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At first glance, A link to the Past seems to mô tả so much in common with A liên kết Between Worlds that you could mistake the 2013 Nintendo 3DS game for a modernized remake of the 1992 SNES game, rather than a sequel. (In Japan, the 3DS trò chơi is called The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods 2, making it clear that it is a direct sequel to the SNES game.) While the graphics have been updated from sprites lớn polygons, the structure of the game play is nearly identical: liên kết gathers three pendants, unlocks the Master Sword in the Lost Woods, then rescues the seven sages along with Princess Zelda. By the end of both quests, link has triumphed over Ganon, used the nguồn of the Triforce, & saved Hyrule.
It’s in the details that the differences appear, starting with the switch from a more linear experience khổng lồ one that follows the very first Zelda’s open-world philosophy. The deeper I got into A Link Between Worlds, the more I realized how it improved on A links to the Past in almost every way, khổng lồ the point that it superseded it. A liên kết Between Worlds plays with the formula established in A link to the Past, subverting the expectations established in the original while also being respectful of its legacy. For me, Worlds’ story was so compelling that it elevated the sequel above the original in ways that surprised me.
The links Between His Past and The World Around Him
It’s hard khổng lồ overstate how sublime and polished The Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past felt back when it first released in the States on the Super Nintendo 1992. While the first two Zelda games on the 8-bit NES established much of the visual and chơi game language that would define the series, A links to the Past was the ultimate refinement of that lexicon. It codified norms the series would mostly follow for the next đôi mươi years, creating a linear experience with carefully crafted gameplay. Most of the experience from those first two games revolved around seeking out labyrinths và palaces, aka the dungeons, and conquering them with the equipment in Link’s arsenal.
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A liên kết to the Past gave us better combat, more control over Link’s movements, & complex dungeons that felt like actual places, not just puzzle rooms spliced together. The architectural dimensions of A liên kết to the Past’s dungeons gave a sense of depth, connectedness, và breadth that the previous games lacked. It also established the idea that the treasure found inside each dungeon was the primary tool with which a given dungeon could be overcome. In the Swamp Palace, the hookshot isn’t just used lớn get to lớn new parts of the area, but also to lớn help defeat the boss, Arrghus, with its cluster of eye monsters. The new equipment also plays a similar role to thành công progression in metroidvania games: For example, the hookshot lets link cross a broken bridge in the Dark World khổng lồ get lớn the Skull Woods.
When I first defeated the antagonist of A links to the Past’s first few hours, the wizard Agahnim, I actually thought the trò chơi was over. I felt disappointed that it was so short! But suddenly, as Agahnim escaped and link was transported lớn the đứng đầu of the pyramid in the Dark World, I was stunned to lớn realize there was a whole lot more questing to lớn do.
The threads that connect the Light và Dark worlds led to lớn some brilliant trò chơi design choices. One simple example would be a heart container that is visible, but not accessible, in the Light World. Links must travel lớn the corresponding point in the Dark World, then jump between worlds, khổng lồ get it. It encouraged players khổng lồ think beyond the immediate surroundings và take the alternate dimension into account. A liên kết to the Past is considered a masterpiece for good reason, và has stood the kiểm tra of time pretty well. I’d easily consider it one of the best games in the series, up there with Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild.
It’s hard for any new Zelda game to live up lớn that liên kết of the past. When I first started playing A link Between Worlds, the world felt too similar lớn the SNES game’s, & I actually stopped playing for a few months. This turned out to lớn be a big mistake, since it’s only after the first confrontation with Yuga, when links is changed into a 2d painting, that things really change.
I remember reading Michio Kaku’s book Hyperspace, which asks what existence would appear lượt thích to beings that existed in more or less than three dimensions. When link becomes 2D, the world becomes 3D. Instead of a pseudo-2D fixed perspective that mimics the flat kiến thiết of the SNES game, the camera pulls in and the player can move in & out of the world in new ways. This also gives a whole new dimensionality to the dungeons. What seems lượt thích a dead kết thúc in 3 chiều is another opportunity for puzzling in the 2d transition. The dialogue the designer has with the player takes on a completely new vantage point, encouraging exploration in a very different way from A liên kết to the Past.
