about tho, it's Zelda, and it's a VERY good one. Absolutely must play.
It's a love letter to A Link to the Past, probably better in every way except overall difficulty, which is a bit low imo, but everything else is top notch. Also some of the boss designs are just way too good.
There's not much to talk about tho, it's Zelda, and it's a VERY good one. Absolutely must play.
This is one of the most masterfully crafted game design I've ever seen. It's shorter than the others, but it's as short as it needs to be. Definitely one of the more impressive game in the series.
Link to the Past if it was A Link Between Worlds
2D Zelda'lardan açık ara favorim. O kadar favorim ki uzun süre bitirmemek için oynamadığımı biliyorum bu oyunu, o derece. İki dünya arası gidip gelmeleri, "duvar resmi" mekaniğini, bulmacalarını, dungeonlarını... Genel olarak her şeyini sevdiğim bir oyun ya A Link Between Worlds. A Link to the Past'in ruhani devamı ve onu sevdiyseniz bunu da kesinlikle seversiniz.
A safe return to form with a real off the wall gimmick.
After the frustrations of 2011’s Skyward Sword on the Wii, you could not hear a discussion on Zelda games without the words “linear” or “hand-holdy” popping up. It would seem that being unable to explore the world of a Zelda game at your own pace is something that can really hurt the experience. The children yearned for adventure.
So two years later, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds dropped and gave the children what they wanted. It also gave the geezers like me what they wanted too. Everyone was happy.
A sequel to 1991’s A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds takes you back to the Hyrule of old with a few new changes. The music and visuals are fresh but don't stray too far from the source material. The soundtrack ironically is one of the more interesting choices, rather than using unique instrumentation, A Link Between Worlds feels more rustic European than anything that's come before. The flutes and strings in the minigame theme especially sound like something straight out of Bilbo Baggin's 111th birthday vibes. Link looks phenomenal in this game. His hair isn't pink though lmao, so as much as we can say it's a nostalgia driven game, they weren't brave enough to be that adherent to the past. But enough about the sights and sounds, let's get to the real meat of the game, what sets it apart from its peers.
A Link Between Worlds allows you to take on whichever dungeon you want, by making the items you usually get in those dungeons available from the start, but only through renting them. If you die, you lose it, and if you have enough money, you can permanently own it. The Item Rental System makes dangerous enemies more threatening and collecting rupees more important than ever. It’s pretty cool.
A flaw in the Item Rental System is the threat of dangerous enemies and the value of rupees disappears once you gather enough cash to permanently own the items. The game is quite generous with rupees and ways to get more rupees, so you’ll be owning those items a few hours in. A few more hours in you’ll have upgraded your items and cleared all the mini games so enemies will be a joke, and the rupees they drop won’t matter.
I’ll tell you something though, the enemies are pretty easy even without permanently owning the items. I recently did a Green Tunic Only, Rented Items Only playthrough and only died once the entire time in the late game challenge tower. The main game couldn’t touch me. But I guess that’s what hero mode is for.
Ah but the item rental isn’t the only gimmick in the game, is it? The Wall Merging mechanic is what was advertised the most before A Link Between Worlds was released. It’s a cute little thing that flattens you up against the wall, but what shouldn’t be ignored is how much it changes the way dungeons are approached from both the developer and player points of view. Instead of just being a string of rooms with puzzles, the very structure of the dungeon can be included with the puzzle. Structures you normally wouldn’t see the back side of can now hide secrets if you wall-crawl around them. You have to pay attention to every wall. I only wish they pushed this further, it’s a really neat gimmick.
The wall merging is also the means to go to the dark world, hilariously named Lorule. A Link Between Worlds treats Lorule less like a cursed evil world and more like a parallel Hyrule that fell on hard times. Instead of the unsettling creature-like npcs from A Link to the Past, Lorule’s inhabitants are (most of the time) color-swapped reflections of Hyrule’s npcs. These reflections can inform things about each other, and make both worlds feel a little richer. Yet another reason why the purple haired anti-Zelda, Princess Hilda, is one of my favorite Zelda characters ever.
I’ve beaten The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds three times and 100%-ed it two of those times. Each time was a blast and I’m probably going to play it many more times. It looks and sounds and plays great, it’s a treat all around. I love it. You should play it.
