This was a hit or miss experience for me. I think this game had a lot of great ideas that were hampered by the technical limitations and design quirks of the time. Let me give you a couple of examples:
The button layout of the GBC is way too limited for a game with this scope of mechanics, so you'll find yourself pausing over and over again to rearrange your TWO equipped items, sometimes even having to unequip your sword in order to make room for the desired item layout.
Some design choices are simply outdated by now, like dying at the dungeon boss just spawns you at the start of the dungeon (annoying), respawning and even resetting some puzzles (super annoying), and without a full health recovery (infuriating). Making me go outside and walk to the nearest great fairy is, frankly, just wasting my time.
There is also some weird wonkiness to the game progression, like the fact that for most of my game I had 999 rupies and nothing to spend them on, or that "new mechanics" such as equippable rings and animal companions are almost inconsequential. The titular season-changing mechanics is not used at all inside dungeons. Exploration rewards are often disapponting, with the game giving you worthless rings or rupies (that you already have 999 of).
I found progression to be a little obtuse at times, but still pretty satisfying, and while I'm not a fan of the first dungeons (or subrosia), the later ones are quite ingenious and memorable. The item arsenal is pretty standard, but a couple of items (namely the upgraded roc's cape and the magnetic glove) steal the show and make late-game exploration really enjoyable.
Last but not least, the music is pretty unremarkable, with a lot of unmemorable tracks, that all have painfully short loops.
This is frankly not a bad game, but if I had to rank it with other zeldas I played, I would put it on the lower end of the chart.
The button layout of the GBC is way too limited for a game with this scope of mechanics, so you'll find yourself pausing over and over again to rearrange your TWO equipped items, sometimes even having to unequip your sword in order to make room for the desired item layout.
Some design choices are simply outdated by now, like dying at the dungeon boss just spawns you at the start of the dungeon (annoying), respawning and even resetting some puzzles (super annoying), and without a full health recovery (infuriating). Making me go outside and walk to the nearest great fairy is, frankly, just wasting my time.
There is also some weird wonkiness to the game progression, like the fact that for most of my game I had 999 rupies and nothing to spend them on, or that "new mechanics" such as equippable rings and animal companions are almost inconsequential. The titular season-changing mechanics is not used at all inside dungeons. Exploration rewards are often disapponting, with the game giving you worthless rings or rupies (that you already have 999 of).
I found progression to be a little obtuse at times, but still pretty satisfying, and while I'm not a fan of the first dungeons (or subrosia), the later ones are quite ingenious and memorable. The item arsenal is pretty standard, but a couple of items (namely the upgraded roc's cape and the magnetic glove) steal the show and make late-game exploration really enjoyable.
Last but not least, the music is pretty unremarkable, with a lot of unmemorable tracks, that all have painfully short loops.
This is frankly not a bad game, but if I had to rank it with other zeldas I played, I would put it on the lower end of the chart.