The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Being the first Legend of Zelda game on GameBoy.
In case you haven't noticed, in accordance with the rules as set by the wonderful me, when I play through an entire series with the same general name, I will play in order of appearance, not alphabetical subtitles.

So this game was actually more or less a real sequel to Link to the Past if I'm not mistaken. Even though the story has nothing to do with it, I think it was described in the booklet as something that happened to Link on his many travels after defeating Ganon in the prequel. Whatever.
In story it is nothing like it's predecessor, but in gameplay it very much is.
I mean, I know that fans come to expect certain things from their favorite series, but this game copies a little bit too much from it's ancestry to still be unique.
The story is that Link is washed up on Koholint Island, and in order for him to get off and go home, he needs to wake the Wind Fish (remember, in name only, for it is neither!), and a terribly unexciting plot ensues.

The theme of epic battle between good and evil is sorely missed here, you're really wondering why the heck you're doing this.
As I said, the game borrows a lot from the previous instalments so it might be a tad predictable for those who are familiar with the series. Also, and this is a problem, it borrows a lot from itself and repetition it seems can not be avoided.
You'll often run into the same mid-bosses over and over again, sometimes they even become regular enemies so they respawn. Nice.
Dungeons lack the originality, atmosphere and excitement of Link to the Past, but they're still good. There's still that lovely all-pervasive Zelda wit and self-parody that makes the games so enjoyable to play, but in comparison with it's father it just falls short.

That does not mean it's bad. I mean, Link to the Past was an insanely good game, and you can't expect people to keep churning out games of that kind of quality at a consistent rate. As it is, Link's Awakening is a great game, and definitely worth owning if you have a GameBoy or are even remotely interested in Action RPG's.
I was slightly annoyed by the pointless fetch-quests that seem to be there only to fill up the time between dungeons, though.

I'll give this a 9.0
And next, ladies and gents, is Ocarina of Time, so good luck trying to get a hold of me for the next couple of days. It's hikikomori time!

posted by Ingen! @ 10:49 AM