Thoroughly Impressed with Link's Awakening

[chrismoz]

Firstly, my first Zelda was OoT. I'm a huge Zelda fan and it's basically the only game I play. I'm always in the process of beating a Zelda game. I've played OoT, MM, WW, TP, & SS, and beaten them all, with the exception of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, both of which I got about 80% complete but never had the motivation to complete. The only 2D Zelda games I've played were the Oracle games, which I thought were amazing and happened to beat both games twice. Regardless, I guess I was always turned off to the 2D games because when I tried playing the original Zelda NES as a kid, I never knew wtf was going on. Zelda to me was meant to be 3D.

I never had the motivation to go "backwards" and play the Zelda games before OoT. A friend convinced me to download Link's Awakening DX for my 3DS and man, I really have to say that this game is impressing the hell out of me. The world, the items, the music, the graphics, the temples, the puzzles - everything about this game is awesome so far. I just beat the third temple and I'm super excited to get into the rest of the game, even though I already know what happens at the end.

In any event, I can't wait to finish this so I can play A Link to the Past, as I've heard it's amazing.

I'm glad I decided to spend the 6$ though on Link's Awakening. Great buy. An original, basic, authentic experience.

 

[A Link In Time]

I'm glad you found this game and the Oracles to be worthwhile. I never struck that same chord with those titles. Something always seemed off.

The story was morbidly dull and paled in comparison to that of Zelda II: Adventure of Link and A Link to the Past whereas the exploration aspect was more confined than that of the NES original. As the pause screen pointed out, it the map of Koholint Island was essentially an array of bland squares.

Dungeon designs also suffered partially from hardware restraints. All of the dungeons were rather easy and had no unique twists or boss battles that made you smile at their cunning execution like in The Minish Cap or Spirit Tracks with maybe the exception of the final one. It was once more a step back from the previous two entries and only 1-upped the NES original.

I would not consider myself someone who judges a game based on graphics or as some in the modern age term "a graphics *****". I seek out and purchase titles for their gameplay not their appearance. There is, however, a threshold for how lacking in appearance the games I play can be. Link's Awakening does not meet that standard. The graphics were surprisingly poor for a Gameboy game. I felt that as a child, Kirby, Buzz Lightyear, and Men & Black all looked way better. Sure, the graphics got the job done but at the end of the day, they were not pretty to at.

 

[JuicieJ]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. One of my favorite games, right there.

 

[Gooey Fame]

Glad you liked it! It has one of my favorite stories and soundtracks. It also is dear to me being the first Zelda game I ever beat. :,)

 

[Pennycan1800]

I'm really happy that you are enjoying Link's Awakening. It was the first Zelda game I ever played, owned, and beat. This game is very special to me! Same with the Oracles too!

 

[chrismoz]

It's just shocking to me that after all these years I never knew what I was missing. As I've said, Zelda, to me, is meant to be 3D. So to play a Zelda game from 1993 (remastered in 1998) that still retains those same elements that I fell in love with in OoT.. I mean I shouldn't be surprised really as the older games laid the groundwork for what I feel is so captivating.

 

[Mrflamexd3]

I myself recently played Link's Awakening on the eShop. Don't get me wrong, I love the 2D Zelda games (besides Zelda II). Minish Cap was the first Zelda game I actually completed, and I 100% completed the first 2 games. Every Zelda game has the Zelda formula (besides Zelda II) and it's not missing from Link's Awakening. I never got around to playing the Oracle games, but I will once they're on the eShop. =)

 

[Night Owl]

I'm glad you are enjoying it. Link's Awakening is one of my personal favorites, It was also my first Zelda.
Link's Awakening is pretty unconventional if you think about it. It has a unique blend of other aspects of Nintendo thrown into the mix.
You can tell the developers had fun while making it, and I feel that the fun is evident in the game play.

