This is truly a link to the past as the game first came out in the 1990's, an era where games weren't money grabbing schemes and players weren't leashed along the game. As a recent player, I must say that in the contemporary setting, this is still a beautiful game. The pixel art is colorful, the gameplay is fun and …
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This is truly a link to the past as the game first came out in the 1990's, an era where games weren't money grabbing schemes and players weren't leashed along the game. As a recent player, I must say that in the contemporary setting, this is still a beautiful game. The pixel art is colorful, the gameplay is fun and the story captivating enough. As the hero of two worlds you're unsurprisingly tasked with saving the princess. A thematic recurrence of the time. It's how you do it where the game really shines. Dungeon crawling through grand labyrinths filled with monsters and puzzles, you, as Link, slowly gain new powers, abilities and weapons. There's not really any inventory management in the game as the number of differing objects is quite low. But there's still room to use imagination in how these objects are used. The quests to proceed are mostly straightforward enough. You are hinted where to go and in the map there's useful bookmarks to help find the most important spots. However, some side quests, mostly necessary to beat the game, are not so direct with some NPCs giving misinterpretable, not so precise hints to where you should probably go to find something that you may probably need. This is where the game demands the player attentions. Everything in the game has a purpose. No side character is there without a reason and thus the player needs to pay attention and remember the various details that are given and found. And this is also where the game might become frustrating. If you need something and you don't know where to find it, expect a lot of wandering and searching. This isn't made easier by the game limitations in design where upon reaching the end of the screen, or traversing a door, the game scrolls to the next part of the stage. Overall the game is enjoyable and an adventure to be experienced. But it is a hard game where deaths are punished and when you die, you have to restart the dungeon. So be ready for possibly a bit of frustration if you're playing it the pure original way where no state saves are available.
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