But it wasn’t just there that the game play had diverged. Nintendo ditched the linear progression of the original Link lớn the Past by granting players access lớn almost all the equipment from the outset, thanks to lớn the traveling salesman Ravio. Ravio is a mysterious figure, similar to the Happy Mask Salesman in Majora’s Mask, who clearly knows more than he’s letting on. Also like the H.M.S., he has access to a key sản phẩm that changes the nature of the game. In Majora’s Mask, that was the Deku mask that allowed links to transform into a Deku, in A links Between Worlds it’s Ravio’s bracelet, which is the nhà cửa that allows links to become a painting. (The nod to Majora’s Mask here is supported by the fact that said mask is hanging on Link’s wall)
Since Ravio offered the player access to lớn all of the major quest items at once, dungeons could more or less be tackled in any order the player wanted, with markers and item-specific roadblocks indicating what link needs lớn rent from Ravio to complete them. But the fact that link doesn’t actually own the gear, & has lớn return the rental if he dies, raises the stakes và makes each life have more significance than in other Zelda games.
After links acquires the Master Sword, Ravio allows links to buy the items permanently. This is important because after you purchase the items, you can upgrade them. At the same time, I kind of wished the rental system would have remained intact, as being able to outright buy everything took away that sense of risk and reward that was tied khổng lồ a temporary rental.
Zelda games live và die by their inventories. A lot of familiar favorites make a return in A links Between Worlds: The hookshot, bow & arrow, hammer, bottles, & ice và fire rods. I did miss A link to the Past’s Staff of Somaria, which allowed links to create magical blocks, as well as the magic medallions. In their places, liên kết has a Tornado Rod, which, as the name suggests, lets him create a big whirlwind & ride air currents. My favorite new vật phẩm is the Sand Rod, which lets links build a wall in the desert, leading khổng lồ some of the most clever conundrums in the game. In the Desert Palace, there’s one area where heavy balls are rolling across a broken pathway. Link needs khổng lồ make a bridge of sand under all the missing segments khổng lồ help break a block on the other side, which in turn releases sand into the adjacent hallway & helps link reach a new section. One tricky heart container requires liên kết to combine the Sand Rod with a perfectly-timed bomb.
The trùm cuối battle against Zaganaga is one of the few I really struggled with in the journey. It’s a massive plant thriving in quicksand, kind of like a mobile Sarlacc Pit. The Sand Rod allows link to build bridges across the quicksand & fight off the beastly plant to lớn avoid an ignominious death. Too bad Boba Fett didn’t have a Sand Rod.
A links to the Past had great dungeons, but A liên kết Between Worlds improved on almost all of them. There’s always an elegance lớn Zelda dungeons, carefully crafted together so that the difficulty curve is smooth và feels fair, even if challenging. In both games, there’s a Thieves’ Town, though the dungeon itself is referred to lớn as the Hideout in the newer one. In both, you rescue a prisoner. But in the first, she primarily followed links and revealed herself to lớn be the villain when you exposed her to the light. In Link Between Worlds, the prisoner plays an essential role in solving the puzzles, actively aiding link and making previously inaccessible areas xuất hiện up. I loved the way the trò chơi forced me lớn use the merging ability khổng lồ find new paths for the Thief Girl, helping us khung a bond.
The surrounding areas also seem similar on the surface, but reveal more divergences. The Dark World felt like pure evil that had to lớn be vanquished, but its equivalent in A liên kết Between Worlds, called Lorule, was a place that had been sapped of good, hopelessness pervading in its place. I felt a deeper sense of tragedy for Lorule because of that. While the Village of Outcasts in Link khổng lồ the Past is full of monsters and actual thieves who steal items from Link, the corruption in Lorule’s Thieves’ Town is almost spiritual in nature.
The chief of Lorule’s Thieves’ Town is creepily fanatical, demanding that his people wear a mask khổng lồ protect themselves from monsters. “Monsters can keep you strong! They are your only salvation, my son! You must don the mask!” he yells. The citizens are the completely demoralized counterparts to the ones in Kakariko Village, and their fear has warped them into beings that are almost unrecognizable. The captain whose sword initiated the whole journey is languishing in the milk bar, drowning his woes away with dairy shot after dairy shot.
It’s Link’s job lớn try to lớn overturn that, & this motif of illuminating the destitution is best exemplified in the Dark Palace. The theme of the dungeon is all about utilizing light shafts and illuminating the lower depths so that liên kết can see the pathways below. Carefully placing bombs and seeking crumbling walls that sometimes even the light obscures is key to lớn the multi-leveled dungeon.
