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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Discussion (Nintendo 3DS) [game]
 
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS
9.37/10 from 44 user ratings

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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Review (Nintendo 3DS) (9.9)  by  
The latest entry in Nintendo's famous adventure series, The Legend of Zelda, is just about upon us! This game takes place in the same "world" as the classic SNES game, A Link To The Past, following a new Link on a new adventure through Hyrule, and an alternate kingdom, Lorule.


Time to grab the Master Sword once again, adventure fans. The world needs a hero, will you answer the call?

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11/13/13, 15:39    Edited: 11/13/13, 15:50
 
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I would probably say that this is my favorite Zelda ever so far, mind you, I've only played through the Wind Waker-style games to completion and about three dungeons of Ocarina of Time. Although I definitely go back and play through Ocarina of Time and a few other Zeldas as well.
12/13/13, 19:04   
@GameDadGrant

Yeah, I guess I shoulda said 'top down'.
12/13/13, 19:29   
@Tranquilo
Play Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, it's FANTASTIC.
12/13/13, 19:45   
deathly_hallows said:
@GameDadGrant
True, but it mostly accurate, ALBW plays more like The Legend of Zelda or A Link to the Past than it does Ocarina of Time or The Wind Waker.

BTW when will Nintendo make a sequel to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link? A modern side-scrolling Zelda? Could be cool! And it could be called Zelda II: II!

Yeah, agreed!

And a sequel to Adventure of Link would be great too - bring back those RPG elements!

Tranquilo said:
I would probably say that this is my favorite Zelda ever so far, mind you, I've only played through the Wind Waker-style games to completion and about three dungeons of Ocarina of Time. Although I definitely go back and play through Ocarina of Time and a few other Zeldas as well.

As was mentioned before, when you play though Ocarina of Time, do it on 3DS! It's the optimal experience.
12/13/13, 20:28   
I find it interesting how many people are claiming this as the best Zelda ever. Makes me wonder if it's just the nostalgia bug biting people.

Oh well, I'm sure once the next Zelda game comes out, everyone will say this one sucks. :P
12/13/13, 22:24   
@Mop it up

I can't speak for others, but I can certainly say nostalgia has nothing on me for this game. A Link To The Past is one of my least favorite games in the franchise, and I was honestly not excited at all to be returning to the "same world" in this new entry. But the game has won me over, with the new abilities, tools, presentation, and...wow. The music. So good. IMO, it's the best Legend of Zelda music I've heard in-game yet. Just excellent.

And actually? When a new Zelda comes out, it's usually hated, and the previous release is suddenly seen with rose-tinted glasses and seen as the better game. That's the *usual* cycle I've seen, anyway. We Zelda fans are a fickle bunch!
12/14/13, 00:51   
A Link to the Past is my favorite game of all time and I may get to the point where this game is better than it.

I did find out today that I missed a few things. Namely the Red Tunic and second Master Sword upgrade
12/14/13, 01:01   
Okay, you guys sold me on it. I'll pick it up soon.

GameDadGrant said:
@Mop it up
And actually? When a new Zelda comes out, it's usually hated, and the previous release is suddenly seen with rose-tinted glasses and seen as the better game. That's the *usual* cycle I've seen, anyway. We Zelda fans are a fickle bunch!

I've kind of seen the opposite sometimes. Maybe it depends on the game. Seems not so many people liked Wind Waker at first, now they do. Seems like everyone liked Skyward Sword at first, now not as many do.
12/14/13, 01:51   
@DapperDave Oh, you should definitely try it out, it's freakin' Zelda! :)

@GameDadGrant And you played LTTP on GBA right? And still didn't like it? SHOCKING!

Hm, maybe it's Mario I'm thinking of where people hate on the last game when the new one comes out. I've certainly seen more complaints about the Galaxy games now that 3D World is here.
12/14/13, 01:55   
I see the flaws in each Zelda game immediately as I play through them... pointing them out doesn't mean that I hate the games. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword... I look back fondly on all of them as overall great action-adventure titles, each with their strong points. The flaws, however, are still there.

ALBW is the first Zelda game in a long time that I feel doesn't really have any huge flaws that hurt my experience. I don't recall any moments where I was vexed by something, groaning about some tedious task, or asking "what the hell were they thinking?"
12/14/13, 01:59   
@Mop it up

I played A Link To The Past on SNES originally, and played it again when it was re-released on GBA.

Speaking of the GBA version, did anyone play 4 Swords on there? That was a blast.
12/14/13, 03:44   
@GameDadGrant

I was never able to play FS on the GBA. I did finally get to play it when it came to the 3DS, but no multiplayer. I tend to have more fun with the singleplayer modes anyway though for the Four Swords games (or at least that was the case with FSA). Multiplayer probably would have made the Gold and Hero Keys easier to obtain though...
12/14/13, 06:51   
@V_s

4 Swords multiplayer was amazing. If you ever get the chance to try it out, you totally should. It really is fantastic. Some of my favorite Zelda puzzles and boss fights are from that game.

