Link's Awakening has long been one of my favorite Zelda games, and the uncontested peak of the Gameboy's library. For the Frog the Bell Tolls is its direct predecessor, both in the tech used and in much of the tone and personality that lies at the core appeal of both games. Threaded throughout this game you can feel the bones of the trading quest in Link's Awakening especially strongly, which is one of the best bits that game has to offer. The princely protagonist here is on a wild goose chase being strung along from favor to favor in order to get back his squandered wealth and save the day.
All the major characters have really strong personalities and go through their own little arcs in ways that I just would not expect from a game of this age on the platform its on. From your spoiled rich kid protagonist, to the thief that plunders that wealth, everyone gets a little more care put into them than you might expect. Punching above its weight is something this game does consistently, from the writing to the game design at its core. For a puzzle-heavy adventure game like this to have such smooth progression is miraculous. I only felt stumped in a couple of instances where I didn't exhaust everyone's dialogue, and I was consistently impressed by the creativity behind the solutions to the myriad of puzzles even with such a limited arsenal at your disposal. In particular, the culmination of your quest for gold had me damn near clapping at the screen when I figured out what I was supposed to do. This is all without even mentioning the way that the overworld and the dungeons seemlessly work together to utilize your toolset in unique ways.
Really the only thing dragging down For the Frog the Bell Tolls for me is that sometimes the overly punitive action gets in the way of the joy of puzzle solving. There are just times where you miss a platform and fall into an instant death pit, or you accidentally run into an enemy you have no hope of defeating and the escape command fails 5 times in a row with no recourse. It just feels really frustrating to get sent back to town, having to redo an entire dungeon just because of one little mistake, in a game where the emphasis is not at all on the action. I do appreciate how the combat system is handled more broadly, it's used more to gate you out of areas you're not supposed to be in yet and funnel you in the right direction which is neat, but in dungeons it can be a bit too much.
Overall this is a really really charming game, and without a doubt one of the best in the Gameboy library. It's always a treat to see the lineage behind games you love too, I feel like this experience only enriches my love of Link's Awakening even more.
All the major characters have really strong personalities and go through their own little arcs in ways that I just would not expect from a game of this age on the platform its on. From your spoiled rich kid protagonist, to the thief that plunders that wealth, everyone gets a little more care put into them than you might expect. Punching above its weight is something this game does consistently, from the writing to the game design at its core. For a puzzle-heavy adventure game like this to have such smooth progression is miraculous. I only felt stumped in a couple of instances where I didn't exhaust everyone's dialogue, and I was consistently impressed by the creativity behind the solutions to the myriad of puzzles even with such a limited arsenal at your disposal. In particular, the culmination of your quest for gold had me damn near clapping at the screen when I figured out what I was supposed to do. This is all without even mentioning the way that the overworld and the dungeons seemlessly work together to utilize your toolset in unique ways.
Really the only thing dragging down For the Frog the Bell Tolls for me is that sometimes the overly punitive action gets in the way of the joy of puzzle solving. There are just times where you miss a platform and fall into an instant death pit, or you accidentally run into an enemy you have no hope of defeating and the escape command fails 5 times in a row with no recourse. It just feels really frustrating to get sent back to town, having to redo an entire dungeon just because of one little mistake, in a game where the emphasis is not at all on the action. I do appreciate how the combat system is handled more broadly, it's used more to gate you out of areas you're not supposed to be in yet and funnel you in the right direction which is neat, but in dungeons it can be a bit too much.
Overall this is a really really charming game, and without a doubt one of the best in the Gameboy library. It's always a treat to see the lineage behind games you love too, I feel like this experience only enriches my love of Link's Awakening even more.