The trò chơi plays with dimensionality lớn great visual effect, thanks to the jump lớn polygons. The Ice Ruins from Link Between Worlds share a theme with the Ice Palace of A liên kết To the Past. But this time, as the ruins are in Death Mountain, it adds a series of platforms that act as mining elevators, plunging links into the depths. In the Rosso Mine, I felt genuine vertigo staring down at the massive lava pit as I leapt from platform khổng lồ platform. Ascending up the outside of Hyrule Castle as I tried lớn catch up with Yuga was intimidating despite the fact that I’d climbed up the palace before in A links to the Past. As I moved around the outside of the castle as a 2d painting, the height actually made me feel nervous & had me clenching my 3DS carefully.
Skull Woods is as confusing as the Lost Woods. In both games, the forest sections involve multiple entrances và exits. But in A links Between Worlds, my most dreaded enemy in the series, the Wallmaster, was back, and as annoying as ever. They add a sense of tension to every area since they can drop on vị trí cao nhất of link and whisk him away. But unlike in previous iterations, these dreadful hands now play an important role in dungeon progression. There’s parts in Skull Woods where a grated path blocks the Wallmaster from dropping all the way to the ground màn chơi where liên kết is. Players can use that disparity lớn actually crush enemies above him & in some cases, trigger switches he can’t access otherwise.
The final quái nhân is the ultimate Wallmaster, who slams into link and breaks the floor at the same time. When the Wallmaster becomes a rocket fist hurtling at Link, I didn’t know what to vì chưng as I couldn’t seem lớn fend it off. Struggling with this enormous hand, I kept on getting pummeled until I realized I had lớn use wall merge. This caused the Wallmaster to lớn slam into the wall, making it become disoriented (never mind the questions about if it has a brain in its hand).
Any time I couldn’t figure out what to vì chưng next in a given section, the solution usually involved a reexamination of the three-dimensional perspective. Link Between Worlds makes sure to lớn reward exploration with additional upgrades lượt thích heart containers and bottles. But there are also a few improvements from the original that enhance this sense of discovery.
The first is that the rupee limit is ten times higher than the first game’s 999, making rupee chests always worth the effort of tracking them down. Liên kết needs all of them, too, if he plans on buying the gear, making this one of the first Zelda games where I hoarded all the rupees I could find.
Secondly, the Maiamai creatures that are spread throughout both worlds can tăng cấp your equipment and are craftily hidden on the walls, necessitating wall merging almost everywhere on the overworld. They make squeaking sounds whenever they’re around, making me explore everywhere I could, since they’re often not immediately visible. The walls had become a flat new world lớn uncover, making this Zelda a links between three worlds, not just two.
The link Between Lorule & Hyrule
As much as I liked the changes to the layout of the dungeons, there was also a familiarity to lớn them. Obviously, A liên kết to the Past was a completely new game, whereas A liên kết Between Worlds, even with all its differences, is mix in the same world and shares the same overworld map. What ultimately made me appreciate A links Between Worlds more than its predecessor was the narrative, and how it gave meaning lớn the journey in a very different way than A links to the Past’s.
A liên kết to the Past could be described as a revenge story. Liên kết seeks retribution for the death of his uncle and kills a lot of soldiers in the process. A links Between Worlds has a humbler opening. Liên kết is a blacksmith’s apprentice & only gets sucked into matters while acting as a delivery boy for a sword. There’s no dramatic rainy night to lớn spur the quest, và in the early parts of the game, it almost feels like it’s intended for a younger audience—another reason why I’d given up on it the first time.
The sorcerer Yuga, who plays a function similar to the original’s Agahnim, transforms his victims into paintings. Yuga is obsessed with beauty and art, so instead of encasing the descendants of the seven sages in a crystal, he turns them into paintings. Zelda villains tend to lớn have simple life goals. They want the Triforce or some other Macguffin so they can be granted wishes và wield unlimited power like a god. Even the non-Ganon villains tend to lớn be binary in their goals. The more interesting characters tend to lớn be the games’ casts of eclectic NPCs, the most notable of those being in Link’s Awakening and Majora’s Mask. One of my favorite NPCs in the series, Flute Boy, is in A liên kết to the Past, & I loved how sad và mournful that whole sequence of wistful aging and nostalgic music set together.
In Link Between Worlds, the whole time liên kết pursues Yuga, I assumed it was Ganon pulling the strings. When liên kết arrives in Lorule, he meets Princess Hilda, the world’s counterpart to lớn Princess Zelda. She aids liên kết and seems khổng lồ want khổng lồ rescue her world. I went about my task, presuming she was just another generic character that I’d soon forget. But towards the end of the game, she reveals a tragic history.
