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A Link Between Worlds Finding Important Upgrades In Dungeons

JuicieJ

SHOW ME YA MOVES!
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Location
On the midnight Spirit Train going anywhere
I've already agreed that the game is very good, and I share the sentiments that it's better than some of the modern games (something I wouldn't have thought of saying if I didn't have the game). But just think, wonder if we had some sidequests that gave up different items or maybe even upgrades to the items. Wonder if we had sidequests that developed some of the characters development? (Hello, sages anyone???). To me, the game sped things up too quickly. It doesn't even take 2 hours to complete the first 3 dungeons and get the Master Sword. I just feel like things were TOO fast paced. I like the feel of things being fast paced but not to the point of the story line advancing too quickly. I mean for ****s sake, we barely got to see Yuga do anything. He doesn't even have proper character development. We no longer live in an age where it was okay for games to have little character development and quick storylines. We live in the 21st century where expectations are greater to keep us entertained. Heck, I feel that the Oracles game had better character development.

Please tell me why it's such a bad thing for me to want to have more out of A Link Between Worlds.

The genuine lack of plot detail was a disappointment to be sure, especially after Skyward Sword (as relatively simple as its story overall may have been). Considering it never made it a goal to have an in-depth story, though, it's not that big of a deal. I can let it slide this time.

However, from a gameplay standpoint... you really have nothing in the realm of complaints. The only thing worth being miffed about is that a Boss Rush mode wasn't included. That and how awful Octoball's mechanics were.
 

tysonrss

Keyblade Master
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Location
OH, USA
The genuine lack of plot detail was a disappointment to be sure, especially after Skyward Sword (as relatively simple as its story overall may have been). Considering it never made it a goal to have an in-depth story, though, it's not that big of a deal. I can let it slide this time.

However, from a gameplay standpoint... you really have nothing in the realm of complaints. The only thing worth being miffed about is that a Boss Rush mode wasn't included. That and how awful Octoball's mechanics were.
The problem with Skyward Sword was that it was slow paced. Too much story development caused the game to drag on. Yeah I know it seems as if I'm complaining too much but I think Nintendo needs to find some sort of balance and I think Twilight Princess did this well.

Anyway, I'm getting off track here. I wasn't complaining about the gameplay, I'm complaining that the game didn't have enough to keep one entertained because it was too quick.
 

JuicieJ

SHOW ME YA MOVES!
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Location
On the midnight Spirit Train going anywhere
The problem with Skyward Sword was that it was slow paced. Too much story development caused the game to drag on. Yeah I know it seems as if I'm complaining too much but I think Nintendo needs to find some sort of balance and I think Twilight Princess did this well.

Twilight Princess? If there was any Zelda game that was truly slow-paced, it was that game. Skyward Sword paced out its campaign length, sure, but with treacherous surface portions that smoothened the transition between overworld and dungeon moreso than cutscenes, whereas TP dragged itself on mainly with pointless side objectives that ultimately meant nothing to the main plot in the end -- not to mention the combat focused purely on twitch reflexes, as opposed to button-mashing/waggling. SS had some busywork towards the end, but it was nothing in comparison to TP's.

That said, TP WAS still a good, arguably great game.
 

Skull_Kid

Bugaboo!
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Sep 15, 2008
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Portugal
Honestly, this is the BEST Zelda game yet, imo, the only ones that came close were OOT, MM and SS. This game is so well designed and so beautifull
 

Cfrock

Keep it strong
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Mar 17, 2012
Location
Liverpool, England
It was a nice way to tie A Link Between Worlds to A Link to the Past, which did the same thing with the same items (tunics, gloves, shield).

