The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Editor's Notes

Cartridge version reviewed on a standard 3DS. 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds' is also available from the eShop.

Introduction

After the launch of Wii U, Nintendo announced a series of moves that recognized the perceived lack of an impending new 'The Legend of Zelda.' Along with a special 'LoZ' area of the Miiverse, Nintendo announced 'The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD,' a new but far off and unnamed Wii U 'The Legend of Zelda,' and finally, a return to the lone Super Nintendo installment, 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.' Released the same day as the Xbox One and 'Super Mario World 3D,' 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds' for the 3DS family of systems may the most anticipated handheld game in the past half dozen years.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

Here we go again doesn't quite cut it. Here we are again, that might do. 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds' takes us back to the same overworld of the NES classic, 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,' inhabiting it with a new adventure, new dungeons and a very non-Zelda item progression system. It's a game that plays both sides of progression and nostalgia, trading in years of franchise solidification for the chance to shake things up a bit. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the changes pay off.

Flipping my 3DS closed at the conclusion of Nintendo's latest romp through Hyrule, I find myself torn with emotion, uncertain if the game I just played was really worth the time. 'A Link Between Worlds' does a lot with the Zelda formula, it rearranges some conceptions of what's required in the franchise, and it throws some old ideas out the window, yet still there's a pervasive feeling of lacking. Some people might call that boredom, others heartlessness, and I'm torn, unsure of how to feel.

The changes here are undoubtedly good. The top down world of Hyrule, ripped directly out of the game's forbear, 'A Link to the Past,' is succinct and dense, splaying dungeons about the world like Incan temples ripe with reward. Systems in place promote self-discovery more than any other Legend of Zelda to date, as you don't have to go down the checklist of dungeons in any one order. Now you're renting items with those rupees, all available almost from the start, instead of unlocking them dungeon-by-dungeon, and it feels great to know you haven't tripped along the path because of it. You choose the order you tackle the dungeons, purchasing or renting the necessary items as you go.

Importantly, it's your path now, and as a result it feels like your adventure too. Unlike almost any Zelda game of past, 'A Link Between Worlds' goes to great strides to ensure a feeling of customization, of personalization.

That's 'A Link Between World's' greatest accomplishment, at least within the restrictions of the franchise's frameworks. You can choose. You can choose to tackle one dungeon before another, and you can choose to rent, or buy for a much higher price, an item you'd prefer to use in combat. I loved the bow and sword combo, as traditional as it might be, and as a result I spent an important resource upgrading the bow first. It was my bow, not the game's. Doing the same for the boomerang and fire rod later on felt just as personal. I can't put those words in any other Zelda review, it just hasn't happened for the series until now. It also helps that the rupees you earn actually feel essential to your own progression, as choosing which items to buy or rent can change the very feel of your combat and the dungeon you might tackle next.

Outlining those choices is the world itself. This particular version of Hyrule is neither large nor surprising in its presentation, but it is designed with succinct purpose. Every cave earns reward, every path a discovery, just don't expect to be blown away by the characters you meet or the vistas you cross. It's as traditional as it can possibly get, even with the inclusion of an alternate universe "Lorule" as a means for further exploration, which brings us to the story. Everything up until the very final scene, which played out a twist both inventive and subversive, was typical and boring. No villain captured me like 'Ocarina of Time's' Gannon, nor did the lore suck me in like 'Skyward Sword.' The story and its characters simply aren't there alongside the game's mechanical innovations. Upon reflection it might've been expected, given the game is more or less a sequel to 'A Link to the Past,' and it really only fails in this sense.

The dungeons, on the other hand, are wildly compelling. Like the wolf from 'Twilight Princess' or the ability to sail in 'Wind Waker,' Link is granted one important ability at the beginning of 'A Link Between Worlds' that really flips everything on its head. He can flatten against a wall and travel as a painting version of himself. It adds another dimension to world travel, as the ability is used to both transfer between Hyrule and Lorule and find areas previously unreachable, but the real advantage is in the dungeon design. Two sensations consistently invaded me as I tackled the dungeons.

First, Nintendo has really upped its game in its utilization of space to create puzzles. Looking at the dungeon maps, which you no longer need to discover in a chest, it seems like it should never take you more than five minutes to complete an area. And yet, I'd be crisscrossing back and forth over the same space completing completely separate goals as I progressed. A lot of this has to do with the verticality in the game's visual design, which might stack a room with layers of levels, all an interconnected path to that boss at the end of the tunnel. Only one dungeon, ice-themed, really confused the philosophy, which I basically stumbled through waving my hands outward in the darkness. Other than that, however, whether you're bounding from one platform to another or crossing seesaws over a lava pit, these dungeons are bountiful of puzzlement in the best way possible.

Second, Link's wall-merging ability opens up a brand new dimension of every room you enter. Whether you're searching for chests within a dungeon or even trying to find the dungeon itself, you're integrating of this ability into every action you take is imperative to success. You need to always be thinking with walls in mind, and it's a wonderful way to make the most basic of Zelda tropes feel new. Even the boss fights, which range from basic to explosively fun, take advantage of Link's ability. Some are among the most memorable of the series, a testament to painting-Link's importance to the game as a whole. It does for 'A Link Between Worlds' what the wolf failed to do for 'Twilight Princess.'