The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Playthrough

Channel:

proa007

Subscribers:

438

Published on December 31, 2023 12:00:13 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ix3KpSLVg

Game:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013)

Duration: 7:31:55

124 views

3

2013, 3DS. Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

A Link Between Worlds walks a fine line between honoring the past and getting swallowed up in it. A direct sequel to A Link to the Past, the crown jewel of the franchise, Worlds takes much of the original game from maps to level design to ideas and brings it forward. That by itself can be a severe demerit because we’re getting the same thing. Well, yes and no. The game offers a couple of interesting concepts while also steering far enough away for A Link Between Worlds to stand on its own.

The big hook is the ability to merge into walls, which allows the player to go between rooms and even different worlds. This is a concept that is given a lot of room to work and the designers do a very nice job incorporating this into the basic framework without beating the player over the head. The other big draw is the ability to have almost all of your weapons at the ready from the get-go. That’s a really neat idea and it does offer the gamer the ability to strategize and work out some gameplans. Some items are 100% required to finish dungeons, but in general, the flexibility is very strong, which is a testament to the stellar game design.

The game, overall, follows most of the general story beats of its predecessor, but the developers have fun tweaking and twisting some of the veteran player’s expectations in a few ways. Thieves’ Town twist is my favorite. They also get more in depth with this new world, Lorule, and the backstory behind this game’s “dark world” is surprisingly rich. The ending is also one of the best in the franchise’s history.

In general, I wish they had done more to differentiate the two games and give A Link Between Worlds a little bit more of its own identity. As it is, this sequel is more like a retelling of a good play and while it does go its own way, it remains very much enmeshed with its predecessor. That comes with the pros and cons. Luckily, the pros are much stronger than the cons and that is because A Link Between Worlds is following in a grandmaster’s footsteps.

0:00:00 Prologue
0:05:50 Sanctuary
0:22:42 Eastern Palace
0:32:00 Item Gathering Part 1
0:59:45 House of Gales
1:15:39 Item Gathering Part 2
1:32:49 Tower of Hera
1:42:18 Lost Woods & Master Sword
1:58:46 Hyrule Castle
2:08:54 Enter Lorule
2:20:07 Thieves Hideout
2:38:55 To Skull Woods
2:53:11 Skull Woods
3:12:30 To Desert Palace
3:22:48 Desert Palace
3:47:00 To Swamp Palace
3:52:34 Swamp Palace
4:18:33 Item Gathering Part 3
4:33:43 To Dark Palace
4:38:23 Dark Palace
5:06:01 Final Sword Upgrade/To Turtle Rock
5:20:21 Turtle Rock
5:47:48 Rosso's Ore Mine
6:09:09 To Ice Ruins
6:13:31 Ice Ruins
6:40:12 Lorule Castle
7:13:22 Lorule/Hilda Reveal
7:15:54 Yuga Boss Fight
7:23:40 Ending

Watch live streams and speedruns on https://www.twitch.tv/proa007.

I am also a self-published crime and mystery novelist. You can find my books on Amazon here (warning: they are hard R in terms of language and occasionally violence).

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07QV22TGB

Other Statistics