A Bit of Link: First Impressions of A Link Between Worlds

Jerry bought me both Pokemon Y and A Link Between Worlds for my birthday this year and that means he gets husband of the year award. Couple that with Walt's awesome gift of a sweet wireless gaming headset and I am fully kitted out (expect for a mouse, which I somehow kill with the frequency that most people kill their rodent namesakes). While I haven't yet gotten through Pokemon Y, and what I have has been pretty similar to Pokemon X but with different Pokemon, Link Between Worlds is a great refreshment from the other more recent Zelda games (like Windwaker). Here are some of my first impressions:



It uses top-down perspective for the most part! Ah, what a pleasant change Link to the Past has presented with its return to the franchise's original view. The top-down perspective in Link Between Worlds is comforting, and much easier to handle (in my opinion) than the perspective in Ocarina of Time 3D.   While the updated graphics make this game much prettier than the originals, I appreciate the homage greatly. They've remained true to other aesthetics as well like the sounds, the way that conversations are presented and the merchant-style of previous Zelda games.

There's enough content to keep both OG Zelda gamers and new-found fans happy! There are definitely multiple references to much of the old Legend of Zelda mythology, which is a great way to catch up new players to things that have happened in the past games. In the same vein, there is enough new content and bad guys to keep grizzled savers-of-Zelda interested and enthused.

New puzzles! I have played other Zelda games into the ground and it is nice to have a new style of puzzle to solve. The additional "2D" puzzle solving that pops up in LBW is something that is new to this franchise and moves away from the typical "light this lantern" type puzzles that you see in other Zelda games. I love them, too, but it was nice to see a change.

The plot is kind of cheesy. I haven't yet gotten that far into the game, but the basis of the plot does seem a little cheesy. I do not yet know why the antagonist of the game looks like a cross-dresser (he's apparently a male), nor do I know yet why he is collecting drawings (and don't tell me!), but as of right now the plot seems a bit superficial. I anticipate that it will not remain this way as more of the lore comes through and I get deeper in. At this point I've only played a few hours in. Don't crucify me, I had to say AT LEAST one negative thing, okay.

What have you thought so far?