I hope you get to finish enjoying it

 

[Ventus]

Now that I think about it, LA isn't the narrative experience I used to think it was. It is incredibly basic, but nonetheless I found it to contain an exquisite harmony between the overworld, story and of course the dungeons. It wasn't overly difficult though some puzzles to this day continue to stump me from time to time, and it was nowhere close to "easy", at least in my opinion. Glad to see you're enjoying it! You have LA or LADX?

 

[r2d93]

Igreatly enjoyed LA as well. I didn't have very high expectations for it, and even playing it on an emulator I had a grea time with it. IMO I think the OoX games are basicly just attempted mimics of LA (while i did like the items in OoX)

 

[Gooey Fame]

Igreatly enjoyed LA as well. I didn't have very high expectations for it, and even playing it on an emulator I had a grea time with it. IMO I think the OoX games are basicly just attempted mimics of LA (while i did like the items in OoX)

Well they used the same engine and graphics. But I think they made GREAT improvements on LA. But they are all great!

 

[wedge47]

It's difficult for me to get into the handheld Zelda games. The only one I've beaten was The Minish Cap. I've barely played the Oracle games, and Phantom Hourglass was extremely boring of what I played of it. Never bothered with Spirit Tracks. Links Awakening, I did finally download on my 3ds, and am waiting for a good time to start it. I just can't get into those games like I can the console ones.

 

[chrismoz]

Now that I think about it, LA isn't the narrative experience I used to think it was. It is incredibly basic, but nonetheless I found it to contain an exquisite harmony between the overworld, story and of course the dungeons. It wasn't overly difficult though some puzzles to this day continue to stump me from time to time, and it was nowhere close to "easy", at least in my opinion. Glad to see you're enjoying it! You have LA or LADX?

I'm playing DX on my 3DS. This game is very similar to the Oracle games. The text boxes make the same sounds and the graphics seem very similar. Even the layout kind of looks the same. But yeah, I was stumped for like 15 minutes at the beginning of the 3rd temple (Key Cavern) where you have to throw a pot at the door, lol.

The items are awesome as well and fit the style of the game. The Roc's Feather is amazing however, I don't think it would work on a console Zelda unless it was very carefully thought out. But then what do you do with auto-jump?

I will have to agree with the previous post that it is difficult to get into handheld Zelda's. While some people praise Spirit Tracks, I personally think the train ruins that Zelda-esque feel regardless of dungeons, etc. I borrowed it from a friend and every time I had to travel from one area to another, I put the game down for weeks on end because I just hated the train aspect. And although I never finished Phantom Hourglass because it became increasingly frustrating to continuously revisit the same temple, I do have to praise that game for its level of difficulty and plan to re-visit it sometime in the near future.

But after experiencing the greatness of Skyward Sword and beating it in January, I've just wanted more Zelda. I went back, played and beat Wind Waker, a game that sat on my shelf for nearly 7 years, bought a 3DS just to play OoT, beat that and going to play Master Quest eventually.

Zelda just really is the only game that tickles my fancy now a'days. Everything else out on consoles seem so generic and business oriented. There doesn't seem to really be any innovation going on which is precisely why I have to praise Skyward Sword for its innovation in relation to motion controls. I actually felt like I was Link.

 

[Big Octo]

I enjoyed Link's Awakening very much as well. I appreciated the plot quite well, as it's a different turn from previous games. In the quest, Link at first seems to be doing it for himself, but eventually comes to help new friends along the way.

The dungeons were superb. The layout with commendable puzzles and complimenting enemies results in a satisfying finished product.

I also appreciated the exploration and overworld as well, with many secrets to find and other opportunities.

There are many other things I could praise about the game, but will keep it short and sweet.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

ah yes,links awakening,my first handheld zelda as well as many others [and i played the ORIGINAL version too.....just saying]
and since you're getting into the 2d zelda games,i strongly recommend minish cap [i played the actual gba version of that too:bleh:,no 3ds for me]