Daily Debate: Were Kinstones Overused In The Minish Cap?

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap seems to be one of those games that hasn’t been played by quite as many people, even some long-time Zelda fans; yet almost everyone who has played it loves it. With its charming graphics, interesting mechanics, and a story unique in comparison to the rest of the franchise, it’s no wonder that this game is considered one of the best 2D Zelda games.

These are the two main mechanics of the game: Link’s ability to shrink down to the size of a Minish, a minuscule creature of legend, and the ability for the player to fuse items known as Kinstones with NPCs scattered throughout the world, which would then trigger an event of some sort. Considering the nature of the game and the fact that the game is called The Minish Cap, it makes sense that there would be so much emphasis on Link’s ability to shrink to a small size in order to complete certain tasks. However, it seems that the use of Kinstones in the game was focused on quite a bit as well. At multiple points in the plot, it becomes necessary for the player to find and fuse specific Kinstone pieces with specific characters in order to progress at all. In multiple scenarios, the fusion of Kinstones simply led to finding more Kinstones to fuse. Even some of the characters that you fuse Kinstones with seem to go a bit too far. While in a fantasy game like The Legend of Zelda, interacting in this way with people, animals, ghosts, and monsters makes sense, on multiple occasions it is possible, or even necessary, to fuse with statues or even specific walls.

For a game that makes no mention of Kinstones in the game’s title and little reference in the plot itself, it seems to be an overused mechanic. However, the game does clearly state that the Minish will place Kinstones in certain places to help bring luck to the humans who consider them to be myth, therefore tying Kinstone fusion into the game more. But what do you think? Did Kinstone fusion, a feature that makes more sense to be used as an optional sidequest, get used too much in game as a whole? Or did the mechanic make sense to you and fit properly within it? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!