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"The Jet Gamer" Review:Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds
9 years ago
Got this for cheap, what a deal
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
I'm sure you knew I would eventually get back to some of the main games from Nintendo's lineup eventually. This time we are taking a look at something in the Legend of Zelda series. It has been a year since I've gone through a game in this series, but it is always well worth the wait usually to get another entry in this series. The Zelda series has always been a series that has always been worth the money and the playtime. There are very few examples of this not being the case. Let us see if this is once again the case here with this Zelda game on the 3DS.
Gameplay
Well then, we actually get a sequel to A link to the Past from the SNES days all these many years later on the 3DS. And let me tell you, it is pretty faithful to its source material. The game's map is pretty much the exact same map, with only some tweaks, that it was in a Link to the Past. It's not often in Zelda games where you get to use the same world map, so if you have played a Link to the Past, you will end up finding secrets in similar or the same places as the other game. And example being, the hidden empty bottle is still under the bridge in one area that it was in a Link to the Past. So really, if you have played the older game, you will have a slight advantage when you come into this game, since you will already have the world map committed to memory. However, there are definitely new elements added around here and there from newer Zelda games to keep the game fresh. You will see characters and hear music from newer games that weren't in the older games to fit things from newer games, but for the most part, most of the games elements are directly from a Link to the Past. Some may not like this, but I feel anyone that has played the older game, will love that the developers were so faithful to the original source material. Onto some of the main gameplay elements though now. One of the biggest things that I've never seen before in any Zelda game is the fact that the game isn't linear in the way that you do the dungeons. For once, you can honestly do any of the dungeons in any order you want when you get to them. The game still follows the old format of three smaller dungeons before doing eight bigger dungeons, but in each set you can literally do them in any order you please. The way this is accomplished is that when you get to the set of dungeons where you need to find the sages like you did in the older game, instead of finding the next weapon you will need in a dungeon and then using it in that dungeon or to access the next dungeon, you instead buy or rent those main items. This is definitely something never done before in a Zelda game and honestly, this can either annoy or excite some people. I'm sure purists won't like this, but really, I feel it gives the game a bit more freedom than usual. You aren't stuck to taking the same path every time you play the game. The game works like this, you can at first only rent the weapons, and you can do so for a rather low price. This means you can get most of the special items like the bow, bombs, and hook shot right away when you play the game. However, if you die, all these weapons are taken away from you and you have to rent them over again, which costs you money earned. However, later in the game you can start to buy the weapons for good instead of renting them. The prices though are a bit on the high side, but it is worth it. You don't lose them when you die, and you can keep them for good and also upgrade them now that they are yours. You upgrade them by finding these little creatures around the world and taking them back to their mother. Basically it is a giant game of hide and seek. Every ten you find, you can upgrade one of your items to make them stronger, so it is worth it. So as you see, by having all the weapons at the beginning, or buying the ones you really want, you can access any dungeon right away, though some are still harder than others. There are still some items that have to be found in dungeons or by doing side quests, but many of them are obvious or things you would do anyway. The big element though that is in this game is that Link is able to turn himself flat and 2D and able to go flat up against walls, or inside the wall technically. When he does this, he is able to walk along walls, and go through cracks that he normally couldn't go through. So you will have to think a bit differently than usual with this new method of movement. You will at times come to bottomless pits with no way to walk across, but if you meld into the wall, you can walk along the wall to the other side of the pit if there is no blockage on the wall. This does add a very tricky element you have to watch out for at times, but many of them once again are obvious. Still, the game is trying to keep you on your toes and thinking of how to solve the puzzles it throws at you. These are the main differences and similarities with the gameplay of a Link Between Worlds, and honestly, I feel they are nice additions to the traditional gameplay of the series.
Story
The story of a Zelda game is never super in depth in that there is a ton of talking, but it is always done well enough to where you still care to see what happens and hope that everything turns out well in the end. This is once again the case here. Of course Link can't talk, but he never needs to do so. His actions, and the dialogue from those around him are the ones that drive the story. This game takes place many years in the future from A Link to the Past, so once again, this is not the same Link and Zelda in this game, it is still the same world though. Pretty much in this game, there is a new evil person named Yuga that has come to Hyrule and is turning nice looking people into paintings with her magic. At first, it seems easy to fix and that Yuga is just collecting beautiful people, but it becomes very clear rather quickly that she is after more as she soon announces she is going after the modern day Sages and you know what that means if all of them are collected. It is up to Link to get the Sages back and to stop Yuga. However, one big thing in the story is that instead of the Dark World from the SNES game, the alternate world is now Lorule. This is pretty similiar to the Dark World, but this one is instead almost like an opposite of Hyrule where everything is sort of going all to heck. I'm not going to spoil anything else, but there are reasons for this and what else is in this world as well. However, honestly, my only problem with the story is that it is a bit predictable. If you have played the older games, you sort of know the format the story is going to take, as the zelda series isn't exactly known for changing the story format up too much. It isn't bad, but it is all a bit predictable as to what is going to happen by the end of the game.
