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Review: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Recently I was asked what my favorite game of all time was. I found the question impossible to answer. One that’s up there, though, is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, so you can imagine when a sequel was announced I was quite pleased. I got my first look at The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds at E3 and I wasn’t disappointed.

A Link Between Worlds takes place several generations after the events of A Link to the Past. As you would expect it’s a different Link. As with most incarnations of the Hyrulian hero, this Link is a little lazy. The game begins with a dream sequence which is interrupted and sees Link waking prematurely. He’s apparently late for his day job as a blacksmith’s apprentice and in no time at all the fate of Hyrule is at stake. A dastardly art connoisseur and part time evildoer known as Yuga is turning people into paintings. Before long princess Zelda is in peril and Link can turn into a painting at will.

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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds follows the formula of top down Zelda with a few differences. Early in the game Link has access to almost all the weapons in his arsenal. You won’t own them, but will instead, have to rent items from Ravio. Link meets Ravio — the odd purple rabbit who rather presumptuously sets up his weapon for hire business in your house – near the beginning of the adventure. Link can hold on to any hired item for a lifetime. Meaning if you die and haven’t cruelly trapped an innocent fairy in a bottle, all hired items are lost.

I know what you’re thinking. Why not hire everything and just don’t die? Because it worked for me. If you’re not into the idea of spending rupees on an item more than once, be careful and you won’t have to. At the beginning of the game with only a few hearts it can be a bit dicey but as the game goes on it’s less of a challenge.

With every 3DS game I will at some point move the 3D slider up to see how it looks. After 30 seconds or so I will then lower it permanently and start spouting phrases about “gimmicks” and “pointlessness”. I have never enjoyed any game in 3D. Now that’s out of the way, I have a confession to make and I hope you’re sitting down because it’s a biggun.

I played A Link Between Worlds in 3D, in its entirety and liked it.

For the first time in a 3DS title the 3D effect feels like it’s actually adding something. Sure, the 3D effect has looked nice in a few 3DS games but it has never felt necessary. When I heard that the developers had to rework the 3D just before launch because of the new 2DS console I was worried. Thankfully my fears were unfounded. Perhaps somehow, the introduction of the new Nintendo doorstop, has helped the 3DS in a way. The 3D works perfectly with the top down world and the cut scenes look fantastic in 3D.

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Little details made me smile. For example, in Link’s house, Majora’s Mask hangs on the wall. If you turn into a painting and stand behind it, it looks like you’re wearing the mask.  Overall the game looks amazing and the 3D effect only helps to make it look better. While in Hyrule, the vibrant colours both Nintendo and the Zelda series are known for are on display and look stunning. Take a trip to the other world mentioned in the title and things are a little different. It still looks fantastic, but gives the sense of the darker more chaotic side of the series. While set in the same Hyrule as A Link to the Past things have changed just enough to keep it interesting for those who played the original. Exploring the world map I found the general layout was the same and could find most landmarks in the same places. The Dark World from A Link to the Past doesn’t make an appearance. Instead Lorule — a twisted alternate version of Hyrule — complete with its own bizarro Zelda, princess Hilda, replaces it.

What would a Zelda game be without an amazing soundtrack?

Disappointing.

Thankfully A Link Between Worlds is no slouch in the aural department. When Link enters his 2D painting form, the music becomes saturated in reverb. When he goes through a portal to the other world, the music goes out of phase and crazy. It’s a nice touch. Every new area on the map brings with it new music. You can even go to the local milk bar and pay musicians to play alternate renditions of new songs and old favorites. I spent a lot of my hard earned rupees at the bar, drinking bottle after bottle of milk and listening to the band before I was cut off. Luckily senseless vandalism of people’s crockery and thoughtful landscape gardening pay quite well. I was rolling in rupees again in no time.

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Getting around both worlds is easy. Early on Link meets Irene, a friendly junior witch who helps you navigate the map. Weather vanes are scattered around the game and act as both save points and fast travel destinations. Irene will fly you to any weather vane you’ve found in either world. With only minimal complaining for being treated like a taxi service. The weather vanes also serve as a constant reminder that even though you’re in control of your own destiny, Nintendo still feels they have the right to tell you to have a rest and stop playing after a few hours.

For newcomers to the series, a new item will help ease you into the puzzles. The “hint glasses” will show how to progress past a certain point or what item you need to acquire to do so. Once you don the hint glasses helpful ghosts appear the can give you tips. This advice isn’t free however and it will cost you one of your precious 3DS coins. Streetpass functionality can be hit and miss in 3Ds games but I found it to be one of the best new features in A Link Between Worlds. In Kakariko village a man will ask you set up your Streetpass Shadow Link. You can choose which weapons he will wield and a bounty is set depending on how tough he is. When you get a Streetpass hit from a fellow Zelda fan, their Shadow Link will enter your game. You can then engage him in battle. There are 50 achievements to unlock while fighting Shadow Link on top of the bounty offered.

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The ending is a pleasant surprise and gives a little more depth of story than the standard “Ganon is bad and wants the Triforce” trope. It’s nice to see the series isn’t afraid to explore its roots and revisit an old classic, while changing things up a bit. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds shows that the old top down style still works and I hope we see a lot more of these types of Zelda titles. The standard has been raised a lot by the newest version of Link. With the 3DS doing well it looks like the old school Legend of Zelda has found a new home. The all time favorite game question may be impossible to answer but favorite game on 3DS isn’t. Unfortunately for A Link Between Worlds that honor belongs to Pokémon X and Y but a close second isn’t bad.  Right?


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About the author

Shane Wall

I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe. A game geek turned audio engineer/musician. Shane's life is a delicate balance of video games, music and science fiction.