Today, I'd
like to start the review with certifiable proof that GameStop wants to kill
you. Earlier this summer, I entered GameStop intent on buying a Zelda game. I
ended up having to pick from the 3DS titles, and guess what they maniacally put
right next to each other? A Link Between World's and Majora's Mask 3D. So,
while my parents waited for me in the car, I stood there in the 3DS section of
GameStop, staring at two games, deciding if I wanted Nintendo to feed off my
unfiltered nostalgia from a top-down perspective or a third person perspective.
My final decision was A Link Between Worlds due to the fact that I knew just
about nothing about it to begin with and I figured it would be a much more
fresh experience for me. One of the worries I had was the idea that it was
going to be difficult and actually make me think. The first time I played
Ocarina of Time, I actually had no idea what I was doing at all and when I
finally looked at a walk through, I wondered how I was supposed to think of things
like this on my own. That's not to say I thought it was a bad game. I just
didn't enjoy its puzzles because I thought they were too god damn hard. And I
know they were supposed to be rewarding to realize what you're supposed to do,
but they just never were for me. Well, before I piss off OoT fans anymore, let
me say that when I finally got into A Link Between Worlds, I was pleasantly
surprised to find that it was a lot easier than most Zelda games. I only had to
consult a guide once or twice for the main completion. It's usually pretty
obvious how you're supposed to interact with the environment and if it's
something you don't know about yet, then the game will outright tell you what
you're supposed to do but it never feels like the game is holding your hand.
Realizing your objective feels rewarding and almost tricked me into thinking
that I was smart a few times. Damn deceiving games.
The thing
that makes this game unique is that it takes "open world" a step
further by not only letting you go to any part of the map you can get to, you
can also get to these places whenever you want because you have to access to
all the items from the beginning and, after a certain point, you can do the
dungeons in any order. To get most of the main items, you have to either rent
them for a low price or buy them for a much larger price both from a hilarious
little bunny man who stole your house (which, by the way, tortured me by having
a Majora's Mask decoration on the wall). This however doesn't take away from
the exploration aspect of the game. Instead of finding a useful item in a
dungeon, you'll find chests with large amounts of rupees or keys to get further
in the dungeon or, in special situations, more obscure items like better gear
or ways to upgrade your weapon. And since you can do dungeons in any order, you
can have two playthroughs where you have completely different gear at different
times. Maybe you want to get the better clothes more than you want the Master
Sword upgrade; then, you can go to the dungeon with the clothes before you go
to the ones with the Master Ore. Or maybe you want to get the Sand Rod as
quickly as possible so you can do the Sand Temple; then, you can go to the
dungeon that unlocks the Sand Rod in the item store first. On top of all that,
there's also a huge collect quest to find 100 little shellfish and figure out
how to pick them up in various ways, and with each multiple of ten you go
through, you can upgrade one of your purchased items. The system of heart
pieces of course returns. And now that all that is out of the way, let's
address the elephant in the room, or rather the painting of the elephant in the
room. This game's main catch is its new ability to merge into the walls as a
painting to cross gaps, sneak up on people, and pop things out of the walls
when they're stuck in them. To be honest, this may be my favorite special
mechanic in any Zelda game. While I do enjoy masks (stop thinking about that
game, Jack!), the merge mechanic added a simplistic yet brilliant puzzle
solving mechanic that was also quick and easy to use. Also, the limitation of
having a specific energy bar that you need to work within the constraints of is
incredibly fair and challenging and, being tied in with your items limitations,
makes it important to take your time, strategize, and refrain from spamming
these abilities.
The story is one of my favorites,
possibly even topping Skyward Sword in that respect. This game adds Lorule,
Hyrule's uncreatively named counterpart, as a setting for most of the game,
much like Termi-NO NO NO NOT THIS AGAIN. Anyway, there's a guy trapping sages
in Picasso-esque paintings and you need to get the Master Sword to beat him. Oh
no, Zelda's gone again? Better go through this crack in the wall. Completely
new world? No biggy. Ganon's back. Sure, bring it on. Wait, a new princess?!
Sign me up for that! Oh, I have to go find the sages. Fine. And that's all that
I feel the need to say about it. It's simple, but it's still a great story
perhaps even because of this simplicity. Maybe that's why I like this game so
much. It's simplicity in both story and gameplay really helped this game. It's
easy to pick up casually and just play for a little and then go do other stuff.
And for those of you who are worried that you need to play A Link to the Past
to fully enjoy this game, bear in mind that this entire review was written by
someone who's never played A Link to the Past although now I intend on it since
this game was so amazing. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play Majora's
Mask 3D because I had so little will power that less than a week later I
went back and bought it too. And that, kids, is the story of how I learned the
true meaning of corporate manipulation.
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