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Zelda: A Link Between Worlds |OT| All in all you're just another Link in the wall

Anth0ny

Member
So seeing all of you complaining about how the triforce quest in WW was, now I don't feel as bad that I gave up with the game at that point...

Yeah, it was pretty brutal. I remember having to pick up the player's guide just to get passed it. 10 year old me couldn't take it alone.
 

mantidor

Member
Game get!

It has been awesome it runs so smooth. Also, what's up with the Majora's mask in Link's house? lol Nintendo likes to tease its poor fans, it's a nice touch once you became wall Link he ends up "wearing" the mask.
 

Bond007

Member
Loving this game but i have one grief with it.
Theres like no direction in it....maybe im just dumb in the world of Zelda but i always find myself wondering what i need to do next.
No issues with dungeon puzzles.....just the in between parts.

God forbid i miss a sentence and didnt fully get where i need to go.
Strategy guide for simple guidance has been my best friend. First time i use one in a while, sheesh.
 

Majestad

Banned
Loving this game but i have one grief with it.
Theres like no direction in it....maybe im just dumb in the world of Zelda but i always find myself wondering what i need to do next.
No issues with dungeon puzzles.....just the in between parts.

God forbid i miss a sentence and didnt fully get where i need to go.
Strategy guide for simple guidance has been my best friend. First time i use one in a while, sheesh.

Just use the map and explore. It's so much fun.
 

Raging Spaniard

If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
Just beat it today, I think its my personal GOTY. I say personal because theres a few obious candidates I havent played ... but regardless, all that means is that I think this is fucking great.

Some overall thoughts:

-Favorite soundtrack in Zelda games. The orchestration and timing of the songs is fantastic, they evolve as you, the player evolve, masterful.

-Fantastic tutorial, or lack thereof. Everything is done visually and contextually. Early in the game they tell you that if you want hints, theres the glasses.

-Bit on the easy side

-The timing at the beginning could have been a little better. They get you up and running nicely, but after the first couple of dungeons I would have liked a better chance to know the sages
for instance, its kinda shitty that during most of the game, an empty broom is picking me up, the witch is only there for a small fraction

-Bit on the short side, but only because its paced like a portable game (which is fine, not a real complaint)

-The lost woods segment was disappointing. That place seemed much more intimidating and magical in the prequel. Getting the master sword was cake. Extremely creative and enjoyable dungeons otherwise.

-Really good dungeon bosses. Nothing mindblowing but all interesting and enjoyable to fight.

-Good, simple story with likeable characters and nice little twists.

-Fantastic graphics and art direction, makes me heavily question Jeremy Parish's opinion on artistic matters. The game is made for 3D and 60 FPS. Eeverything is animated for it to look better on 3D, all the parallax and depth of field effects look amazing in motion and the high framerate makes it very easy on the eyes. Nice use of color and lighting in the dungeons.

Things I missed

-Got the blue tunic, Im assuming theres a red one?
-Im missing one more chunk of ore for ultimate master sword time.

God forbid i miss a sentence and didnt fully get where i need to go.
Strategy guide for simple guidance has been my best friend. First time i use one in a while, sheesh.

Theres a x on the map that always tells you where you should go/where you can go
 

KU_

Member
So seeing all of you complaining about how the triforce quest in WW was, now I don't feel as bad that I gave up with the game at that point...

Not to get OT, but I gave up at that point too. Thought about trying again with WW HD, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Sailing was just so tedious to me.

As for LBW, I was just thinking about it the other day, and it's probably my GOTY regardless of platform. Starting SM3DW in a few days so that may change, but Link Between Worlds is truly a gem.
 

Tookay

Member
-Wind Waker's fetch quest ain't got SHIT on TP and SS's fetch questS.

Oh yes it does. It is many, many times longer than TP's and SS's and is near brain-dead in challenge/actual gameplay content.

Not to mention it takes up a longer proportion of the game's already short run-time than the other two, so it's even more egregious.

Replaying TWW HD really helped take the off the nostalgia sheen that my mind had placed on it. It is a much weaker game than the console Zeldas that followed.
 

