It's not piece of cake to return to a place subsequently a 21-year absence, then it'southward a surprise how effortless it is to sideslip back into the Hyrule first introduced in 1992'southward The Fable of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The famous green tunic, castle, and characters are all revived in this 3DS sequel, and the passing of two decades and iii console generations has done zip to tedious the sharpness of Link'south first triumphant swing of the Master Sword.

For those who have cherished the original over the years, the nostalgic opening moments of this loving sequel will rekindle your memories of the classic game that precedes information technology. The heart of A Link Between Worlds is cached firmly in the pre-3D age of the early on '90s, and Nintendo has produced an almost annotation-for-note polygonal reproduction of the original game's Hylian overworld, complete with the triumphant boom of the serial' main theme charging out of the 3DS'due south speakers. Simply while many elements of this sequel are familiar, this is a fantastic standalone adventure that excels on its own individual claim.

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Now Playing: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Video Review

A series of murals explain the events of A Link to the Past.
A series of murals explain the events of A Link to the Past.

A Link Between Worlds is molded by the history information technology treats with reverence, simply the game quickly creates an identity of its own. The fleeting cameo of Majora's mask, hanging on the wall of Link's business firm, is just one of the occasional nods from Nintendo acknowledging where the series has travelled since muddying its boots around the gardens of the original Hyrule Castle. Yet this game's achievement lies with Link's new ability to transform into a portrait and traverse walls. As a painting, Link is a stylised riff on a Romanesque mural beautifully animated to look simultaneously static and vibrant, with bouncy movement and flickering eyes. It'southward an impeccably charming effect.

The painting is the game's cardinal mechanic, its version of a time-travelling ocarina, wind-summoning billy, or werewolf transformation, and many of the dungeons make good use of the new tool. The ability comes to him by way of Yuga, the game's main antagonist, who seeks to revive Ganondorf subsequently the events of the original game by trapping descendants of A Link to the By's seven sages every bit portraits. Link, every bit history has taught us, must rescue them. Many puzzles involve a two-dimensional Link wrapping himself around the walls of 3D environment to reach switches and chests nestled atop faraway platforms, slithering through sparse cracks to enter new areas, or even traversing between two worlds by shimmying through the fissures that connect them.

It's not a Zelda game without Cuccos.
It's not a Zelda game without Cuccos.

It'south not merely a feature you'll employ to get at the odd treasure chest, either, equally Nintendo has done a fantastic job deeply intertwining every area of the game in means that can only be accessed every bit a painting, as well as layering it as a required step in other puzzles. Many previous games in the serial have had players utilize bombs start the timer on a frantic nuance through a speedily-closing door, but here you lot'll exist doing like that while instinctively jumping into the wall and shifting around to another platform. The fact that navigating the world as a painting becomes second nature is a huge accomplishment: it'south so central to A Link Between Worlds that I couldn't possibly imagine the game without information technology.

The remainder will be immediately familiar to those who know the Legend of Zelda series, largely because A Link Betwixt Worlds treads the well-worn path of previous games. There is, every bit there e'er is, a comfort to this familiarity, although A Link Between Worlds feels like the most direct iteration the serial has e'er seen. Fifty-fifty the structure of the gamble is extremely like to that of A Link to the Past, where a few hours thundering through three opening dungeons is rewarded with the Chief Sword, before introducing the dark world alongside another batch of seven dungeons.

Nintendo has designed the first Zelda game where you feel free.

At the same time, though, yous're encouraged to thoroughly and openly navigate Hyrule, a revelatory alter which makes this adventure feel free of the series' previous restrictions. Puzzles in the overworld are no longer something you think to come back and tackle later, when yous've unlocked your total suite of tools and weapons, only something yous'll want to piece of work out how to accomplish correct so and in that location.

The game opens up farther, too, when you reach the dark world, at present known every bit Lorule. You can tackle the Lorule dungeons in whatsoever order you wish, which massively impacts how the bulk of this game plays out. Whereas many other Zelda games cordon off areas behind obstacles requiring items obtained in other dungeons, creating a prepare of talents and role player options that slowly unfurl, A Link Between Worlds puts the game's armory in the hands of Ravio, a shopkeeper in a bunny suit who sets up his stall in Link's house. You simply hire the item you're subsequently--be it hookshot, boomerang, or burn down rod--and off you lot go. Peradventure it's to your next dungeon, or that obstacle you saw a minute agone that y'all reckon you could thump out the style with your new hammer, or maybe you just haven't explored Misery Mire in a while. Nintendo has designed the commencement Zelda game where you feel free.

The shift towards renting items makes the game far more reliant on accumulating currency than before, with wayward pots, tall grass, and treasure chests in dungeons regularly forking out hundreds of rupees. It's a beautifully cyclical system, with item renting taking away the barriers of exploring the world and getting rich finding secrets, but too taking the coin found in those difficult-to-reach treasure chests and hidden rooms. Rented items, which mostly price 50 rupees, are lost if Link dies, but tin eventually exist bought outright for closer to one,000 rupees. In that location are plenty rupees scattered around the game for captious players to buy everything, simply I found myself simply purchasing my favourite items (bombs, arrows, and the hookshot) and simply renting the rest.