Graphics
This game honestly to me looks beautiful and an excellent recreation of the SNES game in a 3DS world. They spared no effort in recreating this world, and even adding in little twists to make it fit with some new elements that weren't around back in the day. They also went to great efforts in creating Lorule, in that it is a dark and crumbling world that is very similar to Hyrule, but also with all its own unique elements. The two worlds still work similar to the Light and Dark world from Link to the Past, but just done in a different way. All the characters look modern as well. Even though the game plays in the top down style like A Link to the Past does, the game look wonderfully done in 3D and in many scenes, the camera will scroll down to lower angles to show you the characters in full 3D. The game never looks flat 2D though in any way. The game is full 3D, just running around in a top down plane. Really, I don't have too much to say here, as honestly, the graphics seem pretty close to perfect to me and do a wonderful job at depicting what they are supposed to represent. I have no complaints here at all.
Sound
Like with the graphics of this game, I honestly have little to say negative about the sounds either as they do a great job of depicting the mood or the environment you are in at the current moment. On top of that, many of the music selections are the same music and sound selections from a Link to the Past to be sure you know this is a sequel to the classic game. Hyrule Field, the castle, and cave music are all the same, so if you remember them from back then, they are the same here once again for you enjoy. The developers really knew what they were doing when they made or remade the music for this game. Adding enough new music to keep it fresh, while sticking many older tracks, just made to sound a little better from the older games for older fans of the series. If you liked the music then, you will still enjoy it here, since several of the tracks will be familiar to you.
Control
The control for this game is pretty good. Link is rarely hard to control, and any time he is, it is normally meant to not be super accurate, like when he is swimming or when he is running on slippery surfaces. Luckily though, these are few and it isn't the common thing in this game at all. For the most part, aiming where you want to attack and what direction you want to go in isn't that hard in this game. However, really, the main difference between this game and a Link to the Past with controls it the addition of being able to walk and attack in diagonals instead of just the for standard directions. This is where the controls can get tricky. Since you are still just using a standard D-Pad and not a control stick to play this game, diagonals are tricky to do as the character will try and default to the standard four directions. So when you have to do diagonal directions it can be hard to stay in those directions. I found myself having a tricky time pulling off diagonal runs and such when they were really needed. While you aren't going to have a hard time with it all the time, there will be those few points where you wonder what is going on with trying to aim. For the most part though, it isn't really an issue though, so I wouldn't worry about it took much.
Replay Value
This is one of those games that really I feel can be played many times for different effects on the player. The extras aren't in the story, since that is a bit simple in the first place and the same every time you play. Where I say the replay value in this game is, is in the fact that you can do the dungeons in any order you want, so each time you play through the game, you might play the dungeons differently than you did before, and you will pick up different items in different ways than you did last time as well. There is also the fact that when you beat the game you get new game plus, so you do get to play the game again with a harder version if you so wish to do so. This is always a good thing for experts to play around with if they want more challenge out of the game, which at the later levels can be a bit on the tricky side. So really, just because you beat the game once, there is still more to do in this game, which definitely makes you want to replay this game if you want more out of it than just the standard once through.
Overall, I would say once again a Legend of Zelda game lives up to its expectations and delivers the game it promises to its fans and older fans as well. Making a sequel to A Link to the Past, one of the more well known games in the series, after all these years does show that Nintendo hasn't forgotten their older classics. This will definitely draw older fans back to this series on the 3DS, as well as give new players an introduction to the Link to the Past world. It may even make them want to play the original to see how this world originally was and to understand some of the references made in this game about the old game as well. A Link Between Worlds is a great sequel, and one that other game sequels should take note on how to make them properly when they do make them. There is very little to complain about here, and what little there is, is rather minor, and doesn't take away much from the overall enjoyment of the game. This is definitely a game for the fan of either the old school Nintendo games, or those that love adventure and puzzle solving games.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS a nine out of ten.
