Link's Awakening. Finally reaching the end of that game was exciting! The whole game, the developers hadn't been shy about the whole thing being a dream, you knew that you were going to end the dream and destroy the island as you played. It made the whole game a somber and tragic experience. When I finally reached the end and the Wind Fish told me how it was all going to go down, I was sad. The game made me feel.
But then, at the very final moment, when the island faded and Link awoke, my heart soared with Marin as she mounted aloft on seagull's wings! We saw the Wind Fish so we knew that the Wind Fish was real and then we saw Marin, which gives us hope that the island and its inhabitants may not have simply disappeared. And this was only if you completed the game with no deaths, a glorious reward for those who braved Koholint with courage!
Then along came DX. I don't consider them the same game because of this specific change. When you complete the DX version of Link's Awakening, you are treated to a retconing and cheapening of the original game in which Link merely remembers Marin. The way it comes across is that he's reminded of Marin by a seagull in the sky. This changes the entire feel of the game from one of solemn duty to conflicted destruction of a world to joyous revelation that your friends either live on or met a wonderful fate to solemn duty, conflicted destruction of a world, heartbreaking memory of Link's first overt love interest in any game. Not a bad ending at all, tear-jerking in fact. My issue with the DX version is that it robbed me of the hopeful twist in the final moment of the game and replaced it with crushing loss and separation. A truly impactful finale but one that shifted the implications and feel of the original LA 180° which upset me. This unwarranted change is my least favorite thing about my favorite zelda game.
