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.