Gameplay: 9
Story: 8
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Control: 9
Replay Value: 9
Overall: 9
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
I'm sure you knew I would eventually get back to some of the main games from Nintendo's lineup eventually. This time we are taking a look at something in the Legend of Zelda series. It has been a year since I've gone through a game in this series, but it is always well worth the wait usually to get another entry in this series. The Zelda series has always been a series that has always been worth the money and the playtime. There are very few examples of this not being the case. Let us see if this is once again the case here with this Zelda game on the 3DS.
Gameplay
Well then, we actually get a sequel to A link to the Past from the SNES days all these many years later on the 3DS. And let me tell you, it is pretty faithful to its source material. The game's map is pretty much the exact same map, with only some tweaks, that it was in a Link to the Past. It's not often in Zelda games where you get to use the same world map, so if you have played a Link to the Past, you will end up finding secrets in similar or the same places as the other game. And example being, the hidden empty bottle is still under the bridge in one area that it was in a Link to the Past. So really, if you have played the older game, you will have a slight advantage when you come into this game, since you will already have the world map committed to memory. However, there are definitely new elements added around here and there from newer Zelda games to keep the game fresh. You will see characters and hear music from newer games that weren't in the older games to fit things from newer games, but for the most part, most of the games elements are directly from a Link to the Past. Some may not like this, but I feel anyone that has played the older game, will love that the developers were so faithful to the original source material. Onto some of the main gameplay elements though now. One of the biggest things that I've never seen before in any Zelda game is the fact that the game isn't linear in the way that you do the dungeons. For once, you can honestly do any of the dungeons in any order you want when you get to them. The game still follows the old format of three smaller dungeons before doing eight bigger dungeons, but in each set you can literally do them in any order you please. The way this is accomplished is that when you get to the set of dungeons where you need to find the sages like you did in the older game, instead of finding the next weapon you will need in a dungeon and then using it in that dungeon or to access the next dungeon, you instead buy or rent those main items. This is definitely something never done before in a Zelda game and honestly, this can either annoy or excite some people. I'm sure purists won't like this, but really, I feel it gives the game a bit more freedom than usual. You aren't stuck to taking the same path every time you play the game. The game works like this, you can at first only rent the weapons, and you can do so for a rather low price. This means you can get most of the special items like the bow, bombs, and hook shot right away when you play the game. However, if you die, all these weapons are taken away from you and you have to rent them over again, which costs you money earned. However, later in the game you can start to buy the weapons for good instead of renting them. The prices though are a bit on the high side, but it is worth it. You don't lose them when you die, and you can keep them for good and also upgrade them now that they are yours. You upgrade them by finding these little creatures around the world and taking them back to their mother. Basically it is a giant game of hide and seek. Every ten you find, you can upgrade one of your items to make them stronger, so it is worth it. So as you see, by having all the weapons at the beginning, or buying the ones you really want, you can access any dungeon right away, though some are still harder than others. There are still some items that have to be found in dungeons or by doing side quests, but many of them are obvious or things you would do anyway. The big element though that is in this game is that Link is able to turn himself flat and 2D and able to go flat up against walls, or inside the wall technically. When he does this, he is able to walk along walls, and go through cracks that he normally couldn't go through. So you will have to think a bit differently than usual with this new method of movement. You will at times come to bottomless pits with no way to walk across, but if you meld into the wall, you can walk along the wall to the other side of the pit if there is no blockage on the wall. This does add a very tricky element you have to watch out for at times, but many of them once again are obvious. Still, the game is trying to keep you on your toes and thinking of how to solve the puzzles it throws at you. These are the main differences and similarities with the gameplay of a Link Between Worlds, and honestly, I feel they are nice additions to the traditional gameplay of the series.
Story
The story of a Zelda game is never super in depth in that there is a ton of talking, but it is always done well enough to where you still care to see what happens and hope that everything turns out well in the end. This is once again the case here. Of course Link can't talk, but he never needs to do so. His actions, and the dialogue from those around him are the ones that drive the story. This game takes place many years in the future from A Link to the Past, so once again, this is not the same Link and Zelda in this game, it is still the same world though. Pretty much in this game, there is a new evil person named Yuga that has come to Hyrule and is turning nice looking people into paintings with her magic. At first, it seems easy to fix and that Yuga is just collecting beautiful people, but it becomes very clear rather quickly that she is after more as she soon announces she is going after the modern day Sages and you know what that means if all of them are collected. It is up to Link to get the Sages back and to stop Yuga. However, one big thing in the story is that instead of the Dark World from the SNES game, the alternate world is now Lorule. This is pretty similiar to the Dark World, but this one is instead almost like an opposite of Hyrule where everything is sort of going all to heck. I'm not going to spoil anything else, but there are reasons for this and what else is in this world as well. However, honestly, my only problem with the story is that it is a bit predictable. If you have played the older games, you sort of know the format the story is going to take, as the zelda series isn't exactly known for changing the story format up too much. It isn't bad, but it is all a bit predictable as to what is going to happen by the end of the game.
