When I was just a kid, I played a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening on my original Game Boy. It was my first Zelda game and my first ‘harder’ game since I normally played Tetris and Super Mario. Until this very day, Link’s Awakening remains my favorite 2D Zelda game. Nostalgia plays a crucial role in this but the game itself was just pure magic. The combination of Zelda and Mario elements, set on a dreamy island were reasons enough to catapult this to my personal number one. Needless to say, I was beyond happy to learn that the remake was coming to Nintendo Switch and after playing it, I can only say I simply can’t wait for September.
The most adorable game ever
The moment I started playing, I immediately fell in love with the new style. Everything seems to be created in clay, resulting in the cutest version of Link we’ve ever seen. It’s an extremely colorful and cheerful game where you’ll want to see everything there is, just to soak in those great visuals. While playing the demo, this was actually also the first thing I did. I didn’t directly go for the sword on the shore, first, I visited some houses and other characters, just to find out how they were recreated for this Switch version. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed.
The team really gave it their all to deliver a truly unique Zelda game. We all know the franchise doesn’t shy away from cartoony and experimental graphics but this style works extremely well for translating a 2D game to a 3D version. From the small smile on Link’s face while picking up items to the adorable houses and characteristic Cuccos running around in the village, the team really nailed the style and I couldn’t wish for any other visuals.
Discovering the overworld
During my hands-on session, I got fifteen minutes to do whatever I wanted. I could try to go for the dungeon and beat it before the timer ran out but I don’t like to clear a dungeon under pressure. That’s why I took another approach. Instead of rushing the dungeon, I explored the overworld. A decision I didn’t regret. During my fifteen minutes, I encountered a lot of interesting people, some of those even let me play some mini-games for rupees. Of course, I needed to cut some grass for rupees but after that, I was able to play the (incredibly hard) fishing game and rather unfair crane games. It’s fun to have side activities like these just waiting on you to be discovered. The game will be filled with these and during my short hands-on, I was impressed by the variation this brought to the table. Instead of clearing a typical Zelda dungeon, I messed around with some silly mini-games and I had the time of my life.
That’s what a great Zelda game is all about in my opinion, losing yourself in a vast overworld, looking for extra things to do and secrets to discover. Although my time was short, I did run into a couple of different enemies, characters and wildlife, all packed together on the small portion of the map. It’s just a glimpse of what the full game will eventually offer but I’m already impressed by it, too bad the technical side of things wasn’t always as good as it should be.
Small technical hiccups
While playing and running around on the beach, I noticed some small delays and frame drops. I’m often blind for those but I did notice them during my session with Link’s Awakening. Of course, the game was running on a Nintendo Switch that was turned on for a couple of hours on a rather hot day combined with the fact that this still is an E3 demo and far from the retail version. That’s why I definitely hope it was because of these reasons I noticed frame drops and not because the engine wasn’t running who it’s supposed to run. Judging on the style, I’m confident that the Nintendo Switch won’t have trouble with it so I’m pretty sure these hiccups will be fixed when the game hits stores next September.
Early conclusion:
The technical hiccups had me worried for a second but I instantly forgot them while playing. The game is just so adorable and unique that you simply can’t stop smiling while playing. Link’s Awakening offers a classic Zelda game in a new visual style and this might be the best combination possible. It’s way better than I remember and if the team can keep it up, this one might even become one of my favorite Nintendo Switch games. I can’t wait to see and play more!
