What’s this, you say? It’s been over a month since I completed anything? You thought I was dead? Well, no! Turns out that Tears of the Kingdom is Quite Large and so it has taken me 95 hours to complete it. Which, across a month, is about three hours a day. That’s fine, right? There’s a lot to talk about regarding the game. For example, a number of people complained that it’s just using the same overworld as Breath of …
Even though I owned this for the duration of my time with a 3DS as my primary form of handheld video gaming entertainment (it was free because I was a 3DS Ambassador), I never actually played it on there. I also have the original, for the GBA, which I did complete at the time (EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO!?) and very much enjoyed it, so no idea why I never played it again. Until now! It’s another one of the GBA games …
It can’t be that long ago when I last played the original (well, DX) version of Link’s Awakening, I thought to myself. After all, I remember most of what I’m supposed to be doing. It turns out it was more than eight years ago. It also turns out I’d not remembered quite as much as I’d thought. This Switch version is a shot-for-shot remake of Link’s Awakening DX. All the same enemies, all the same weapons, all the same characters, …
It’s not Picross e7 though.
I’m done. Well, OK. So I haven’t done Hero Mode yet, but for this playthrough, I’m done. I’ve done everything. Every dungeon finished, every weapon obtained and upgraded, every maiamai rescued, every treasure found, and every item counter (rupees, monster parts, hearts, etc.) maxxed out. Everything. All done. And in just 23 hours too. I didn’t want it end so soon!
Yeah Hilda. You tell me a gooood story. I’m all ears. And not just because I’m an elf thing. Aha. That’s it then – final dungeon done, final final dungeon done, end boss beaten. What a fantastic game. It’s just so perfect in almost every single way, and somehow manages to improve on the Zelda formula by getting rid of most of the linearity, by upping the pacing, and by making it somehow feel both very different and exactly the same as …
And then there was one. One! Just one Sage left! And not only that, but I’ve upgraded my sword using a couple of Master Ores, and I managed to find the Blue Mail (which was in the Swamp Palace, even though some people on MiiVerse told me it was in the Ice Ruins – pfff, idiots). On top of that I’m also most of the way through the final remaining dungeon (bar, I presume, Lorule Castle), which happens to be the Dark …
More not-actually-aimless wandering led to the accidental discovery of Turtle Rock, and the completion of it. The actual dungeon was very small, but involved several “layers” on each of the two floors and was actually quite complicated. It was pretty easy though, brain-twisty puzzles aside, and the boss was easily seen off. After that, I set about looking for entrances to other dungeons, finding my way to the Dark Palace (which had a rubbish stealth section before it – mercifully, …
This is slow going. Not that slow going is a problem, and it’s actually mostly my “fault” as I keep getting sidetracked looking for treasure and stuff – only to be disappointed that I don’t have the Titan’s Mitt to pick up big rocks. Well, sorted that by getting the mitt from the Desert Palace. Now (I think!) I can reach everywhere, as I’ve all the weapons too. But I’m ahead of myself. Before the Desert Palace (which, like in …
DAH DAH DAH DAAAAAAH! I’ve been playing this here and there since it came out. It’s OK, but not really a Zelda game. I mean, it has Link in it, and it has some Zelda-y puzzles, but it isn’t really Zelda. That said, I enjoyed it. Even more so once I realised I wasn’t stuck on a level because you can actually throw the other Link over the lava. Tch. Anyway. Killed the end boss, got the credits and the …
