I recently watch a video review of Link - Forces of Evil, and I was surprised to hear that the game wasn't that bad at all! I had always heard that the CDI Zelda games were awful so I knew I had to play them to find out myself if this reputation they have was deserved or not.
And I have to say, this game is not bad at all!
Technically, I played a fan made PC port with a lower enemy spawn rate, faster shield and with controller support (you had to play with a remote on the original, and the jump was mapped on the up key), meaning it was not the true CDI experience.
But I mean, if you forget those QoL changes, the rest of the game is really solid! Zelda controls really well, and is very reactive, almost every enemy die in one hit (even bosses when you have the right object), and the gameplay is very fast paced. Progression goes quick too, you obtain new items very often and unlike in a lot of Zelda games, these items will stay useful throughout the whole game. There is a real feeling of becoming stronger and stronger, even though the game only last 2 or 3 hours.
I really like how the game lets you freely choose the level you want to go in, and figure out in which order you have to do things. Cutscenes give great hints to guide you and I almost never felt lost!
Also, the game isn't very punitive. When you die, you respawn at the start of the current screen. When you die three time in a level, you go back to the map. But everything you did in the level is still active, so you don't really loose a lot of progress and you can go back pretty quickly to where you were!
Graphically, it really isn't that uggly! Yes, the cutscenes look weird and have super funny (in a weird way) dialogs, but the gameplay environments and characters look good and are very varied! There is only one time I got stuck because I didn't see a door in the background because it had the same color as the wall.
And finally, the music. Yes it has nothing to do with regular Zelda games, but wow it's great. Every screen of every level has its own music, and the more you progress in a level, the more intense the music gets. My favourite must be the graveyard one, I found a great remix of it on Youtube and I'm very happy!
So, if you have a couple hours to spend, and you like fast action platformer, give this remaster a try! You could be surprised how despite its reputation, it's actually a fun game!
And I have to say, this game is not bad at all!
Technically, I played a fan made PC port with a lower enemy spawn rate, faster shield and with controller support (you had to play with a remote on the original, and the jump was mapped on the up key), meaning it was not the true CDI experience.
But I mean, if you forget those QoL changes, the rest of the game is really solid! Zelda controls really well, and is very reactive, almost every enemy die in one hit (even bosses when you have the right object), and the gameplay is very fast paced. Progression goes quick too, you obtain new items very often and unlike in a lot of Zelda games, these items will stay useful throughout the whole game. There is a real feeling of becoming stronger and stronger, even though the game only last 2 or 3 hours.
I really like how the game lets you freely choose the level you want to go in, and figure out in which order you have to do things. Cutscenes give great hints to guide you and I almost never felt lost!
Also, the game isn't very punitive. When you die, you respawn at the start of the current screen. When you die three time in a level, you go back to the map. But everything you did in the level is still active, so you don't really loose a lot of progress and you can go back pretty quickly to where you were!
Graphically, it really isn't that uggly! Yes, the cutscenes look weird and have super funny (in a weird way) dialogs, but the gameplay environments and characters look good and are very varied! There is only one time I got stuck because I didn't see a door in the background because it had the same color as the wall.
And finally, the music. Yes it has nothing to do with regular Zelda games, but wow it's great. Every screen of every level has its own music, and the more you progress in a level, the more intense the music gets. My favourite must be the graveyard one, I found a great remix of it on Youtube and I'm very happy!
So, if you have a couple hours to spend, and you like fast action platformer, give this remaster a try! You could be surprised how despite its reputation, it's actually a fun game!
2 Comments
@Tatassticot Yeah, I really think that if it didn't have had the "Zelda" brand attached to it, this game would have been remembered as an obscure good game from a console that nobody had.
Tatassticot
1 month ago
I guess it's a matter of internet beginings, where codes had to be made, where community had to gather arround references - in this case this game to hate for its awful cutscenes...
The song is as catchy as spooky Indeed, it properly fits a cemetary level in an action game indeed.
Thanks for changing my mind about this game