I've always had a soft spot for the Legend of Zelda series. Back in the 1980s when my brother and I received our first console (the NES of course!) Legend of Zelda was one of the games we played frequently. We were both pretty young so it was a little complicated for the two of us at the time.
My mother really liked it. She played the whole game, beating it before either of us ever did. And she was so enthralled with the game that she drew every screen on a sheet of continuous form paper. Every secret bush that needed to be burned, or rock that needed to be blasted with a bomb was drawn out.
With the help from our mother's drawings, we were able to advance further and further in the game. Mario was wonderful, but this was magical. There were so many puzzles and dungeons to explore!
So every time a new Zelda game comes out, I've made a point to try and play it. There have been two handheld games I've missed (which I will circle back to), but for the most part I've tried them all. I've not been a fan the more recent games, but I've still tried to trudge through them. Admittedly I quit pretty early on in Skyward Sword.
Anyway, the latest game is for the 3DS and it's a sequel to the SNES game, A Link to the Past (which was a really good successor to Legend of Zelda) called A Link Between Worlds. Since it takes a page from the older games, there are plenty of top down camera angles, an open world to explore, and very little of the more recent trend to long introductions and game play tutorials.
So far the game has been wonderful. Being able to explore anywhere I want was always a big part of the early Zelda games, so that was the first thing I did. And I didn't have to sit through an hour of being told how to use a sword or my menu. I'm sure it will be a little jarring for younger players that are accustomed to play tutorials built into the plot, but I really appreciate not having to trudge through another one.
I know this is a lot to read through just to get to the part where I say I like the game. And I do like it. At this point the only thing I need Nintendo to do to really make things complete is to make a quality Metroid game. I'd even settle for the first person ones that Retro Studios did in the mid-2000s. Just something open, focuses on playing alone and exploring (lets not count Other M, shall we?).
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