After the frustrations of 2011’s Skyward Sword on the Wii, you could not hear a discussion on Zelda games without the words “linear” or “hand-holdy” popping up. It would seem that being unable to explore the world of a Zelda game at your own pace is something that can really hurt the experience. The children yearned for adventure.
So two years later, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds dropped and gave the children what they wanted. It also gave the geezers like me what they wanted too. Everyone was happy.
A sequel to 1991’s A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds takes you back to the Hyrule of old with a few new changes. The music and visuals are fresh but don't stray too far from the source material. The soundtrack ironically is one of the more interesting choices, rather than using unique instrumentation, A Link Between Worlds feels more rustic European than anything that's come before. The flutes and strings in the minigame theme especially sound like something straight out of Bilbo Baggin's 111th birthday vibes. Link looks phenomenal in this game. His hair isn't pink though lmao, so as much as we can say it's a nostalgia driven game, they weren't brave enough to be that adherent to the past. But enough about the sights and sounds, let's get to the real meat of the game, what sets it apart from its peers.
A Link Between Worlds allows you to take on whichever dungeon you want, by making the items you usually get in those dungeons available from the start, but only through renting them. If you die, you lose it, and if you have enough money, you can permanently own it. The Item Rental System makes dangerous enemies more threatening and collecting rupees more important than ever. It’s pretty cool.
A flaw in the Item Rental System is the threat of dangerous enemies and the value of rupees disappears once you gather enough cash to permanently own the items. The game is quite generous with rupees and ways to get more rupees, so you’ll be owning those items a few hours in. A few more hours in you’ll have upgraded your items and cleared all the mini games so enemies will be a joke, and the rupees they drop won’t matter.
I’ll tell you something though, the enemies are pretty easy even without permanently owning the items. I recently did a Green Tunic Only, Rented Items Only playthrough and only died once the entire time in the late game challenge tower. The main game couldn’t touch me. But I guess that’s what hero mode is for.
Ah but the item rental isn’t the only gimmick in the game, is it? The Wall Merging mechanic is what was advertised the most before A Link Between Worlds was released. It’s a cute little thing that flattens you up against the wall, but what shouldn’t be ignored is how much it changes the way dungeons are approached from both the developer and player points of view. Instead of just being a string of rooms with puzzles, the very structure of the dungeon can be included with the puzzle. Structures you normally wouldn’t see the back side of can now hide secrets if you wall-crawl around them. You have to pay attention to every wall. I only wish they pushed this further, it’s a really neat gimmick.
The wall merging is also the means to go to the dark world, hilariously named Lorule. A Link Between Worlds treats Lorule less like a cursed evil world and more like a parallel Hyrule that fell on hard times. Instead of the unsettling creature-like npcs from A Link to the Past, Lorule’s inhabitants are (most of the time) color-swapped reflections of Hyrule’s npcs. These reflections can inform things about each other, and make both worlds feel a little richer. Yet another reason why the purple haired anti-Zelda, Princess Hilda, is one of my favorite Zelda characters ever.
I’ve beaten The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds three times and 100%-ed it two of those times. Each time was a blast and I’m probably going to play it many more times. It looks and sounds and plays great, it’s a treat all around. I love it. You should play it.
This game is better than A Link to the Past - no question.
Come on. You know it's true. For starters there's more than one fucking dungeon theme in the dark world.
ALBW has a pretty open structure while retaining the traditional dungeons, which is pretty much what Zelda fans have been asking for with the 3D games since Breath of the Wild came out. It's got upgradable items, great dungeons and bosses, some cool verticality, and the awesome painting mechanic which totally changes the way that the player can interact with every single room. It's more charming than A Link to the Past and it actually controls well unlike that game.
I don't care that you grew up with A Link to the Past. A Link Between Worlds is just a better game. What argument is there against that? The re-use of the map?
ALBW reuses the map in an interesting way that doesn't diminish the desire to explore, so I don't see it as an issue. But if you want to talk about how re-using a map makes a game inferior to the predecessor, I'd be happy to redirect the conversation to Tears of the Kingdom and how the use of the map from BotW absolutely destroys the desire to explore in that game.
Come on. You know it's true. For starters there's more than one fucking dungeon theme in the dark world.
