The 22nd November wasn’t just a big deal for Microsoft with the launch of the Xbox ONE, but Nintendo was also on the up and up with the release of their first new story Zelda title for the 3DS, building on the 2011 port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds hit the shelves just as the home console race started to fully fly, but when it comes to hand-held gaming the 22nd was pretty much all Nintendo.
Storyline
The storyline of most Zelda and Link games are always fairly similar with twists on the plot of the Princess in distress as the evil Ganondorf rises to prominence with his dark power. Set in Hyrule, ALBW follows on directly after the storyline of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo, which was a prequel to the original 2 Zelda games on the NES, so it’s going to be steeped in the old school beginnings of the series.
With the Kingdom seemingly at peace long after the events of A Link to the Past, a new Princess Zelda is overcome by the irrepressible powers of Ganon as his new take on the Dark World finds it’s way back to plague Hyrule. With the gathering shadow, the Princess will need a new Link hero to rise up and stop the devastation of Ganon’s onslaught and his new trusty servant, the picture making Yuga.
Graphics
The graphics are a suped-up play on the old-school top down RPG style of A Link to the Past, with the added depth capabilities that the stereoscopic 3D graphics of the Nintendo 3DS brings with it. What this means is that ledges and levels at different depths are easier to differentiate, so there isn’t any of the confusion that sometimes occurred in ALTTP.
While the graphics aren’t necessarily all that advanced, they are lushly illustrated with a lot of inspiration from the original style of the series and the boosted detail that the Nintendo 3DS provides. Link’s movement is probably one if the best looking elements of the game as he gets slightly bigger when he jumps closer to the top down view screen and has much more detail in his animation than has previously been the case with this style if Zelda game.
However, things take a step into more modern capabilities when Link flips into 2D sidestepping sketch mode over a 3D environment to get past narrow ledges or to get around advancing objects. It’s a cool new feature that brings an extra dimension to the fun of the game, but you should probably take a look at the trailer below to get a feel for how it actually works.
Gameplay
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds has got classic top down RPG gameplay with a little 3D lustre thrown in with the 2D sketch features you can use throughout the game. You’ll start out as Link as he sets out on his heroic adventure, picking up weapons and items to help you advance as you progress through the worlds. With swords, bow and arrow, grappling hook, new and exciting boots and the customary young Robin Hood outfit, it’s a welcome return for link on the 3DS after his recent domination on the Nintendo Wii U in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.
As the game is set in the same Hyrule that featured in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the past, you’ll have the main Kingdom to explore, as well as it’s related dungeons to conquer and a new take on the legendary Dark World to make it through in your quest to stop Ganon once again. Bosses are as frustratingly tough as they always were and the latest raft of puzzles will have you wracking your grey cells to figure them out.
However, the big new addition to the gameplay is the open style of progression as you get the opportunity to cherry pick which dungeons to tackle once you’ve gotten so far in the game. This becomes more significance with the importance of Ravio’s shop, which he sets up in your house, where you can buy and rent different items to make it through the dungeons safely. Choose right and you’ll fly through, but if you head into the darkness without the kit you need you’ll end up going nowhere and have to get back to Ravio to get what you’re missing. Luckily, you’ll have the young witch, Irene, to help you to head back to Rovio’s shop quickly, so you don’t have to trundle all the way over there and back to progress.
This makes the game much more free flowing in terms of how you progress, but we think it’s also got the potential to frustrate, as you sometimes make it to a dungeon entrance only to figure out that you need to make a quick detour Ravio to rent something to get inside. Find out more about our take on the game at our The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds review.