Ravio well and truly understands the virtues of capitalism.
Ravio well and truly understands the virtues of capitalism.

Ravio'due south shop too exists to serve the puzzles of the game'southward main dungeons, with each particular item getting its ain defended moment to shine in some of the finest dungeons to ever characteristic in the series. The sand rod, for instance, lets Link cantankerous gaps in the Desert Palace by conjuring upwards rows of cross-crossing pillars that inadvertently trigger as many issues equally they gear up, springing up at the wrong top or heading in the wrong management, forcing you to leap into walls in order to figure out the right path.

Only, of course, in that location'southward no set path or order. You could just as easily have the hookshot to the Swamp Palace, and clip onto sets of valves that raise and lower the levels beyond sets of rooms in interconnected waterways, or utilise the lamp in the Dark Palace for a string of puzzles that need the lights to be on or off, with a couple that seem to be request for both simultaneously, at least until y'all work out what's going on. These are tight, compact dungeons that are densely populated, and one of my favourite things about A Link Between Worlds is that it's the first game in a long line of modern Zelda titles that has routinely left me stumped in the middle of a dungeon, scratching my caput, aimlessly running around in circles trying to figure out what I'1000 missing.

Though it can be bizarre to think that something so occasionally familiar tin still be so fresh and engaging, A Link Between Worlds is itself a unique experience.

Information technology probably sounds odd that this is a game at its all-time when it feels similar you're untangling a skein of yarn, merely much of the series' joy comes from having a tightly-woven series of locked doors and blocked corridors slowly and surely peeling away until yous feel like yous've become the main of this tiny domain. While this is a more than perplexing game than many of its mod counterparts--peculiarly if you're looking to rummage through all of its treasure chests--at that place are Play Coin-guzzling Hint Ghosts that will put you on the right path if they and so desire. I'd advise against cheating yourself the joy of figuring it out, though; the challenge here is perplexing instead of frustrating, and it'due south worth enduring those occasional bouts of confusion for the satisfaction that comes from your eventual success.

This is a lengthy game, and getting stuck in its intricacies is a delight. Without a 3D world to explore, and the difficulties of targeting and locking on that come up with information technology, A Link Between Worlds is pure top-downwardly puzzle-solving in fast, fluid areas. Gainsay is quick and punchy, and many of the boss fights are tricky enough to arm-twist the kind of fear and tension (especially when you lot start worrying about losing your rented items) that'southward been absent from the series for a long time. Each dungeon builds to this confrontation, which comes every bit a thrilling, thumping, all-activity crescendo after all the careful and thoughtful exploration.

Many of these dominate encounters are riffs on adversaries originally encountered in A Link to the Past, albeit with a new spin on how they need to be defeated. And what fights they are: you claiming a monster guarded by a thick shield of ice, boxing against a spinning whirligig that threatens to push you lot downwards a chasm, and accept on a gaggle of eyeballs, a raging behemothic fist, a skeleton thief, or a monster with a noggin encrusted with a thick rupee shell. Each has their ain detail weakness that needs to be exploited, with my personal favourite involving confusing one dominate by running up to its shield and switching to Link'due south portrait class.

If you've only played the modern Zelda titles, the appearance of the Zoras will come as a shock.
If you've simply played the modern Zelda titles, the appearance of the Zoras will come as a shock.

In many other areas, A Link Betwixt Worlds' primary refinements over its predecessor come from smoothing out the experience. You can fly to fixed points around both Hyrule and Lorule with the aid of a Witch's broomstick, the Fortune Teller about Kakariko Village at present gives you direct advice rather than cryptic suggestions, and the map (displayed on the lesser screen of the 3DS) can be hands navigated, zoomed in, and annotated with pins. These features make exploration easy--you tin head off the beaten path in an endeavour to attain that tantalising treasure on the horizon, because you know yous can just warp dorsum when you're done--and allows you to focus on the exact areas, or dungeons, you lot want to be pursuing. Coupled this with the game's loose structure and y'all're left with the most open Zelda game in the series.

The aesthetic, however, does non effortlessly transition to a polygonal world. Link looks closer to Bilbo Baggins than he does Legolas, albeit with blonde hair rather than the purple rinse of the SNES original, and the game's versions of trees expect more like giant bulbous pumpkins. Information technology's more of a functional visual upgrade rather than an creative one, though the end outcome is pleasant enough.

One visual surface area that Nintendo does excel at, however, is the game's 3D effect, which adds a surprising amount of depth and graphic symbol to the game, and is easily the most successful inclusion of the handheld'due south 3D slider since Super Mario 3D Country. I'yard non normally one for 3D, but I wouldn't play A Link Betwixt Worlds any other manner. It's a fast-paced adventure, and then, and one that feels like Nintendo paring back the layers of complexity the series has added in recent years and merely returning to the nuts--this is worlds apart from the railroad train track metagame of Spirit Tracks, the terminal defended handheld Zelda. Though it can be bizarre to remember that something so occasionally familiar tin still be so fresh and engaging, A Link Between Worlds is itself a unique experience. At that place's a lingering sense that by this point Nintendo is just running victory laps effectually a set of mechanics they perfected decades ago but, at the cease of the twenty-four hour period, none of that matters: this is simply an absolute treat to play.