If there’s one thing loyal Nintendo fans have been clamoring for, it has been for a new installment in The Legend of Zelda franchise. Late in 2013, the call was answered with The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. And if you are one of those who has recently picked up the system (since it has been on sale constantly over the last month), learn why this title should be your first purchase.
As mentioned, Link Between Worlds (LBW), is a sequel to that game in the sense that it takes place in the same world, but its hero Link is not the same Link of the original game as the successor takes place 6 generations or so after the first game. Outside of the different time period and the usual plot of having to save Zelda, much of the game is very familiar including music, the maps and their two land system and even familiar characters will show up stroking the nostalgia factor. But thankfully, Nintendo wasn’t content to keep everything the same and the things that are different really make their newest effort sing.
- Traverse a dungeon
- Get item needed to continue progress
- Continue progress
LBW flips this notion on its head by allowing you access to essentially all items in the game very early on. A traveling merchant named Ravio, that hangs out in Link’s house, will rent the items you want to you at any point during the game. What this does is alleviate the need for the player to have to visit every dungeon in order to explore a fraction of the world. Instead, you can rent all the items you’ll need at once and literally hit the town exploring caves, towns and of course any dungeon you would like. It would be a misnomer to say that this transforms LBW into an open world game but if you’re a long time Zelda fan, that is kind of what it feels like.
On a related note, from walking on walls to jumping up and down between floors of dungeons, A Link Between Worlds seems to a perfect fit for the 3DS. The graphics are crisp, animations are familiar and the 3D aspect of the system proved to be quite fun, and useful, while playing through the game. Truth be told, I had the 3D function turned off most of the time. I had to play under the covers as to not bother the wife since I often found myself playing until 3 in the morning and it’s hard at that point to get that perfect line of sight, which is just a testament to how fun the game is.
This review is based on a retail copy of the Nintendo 3DS version of Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds developed by Nintendo
- Great New Mechanics
- Exploring Encouraged
- Little Replayability