ALBW has a pretty open structure while retaining the traditional dungeons, which is pretty much what Zelda fans have been asking for with the 3D games since Breath of the Wild came out. It's got upgradable items, great dungeons and bosses, some cool verticality, and the awesome painting mechanic which totally changes the way that the player can interact with every single room. It's more charming than A Link to the Past and it actually controls well unlike that game.
I don't care that you grew up with A Link to the Past. A Link Between Worlds is just a better game. What argument is there against that? The re-use of the map?
ALBW reuses the map in an interesting way that doesn't diminish the desire to explore, so I don't see it as an issue. But if you want to talk about how re-using a map makes a game inferior to the predecessor, I'd be happy to redirect the conversation to Tears of the Kingdom and how the use of the map from BotW absolutely destroys the desire to explore in that game.
A spiritual sequel to my favorite Zelda game and it's perfect! While I tend to say Link to the Past is my favorite, I also include this game as my favorite because truth be told, I love them both equally and I can never pick which one is better than the other. This game is one of Zelda's best!
It's rare for the Zelda series to delve into traditional sequels; sure, there are games that use the same assets or engine as a previous title, such as Majora's Mask, but the games generally feel disconnected from each other from a narrative and atmosphere perspective. This is by design; it's supposed to be a legend, after all, so it makes sense that each story would be told a different way. But by the beginning of the 2010s, the Toon Link era was beginning to change that. These were as close as we've gotten to direct Zelda sequels canonically, but their gameplay and setting were still their own. But with the series's first original title on the 3DS, Nintendo decided to take it a step further; A Link Between Worlds is a successor to not a recent title, but A Link To The Past, the game that set the standard for the 2D Zelda title all the way back in 1992 on the SNES. Set many years later, ALBW features a familiar Hyrule layout and a familiar dark world-esque alternate setting, this time titled Lorule. But while the game certainly takes great inspiration from the Zelda title that defined the series, it's still definitively a great game in its own right.
A Link to the Past is still an all time favorite for many Zelda fans, so a spiritual successor to it was always a good idea. Just as with that game, it's impressive how much detail and polish A Link Between Worlds can fit into its condensed world-or, worlds. For fans of traditional 2D Zelda, it's a treat; the dungeons are varied, puzzles are engaging rather than frustrating, and as for any good Zelda title, there's plenty of fun distractions and diversions throughout. Due to the ease of swapping out items, this is one of the smoothest Zelda experiences there is. The dungeons are all relatively small and compact, which allows for players to progress consistently, rarely feeling bogged down by any sudden obscure sections or difficulty spikes. It must be said this is certainly one of the easier titles in the series, so it does lack a degree of memorability; it's hard to say what dungeon or boss fight is supposed to be the definitive one in ALBW. They're all good, and their relative ease does make for a satisfyingly brisk playthrough, but it does lack those knockout punches-in both difficulty and memorability-that are so consistent throughout the series.
That isn't to say that A Link Between Worlds has nothing unique or memorable to offer. Of course, the wall merging mechanic is a brilliant mechanic, and contributes to so much of this game's identity. So many of the best puzzles, so much of the environmental exploration in this game is based around clever uses of this ability to great effect, and finding an obscure secret or a puzzle solution while using it is perhaps the most satisfying element the game has to offer. It also contributes greatly to your exploration of Hyrule and Lorule, and its implementation keeps both regions relevant for the game's duration. Even more revolutionary-and impactful, it turns out-was the game's non-linear structure. Especially at the time of release, when the previous title in the series was Skyward Sword (a game criticized by some for its over-adherence to the Zelda formula), A Link Between Worlds was a breath of fresh air for the series. Freedom in gaming is not always a good thing, but here, it works a treat, greatly improving the exploration aspect of the title and bringing back some of that feeling from the very first Zelda-and, indeed, surely acting as an inspiration for Breath of the Wild. To supplement this, ALBW also introduced the item-lending system, which allowed players to use all the traditional Zelda equips essentially right from the beginning, which allowed for more continuous exploration and led to less backtracking.