I would say that the decision to put these upgrades in the dungeons and not the overworld was exactly the right choice because of the rental system for the main items. None of the main items are found in dungeons and you can rent them all as soon as Ravio lets you, which I did. When I first heard about the rental system my initial reaction was of concern, because I thought taking the items out of the dungeons would leave nothing of particular interest to find in them, which would spoil the exploration element of the game. Leaving the upgrades in the dungeons took those concerns away because I soon found myself looking forward to finding tunics or a better shield. I was very pleased to open that chest in Turtle Rock and find the Hylian Shield. Besides keys and the compass, only rupees are found in dungeons and it would have been disappointing if that was your only reward for exploring the places, especially considering the abundance of the gems everywhere else (as I said, I could afford every item as soon as they were available).

I don't think the overworld was lacking in things to find and do, anyway. It wasn't as much as the console games, but anyone expecting there to be in a handheld game is just being a bit overly optimistic. The power of the console has nothing to do with it, either. Handheld games are pretty much all designed to be played in short bursts. I think they even said of Super Mario 3D Land that they were designing levels under the assumption that people would be playing for ten minutes while on the bus to work or waiting for their train. A Link Between Worlds is no different, really. Games like Super Mario 64 DS and Ocarina of Time 3D exist to provide an easy comparison of hardware against a past system while also providing a recognised and trusted game to shift units early on. A Link Between Worlds easily could have been a full 3D Zelda but the top-down style and design more in line with the series' past suited the system better.

One final thing I'd like to add.
seamless floor transitions in dungeons, dropping down to moving blocks below you inside Death Mountain, the Fire and Ice Rods hitting flying enemies while in midair, Wallmasters hitting switches located above you, certain cuccos flying over you in the Cucco Rush mini-game
The biggest thing to add to this list is the wall merging mechanic that is used to such great effect in the game. Without a full 3D environment that wouldn't work, and the game would be much poorer without it. A Link Between Worlds utilises the capablities of the 3DS to truly do new things with an old formula, so I agree that the game made excellent use of the 3DS hardware. It was a seamless blend of old and new, in my opinion.
 

Sir Quaffler

May we meet again
It's certainly a change in formula, I'll give it that. I was under the impression that Zelda fans wanted change, and this certainly did it for me.

Also, think about this. If you wanted those upgrades in the overworld as well as having all the items via Ravio's shop from the get-go...... what exactly would have been in the dungeons? I get that people wanted more sidequests and such in the game (this is one complaint of mine) but this wouldn't have been the right way to go about it with the formula ALBW set up. You need SOMETHING good to find in the dungeons to warrant the thorough exploration, or the dungeon feels rather pointless.

[Also, a note on the sidequest thing: With the game designed as it is, meant to be played in short spurts and able to be beat normally in just a couple of hours, I understand why they didn't include lengthy, world-building sidequest like previous handheld Zelda games. This is a handheld that's actually designed like a handheld game instead of a ported console game. Fast action, completely gameplay-oriented with only a few plot elements sprinkled in between to justify it (ok the actual story's all shoved in the very beginning, middle transition into Lorule, and the very end sequence, but you get what I mean), and lots of quick minigames in the overworld to have something else to do actually works pretty darn well for the formula they've set up.

I've just been conditioned to expect sidequests in Zelda games. I'm probably not the main demographic they were aiming for this time around, since I tend to play games in binge sessions rather than short bursts. For what they were aiming to do, they pulled it off pretty well.


....I'm still mad about it, though.]
 

Vanessa28

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Personally I don't really mind. You had to find at least 10 maiamais to get one upgrade. If you talk about a lengthy sidequest then it was this even though it was very easy to find all 100 of them. I enjoyed this game tremendously and have not many complaints. One could indeed be the lack of sidequests. There were only some mini-games which rewarded you with a Heart Piece. But that was it. Still I don't really mind the lack of sidequests. The only thing I thought was a shame was underusing some characters like Yuga. In SS they have developped Ghirahim well and you'll see him show up often (too much for my taste but that aside :P ) Yuga is hardly used. They could have done more with him. The same with the sages. You know who they are in the story and you know what kinda character they had around them but that's it. They could have let the sages give you an upgrade or ability. But okay I'm still satisfied. I trully love this game :)
 

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