Official GS GOTY 2013 - Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Congratulations to The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

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"This isn’t just a tribute; as amazing as A Link to the Past is, I can’t think of a single thing A Link Between Worlds doesn’t do better...In every way, A Link Between Worlds is exactly what you want out of a Zelda game." - GameInformer

"A perfect handheld Zelda experience, offering the classic gameplay you cherish at a snappier pace. Link's new 2D ability, combined with the nonlinear progression, provide a flexibility that makes exploring the land – both Hy and Lo – exciting all over again." - Joystiq

"At once accessible and incredibly deep. It displays a stunning fearlessness. Tweaking and completely redefining the basic concepts of the series might have been risk enough. But Nintendo has been shockingly cavalier with one of the most beloved games ever. The result is the sequel I never knew I wanted — and one of my favorite games of 2013." - Polygon

"A Link between Worlds is a delightful trap - it starts beautifully revamping the A Link to The Past IP, then it shocks you with some lovely twists and saga firsts. It's a "back to the roots to look to the future" vibe which is hard to resist." - IGN

"Zelda: A Link Between Worlds brings the outstanding gameplay of the SNES prequel to the 3DS in a well-crafted adventure that will give you a rush of nostalgia. With interesting new characters, atypical series gameplay elements, and fantastic 3D visuals, Link's next adventure is a must play." - Gamesradar

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Developer: Nintendo

Released: November 22, 2013

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Gamespot Review - 9

Source

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Honorable Mentions:

• Super Mario 3D World
• The Last of Us
• Bioshock Infinite
• Path of Exile
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
• DOTA 2
• Gone Home
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Grand Theft Auto V

The year of the 3DS.

Flawless victory. A handheld game showed all the other games what true game design is.

Based Nintendo. Please make the Wii U Zelda like this one.

Yawn

Holy shit, nice. I loved the game but I did like Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us more. Still, a worthy game.

I really need to pick up this game.

When was the last time zelda won here?

Wind Waker. 2003.

Pokemon X got robbed

I called it a while ago, before Zelda came out, that a 3DS game would win GOTY.

I don´t think any Zelda has won overall GOTY before on GS,Ocarina got console GOTY in 98 but that wasn´t made directly by gamespot but by their parent company at the time,the PC GOTY Grim Fandango was the overall de facto GOTY,at least that´s what Jeff Gerstmann said.

Edit: I guess WW won in 03 lol.

The Year of Luigi

.....Ok

I can't say I agree that a game like this is more deserving than GTA V (a game that does everything and does it all incredibly well) but whatever.

Maybe one day I'll decide its a worthwhile purchase for my 3DS.

I was about ready to play it when my 3DS got the black screen of death, got to wait for the repair to mail back to me before I can have at it. Luckily I've enough of a backlist to keep me occupied in the meantime.

Man .. I love Nintendo .. they are brilliant!! .. LoZ:ALBW definitely deserves this award :)

It's the best game on the 3DS, the best handheld game ever made, the best Zelda game in 20 years, and the best game of this year. Honestly, I don't know what other recommendation you want.

That was unexpected

Windwaker was such a great game.

Its been a decade since zelda won it. wow

HAHAHA I predicted this. KNEW IT!

EDIT: Also this game is awesome and deserves the award.

Figures that 3DS would be the handheld that broke the handheld GotY curse

i thought it will be The Last of Us, Super Mario 3D or GTA V. wow Congratz to the 3DS

Zelda to me is Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past - both of which I played in the 90s and the only two I've ever played.

I haven't touched a Zelda game since the mid 90s

LOL!!! System Wars meltdown initiated

The lovely thing is, this game is the best of Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time. And then it takes the series forwards in multiple ways.

It's basically a true sequel to ALttP. It does that game and its legacy justice. Seriously, play it.

Iwata redeemed.

I don't? When did I ever say I want it to be isometric?

Wow. Mine is still GTA V, but ALBW is a very close second, so I can't complain.

I meant in terms of structure and formula, of course. The new Zelda games move too slow, have pacing and padding issues, hours of tutorials, and adhere too strictly to the dungeon->item->boss formula. Link Between Worlds breaks all these problems, and refreshes the series. I want the Wii U Zelda to take cues from ALBW instead of reverting to the traditional Zelda formula.

In any case, they need to make sure it's paced right, without tutorials, and allows non linear progression. Item rentals was just a way to enable that, and if they find a different/better way to do it for Zelda U, then more power to them, as long as they maintain the non linear progression.

Dont doubt the game is good, but it is an absolute joke to imply that this game is a better game that Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, GTA 5 or Super Mario 3D world.

Well its different so theres something. Even though I like zelda this one doesint spark my interest.

And why is it a joke to imply that?

Well the non-linearity came at the cost of a story. Which is actually suitable for a handheld. The more structure you have, the better you can create a story (or a solid context) - which might be suited for the console version. So maybe they can loosen up the linearity a little, but they don't need to go to the extent of ALBW. I particularly agree with the tutorials things though.

They can't do that, since dungeon progression requires items, which are found in dungeons. It's why they had the item rental system in this game in the first place.

I'm sure they could figure something better out. I have ideas how they could do it (mini dungeons that have items hidden that you can solve in any order- based on that, go ahead and finish the main dungeons in any order), or maybe they'll just keep and improve on the item rental system.

Best console Zelda? Wind Waker, IMO.

No, and no.

Pokemon X/Y's lack of an endgame cripples them- Zelda has Hero Mode, plus the temptation of trying the game through in a different order, since there is no set order.

It's the kind of game you keep returning to over and over again.

No, just... don't play Skyward Sword. Look up the story on Youtube, though.

The rental system is the best thing to come into the Zelda series in years so I hope Zelda U retains that structure. I also hope it's not as laughably easy as ALBW and takes a page from WWHD's book by offering me a harder difficulty from the start.

That tri force hunt crippled WW imo. It was so bad I was about to say f it and not finish the rest.That was indeed poor game design.Lucky I suffered through it.

There are ways to do non linearity and still have an emphasis on the story.

Have triggers- direct player traffic to specific points at specific times for story progression.

What I mean is, intro, story heavy, three dungeons, any order, story heavy section, five dungeons, any order, story heavy section, final two dungeons, any order, story heavy final boss section.

It's not that hard at all, honestly.

Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal/Emerald/Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/Black 2/White 2 all had an extensive post game.

X and Y are great games, don't get me wrong, and in an ordinary year, they would have easily been GotY contenders for me. But this year, with Zelda and Fire Emblem both out as well? Not a chance.

Hero Mode is just a difficulty setting, yes, but coupled with non linear progression, essentially it's a second, completely different playthrough. That's the beauty of ALBW.

The Triforce Hunt was awful. At least they fixed it in Wind Waker HD.

What did you think of Wind Waker overall, then?

Yeah, maybe make it a bit more difficult when it comes to combat...

Yeah that sounds fair.

Legendary catching, entirely new areas to explore, Elite 4 Second Challenge, more story events after the game ends, and so on.

Pokemon is known for strong post game, so a weak one often kills the game- Ruby and Sapphire, for example. Thankfully, X and Y were great games on their own that a weak postgame didn't drag them down as much.

Sure lol. PM me your Friend Code, I'll send you mine, and we can battle some time :)