Now that the PiPocalypse is over, I can move on to talking about the other games I've played in the interim since I stopped blogging in September. While I teased this one in a previous post, I promised a full review, so here goes:
A Link Between Worlds is Beyond fantastic, and you need to play it ASAP. If you don't have a 3DS, I just don't understand why not. It's a phenomenal handheld with a deep library of games, a great selection of virtual console titles (although not as good as it should be). The controls are fantastic, and it's very impressive visually.
Anyway, of all of the reasons to get a 3DS, this is number 1. The best game on the system by far, a Link Between Worlds is the 2D Zelda game I have wanted ever since loving a Link to the Past on the SNES. Other 2D Zelda games have been successes, and are very fun in their own right, but never quite captured the magic of the SNES one, with Link's Awakening coming the closest.
I almost want to choke saying this, but A Link Between World's isn't just a fantastic homage to A Link to the Past, but it exceeds it in most ways. In order to explain this concept, we need to examine the family history of Zelda a bit.
A Link Between Worlds keeps everything excellent about A Link to the Past, while jettisoning some of the tiresome elements, and replacing them with newer, better ones, just as A Link to the Past had done the same thing with the original Legend of Zelda.
The original Legend of Zelda is completely brilliant, but like most first runs of games, fails in a few areas. It is exceedingly successful in transmitting Miyamoto's vision of a pure adventure game. As he has stated numerous times, Zelda is based on Miyamoto's experience as a child of exploring the caves and areas surrounding his town. To a kid playing his NES, as I did, Zelda was absolutely huge. There were so many areas of the map to explore, and so many secrets and dungeons hidden everywhere. The world was your oyster, and you had to crack it.
Unfortunately, while Zelda succeeded in creating a vast explorable world, the game was simply too open to make for a cohesive and excellent game. Part of the reason is that the player lacks any sort of direction. He can theoretically go in any dungeon first, but has no idea where to find them! You may stumble into one, and can then beat it, but then where is the next one? Why am I clearing these dungeons? Sure, you can find out from the manual, or the cutscene in the title screen (if I'm remembering correctly), but those are lazy storytelling techniques. Plus, I never had the manual as a kid! And some of the dungeons are pretty impossible to find without some sort of guide, including that one dungeon that's hidden under a random tree which you have to bomb. That tree has NO marker indicating that it is special. Basically, in order to find it, you'd need to bomb every tree in the game.
In one of the most iconic moments in gaming history, an old game gives Link the only guidance he will receive in the game:
Gee, thanks. Who are you again?
A sword, and the thought that it's dangerous outside. So while Zelda is hugely important, very fun (with a guide to reference occasionally), and lays the groundwork for a positively brilliant series, it fails in one main element that really must undergird all great games, an achievable, clearly stated objective.
A Link to the Past remedies this in a way, but also shrugs off some of what made the original so great. When you begin A Link to the Past, you have a bit more story than in LOZ. You wake up to a telepathic plea from Zelda asking for help! Your uncle sets off to help, and you follow, completely unarmed. You find your uncle wounded, and take his sword and shield. You rescue the princess, and discover your objective: to obtain the Master Sword, the only tool to defeat the villanous Aghanim, who is trying to unlock the Dark World. Getting this sword requires clearing three dungeons, clearly marked on your map. And so on, for the rest of the game. The world is huge, and exploring it is fun, but you have signposts to suggest to you where to go next!
This is where the weakness of A Link to the Past seeps in, and where all Zelda games from Link to the Past up until Skyward Sword make the same mistake (you may be able to do a few of the Dark World dungeons in Link to the Past out of order, but I can't remember). From that point on, your path through the world, and through the dungeons, was strictly limited by your progress in the game thus far. In other words, you could not proceed to dungeon 2 until you had cleared dungeon 1. There was a strict order in which you had to tackle the dungeons, and you are unable to deviate from it at all. This fixes the lack of direction in the original, but also violates its spirit.
A Link Between Worlds fixes all of that. It represents a perfect fusion of Zelda 1 and A Link to the Past, by providing you with a clear story and objective, while also giving you flexibility and freedom to tackle dungeons as you wish. How does it do that? Glad you asked!
The item rental system in A Link Between Worlds makes it so that the vast majority of items are available from about 15 minutes into the game. They can also be acquired very cheaply! You also are given a few possible dungeons on the map to start, but can do them in any order you want. You also attain the pegasus boots very early, as well as the ability to teleport between save points, enabling quick transportation across the map. Each dungeon usually requires your sword, your wall merge ability (great addition, by the way), and one special item, which you need to access the dungeon. This item can be accessed from the very beginning of the game, opening up the world to your pace, rather than strict dictation by the designers.
The dungeons are brilliantly designed to be challenging, but intuitive. They make perfect sense, and adhere closely to the theme of the dungeon. I am not generally very good at solving puzzles, but this was the perfect mix of challenging puzzles that don't cause me to flee to zeldadungeon.net in 5 minutes. I only needed a guide to get through a dungeon at one point, but also didn't ever feel that they were too simple to navigate without being challenged.
The visuals and sound are fantastic updates to the ambience of A Link to the Past. They are obviously based on it, with the world looking very similar, but a bit better. The music features many tracks from A Link to the Past, but uses full orchestration, in addition to a selection of excellent new tracks. The controls are excellent, and there are tons of secrets to discover, in typical Zelda fashion.
If I have any complaints about this game, there would be two (small) ones. First, the game is a bit too easy. I died one time through the whole game. I wiped the end boss, and everything else in the game, without dying twice. To give you a sense of it, I usually die quite a lot in a Zelda game. I'm currently playing Oracle of Ages, and have died 20 times already. This is too easy, although it was so fun that it didn't bother me too much.
Second, I REALLY wish that they would have enabled the D-pad for use in controlling Link. In the game, it controls the camera, allowing you to look around outside of Link's normal area of view, but D-pad controls would have really brought back the nostalgic feel of Link to the Past. Additionally, holding the control pad in one direction as you run through the world can be surprisingly tiring.
All in all, this game is near perfect. I'd recommend it to everyone. It's a great game for those who have never played Zelda, and great for those who have always loved it. I'd give it a 9.8/10.
-TRO
No comments:
Post a Comment