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Like Hyrule, Lorule was once a teeming kingdom. But the desire for the Triforce nearly destroyed their world. They decided that rather than giảm giá with the great power and threat that the Triforce brought, they would get rid of it “by destroying it. Utterly and absolutely.” But without the Triforce, “our kingdom crumbled,” Hilda tells Link. At its narrative core, A link Between Worlds is a look at a world in decay where everything has gone terribly wrong. Their ancestors made a horrible choice that has had devastating repercussions for ensuing generations, và their legacy is still felt in the corruption of Lorule. Rather than try lớn fix their own world, Hilda và Yuga carry out a plan lớn infiltrate Hyrule, steal their triforce, và resurrect Ganon.
In this case, Ganon is the one being used by Princess Hilda, who conceived of the plan to infiltrate Hyrule in the first place. “How terribly sad for Princess Hilda to be driven lớn such desperation!” Princess Zelda comments. “Her kingdom was in such a sorry state.” It put the whole journey in a completely different context, transforming it from what might have been another “Ganon wants khổng lồ take over the world” plot into one where a princess wants khổng lồ save her world by carrying out an unspeakable evil. When it’s Ganon stirring up trouble, it’s pretty clear he needs to lớn be taken out. But in this case, where Hilda is just trying to save her kingdom, there was an ambivalence to lớn my mission that I hadn’t felt since waking the Wind Fish in Link’s Awakening.
The final confrontation was a completely new take on the usual Ganon formula. I was still using the light arrows, but in the 2D-painting mode. Aside from the obvious meta throwback to the original Zelda games (especially The Adventure of Link), the final solution is one of the most interesting: Rather than fire at Yuga Ganon head-on, the key is to lớn shoot the other way, taking advantage of the 2 chiều plane và letting the arrow fly all around the walls of the room và hit him from the back.
It was the ending reveal that really caught me off guard. All along, I knew Ravio was someone important. He is the one that gives links the ability to lớn become a painting as well as use his old items. But I didn’t suspect he was actually Link’s counterpart in Lorule, the opposite of the heroic Link. He was a coward who didn’t have the courage lớn face Hilda & Yuga himself. Instead, he has to find the links of Hyrule khổng lồ fight for him & helps the nhân vật at his own profit. In retrospect, this should have been obvious considering he wears a rabbit suit, a throwback lớn the Dark World manifestation of link from A links to the Past.
Putting aside the nod lớn the idea of Dark Link, it was the first time I thought of link in a new light. For the most part, we take it for granted that links is a hero, always answering the điện thoại tư vấn to fight for whoever needs his aid. In the case of Ravio Link, he’d done the opposite. I had lớn wonder, how did he gain access khổng lồ all the equipment in the first place? Had he taken it from the dungeons himself, which was why they were no longer there? Was he once heroic, but became disillusioned because of the overwhelming odds against him without the aid of the Triforce? Did that then imply that without the Triforce, the links we know wouldn’t be who he is? The title of the game takes on new significance as we ponder about the actual Links between the two worlds, and how different they are.
Playing this trò chơi during this pandemic, I couldn’t help but empathize with the people of Lorule. I feel that same sense of doom and helplessness now. As the infection rate goes up, I wonder what our future holds, knowing that our future generations will feel the impact of the choices we make today. I could totally understand why Ravio pretty much said, “Screw it, I’m escaping this surreal hellhole và jumping khổng lồ this paradise where I can focus on making a profit.” His guilt drives him to lớn try lớn help the other world’s Link, but it’s not like he does it for không tính tiền or purely altruistic purposes.
Since liên kết actually lives up to lớn the hype, Ravio gets philosophical, musing on existence, retirement, và naps. “I’ve never really had the time khổng lồ take a lot of naps before. The world looks so different from here!” he says, và then: “Sometimes just changing your perspective is the key to... Well, to lớn everything!” Gone is the silent protagonist, & we instead get the most talkative link of the series.
The music throughout the game is great, even if many are remixes from the original. A personal favorite was Ravio’s theme song, which is whimsical, enigmatic, and yet somehow plaintive. The same Dark World theme plays in both games, & I love the new remix. After gaining all seven paintings in Link Between Worlds, a more hopeful and epic rendition of the track replaces the older one, which was a change I really liked for giving me a sense of optimism. Likewise, when Ravio, inspired by Link, finally steps up lớn try & stop Hilda, there’s an acknowledgement that by letting links and Zelda return to lớn Hyrule, they might be damning themselves. But they still send the two back.