Agent_J

Member
am i the only one here who actually liked the sailing and sunken treasure hunts of wind waker? and i haven't even played the HD version. the triforce collection was never a pain for me, it was quite enjoyable to sail around for hours

anyway, a link between worlds is my game of 2013 (even beating gta 5, though i haven't played the last of us)

streetpass battles are incredibly fun and probably my favorite feature. it keeps me coming back to the game! 47 hours played so far :)
 

catmario

Member
Even if ALBTW was my shortest zelda playtime ever, It was fantastic experience. I'll pick this as GOTY... for handheld part.

I think GameSpot's choice was really great!! Handheld title awarded as one of the big name critic's overall GOTY... wow!
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
I love this game so effing much. I've never had such lasting interest in a Zelda game immediately after beating it. I'd normally beat it, mess around with 100%ing it, and then put it down for a year or more. But not ALBW. It keeps drawing me back every few days.
 

watershed

Banned
One of the best parts of ALBW was the lack of any "collect 5 parts of this broken key" type extended sequences. Of course you still have to collect some key items at some points but its not as drawn out as previous games.

Skyward Sword is the worse offender in my mind. You have to collect 5 parts of a key to a dungeon door, many parts of the Hero's Song, Tears for each Silent Realm, music notes, etc. The whole fucking game was a collectathon. Really, really bad game design on Nintendo's part. I'm so glad ALBW does not repeat this mistake. In Wind Waker the collecting was padding, in Skyward Sword the collecting IS the game.
 

Celine

Member
Skyward Sword is the worse offender in my mind. You have to collect 5 parts of a key to a dungeon door, many parts of the Hero's Song, Tears for each Silent Realm, music notes, etc. The whole fucking game was a collectathon. Really, really bad game design on Nintendo's part. I'm so glad ALBW does not repeat this mistake. In Wind Waker the collecting was padding, in Skyward Sword the collecting IS the game.
That's SS main problem for me.
 

redcrayon

Member
i dont like the fact that
we get all items at once
any reason for why nintendo did this?
Because there's a dozen games where you don't get them all at once :)

I'm close to the end on this. Absolutely loving it, one of the best in the series as far as I'm concerned, probably helps that LTTP is my favourite game of all time.

I love the overworld puzzles,
hello bomb flower
! I also like that the items have more of an equal priority this time around- I've used the fire and ice rod a lot more than usual. What I don't like is that they are too cheap to buy plus rupees are everywhere- I owned everything by the third lorule dungeon, meaning Ravio was sleeping in my house for two thirds of the running time. Combined with it being easy, as a Zelda veteran I haven't even used a fairy yet.

I also liked that the load screen when going to Hyrule was the triforce, when heading to lorule it was upside down- nice little touch.

Outside of the slightly broken economy, theyve addressed alot of the criticism, and come up with an awesome adventure game. One of the best games this year, love it.
 

SegaShack

Member
i dont like the fact that
we get all items at once
any reason for why nintendo did this?

Everything this game does is about freedom. You have freedom when it comes to items, hearts, upgrades, dungeons, etc. You can play it however you want in whatever order you want.
 
I got the game a week ago and I feel like I'm gonna finish it soon.

Can someone tell me without any kind of spoiler if I approach the end of the game or not ?

I already saved 5 sages.
 

Ansatz

Member
One of the best parts of ALBW was the lack of any "collect 5 parts of this broken key" type extended sequences. Of course you still have to collect some key items at some points but its not as drawn out as previous games.

Skyward Sword is the worse offender in my mind. You have to collect 5 parts of a key to a dungeon door, many parts of the Hero's Song, Tears for each Silent Realm, music notes, etc. The whole fucking game was a collectathon. Really, really bad game design on Nintendo's part. I'm so glad ALBW does not repeat this mistake. In Wind Waker the collecting was padding, in Skyward Sword the collecting IS the game.

What you're describing is called gameplay variety. It's only padding when what you're doing lacks gameplay substance, like in 99% of RPGs.

The point is, why are you in a rush to reach a temple when you're doing the very same things outside of it ?

