The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

[Salamander]

Game Informer magazine gave the game a 10/10

some highlights are

 

 

 

 

 

The formula, maybe, but that's a fairly ironic remark to make in regard to a game whose graphical style and overworld are far too derivative of a much older game.  In fact, what I'm getting from Aonuma is that that's exactly why they had to shake up the formula so much.  It was too remake-y.

 

Which is pretty much the reason why I doubt I would personally give this a 10/10 rating.  9/10, maybe, but I just don't believe my opinion on the graphics and overworld are going to change enough for me to consider them an asset rather than a weakness.  I'll give them credit enough that they could have modified the overworld - largely in areas we haven't seen, obviously, since everything they've shown looks near-on identical - so that it actually functions as a response to ALttP that plays with your expectations of how that game worked, but right now it looks as if they've had to find their mapping creativity in the interiors and Lorule, which appear to be considerably more original.  If there, why not the whole game?

 

Fucking sweet.  I really was not that excited about this game, since, just like with SM3DW, the first trailer left me unimpressed and it looked to just be Zelda's New Legend.

 

I'm very, VERY glad that I've been wrong so much lately.  Can't wait to get this on launch day.

 

First Super Mario 3D World, then A Link Between Worlds - next, Yoshi's New Island?  Well, we can dream.  But I certainly hope Nintendo's going to quit this trend of announcing games in such a way that they look like a superficial update of something we've seen before.  It's rather tiring having to feel so negative for months before they show us the actual new material.

[Blitz 'n Burst]

 

HOLY SHIT IT'S GANON

 

FUCKING

 

FINALLY

[Balding Spider]

Ugh. It's funny previously I said Shadow Link was my least hyped thing about this game I've seen so far then the latest direct proved other wise. Now it's the reveal of Gannon again that's the least hyped thing for me. I'm just so bored with him.

[Marcello]

He hasn't been around in seven years...

[Autosaver]

Thinking about selling my glossy Pokemon 3DS XL for a Zelda Matte Gold finish 3DS XL.

 

>___<

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

He hasn't been around in seven years...

 

I'd imagine that Spray-Painted Ganon from the previous game counts in this estimate.

 

Really though, I'm just more irritated at Ganon being around because, accordion to Nintendo's own bloody stupid timeline, Ganon's been killed and we've already gone through the resurrection plot with the Oracle games, and foiled it. 

 

Honestly, after years of "Ganon's Behind it All!™", it would be a much more pleasant surprise if they could just build an antagonist that's interesting on their own merits. Zant and Ghirahim nearly got there before being hijacked, we just need another antagonist that can stand on their own two feet. Argh.

[Marcello]

They did that with the last two handheld games. And we don't even know the full story behind Ganon (And ignoring the fact that Ganon does return in this timeline later), he could very well just be a painting brought to life or something from Lorule.

And I wouldn't count Demise as Ganon, because he's not him.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

They did that with the last two handheld games. And we don't even know the full story behind Ganon (And ignoring the fact that Ganon does return in this timeline later), he could very well just be a painting brought to life or something from Lorule.

 

Which is a bit more fair, I admit, but between this and the Master Sword and etc. it does come off as one more bizarre point to put in. I'd imagine fans of Link to the Past want a new game that takes elements from and expands on the game they cherish, and that they don't just want to play the same game but on a handheld, but every time I convince myself of this the marketing throws one more rehash-y element into the mix. I suppose I should take my grievances there, thinking over it.

 

And I wouldn't count Demise as Ganon, because he's not him.

 

 

Correct, in a fashion. It would be more accurate to say that Ganon is Demise, which is somewhat less pleasant.

[Salamander]

I don't think Ganon's even an antagonist in this so much as a plot device, just like he was in the Oracles.  He's not really engaging with events or doing things, he's just showing up at the last minute to be the final boss, more or less because it's tradition.  The true villain of this game is Yuga.  ...With that said, if it turns out Ganon wasn't dead after the Oracles, that will be a lame and stupid retcon.  But just bringing him back to life I can't really object to, because he isn't the villain - he's Yuga's McGuffin, his motivation.  I agree that he's totally back as a rehash element, though - the weird shadow boss from today's new trailer looks totally fresh, which is great, but we've seen quite a few bosses which are exactly the same creature, just reinvented (or in Moldorm's case... exactly the same creature).  So I think the real reason Ganon's in is to add to the rehash roster; they couldn't have so many other ALttP bosses and then not use Ganon.  This will only really be a problem to me if Yuga isn't taken seriously as a villain, which is hard to call right now.

 

Zelda has a bit of a tough time with Ganon, though.  He's a problem.  Unlike Link and Zelda, the mythology they've built up doesn't allow Ganon to keep on turning up just by coincidence - it's (almost) always just the same individual, immortal, resurrected, sealed away and so on.  And this means that the plot often takes on a very samey direction - leading towards Ganon being resurrected or released or whatever.  It's a bit hackneyed - but therein lies the problem, which is that Ganon is very much a part of Zelda's traditions or mythology, and to just do away with him - use only single-installment villains or create a new running villain - would feel a little... disrespectful.  Or maybe just inappropriate.

 

I'm not sure what I'd do about this.  Maybe shift the villainous emphasis from "Ganon" to "Ganon's legacy."  Which would be an accurate reflection of his role in the history of the series, too.

