A Link Between Worlds (ALBW) is the sequel to the much beloved, universally acclaimed Zelda game A Link to the Past (ALttP). And this game does, indeed start out similarly. Right from the get go, Link is told to deliver a sword to the captain of the Hyrule guard, and since he overslept, he needs to do it pronto. Of course, things don’t go as planned. Upon arrival to the castle, something goes wrong, and Link must save Zelda from the new villain Yuga, who has turned her into a painting in hopes of creating a perfectly beautiful world.
The issue with the story is that it only comes into focus at about three points in the game. The beginning, the middle, and the ending. It’s not bad, but other Zelda games (Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Majora’s Mask especially) managed to have great stories that didn’t feel overdone. Yuga is hardly interesting at all; his motives are cartoonish at best, and his lack of screen time hampers his personality. The strongest part is the ending, which manages to be surprisingly poignant, at least for long time fans of the series.
The production values in the game fare a bit better, although the graphics are a mixed bag. It runs very well, a constant 60 FPS, and the 3D is subtle yet effective and even useful at points (like a mini game that requires you to hit a ball with a bat). However, Link’s design is definitely weird, an odd mix of the old illustrations of him from his LttP days and 3D. It’s not necessarily bad, but it can feel a bit too goofy. The art design is also mixed. The majority of the enemies are all ones we’ve seen before, and in greater detail, and the environments, again, feel like updated versions of places we’ve seen before. With all that being said, the music is utterly fantastic. Right from the opening, where you hear a remixed version of the original ALttP theme, to the absolutely gorgeous remix of the Kakariko theme, and everything inbetween, the music is terrific.
But all that aside, the real reason to play the game is for the gameplay. It has all the essentials of a Zelda game; various secrets to discover in the world, dungeons to conquer, pieces of heart to find. The twist here is that the game is almost immediately open to whatever the player desires to do. You see, in previous games, dungeons would often contain a specific item that could be used to reach out of the way places or defeat certain enemies. Items like the Bow, Hookshot, Boomerang, Bombs, and more are all series standards, and they all make an appearance here. Instead of finding them in dungeons, though, you can rent (and eventually buy) as many items as you want at a time.
This change comes to define the nature of the game. After the first dungeon, the player is let loose in Hyrule. They can take on the next two dungeons in either order they want, and, with the help of rented items, can explore all the corners of the map almost immediately. It’s truly awesome to feel like you aren’t being guided through the game by the creators and instead are taking the journey at your own pace and in your own way. And this open- ness is present for a reason; the world is chock full of secrets just waiting to be discovered. Almost every single screen of the game hides some sort of secret, whether it’s some rupees or more impactful items like pieces of heart. There’s a terrific cycle of renting items and exploring so you can rent more. The catch is that, when you die, you lose all of your rented items. It seems punishing at first, but what it does is force careful play and emphasize exploration. There will be areas that you are underprepared for and will likely meet a swift end, like the downright devilish centaurs on Death Mountain that take out two or three hearts per hit and require a huge amount of attacks to bring down.
This freedom is further enhanced by Link’s new ability to transform into a painting and walk along walls. This seems like a small gimmick at first; surely, there can’t be very many uses for this simple ability. Nothing could be further from the truth. Using this, you can reach places that may seem unreachable, and find even more items and treasure. This feature is mind boggling in how it’s used; it’s not just a gimmick that is used sparingly. The entire world has been designed around it to put it to use, and figuring out all the best ways to use it is, simply put, fun.
Exploration is easily the best part of the game for two reasons. The first is that branching off the path and discovering things for yourself is inherently satisfying (or, it is to me). The second is that dungeon design, while not bad by any means, isn’t the strongest in the series. Each dungeon took me no more than forty minutes to beat, and that includes the dungeons in Lorule (this game’s equivalent of the Dark World) and the final dungeon. The levels are well designed, and make good use of certain items and the painting ability, but they all feel rather small. Not only that, but the puzzles are never too taxing, either. This is opposed to ALttP, where each dungeon was quite tough, and took true skill to overcome. It’s not that they aren’t fun; they are. It’s just that none of them, with maybe one exception, ever feel like they are too challenging. The same can be said for the bosses. Outside of two, all of them felt incredibly easy to bring down. Their patterns are almost immediately recognizable, since they are all remixes of previous bosses in the series.
While Zelda’s bosses usually aren’t too challenging (although, again, I’d like to point out that ALttP could be downright brutal at times), in Link Between Worlds, they feel as easy as they ever have. Not only that, but none of them really stand out, which is also an issue with the world itself. Say what you will about Majora’s Mask and Wind Waker, but those two games are arguably the most well designed games in the series in terms of their worlds. They felt unique, creative and filled with charm. The world of ALBW feels utterly generic. This is, in part, because it reuses the world of ALttP for both Hyrule and Lorule. The worlds have been recreated almost screen for screen. Even with all that being said, though, the exploration manages to make the world interesting in spite of itself.
None of those flaws should stop you from playing ALBW. It’s a shot of pure Zelda, uncluttered by the filler of the past few titles. It lets the player loose almost immediately after it begins, and that makes exploring the world more rewarding than ever. The idea of letting the player choose when to get what item is absolutely fantastic, and the ability to turn into a painting and traverse walls is more innovative than the simplicity behind it makes it sound. Even though the game is easy overall, in both combat and puzzle design, the dungeons are still fun to conquer, especially since more than a few of them hold items that further upgrade Link. There is an unlockable Hero Mode, where enemies do much more damage, once you beat the game (although apparently the puzzles remain the same).
If you want an adrenaline shot of pure Zelda, without filler or guiding, ALBW is a must play. There is more freedom than ever before, and any and all time you spend outside of a dungeon is because you, the player, are choosing to explore the well-crafted (if overly familiar) world. The game isn’t quite a God send, and it’s not quite as high quality as other games in the series, but it’s still well executed and lays a foundation for future Zelda games that Nintendo would be remiss not to take advantage of.