Collecting items is just an excuse for stealth, puzzle-solving, swimming, combat and other gameplay opportunities. Sure the execution could have been handled better, for example the escort mission felt pointless due to the lack of urgency.

I know people play Zelda to get the sense of adventure and to be immersed in a world, for me they're glorified puzzle games and I love it when a game messes around with its mechanics, especially a game like Zelda when they have alot of depth. It's like the inverse of typical RPGs, where what you're doing feels epic even though the gameplay is shallow: "ooh exploring a damp cavern" sounds exciting even though the place lacks any kind of gameplay interaction/substance; you're just running and hit the occasional switch to unlock a chest. In SS you're dusting off a house which is perceived as a silly thing, but it was merely an excuse to use the gust bellows in a fun way. In other words, gameplay > immersion.
 

Sushigod7

Member
Just started playing yesterday finally and love it so far. Up through the first dungeon enjoying every minute. Music is great and paid the two musicians at the milk bar I think? So so so good I could sit and listen to that for awhile I hope we get a proper soundtrack at least in Japan so I can import.
 

iosef

Member
Upgraded fire rod.
UPGRADED FIRE ROD.
UPGRADED FIRE ROD.

Easily my favorite weapon even with the nice great spin available. So satisfying to use.
 

Anteo

Member
I got the game a week ago and I feel like I'm gonna finish it soon.

Can someone tell me without any kind of spoiler if I approach the end of the game or not ?

I already saved 5 sages.

Gonna spoiler tag my answer anyways

Yes, after you save all the sages you will have the tools to face the final boss.
 

redcrayon

Member
Just finished this, so awesome. One more little detail I noticed during the end sequence-

Spoiler obviously-
the upside-down, black triforce used on the game cover and throughout the game isn't a 'dark' triforce- it stands for a 'missing' triforce- when Lorule's triforce is restored, it has an upside-down golden triforce during the end credits instead. Also, Link touching the triforce and wishing was a lovely hark back to the mythology of the original game.

Also, the puzzles where you blow out the lights in Lorule Castle- after 25 years of lighting torches, what a nice twist on it. Made me grin when I got the Red Mail. :D

Maybe that's obvious but I thought it was cool.
 

redcrayon

Member
Dark Palace and Thieves' Hideout go down as two of my favorite Zelda dungeons, period.
I thought the dungeons throughout were pretty strong, but yeah, the Thieves Hideout was nice as it played out differently to usual. I was wondering
if the female thief
was going to turn out to be the boss in yet another nod to LTTP. The desert one was a great development of the Sand Rod puzzles from Spirit Tracks, being able to play with it in the desert outside and in
the village :)
was pretty cool.

Another reference to LTTP- Gully's mum starts looking for him in the grove where the boy with the flute disappears in LTTP. So many little nods like this had me grinning like a loon throughout.
 
Finally beat the game! Amazing experience! Some of my favorite Zelda bosses ever!

Edit: 26762 Rupees found and only 2 deaths. That's by far the best I've done in a 2d Zelda. I remember dying hundreds of times replaying LTTP on GBA.
 

disco

Member
Just finished.
Tried beating Ganon with only one sword upgrade and neither extra tunic. Simply could not do it. Had to get the extra ore and the two tunics - bam easy peasy, didn't even use a single fairy.
 

Majestad

Banned
Got all of those pink creatures and I'm just missing one quarter of a heart.

This game has been phenomenal throughout. By the time I'm done with it, I think is gonna dethrone FE Awakening for my second favorite game this year (the first is SMTIV).
 
Merry Christmas all you nerds

kRVLRff.jpg
 

Celine

Member
Finally beat the game! Amazing experience! Some of my favorite Zelda bosses ever!

Edit: 26762 Rupees found and only 2 deaths. That's by far the best I've done in a 2d Zelda. I remember dying hundreds of times replaying LTTP on GBA.
Really? I was a bit disappointed in them.
Not bad but very few standout.

I'd say PH had better bossses, of course ALBW is amuch much better game.
 
I find Hero mode brutal so far. One hit kill bosses in Lorule are destroying me at the moment, even with 3 bottles with fairies in.

