Link's Awakening for Switch

[jefflomacy]

I can mostly answer these for you:

- I found it a lot of fun. It plays like any other top-down Zelda game you are familiar with. Link can move at 0, 45 or 90 degrees. The enemy AI is equivalent to that of A Link To The Past, if you played that. There are several Quality of Life improvements over the original game and you don't spend a ton of time in menus as a result.

- I don't know precisely, but I played this game all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then for about 1-3 hours each day Monday-Thursday, and just beat it last night. This included the main quest, finding 40 seashells, several extra heart pieces, and doing all optional upgrades.

- There is a quest that feels optional but is actually required to complete the game. Collecting all of the dolls is a side quest you can complete. There are also optional upgrades, which you will only find by exploring the map and solving the puzzle at each location. There is a seashell collection which gives various rewards, and obviously there are heart pieces scattered around the map.

- I have heard conflicting reports on difficulty. Some of my friends found it easy, others found it difficult. I found it pretty easy, but I did not complete the game with zero deaths and if you need an extra challenge then I would recommend the available Hero mode. You do not have to complete the game to start a file in Hero mode. There are a few puzzles in the game that will stump you for a while, but the answers, as per all Zelda games, are always more straightforward than you think.

 

[Noctis]

I have some little questions for those who already played it. I'm planning to may get the game
sometime because it looks really nice, but first I wanted to know some things about it:

- How is the game play?
- How long does it take (approximately) to complete the main story?
- Are there also side quests you can do? If so, how many?
- Is the game more easy or difficult (or in general how's the degree of difficulty)?

(Note: I never played the original GameBoy version of the game)

- This is a somewhat hard question to answer because it depends on you. How much time do you have. A lot rush through the game and they make the game look relatably short. It took me six days to finish. I approximately played for 2-3 hours during those 6 days.

- Aside from collecting all heart pieces there's 50 secret seashells you can find. Collecting certain amount gives you certain items. I didn't bother looking for all 50 as I found it pointless so I collected on 41 to get the sword upgrade. There's a color dungeon as well which can help you gain more defense or power depending on you. You can always go back and change it if you want to. There's also figures you get from the trendy game. While this is optional getting the yoshi doll is mandatory to continue the story as there is a trade sequence. Giving the yoshi doll to the person who asks for it will get you another item in return where someone else will ask for that item and so forth.

I found the game easy but somewhat challenging. I always found the dungeons to be challenging. If you're good with puzzles and such maybe it will be easy for you. Sometimes just using the sword wont work on all enemies so I had to figure out other items to use like the boomerang, bombs, bow and arrow. If you're played past zelda titles you shouldn't have a problem

 

[jefflomacy]

... Not something you would expect from a first party title. ...

Just wanted to follow up on this because I didn't realize this until I finished the game, but this is not a first party Nintendo title. It was developed by Grezzo and published by Nintendo.

 

[Stalfos]

I have some little questions for those who already played it. I'm planning to may get the game
sometime because it looks really nice, but first I wanted to know some things about it:

- How is the game play?
- How long does it take (approximately) to complete the main story?
- Are there also side quests you can do? If so, how many?
- Is the game more easy or difficult (or in general how's the degree of difficulty)?

(Note: I never played the original GameBoy version of the game)

I can't really comment much on the time it takes to complete or the difficulty since I've played through the Game Boy original countless times and know the game like the back of my hand. What I can say is that this version is easier. They've added more heart containers (from 14 originally to 20 in this version), fairy bottles and red and blue tunics that will enhance either your defense or attack. But there's also hero mode if you like a challenge.

There are a few side quests to do here. Link's Awakening was actually the first game in the series to introduce some side quests. You have the classic trading sequence and the secret seashells (which has been expanded). There's also figurines you can collect and decorate peoples houses with. Finally there's Damp?'s shack (which replaces the photographer's house from DX) where you get to construct and beat chamber dungeons. It was pretty interesting at first but got repetitive quite fast. It was fun to see how much you could cheese it though. lol

Just wanted to follow up on this because I didn't realize this until I finished the game, but this is not a first party Nintendo title. It was developed by Grezzo and published by Nintendo.

Well, it's not like Nintendo could have been oblivious to the framerate issues. It's their IP and they're the ones publishing it after all. It's strange that they released it in such a state.

 

[jefflomacy]

Well, it's not like Nintendo could have been oblivious to the framerate issues. It's their IP and they're the ones publishing it after all. It's strange that they released it in such a state.

I completely agree. It is a disappointing blemish on an otherwise very fun game.

 

[Stalfos]

I completely agree. It is a disappointing blemish on an otherwise very fun game.

Yeah. Personally, it didn't ruin my experience. I enjoyed every single second of the game. But I can see how some people could be put off by it.

 

[Reginald Fairfield]

I have some little questions for those who already played it. I'm planning to may get the game
sometime because it looks really nice, but first I wanted to know some things about it:

- How is the game play?
- How long does it take (approximately) to complete the main story?
- Are there also side quests you can do? If so, how many?
- Is the game more easy or difficult (or in general how's the degree of difficulty)?

(Note: I never played the original GameBoy version of the game)

The original is still on the 3ds eshop if you want to compare.

 

[jefflomacy]

Now that 10 days have passed I finally have official play time data from my Switch. My time to completion was between 30 to 35 hours.

 

[Zane]

Just finished this earlier tonight :] thoroughly satisfying game experience imo. 25 hrs play time is pretty decent considering I didn't do some stuff like find all the seashells or make any dungeons (which I did not find all that enjoyable but maybe I'll try it again now that I beat it) Wish I had bought the amiibo for this game while it was still on amazon.