The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is an upcoming Switch remake of the 1993 Game Boy game of the same name. Link's Awakening is scheduled to launch on Nintendo Switch on September 20.
Ahead of release, video producers Jake Dekker and Evan Langer played through the first three dungeons of the game--the former in the 2019 remake and the latter in the original game. In the video above, Jake and Evan talk through the most striking differences and similarities between the two.
As you can see in the video above, the two games are virtually the same in terms of structure. Dungeons follow the same layout, enemies patrol in similar locations and possess their traditional attacks, and the story progresses through the same dialogue and events.
2019's Link's Awakening is not an exact copy of the original game though, as Nintendo has implemented some welcome quality-of-life improvements. One of the biggest adjustments is to items. Thankfully, you no longer have to unequip and reequip items depending on which one you need, as 2019's Link's Awakening adopts the mechanics and features of recent Legend of Zelda titles and just maps your items to different button inputs--allowing you to quickly switch to what you need when you need it.
Some items just automatically equip now as well. The Power Bracelet, for example, just activates whenever you try to pick up something heavy. Certain quests involving items have been streamlined too, so you can get back to your adventure instead of spending time fiddling with menus.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is one of the few games in the franchise to be set outside of the Kingdom of Hyrule. The story begins with a massive storm destroying Link's ship, leading the hero to be washed up on the shores of Koholint Island. Link is told that no one has ever been able to leave the island, though a strange owl informs him that there is, in fact, a way. If he wants to escape and return home, he'll have to wake the sleeping Wind Fish, the mysterious god-like entity of the island that can only be awakened by playing the eight instruments of the Sirens. To find the instruments, Link needs to undergo the trials of several dungeons scattered throughout the island.