The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

I Finally Beat Link Between Worlds!

jdodson gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

jdodson gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Link Between Worlds is the direct sequel to Link to the Past and a game I’ve been playing since I got my 3DS in December. It’s a good pickup and play Zelda Adventure that’s a must buy for any 3DS owner. Recently I beat it while on vacation and felt that the ending was a satisfying conclusion to the “To the Past” trilogy consisting of Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening and Link Between Worlds. The “To The Past” trilogy isn’t a formal Zelda trilogy but one I noticed as Link’s Awakening is a direct sequel to Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to that. I might be the only person to consider these three games a trilogy but I think I can handle... Read All Link Between Worlds is the direct sequel to Link to the Past and a game I’ve been playing since I got my 3DS in December. It’s a good pickup and play Zelda Adventure that’s a must buy for any 3DS owner. Recently I beat it while on vacation and felt that the ending was a satisfying conclusion to the “To the Past” trilogy consisting of Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening and Link Between Worlds. The “To The Past” trilogy isn’t a formal Zelda trilogy but one I noticed as Link’s Awakening is a direct sequel to Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to that. I might be the only person to consider these three games a trilogy but I think I can handle that.

The entire Link Between Worlds story is a direct parallel to Link to the Past. Lorule in LBW is similar, if not the same place as the Dark World in LTTP. It’s not really spelled out if Lorule is the exact same place as the Dark World in LTTP but the dungeons line up in location, theme and even boss encounters. Even though there is that built in similarity LBW verges in that it gives Lorule a bit more personality and actual characters. That said, there is a pretty fun story based switcheroo at the end that I won’t spoil even though a few dungeons away from the end I saw coming. The switch at the end isn’t particularly hidden if you are paying attention and is a fun play off the typical Zelda style story.

Like many elements of Link Between Worlds the music is heavily influenced by themes from Link to the Past but breaks new ground stylistically. The music by Ryo Nagamatsu takes the retro SNES bit themes and arranges them with live orchestra, small ensembles and an Celt flavor that really gives the game a much more earthy tone to it. The Hyrule Dungeon theme song in Link Between Worlds is based on the original theme but Nagamatsu arranges it for a modern ensemble and his choices for the natural instruments to play the parts of the 16-bit score are well made. Linked below is the original Hyrule Dungeon theme and Nagamatu’s version that shows off how well he translated and built on the original score.

Link to the Past Dungeon Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1UyVXN13SI

Link Between Worlds Hyrule Dungeon Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyn4A52jkxg (dat woodblock & trumpet!)

Nagamatu’s original music is also quite good and never felt out of place with the old themes.

Link Between Worlds is a game I plan on coming back to which is one of the highest bits of praise I have. I really hope Nintendo rereleases this on the Switch so more people can play it because it’s such a sharp game worthy of more attention. If the past Zelda games are an indicator Nintendo should rerelease it, it’s just a matter of time. I’m not entirely sure if Link Between Worlds is a reason in itself to buy a 3DS but if you were close to picking one up and were a huge Link to the Past fan, i’d check it out. The Link Between Worlds game cart doesn’t seem to be available from Nintendo new so I picked it up used on Amazon but it’s also available digitally from the 3DS shop.

Continuing Link Between Worlds - Entering The Ruined World of Lorule

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/The_legend_of_zelda_a_link_between_worlds_screenshot.jpg

Back in May I started my playthrough of Link Between Worlds on the 3DS. It's a fun follow up to Link to the Past and bring enough new things to the table to be interesting. As with most new Zelda games and because I have a one year old I play it in bursts. Recently I completed a few dungeons in Lorule, which is the Dark World equivalent in Link Between Worlds. Link Between Worlds keeps the dungeon locations to the same places as Link to the Past. The Lorule dungeons are all different but keep some of the themes with the original dungeons. For instance, Lorule has a Thieves Dungeon that is similar to the Link To The Past Dungeon. Each dungeon in Link Between Worlds, so... Read All

My Continuing Adventures In Link Between Worlds

As i've said before, one of the main reasons I wanted a 3DS was to play Link Between Worlds, the direct sequel to A Link to the Past. I plan on writing on my journey through the game as it's quite good and think it might be interesting to read. Link to the Past isn't a very difficult game but it's fun, engrossing and a very tight and focused gameplay experience which is why it's always topped my list for one of the best games of all time. That said, Link to the Past is pretty easy if you play it in the right way and Link Between Worlds ups the ante some to make for a more interesting game. For instance, in traditional Zelda games death has no real effect on how you... Read All As i've said before, one of the main reasons I wanted a 3DS was to play Link Between Worlds, the direct sequel to A Link to the Past. I plan on writing on my journey through the game as it's quite good and think it might be interesting to read. Link to the Past isn't a very difficult game but it's fun, engrossing and a very tight and focused gameplay experience which is why it's always topped my list for one of the best games of all time. That said, Link to the Past is pretty easy if you play it in the right way and Link Between Worlds ups the ante some to make for a more interesting game. For instance, in traditional Zelda games death has no real effect on how you play the game. In fact starting with Link to the Past you can collect Fairies in bottles to bring you back to life each time you die. Effectively this means that if you have the maximum number of bottles and play the game reasonably well, death has no negative effect on gameplay. Link Between Worlds tries to change this with item rentals. At a certain early point in the game you meet a purple rabbit named Ravio that takes over the house you start in to rent and later sell you items. If you die in a dungeon Ravio takes you to the house again and removes your item rentals. It's an interesting mechanic where dying actually has some kind of downside and I think it's pretty cool. Even though you can store fairies to restore you back to life if you lost an item you need to complete a dungeon, you still have to go and get it. Later on in the early part of the game Ravio allows you the ability to buy items for 800 gold, which removes some of the negatives of dying but buying out all the items takes along time and I've only purchased a couple of them. Buying items is also different than the traditional Zelda way of finding them in dungeons which is a fresh take on how Zelda games work.