Kind of a shame there was no mode like that in A Link Between Worlds.
12/14/13, 16:52   
One more sage to go... oh man, is it just me or is the dungeon design in this game simply FANTASTIC?

How did they do this? How did they make it so perfect, so fun?

I just scored it a 10, this is quickly becoming my GOTY.
12/15/13, 20:22   
Edited: 12/15/13, 20:23
deathly_hallows said:
One more sage to go... oh man, is it just me or is the dungeon design in this game simply FANTASTIC?

How did they do this? How did they make it so perfect, so fun?

I feel the same way, but the funny thing is, I don't think it actually has to do with the dungeon design itself. None of them were stinkers, but there's really only one dungeon where I remember thinking "Hey, this design is really clever!" (the ice dungeon). Yet I was having a wonderful time in them all anyway.

I think it's just the game's many little tweaks adding up to make the dungeons feel more cohesive and intuitive. The dungeons feel less disorienting than previous 2D Zeldas on account of less repetitive visuals and having the map from the get-go. The map itself is wonderfully detailed and always at the ready, rather than buried in a menu. Link's fast movement speed makes backtracking a breeze in the sensibly sized dungeon floorplans. And the mix of the top-down view, vertical emphasis, and silky-smooth 3D give you a better mental layout of each room than the traditionally flat visuals of 2D Zelda.

I think that's the big takeaway of this game. There's no one gimmick or improvement to point to as its standout feature (other than the wall-merging, which was definitely one of the better Zelda gimmicks without being as in-your-face as I expected from the marketing angles). It's just that there's so many little adjustments that make this 2D Zelda feel more inviting than the classics without losing much (if any) of their appeal.
12/15/13, 21:49   
For me, the biggest flaw of the game has been how closely it sticks to Link to the Past. I find that there's very little sense of discovery; between the two worlds being essentially the same, most of the mechanics the same, magically having every dungeon map somehow, and most items handed to you from the start, I already feel like I know nearly everything about the game. Even though most of the secrets are switched around, I still feel like I know where they all are, I feel like I already know how to tackle most tasks, and there's nothing interesting to find in most dungeons since nearly all the items are given to you on a silver platter. They don't even have heart pieces, they're just full of boring ol' rupees!

The dungeons themselves are very well designed and easily the best part of the game. And hey, it's frickin' Link to the Past, so of course it's enjoyable. But it certainly isn't everything it could have been, and doesn't have quite a bit of what I want from a Zelda game.

@GameDadGrant I've always wanted to try Four Swords but have never had the opportunity. I already have the SNES cartridge of Link to the Past and no one I know got the GBA version, so I had no reason to get the GBA game myself. I actually do have two GBAs so I could get the GameCube game and a couple of link cables, but it's never been a priority and kind of pricey for how limited I would be in playable options. The DSiWare game is a similarly problem of no one else having it, and it can't even be downloaded anymore.

If there were one Nintendo game that needed online play, it's Four Swords.
12/15/13, 22:14   
@Mop it up

The DSiWare game is the same game as the GBA game except that it has two extra areas and a single-player mode. Of course if it's never available for download again, then that obviously doesn't fix your problem.

The GCN game is the sequel to the DSiWare/GBA game, and it also has a single player mode. As I already said, I had a lot more fun with this game in single player mode than I did with multi-player mode, so if you're interested in the game, there's no need to put off buying it until you have others that can play it with you. (Plus you have to have GBAs and GCN/GBA Game Link cables for every single player in multiplayer mode for this game.)
12/15/13, 23:42   
@nate38
Totally agree with all that, it's a myriad of tiny tweaks that add up to one tremendous improvement. I used to actually dread dungeons because they were so big and confusing, and it took so long to navigate them, now I'm probably going to cry when the last dungeon is complete.

Even the mini-dungeons with the treasure chests are a joy. Love this game. So much.

The last dungeon I played was the sandy one, I though it was super cool, and just gorgeous too.
12/16/13, 00:15   
@Mop it up

Yeah, it would be very nice if they take this engine and make an all original game with it so that we can explore an all new overworld. It would be a damn crime to stop here! The fact that we got two DS Zelda games makes me optimistic.

But you know, I somehow didn't mind the reused overworld too much. It has always been my very favorite design in any game ever, so going back to it, seeing it tweaked, hunting down Maiamai in it... it's all alright, still better than the overworlds we have been getting recently even if it isn't original. Hopefully the team took some notes and try to make overworlds with similar design styles in the future.
12/16/13, 00:21   
Edited: 12/16/13, 00:24
@Hinph
What if they put Epona in a top-down world? Would that just be nuts?
12/16/13, 00:43   
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