It is brutal, but it actually had me planning things out like the series used to do. Zelda's never been incredibly difficult and even hero mode here wasn't terrible for me and I consider myself a pretty mediocre gamer compared to a lot of people. Just keep at it and get as many things as you possibly can. I found myself literally keeping tabs on every upgrade I could get at any given moment and would go after it ASAP.
 

redcrayon

Member
Finished the game at 20:19, still need to get six pieces of heart.

I finished at a little over 20 hours too. I'm not sure how some reviewers say it's short- the dungeons aren't difficult or long, but there's lots of them, plus optional stuff like the treasure hunter dungeons, I loved the puzzles in them.

I've just started hero mode, wow, that's tough!
 
Wish I had more things to spend Rupees on, I have 9999 and I think I've exhausted all I can spend it on (near the end of the game, I think). Can't find anything else to waste them on lol.

Seems a shame opening chests to get no cash and yet I could never leave a chest untouched. :p I think I'd even be happy with just the money kept counting even if I had nothing to use it on.

Still, its a pretty good game when that is all I can find to complain about. Such a wonderful Zelda. <3
 
This one and the Ice Palace really stood out to me. And after all these years I'm still such a sucker for the Hyrule dungeon theme. That saxophone!

I haven't taken on the Ice Palace, yet.
I went Thieve's Hideout, Dark Palace, Desert Palace, then Skull Woods. I guess I'll head to Death Mountain next for the music.
 

CassSept

Member
Due to Nintendo's release schedule (ALBW just a week before SM3DW, really) I've decided to put this game off until Holiday break. Well, it's nearly here, so I finally got the game this weekend and opened it today! So far my reaction is very positive, the game surprised me even with all the praise it had gotten. It's truly a real deal!

First quick and dirty impressions after 2.5 hours.

- the visuals are surprisingly great. In the reveal the game looked pretty ugly. The 3DS trailer gave me some hope but I did not expect that. Crisp framerate, vibrant colors, the game does look GREAT. It looks even better in 3D, though sadly I'm unable to play with 3D on for extended periods of time. Some of the effects really surprised me. Lost Woods were beautiful.

- soundtrack is great-to-amazing.
Lorule theme, damn. Also, Yuga has a theme song. SONG. I was blown away when chants of his name came on during the fight in Hyrule Castle

- I'm not too sold on the rental system. It's an interesting idea, but there's absolutely no risk-reward involved in it. The game is ridiculously easy and thus renders ability to buy items moot. Rupees are raining everywhere, more so than in any Zelda before. I had enough rupees to rent the entire game 3 times over after the third dungeon, so even if I score an accidental death this will be a minor inconvenience. And I don't expect it to improve on that front - the open-ended nature makes me think that for the most part game won't be ramping difficulty up, quite the opposite (as the dungeons can be tackled in any order, so I'm guessing they are of similar difficulty, so more heart containers = easier game).

- Pacing is insane. The game truly is quick, all bullshit aside, to-the-point. Perhaps even too quick, I'm kind of troubled at the speed at which I'm getting through the game.
2.5 hours and I'm already in Lorule? Jesus.

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic as of now. The game is great, but it's by far the easiest Zelda that is not Wind Waker. I guess I did die going through Wind Waker for the first time though, so that's to be considered. Maybe when I explore the world a little in search of heart containers it will be more of a challenge, but I'm not holding my breath on that front.
 
- I'm not too sold on the rental system. It's an interesting idea, but there's absolutely no risk-reward involved in it. The game is ridiculously easy and thus renders ability to buy items moot. Rupees are raining everywhere, more so than in any Zelda before. I had enough rupees to rent the entire game 3 times over after the third dungeon, so even if I score an accidental death this will be a minor inconvenience. And I don't expect it to improve on that front - the open-ended nature makes me think that for the most part game won't be ramping difficulty up, quite the opposite (as the dungeons can be tackled in any order, so I'm guessing they are of similar difficulty, so more heart containers = easier game).

You can't upgrade your items if you are renting them.
 
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