Recently I just gathered all three pendants and collected the Master Sword. This mirrors the original Link to the Past and I wonder what the Link Between Worlds equivalent of the Dark World is? Maybe it's the Dark World again? I'm not sure as I haven't read many spoilers about the game but when I find out i'll let you know.

Starting Out Link Between Worlds: The Follow Up To One Of The Greatest Games Of All Time

In 2013 Nintendo released the follow up to The Legend of Zelda A Link To The Past on the 3DS called The Legend of Zelda Link Between Worlds. It's a direct Zelda sequel, something we don't often get and is set some millennia after the original events of Link to the Past. Like many games in the Zelda timeline, there are new direct descendants of Link and Zelda called... Link and Zelda and some of the original characters from Link to the Past appear that seem to never age, like the Elder Sahasrahla. The game features nearly the exact same overworld map as Link to the Past and goes into pretty good detail to recreate it just as we all remember but change certain details... Read All In 2013 Nintendo released the follow up to The Legend of Zelda A Link To The Past on the 3DS called The Legend of Zelda Link Between Worlds. It's a direct Zelda sequel, something we don't often get and is set some millennia after the original events of Link to the Past. Like many games in the Zelda timeline, there are new direct descendants of Link and Zelda called... Link and Zelda and some of the original characters from Link to the Past appear that seem to never age, like the Elder Sahasrahla. The game features nearly the exact same overworld map as Link to the Past and goes into pretty good detail to recreate it just as we all remember but change certain details that would change if a couple hundred years passed since the original. Thing is though, it's not entirely clear from playing the game just how long have passed since the original events of the Link to the Past but it's so long that the original LTTP events is a kind of legend they tell each other and it doesn't seem to be on everyones mind until things happen that mirror the events in those legends.

And again, one good part of Link Between Worlds so far is how it ... Links... with the original Link to the Past. The game begins similarly to the original LTTP except this time you work for a Blacksmith and need to deliver a sword to one of the guards of Hyrule. Much like with LTTP you are thrown directly in to the game and need to stop the bad guy that isn't working for Ganon but you know.... more than likely totally working for Ganon. Hell he might BE Ganon but you know... no word on that yet.

Everything from the games top down style to the music and sound effects are directly influenced by the original Link to the Past. And since I consider Link to the Past to be one of the best games of all time, I think they made a good choice here. I'm only about an hour in but so far the games pacing, music and story are really well considered and are a "Nintendo top notch effort."

One of my hopes is that the vast catalog of 3DS, Wii & Wii U games get ported to the Switch so they can be enjoyed by a much larger audience but barring that, Link Between Worlds might be a reason to get a new 2DS or 3DS to play it alone. I mean, if you consider Link to the Past to be one of the best games of all time then why not play it's sequel? So far it's great but even if it doesn't live up to the original game in terms of greatness and I imagine it can't just hanging out in the world in a new way is well worth the time.

Some Information About Your New 3DS And What Games To Get With It

Recently I was gifted a NEW 3DS for the holidays and with many people that are new to the system I'm not sure what I should get for it. One of my favorite YouTubers Metal Jesus has a great 3DS buying guide that covers all the systems and some of the games you might be interested in.

One of the reasons I wanted a new 3DS is that it plays the newer 3DS and older DS games. I really think one area Nintendo shines is mobile games and being able to start collecting and playing DS games is something i've been wanting to do after the Gameboy and Advance. As we are approaching the upcoming era of the Switch it's a good time to pickup older DS games cheap while there is a fairly... Read All

A Link Between Worlds

Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Quick Overview

Recommendation: Good game 3D Zelda game

Short (30 hours or so)

Available with a download code in some 3DSXL models

Spoiler-free story intro: As young Link, you find out that an evil mage is turning some people into paintings and collecting them. There's a reason for the people he's collecting and he's after Zelda, too. Later you learn that he is from another world called Lorule and the princess there, Hilda, needs your help. During the game you'll go back and forth between worlds by turning into a 2D painting and walking into cracks that can be found on the world.

Detailed Review: Last night I finished The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. It was... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/03/2014 at 11:55pm

Link Between Worlds is being sold as a sequel to Link to the Past which makes it pretty interesting to me. About how many hours do you think you sunk into it until you completed it?

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/04/2014 at 12:04am

I'd guess around 30, but that's just a guess, I'm not really sure.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/04/2014 at 12:06am

Whoa, that's not a small amount of time. BUT I guess compared to Terraria it's pretty miniscule.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/04/2014 at 12:12am

Absolutely! I might have spent around 20 hours on it, I'm not sure, but it was just over too quickly. I know I played Pokemon X a little bit longer, or at least I'm sure I did anyway.

Now I'm sitting here, not at all sure of what to play. I'm tempted to go to Gamestop, but there are only a few things I have in mind to play next. I don't know what to do, grrr, I hate this feeling. LOL

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/04/2014 at 12:26am

*cough*cough*Grand Theft Auto:Online*cough*cough*

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/04/2014 at 12:37am

Hahahahahaha. Yeah, I need to do that. I haven't been able to get on and play since we've had a lot of no school days due to the weather and my son has been here in my room most of the time. It's kind of hard to get on and play with you due to the time difference and you doing the same (not playing GTA with a kid around).

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/04/2014 at 06:13pm

Yeah, by the time I can get on GTA it's usually after 11pm eastern time, so that's pretty late to start playing. You might have better luck meeting up with @Travis, as he's on the east coast as well. Still, if you're ever up late on a Friday night or something let's cause some mischief in Los Santos. :D

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/04/2014 at 09:31pm

Hehehe, well I'm usually a night owl.

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