Link's Awakening Remake Thoughts.
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So the Nintendo Direct's big closer was a remake of Link's Awakening!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U-_XfDGgDw
This was a really nice surprise, Link's Awakening is one of my favorite Zelda games, so seeing remade is an awesome thing.
The art style is something that I was originally not a fan of, but after watching the trailer again, I have really become a fan. It just puts a smile on my face.
There are some issues I have though. The movement speed in the overworld looks really slow. In the dungeons, I think it looks fine, the smaller rooms make sense to have a slower walk speed to fit their design, but the overworld is large and open. It just seems that walking from one side of the village to the other is going to take a long time. However, once you get the Pegasus boots, that should be fixed.
One more thing about the gameplay that I noticed is that it movement is only allowed in 8 directions. I'm a little torn about this, while it somewhat makes sense for the game to play like this because the original did, it does look a little awkward. A Link Between Worlds adapted the world of A Link to the Past with 360 degree movement, and the game benefited because of that.
The only other thing I am worried about is pricing. The highest price that I could see as fair is 25 dollars, and even that I think is pushing it a little. I think 15 to 20 dollars fits a lot better. However, I could see it be priced at 30 dollars or higher by Nintendo. I hope it will be cheaper due to this being a Game Boy game, but Nintendo likes to make things too pricey at times.
Anyway, I can definitively say that I am really excited for this game, and I am wondering what some other opinions are on it? It was a really satisfying note to end the direct on.
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I have only played a small amount of the original game, and my memory of that is quite fuzzy, but this remake has me incredibly excited. I was really hoping Nintendo would pull back and release a lower-key Zelda title this year, and this looks to fit that role perfectly.
I'm unsure of what the scope of this game will be when it's finally released, so a price point is hard to pin down, especially for a luxury IP like Zelda. I could see them giving this a full $60 retail price, but I would hope they take the liberty to add in a substantial amount of new content to make that value evident. The truth is, I think people will bite on it regardless of the price simply because it's a Zelda title. And BOY, am I prepared to pay for it because it's exactly what I was asking for and I can't turn my nose at it now haha
Looking at this visual style though, it genuinely gives me vibes of what I'd imagine a Zelda Maker (akin to Mario Mario) to look like if they ever took a crack at that. I'm hoping this is a testing ground for something like that in the future, because I can't think of something I'd want to see more out of the Zelda franchise in terms of fresh ideas than giving us the tools to build our own adventures.
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Link's Awakening is one of my favorite Zelda games, and constantly trades with A Link Between Worlds for my favorite Zelda game. I love the original game, and the artstyle here is just what I wanted. The original game, even in it's photographs, still kept a simple, chibi-like artstyle. I feel like this new style still maintains that, while also adding this beauttiful toy-like atmosphere. It feels like someone painstakingly recreated all of Koholint Island by hand, and that's a wonderful feeling.
I'm not sure on how I feel about the music yet, but it's only one song. At least in my opinion it felt a bit too soft for the overworld theme, but the song could have been the overworld theme that plays before you get your sword back.
Looking at screenshots, everything seems to match the original game perfectly. The only difference is that some screens, such as the ones in Mabe Village, seem to transition seamlessly, similar to how screens worked in A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds, where transitions were reserved for different areas of the map, rather than individual screens. I quite like this approach, and it'll make exploring better.
Overall, I'm quite impressed. I want to see more, but I have no doubts that this remake will be a great one. My only concern is with the controls. We haven't seen the HUD, but if what I suspect is true, than the shield is always equipped. In addition to this, we may have more than just two total slots, with the Sword and Shield being given dedicated mappings. One of the fun parts of Link's Awakening (if a bit frustrating at first) was the item management, and this system forced you to use your items in combat at times, since you just wouldn't have your sword equipped. Regardless, the remake is still going to be a lot of fun.
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It looks great. I know the visuals are going to be controversial, much like Wind Waker's were, but I honestly love the way it looks. Easily one of the best Zelda titles, probably my favorite or second favorite of the 2D games (I would put Oracle of Ages as its strongest competition there), I am really excited to get to play through it again.
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I never played the original and was too lazy to find a way to do so. And now a remake hast fallen into my lap! Personally I love the graphics---the plasticine look to everything is distinctive without veering into Stock Unity Engine Assets territory. Everybody was pretty lukewarm about Wind Waker at first, too, and (most) have come around. So I'm looking forward to this.
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@S-R-Awling said in Link's Awakening Remake Thoughts.:
I never played the original and was too lazy to find a way to do so.
If you were looking to try out the original in some fashion, you can actually download a digital version of Link's Awakening DX on 3DS for just $6. Great game, and that's a stellar price for it.
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I've seen a lot of comments to the effect of "this looks a lot like the Earthbound/Mother style". And that reassures me a lot. If I can take those games seriously with their cartoony art style, I can probably take this seriously. The fact that they had that haunting refrain of Ballad of the Wind Fish at the end really reassures me - gave me chills even after I had the initial panic of "oh this is weird", followed by "oh god I hope this isn't on 3DS-- oh thank goodness".
... and, y'know, makes me want an Earthbound remake in this engine or just another game in its ilk, but still. It's Link's Awakening. Stripped of its theming, the game is still stellar. I mean, it'd be super duper if it kept the theming strong, but heck yeah I'll buy it.
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@Pyrrhickong said in Link's Awakening Remake Thoughts.:
... and, y'know, makes me want an Earthbound remake in this engine
I would do a lot of horrible things to make this a reality.
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Link's Awakening is my favorite handheld Zelda after the Oracle duo, so I'm pretty excited for this. The only thing I'm not really feeling about the art style are the faces.
Hopefully they'll be able to capture the atmosphere of the original. For being a Game Boy game, that game had some really great atmosphere. I have faith in Nintendo though, so hopefully my worry is unfounded.
Also, I have to mention how much I like the logo. I'm not sure what it is about it, but it looks really nice. I also like that it has its own logo now, considering the original just shared ALttP's logo. It's nothing major, but I think it's a nice touch.
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Link's Awakening was the first Zelda game I've ever played, and it was on the original GameBoy, way back when I was like 5 years old. Didn't get around to beating it until I was like 8 though because of cognitive function.
I'm super hyped and this may be what pushes me to buy a switch. If Nintendo didn't give up on the 3DS, I would have liked it on there much more because I really like the system and didn't want to buy a switch and then the never-reducing full-price games for it. And it would make more sense for it to be on a (very functional and polished) handheld system instead of a pseudo-handheld system that can't fit in my pocket.
The game looks fine so far, but I am concerned about some of the mechanics. In the original, there was a lot of cheesing that could be done with the Pegasus Boots/Roc's Feather combo. There was other cheese as well that I hope will be carried over too. I'm expecting some things to be altered or changed due to PC culture being so rampant these days such as the flying rooster or the mermaid. I won't be too happy about that since I'm a fan of being 100% faithful to the original, maybe except for a few additions to better suit the times (I'm expecting Ulrira's dial phone to become a cell phone and I'd be ok with that). As @Gerborious said, the 8-direction movement is a bit weird, especially since the original wasn't even exactly like that. It's hard to explain what the original game's was like, but it's definitely not what was showcased.
I'll probably still end up paying for it (full price, because Nintendo), and I'll probably like it given they won't change too much.
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