Graphics
This game honestly to me looks beautiful and an excellent recreation of the SNES game in a 3DS world. They spared no effort in recreating this world, and even adding in little twists to make it fit with some new elements that weren't around back in the day. They also went to great efforts in creating Lorule, in that it is a dark and crumbling world that is very similar to Hyrule, but also with all its own unique elements. The two worlds still work similar to the Light and Dark world from Link to the Past, but just done in a different way. All the characters look modern as well. Even though the game plays in the top down style like A Link to the Past does, the game look wonderfully done in 3D and in many scenes, the camera will scroll down to lower angles to show you the characters in full 3D. The game never looks flat 2D though in any way. The game is full 3D, just running around in a top down plane. Really, I don't have too much to say here, as honestly, the graphics seem pretty close to perfect to me and do a wonderful job at depicting what they are supposed to represent. I have no complaints here at all.
Sound
Like with the graphics of this game, I honestly have little to say negative about the sounds either as they do a great job of depicting the mood or the environment you are in at the current moment. On top of that, many of the music selections are the same music and sound selections from a Link to the Past to be sure you know this is a sequel to the classic game. Hyrule Field, the castle, and cave music are all the same, so if you remember them from back then, they are the same here once again for you enjoy. The developers really knew what they were doing when they made or remade the music for this game. Adding enough new music to keep it fresh, while sticking many older tracks, just made to sound a little better from the older games for older fans of the series. If you liked the music then, you will still enjoy it here, since several of the tracks will be familiar to you.
Control
The control for this game is pretty good. Link is rarely hard to control, and any time he is, it is normally meant to not be super accurate, like when he is swimming or when he is running on slippery surfaces. Luckily though, these are few and it isn't the common thing in this game at all. For the most part, aiming where you want to attack and what direction you want to go in isn't that hard in this game. However, really, the main difference between this game and a Link to the Past with controls it the addition of being able to walk and attack in diagonals instead of just the for standard directions. This is where the controls can get tricky. Since you are still just using a standard D-Pad and not a control stick to play this game, diagonals are tricky to do as the character will try and default to the standard four directions. So when you have to do diagonal directions it can be hard to stay in those directions. I found myself having a tricky time pulling off diagonal runs and such when they were really needed. While you aren't going to have a hard time with it all the time, there will be those few points where you wonder what is going on with trying to aim. For the most part though, it isn't really an issue though, so I wouldn't worry about it took much.
Replay Value
This is one of those games that really I feel can be played many times for different effects on the player. The extras aren't in the story, since that is a bit simple in the first place and the same every time you play. Where I say the replay value in this game is, is in the fact that you can do the dungeons in any order you want, so each time you play through the game, you might play the dungeons differently than you did before, and you will pick up different items in different ways than you did last time as well. There is also the fact that when you beat the game you get new game plus, so you do get to play the game again with a harder version if you so wish to do so. This is always a good thing for experts to play around with if they want more challenge out of the game, which at the later levels can be a bit on the tricky side. So really, just because you beat the game once, there is still more to do in this game, which definitely makes you want to replay this game if you want more out of it than just the standard once through.
Overall, I would say once again a Legend of Zelda game lives up to its expectations and delivers the game it promises to its fans and older fans as well. Making a sequel to A Link to the Past, one of the more well known games in the series, after all these years does show that Nintendo hasn't forgotten their older classics. This will definitely draw older fans back to this series on the 3DS, as well as give new players an introduction to the Link to the Past world. It may even make them want to play the original to see how this world originally was and to understand some of the references made in this game about the old game as well. A Link Between Worlds is a great sequel, and one that other game sequels should take note on how to make them properly when they do make them. There is very little to complain about here, and what little there is, is rather minor, and doesn't take away much from the overall enjoyment of the game. This is definitely a game for the fan of either the old school Nintendo games, or those that love adventure and puzzle solving games.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS a nine out of ten.
Gameplay: 9
Story: 8
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Control: 9
Replay Value: 9
Overall: 9
