Link Between Worlds or Link's Awakening DX?

[RavenRaziel98]

Good evening everyone.

First thing, I know the choice between the titles mentioned in the thread name seems a little weird, but I'll explain...

I never finished a Zelda game and this is bugging me for a while now, so I decided start a new journey in the near future. Since my resources are rather limited the available options are Link Between Worlds and Link's Awakening DX.

The thing is, I really suck at making decisions and therefore struggle with the choice.
Now, instead of watching reviews and stuff I thought about a different approach.
Since I have a ZD account anyway I thought it would be a cool idea to just ask the people that have the most experience in the regarding matter.

In conclusion, I'm looking for opinions of experts and maybe hints about things I should know/be aware of before starting the game.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Thank you for your time and have a nice day everyone!

 

[thePlinko]

Why only those two? I’d imagine that you’re using a 3DS as thats the only console with LBW on it, but there are plenty of other Zeldas on the console. Ocarina of Time 3D is easily the best Zelda to start with and its only $20, but if you really can’t afford that then the answer really depends on how comfortable you are with older games.

LBW released in the past decade, and is therefore a lot easier to get into for newcomers, that being said, I absolutely don’t recommend it as a lot of the decisions it makes are kinda awful, I would put it on the lower end of the series.

LA, on the other hand, is a much, much better game overall, but it’s held back by the fact that it’s a gameboy game. There are a lot of cumbersome aspects of it that make it not particularly easy to get in to. The 2019 Switch remake is a far better game.

It’s really up to you, though.

 

[GZ Zelda]

I would recommend ALBW if you want to get full completion: heart piece hunting and Maiami hunting are much more fun and the item rental system makes the game feel more open and less linear, allowing you to go at your own pace.

Link's Awakening, like Plinko said, is the better game, but ALBW might be better for actually finishing. I took many more breaks in LA because of dungeon complexity (especially towards the end) than I did in ALBW which I completed rather breezily. Also the characters in ALBW are great, and the story is pretty interesting.

Edit: Also, if you are comfortable with emulation, I would play Minish Cap before either of these; it's much shorter and was my intro to 2D Zelda. Though don't Kinstone farm or Trophy farm, that part isn't fun.

 

[thePlinko]

I would recommend ALBW if you want to get full completion: heart piece hunting and Maiami hunting are much more fun and the item rental system makes the game feel more open and less linear, allowing you to go at your own pace.

Link's Awakening, like Plinko said, is the better game, but ALBW might be better for actually finishing. I took many more breaks in LA because of dungeon complexity (especially towards the end) than I did in ALBW which I completed rather breezily. Also the characters in ALBW are great, and the story is pretty interesting.

I’m going to have to disagree with the idea that LBW is more fun to complete. The Maimais are great, but there are significantly more heart pieces, and another of those damn enemy gauntlets that modern Zelda loves to shove into every game. Also the item rental system is one of the worst mechanics in any Zelda game and any “openness” that it adds amounts to nothing but a messed up difficulty curve. You have to do all of the dungeons anyway. There’s never a real advantage or risk to doing the dungeons out of order so the fact that you can adds nothing of value.

I will agree that the dungeons in LBW are easier to finish, but only because they’ve pretty much been lobotomized by the item rental mechanic.

 

[RavenRaziel98]

Why only those two? I’d imagine that you’re using a 3DS as thats the only console with LBW on it, but there are plenty of other Zeldas on the console.

I have a switch too (that's where I planned on playing LA since it was recently added to the online catalog, the fact that it was added was actually the reason that created my struggle - otherwise I would've just made LBW the next project. The issue is rather that the german reselling culture is horrible compared to (what I've heard from) other countries - for example, a Gameboy Color starts at 65 bucks and that's already a bargain.

Ocarina of Time 3D is easily the best Zelda to start with and its only $20, but if you really can’t afford that then the answer really depends on how comfortable you are with older games.

I actually started Ocarina of time several times but it keeps losing me at some point for some reason. *takes cover*
Furthest I ever came was the part where Link learns to dive (iirc), I think it was some kinda cave with a waterfall.

I would recommend ALBW if you want to get full completion: heart piece hunting and Maiami hunting are much more fun and the item rental system makes the game feel more open and less linear, allowing you to go at your own pace.

Link's Awakening, like Plinko said, is the better game, but ALBW might be better for actually finishing. I took many more breaks in LA because of dungeon complexity (especially towards the end) than I did in ALBW which I completed rather breezily. Also the characters in ALBW are great, and the story is pretty interesting.

Edit: Also, if you are comfortable with emulation, I would play Minish Cap before either of these; it's much shorter and was my intro to 2D Zelda. Though don't Kinstone farm or Trophy farm, that part isn't fun.

I don't mind emulation at all, Minish cap would actually be the title I almost finished (in regards of story, I usually don't go for completion except for really rare occasions), but the save was on the additional storage card of my PSP and said card decided to screw me over for reasons I never found out. I was already back in the damn castle, the only thing (I suppose to be) left was reaching the wizard and whooping him.
I also played spirit tracks for a while, but I never really managed to get along with the stylus control



Would you say that playing one first could "lock me out" from the other?
For example, since both of you are consent that LA is the better game, would it make LBW "look/feel" worse if I played LA first?
Or alternatively, would you say that the technological step backwards would negatively impact the LA experience if I played LBW before?

 

[Turo602]

A Link Between Worlds is the superior game but Link's Awakening is more simplistic and therefore more newcomer friendly.

If you have a Switch, I'd recommend just getting the remake of Link's Awakening as it has some quality of life improvements and the new visuals and music make it a very charming experience.

You can easily jump into A Link Between Worlds from there and enjoy a much more intricate and rich experience of the same nature. But it's definitely a must for any 3DS owner.

Don't think too hard about it though. Just pick one and you'll have a great time.

 

[thePlinko]

I have a switch too (that's where I planned on playing LA since it was recently added to the online catalog, the fact that it was added was actually the reason that created my struggle - otherwise I would've just made LBW the next project. The issue is rather that the german reselling culture is horrible compared to (what I've heard from) other countries - for example, a Gameboy Color starts at 65 bucks and that's already a bargain.

Oh in that case, just get the remake of LA. It’s definitely a bit more expensive, but it’s easily the best 2D Zelda out there. LADX on NSO is also a lot better than LADX on the 3DS eshop, so either way go with LA as it’s far superior to LBW.

Would you say that playing one first could "lock me out" from the other?
For example, since both of you are consent that LA is the better game, would it make LBW "look/feel" worse if I played LA first?
Or alternatively, would you say that the technological step backwards would negatively impact the LA experience if I played LBW before?

Definitely not. Each Zelda feels so different anyway that it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Technically, both of them are sequels to A Link to the Past, so you might want to start there since it’s also on NSO. That being said, Links Awakening is a far better game than either LttP or especially LBW so it’s really uo to you.

 

[RavenRaziel98]

Links Awakening it as then, thank you all for your time and efforts!

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

If it's a choice between the two then I'd say ALBW. It's the bigger game and I just found it overall more enjoyable.

 

[Vanessa28]

Both games are cool and LA has a great story. But ALbW is also a very cool game. I enjoyed it very much. Actually I enjoyed both very much

 

[A Link In Time]

You made a good choice as Link's Awakening is a pretty quirky game with a surprisingly deep story. But I hope you play ALBW soon too. It's my personal favorite 2D Zelda. I love the wall merging mechanic so much, and the dungeon design is top tier.