[Octarine]

Really though, I'm just more irritated at Ganon being around because, accordion to Nintendo's own bloody stupid timeline, Ganon's been killed and we've already gone through the resurrection plot with the Oracle games, and foiled it. 

 

Ganon would need to have been revived at some point after the Oracles to be alive in the original Legend of Zelda anyway. He may very well not properly die at the end of ALBW and that'll be it.

 

...I mean, I'm not counting on it, but you never know.

 

I'm just happy that we get to see Ganon's pig form back in action again after so long. I actually hope his appearance is more substantial than in the Oracle games; it'd be nice to get some non-AAAARGH ME EVIL KING dialogue out of him and really establish this version of the character as a character, Wind Waker-style. If there's anything this game should be doing in its capacity as a direct sequel, it's fleshing out stuff that was undercooked in the original.

[Nintendoga]

Hey at least they're telling us Ganon's in the game early on, instead of pulling another Twilight Princess 20 hours in.

And this raises my hopes of seeing Ganon in Smash

[Salamander]

Speaking as an Oracles fan, this makes me really happy - check out the official Oracles Ganon art, and the official ALBW Ganon art.  They've clearly based ALBW Ganon directly on Oracles Ganon - the costume is absolutely identical save for having spiked bracelets instead of a knuckle duster.  This to me is a big indicator that they're respecting Oracles canon and aren't just dismissing it.

 

 

Doesn't hurt that the art style of the ALBW image is absolutely terrifying.

[Octarine]

They very clearly haven't forgotten about the Oracle games; there was a conscious decision to change Link's design from an ALttP-like look to an Oracle-like one, after all, and Irene is a blatant reference to Maple. Ganon's botched resurrection probably won't be brought up in ALBW's opening just to avoid overcomplicating things, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more references and cameos than just the ones we've seen.

 

It's funny, actually. Ganon looks genuinely creepy in that new art, but I like the way his face has been tweaked from the Oracle design to make him less ugly. He's more pig and less bulldog/walnut hybrid, and I like it.

[Doctor MK]

NintendoLife - 10/10

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds/legend_of_zelda_a_link_between_worlds

 

Metro - 9/10

http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/14/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-review-breaking-the-formula-4187134/

 

Joystiq - 5/5

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/14/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-review-a3d236e2/

 

Destructoid - 6.5/10

http://www.destructoid.com/review-the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-265374.phtml

 

IGN - 9.4/10

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/11/14/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-review

 

CVG - 10/10

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/438260/reviews/review-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-is-a-wondrous-whirlpool-of-nostalgia-review/

 

EDGE - 8/10

http://www.edge-online.com/review/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-review/

 

GameXplain video review - 5/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igU04S-WARg

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Destructoid - 6.5/10

http://www.destructoid.com/review-the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-265374.phtml

 

This can only go over well.

[Rinzler]

So the Zelda game that everyone thought would be a rehash changes the formula dramatically?

 

Maybe Yoshi's New Island will be the same *prays to Nintendo Gods*

[Marcello]

Made me chuckle to see all those high scores and then that one outlier with a middling one.

[Gabz Girl]

So overall, a very positive reception (bar Dtoid but let's ignore that). =D Good to know its nothing like Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.

And OMG hallelujah do my eyes deceive me or did Gamespot give it a 9?! Finally, after 2 YEARS a 3DS game gets a score higher than 8!

[Blue Blood]

So the Zelda game that everyone thought would be a rehash changes the formula dramatically?

 

Maybe Yoshi's New Island will be the same *prays to Nintendo Gods*

 

ALBW was praised as interesting by critics right from the first reveal when they got hands-on. YNI on the other hand... no.

[Dejimon11]

I'm probably going to ignore everybody with this but did you catch the Sabrina the Teenage Witch reference?

[Blue Blood]

I'm probably going to ignore everybody with this but did you catch the Sabrina the Teenage Witch reference?

 

I don't think it's a reference so much as a coincidence. High-rule and low-rule is being punny, Zelda and Hilda is just picking two similar sounding names for parallel characters.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Blue Blood

[Salamander]

Apparently Hilda's name is basically a single brushstroke different from Zelda's in Japanese.  That the names match up with Sabrina The Teenage Witch is just an amazing coincidence.

 

As for the reviews, I went out of my way to read Destructoid's (and Eurogamer's 8/10), and while I haven't played the game myself, they're echoing the concerns I've had about the game's visuals and identity, which rely on A Link To The Past too much for my liking.  It may be a very good reprise and one which upends some of the Zelda bedrock, but that doesn't make it wholly original, just partially so.  I'm looking forward to finding out my own response to the full game, to see whether it overcomes my concerns or not - alas, I won't be able to get my hands on it until probably a few weeks after the release date, so as usual my review will be quite dated.

[Chaos Warp]

What the fuck is wrong with Destructoid!?

[Blitz 'n Burst]

What the fuck is wrong with Destructoid!?

EVERYBODY HAS TO LIKE WHAT I LIKE BECAUSE I LIKE IT

[WarioBone]

EVERYBODY HAS TO LIKE WHAT I LIKE BECAUSE I LIKE IT

 

You're right, it's not even a little weird that this game is universally praised besides Destructoid.