Started this up after beating Tears of the Kingdom, then took a month and a half break after a few dungeons in the Dark World to go through Zelda II. Needless to say, was very happy to return to this one after that.
A fun game, and after playing through the OG Legend of Zelda and now Zelda II, I'm okay with calling this one the definitive game that made Zelda the series it is. Fun dungeons and dungeon items, interesting combat with varied bosses (although a bit too much bumping for my taste), and best of all, two world maps that really capture the spirit of exploration.
My favorite part of Zelda games is finding secrets and being rewarded for figuring out environmental puzzles, and this one captures that spirit without being obscure (random bombable walls @LoZ) or infuriating (@all of Zelda II). Really reminded me of exploring in my first Zelda experience, Twilight Princess. And puzzles traveling between the two worlds, like the flute puzzle and the chest following you, were very rewarding to figure out as well.
Some obscure parts that I did have to look up - not knowing I had to run into the bookshelf for the Book of Mudora was a bit annoying, and I likely would've never found the extremely important literal Silver Arrows if not for checking the guides and repeatedly talking to the Fortune Tellers.
Overall though, for a game that came out four years after the heap of mistakes that was Zelda II, this one had few missteps and made up for it in spades with its exploration, amusing atmosphere, and great gameplay.
A fun game, and after playing through the OG Legend of Zelda and now Zelda II, I'm okay with calling this one the definitive game that made Zelda the series it is. Fun dungeons and dungeon items, interesting combat with varied bosses (although a bit too much bumping for my taste), and best of all, two world maps that really capture the spirit of exploration.
My favorite part of Zelda games is finding secrets and being rewarded for figuring out environmental puzzles, and this one captures that spirit without being obscure (random bombable walls @LoZ) or infuriating (@all of Zelda II). Really reminded me of exploring in my first Zelda experience, Twilight Princess. And puzzles traveling between the two worlds, like the flute puzzle and the chest following you, were very rewarding to figure out as well.
Some obscure parts that I did have to look up - not knowing I had to run into the bookshelf for the Book of Mudora was a bit annoying, and I likely would've never found the extremely important literal Silver Arrows if not for checking the guides and repeatedly talking to the Fortune Tellers.
Overall though, for a game that came out four years after the heap of mistakes that was Zelda II, this one had few missteps and made up for it in spades with its exploration, amusing atmosphere, and great gameplay.