Laying the foundations severely when looking at the overall overworld of Hyrule, the familiar concept, the controls and the gameplay, it already plays very similar towards the predecessor. Yet there are enough changes in the structure and even some of the traditions to justify trying this out.
For instance, Link can now traverse area's into an entirely new way once he is able to merge into walls and subsequently turn into a painting of Egyptian proportions. This creates an interesting new layer of solving puzzles, navigating around and even dodging or countering attacks.
Acquiring key items to progress further inside the overworld or dungeons has now been largely changed towards being able to rent key items from a eccentric new character named Ravio, who rents and later on sells them towards you.
This creates the opportunity to tackle the dungeons in any order you wish to do, but it first comes with the consequence of losing these items if you happen to die. Also, because all of the key items are available at the start with a price tag attached towards them, it isn't sure at first which ones are needed depending on the route you take.
Once you buy them, they are yours forever, but prepare to collect a lot of Rupees in order to accomplish that. These are scattered throughout secret area's on the overworld most of all, but can also be found inside mini games.
A Link Between Worlds started to become a dissapointment once I realized how small, easy and forgettable most of the dungeons are to be explored. With the exception of Desert Palace and Ice Ruins's enjoyable designs, they were lacking the ability to be truly stuck, unless I simply outsmarted the designers with them constantly. I do appreciate the different dungeon themes which all share a similar tune, reminiscent of Majora's Mask.
It's good that there is no partner to be found who can spoil enemy weaknesses and puzzle solutions towards you, instead, optional ghosts can be found with the hint glasses who can provide you with this info should you have the need for it.
As for me, I used that function only once to test it out. Lorule, or the new Dark World, is a decent reincarnation of the original one found inside A Link to the Past, and I kind of liked seeing the sections towards most dungeon entrances here being cut off, but fundamentally I think that I would rather play a linear route than choose my next one alongside this rental system.
Nintendo did a fine job by challenging this standard of linearity, but they shouldn't fool the retro gamers who know that the original The Legend of Zelda on the NES could easily be played in several dungeon orders, and more recently, even Ocarina of Time's Spirit Temple could be completed before the Shadow Temple.
In my opinion, they should had incorporated an order of Mega Man proportions where as it should only be a mystery as for which dungeon next in line could be traversed after acquiring a new key item, making it a bit more exciting than what we currently have at hand.
Which is, figure out for yourself which items work best or essentially are needed, whether you are rich or not. Not to say that it's all too cryptic, confusing or even seriously obnoxious, but it feels like Link gets spoiled for getting all his presents so early.
If you die, Link loses all of the rented items unless he buys them at high prices. Simply resetting the game whenever you die akin to Fire Emblem's dying characters doesn't really make it consequential for me, especially not emotionally.
Luckily, the fluid animations and controls of this game make up for a comfortable journey, but I believe that the rental concept should be tweaked or switched towards something different should Nintendo ever return to this concept which will most likely be on a handheld once again.
It also has a sidequest where you collect a hundred creatures called Maiamai's, and then there is the optional Treacherous Tower and Hero Mode which I also both beat, ramping the difficulty up somewhat, but not much. Finally, I was content with the final boss battle, but the character itself isn't noteworthy.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds could had dethroned my favorite title from the whole franchise, but it turns out to be a modest entry at best considering the past entries. It's still a great game if you leave out the challenge and the inferior overworld.
But I suppose my expectations were too high unconsciously. Still, I'm really glad Nintendo went back to the past to make this sequel.
Rating: 8.5
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