This game is such a gem! The art style and animations are absolutely charming, the dungeons are intricate, but not frustrating, and the overworld is filled to the brim with secrets.

While the story is certainly not the most innovative, the core mechanic of the game makes more than up for it in my opinion. Shrinking down and exploring the world as a minish feels great and I especially liked the many interconnected puzzles in Hyrule Town. Moreover, I enjoyed the fact that Ganondorf isn’t featured in this game at all, but a mage called Vaati instead. The boss fight at the end felt challenging and the end phase took me a while to figure out.

The only thing that didn’t click with me was collecting mysterious shells for the figurine gallery. However, since it is optional, I pretty quickly just ignored Carlov and his figure-dispensing machine of doom altogether.

Overall, I really loved playing this game. It has easily become one of my top five Zelda games.