Once I got into the flow of this, I really enjoyed myself. The exploration is particularly satisfying, as every square of the map has something to discover. It's a really rewarding overworld, and that rules.
I do have some notable issues with it. For one, the items are a little strange. Since their locations are randomly generated, you don't get …
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Once I got into the flow of this, I really enjoyed myself. The exploration is particularly satisfying, as every square of the map has something to discover. It's a really rewarding overworld, and that rules.
I do have some notable issues with it. For one, the items are a little strange. Since their locations are randomly generated, you don't get moments where you get a new tool and learn how to use it quickly thereafter. I'd go like 2 hours before actually needing to use things like the sword thrust, and by then I'd forgotten about them entirely. The game also doesn't do a great job at communicating how exactly the interact. In the case of the sword thrust, nothing implies that you can cross gaps with it by bounding off an enemy. There's a puzzle later where you have to throw a pot at a platform with a block on it, which will knock the block off. It's an interaction that only happens once in the game and there's no way to know that's a thing that can happen otherwise. The Zelda series does a GREAT job at invisible item tutorials, and I felt that absence here.
It also has an extremely odd difficulty curve. The opening of the game was so tough. I was dying constantly because of my low hearts. But once I got in the flow, I went through 90% of the game without dying once. I completed all 4 dungeons in the same life. Then the last dungeon destroyed me. Died a bunch of times, and lost all my potions/money to buy them, so it got doubly hard on top of that.
All in all, super enjoyable, especially as pure Zelda fan service, but it also made me appreciate how cleanly designed actual Zelda games are.
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