The Legend of Zelda: A Link between Worlds
The original Link to the Past is much like Goldfinger in the James Bond franchise, the third entry that established the traditions the series would continue to iterate on. Instead of guns, gadgets, and babes, its heart pieces, themed dungeons, and the Master Sword. There’s something about this original game design that resonates with gamers for so many years, and A Link Between Worlds is Nintendo’s big science experiment trying to figure that out. In doing so, they’ve stripped away so much of the fat and bluster that’s accumulated around the waist of the franchise. The game-padding fetch quests, the long story sequences, the boring overworld traversal, the talkative redundant helper AIs; erased in an instant.
Take these away and you see the core of Zelda shining through, an action-adventure game par excellence, that works just as well now as it did twenty years ago.
The first thing you notice when you start playing in the first dungeon(which is an exceptionally short amount of time compared to recent installments) is just how fast everything else. The 60fps is readily apparent not just to the eyes, but the fingers; every sword swing is smooth and punchy, every animation that much cleaner and faster, and Link moves at an arcadey zip through the world’s many perilous areas. The game has been granted a 360 analog control thanks to the 3DS’ layout that makes the simple act of moving around easier and smoother than its ever been in the top-down Zelda series. There’s a new recharging magic meter that cuts down on the micro-management (no more bomb bags and farming broken pots for arrows!) and encourages experimentation. The bottom screen has an always handy map on display, as well as a touch screen inventory that makes switching tools a snap. There’s even a fast-travel system that quickly whips you around the overworld. There are so many various improvements that make Link Between Worlds the most downright fun to play Zelda on a moment-to-moment basis.
This streamlining hasn’t just made it way into the controls, but the game design proper. Link Between Worlds’ overworlds are more or less the Light and Dark Worlds from Link to the Past given a modern sheen. Some may quibble at the cribbing, but personally I don’t mind. LttP is not a favorite Zelda of mine and its overworlds are mostly unfamiliar to me, so its very much like exploring them all anew. And you’ll want to explore them, as not only are your controls fast and snappy, but the overworld is very densely populated. This isn’t like Wind Waker’s endless oceans with sparsely located islands or the large faceless landmass of Twilight Princess. Almost every square of land in Link Between Worlds has something interesting to do, from combat, puzzles, secrets, and just figuring out where to go. Its actually quite possible to get stuck or lost in this one, as I have been I’m afraid to admit. In a refreshing turn of events, many of the game’s items like the Pegasus Boots are completely missable, with no AI helper pointing you in the right direction. When the game opens up in the Lorule dark world section, there’s are several different dungeons and areas to explore and its almost entirely up to you to figure which ones to tackle in what order, and how you go about figuring it out. There’s a level of freedom thats unprecedented in a modern Zelda title, and a real sense of mystery and adventure I feel was missing has returned.
Of course, the game isn’t set fit to just rest on LttP’s laurels and add nothing of its own. The overworld has seen a number of new additions, such as Treasure Rooms with some of the trickiest puzzles in the game, new minigames to try and conqueror, and maybe the best game-wide side quest the series has seen yet in the Maimais. There a 100 of these little buggers spread across the game that requires a good knowledge of the land and your abilities to find. Collecting 10 upgrades your tools making your adventuring more efficient. It’s a good incentive, and because of the condensed overworld and the quick traversal, they’re a joy to find.
The dungeons have seen a complete overhaul as well. These are short but sharp levels, ones that expect you to come in with the item in hand, instead of teasing with you until the halfway mark. Each one makes effective use of its main item and theme, along with a decent mix of combat and hidden secrets. The Desert Palace and Ice Ruins are the two particular standouts with strong atmosphere and tricky traversal, but none of them actively bad. The compact nature speaks well to the overall game design; making lean, efficient Zelda levels that leave you satisfied and are over before they ever begin to drag. It makes for a very breezy, highly addictive experience.
Perhaps too breezy. If there’s one major complaint to be thrown LBW’s way(outside the aesthetics which are…well, they look better in motion) is how easy the game is overall. Not that much easier than most modern Zeldas, mind, but it does have an effect on the game’s core ideas. One of the big ones is the rental system, which gives you most of the tools from the very beginning of the game for a fee. In theory, this would allow you to explore more of the world from the beginning, but the danger of dying or running out of money would make it a challenging game. Well you’ll never have to worry about that(at least on the default difficulty, the only available option). The game showers you with rupees everywhere from hidden chests to minigame completions, and between the myriad of healing potions, armor, Master Sword upgrades, and heart pieces, you’re almost never in any real danger of dying. The rental system seems a bit pointless here, and I’m not quite sure if that’s something they should take into future installments. Compounding this issue are things like the Maimai upgrades, which just make an easy game even easier. You want to make everyone in the Treachous Tower challenge arena your bitch, get the upgraded fire rod or the Great Spin upgrade and watch the magic happen.
But whats important to remember that it could be even easier, even more linear, and much slower than it is. This is a game unlike any other Zelda of the past decade in that has no bad parts. No sections that make you groan and think, “Ugh, this intro is going to take forever!” “Why do I have to watch this slow-ass animation EVERY SINGLE TIME I want to turn my boat around!?” “Who thought this fetch quest was fun!?””My goodness, is this text speed slow, I frigging get it already, Nintendo!” By going back to the source, Nintendo has crafted the purest form of Zelda. Its a laser-focused adventure filled with humorous NPCs, a wonderful soundtrack, a renewed faith in the player’s intelligence, and a laundry list of refinements that make the fast-paced mix of combat and exploration more enjoyable than its been in many a year. If its not the best Zelda, its clearly top 3 for me, and I can only pray that the Wii U installment takes some serious lessons from A Link Between Worlds.
9/10