Of course, when you take so much inspiration from a beloved title, it's bound to create some feelings of familiarity, and not always in a good way. Putting the maps side by side shows the overworlds to be near-indistinguishable, and while a sequel like TOTK can supplement that with massive gameplay changes and new areas, A Link Between Worlds doesn't have as many options to fit inside its much smaller map. It has enough new that it doesn't feel like a complete retread, but those who have played ALTTP recently or often enough might miss out on a degree of exploration joy here, which is the predominant thing the game does well.
Even with its similarities, though, if A Link Between Worlds is being called similar to one of the most genre-defining games of a generation, then it's clear that it must have done some things right. And for fans of a traditional 2D Zelda with a twist of varied progression, A Link Between Worlds is an excellent choice. It wears its influence proudly on its sleeve, and while it might borrow a tad too much from it, it's never to the point of becoming derivative or dull. And with the hindsight of BOTW, it's clear to see that ALBW had plenty of influence to offer on its own.
A Link to the Past is still an all time favorite for many Zelda fans, so a spiritual successor to it was always a good idea. Just as with that game, it's impressive how much detail and polish A Link Between Worlds can fit into its condensed world-or, worlds. For fans of traditional 2D Zelda, it's a treat; the dungeons are varied, puzzles are engaging rather than frustrating, and as for any good Zelda title, there's plenty of fun distractions and diversions throughout. Due to the ease of swapping out items, this is one of the smoothest Zelda experiences there is. The dungeons are all relatively small and compact, which allows for players to progress consistently, rarely feeling bogged down by any sudden obscure sections or difficulty spikes. It must be said this is certainly one of the easier titles in the series, so it does lack a degree of memorability; it's hard to say what dungeon or boss fight is supposed to be the definitive one in ALBW. They're all good, and their relative ease does make for a satisfyingly brisk playthrough, but it does lack those knockout punches-in both difficulty and memorability-that are so consistent throughout the series.
That isn't to say that A Link Between Worlds has nothing unique or memorable to offer. Of course, the wall merging mechanic is a brilliant mechanic, and contributes to so much of this game's identity. So many of the best puzzles, so much of the environmental exploration in this game is based around clever uses of this ability to great effect, and finding an obscure secret or a puzzle solution while using it is perhaps the most satisfying element the game has to offer. It also contributes greatly to your exploration of Hyrule and Lorule, and its implementation keeps both regions relevant for the game's duration. Even more revolutionary-and impactful, it turns out-was the game's non-linear structure. Especially at the time of release, when the previous title in the series was Skyward Sword (a game criticized by some for its over-adherence to the Zelda formula), A Link Between Worlds was a breath of fresh air for the series. Freedom in gaming is not always a good thing, but here, it works a treat, greatly improving the exploration aspect of the title and bringing back some of that feeling from the very first Zelda-and, indeed, surely acting as an inspiration for Breath of the Wild. To supplement this, ALBW also introduced the item-lending system, which allowed players to use all the traditional Zelda equips essentially right from the beginning, which allowed for more continuous exploration and led to less backtracking.
Of course, when you take so much inspiration from a beloved title, it's bound to create some feelings of familiarity, and not always in a good way. Putting the maps side by side shows the overworlds to be near-indistinguishable, and while a sequel like TOTK can supplement that with massive gameplay changes and new areas, A Link Between Worlds doesn't have as many options to fit inside its much smaller map. It has enough new that it doesn't feel like a complete retread, but those who have played ALTTP recently or often enough might miss out on a degree of exploration joy here, which is the predominant thing the game does well.
Even with its similarities, though, if A Link Between Worlds is being called similar to one of the most genre-defining games of a generation, then it's clear that it must have done some things right. And for fans of a traditional 2D Zelda with a twist of varied progression, A Link Between Worlds is an excellent choice. It wears its influence proudly on its sleeve, and while it might borrow a tad too much from it, it's never to the point of becoming derivative or dull. And with the hindsight of BOTW, it's clear to see that ALBW had plenty of influence to offer on its own.
It's Link to the Past but better
Eu sempre preferi Zelda em 2D. Acho que tem mais charme, apesar de gostar dos combates 3D que me soam como uma "dança". É um jogo muito divertido, como sempre, e acho que as mecânicas funcionaram muito bem também. Ótimo jogo
An absolute gem, and a breath of fresh air after the rather mid DS games. It’s a lovely twist on Link to the Past, and the wall-walking mechanic is used extremely effectively throughout the game. Can’t recommend it enough.