A Precursor to Greatness - The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- Not many games can boast a legacy anywhere near as legendary as A Link to the Past can, and for good reason. Without it, the Zelda series, and perhaps the game industry as a whole, would be very different, as it was the first game in the series to establish the "Zelda formula," a term used to refer to the similar gameplay and story structures seen throughout the Zelda series and beyond. In spite of this fact, I wish only to judge this game based on its own merits, just as I do with all games in the Zelda series and beyond. Will it hold up? Or will I piss off a sizable portion of my subscriber base by saying mean things about it? Better grab some popcorn, because it's going to be a long video, baby.
Miyamoto Interview Source: shmuplations.com/zeldalttp/
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: A Natural Step Up
02:31 The Tutorial: Assault on Hyrule Castle
09:00 The Overworld, Part 1: a Brave New Hyrule to Explore
15:27 Aside: Introductory Dungeons
16:28 Introductory Dungeon 1: Thesis
18:25 Aside: Dungeon Bosses
20:11 Introductory Dungeon 2: Antithesis
22:02 Introductory Dungeon 3: Synthesis
25:26 Intermission: A Shift in Tone
26:45 Story and Characters: The First, and Probably the Worst
34:55 The Overworld, Part 2: Progression Gates
38:06 Dungeon 1: a Rough Start
41:51 Dungeon 2: Swamped with Poor Design Choices
45:11 Dungeon 3: This Dungeon is Pretty Fire (Get it?)
48:36 Dungeon 4: Robbed Blind of any Good Game Design
53:06 Dungeon 5: a Pretty Ice Dungeon (Sorry)
1:03:40 Aside: Either and Quake Spells
1:05:17 Dungeon 6: Miserable Dungeon Design
1:12:28 Dungeon 7: Rock Solid Game Design
1:20:49 Final Dungeon: A Towering Achievement
1:29:01 Final Boss: The Prince of Darkness
1:32:10 Aside: Zelda Staff Roles
1:33:09 Conclusion: Good, but Not Quite Great - เกม
One small issue in Thieve’s Palace- The boss actually is somewhat telegraphed. It’s super minor, but there is a person in Kakariko who will talk about the leader of a group of thieves, named Blind. He couldn’t remember a whole lot, but he said he hated light. It’s a stupid hint that most people miss, but it is there.
Yeah I remember that guy; he's in the stone building next to Sahasralah's house, I believe. My issue isn't that this hint doesn't exist: it's that the actual process of luring the boss out is random and tedious, and that bringing Blind outside like he asks results in the dungeon resetting. Is this interaction kinda cute, conceptually? Sure, I appreciate that the devs wanted to do something different with the dungeon boss, and having to lure him out is a cool concept. But the process is obtuse and it doesn't make any sense story wise for Blind to A) pretend to be one of the maidens, and B) to do no harm to the player when he actually does as he's told. This isn't even half the reason why that dungeon is so awful, though, so really there just is no winning with Blind's Hideout.
@@octorokreviews oh absolutely. Thieves Palace is the worst of them all, and the way of revealing the boss is stupid and not well thought out, but at the least Blind is one of the more fun bosses to fight.
I guess it’s strange for me looking at some of this, I’ve been playing this game for years and most of the flaws are things that I just accept as “just the way the game is”. But it is good to see a critical review of the game, like most of the dungeons I couldn’t find fault with before. Great video, by the way!
Thanks, glad you liked it!
@@octorokreviewsocto....u need more Zelda vids come on don't make me have to do stuff with my wife
@octorokreviews the npc that tells you Blind doesn't like sunlight is on the light worlds equivalent location of the dungeon in the dark world. The NPC tells you this looks towards the window, and then the floor basically tells you that you need to get light from a window through the floor. It was telegraphed you just missed it
Was looking for asmr videos, got distracted by this instead. Great video btw, appreciate the hard work it must have taken to make
ASMR, nah....all you'll get here is the sounds of enemies getting stabbed and bombed. So unless your dreaming of war or conflict I think your in the wrong place lol....but good luck though
I WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS
Bro I could have got you a broad
Me too 1 hour 43 minutes....that's a new movement
Loves these videos!
This is quite a fair assessment. I personally found this game one of the most frustrating out of any video game I've played, for reasons that are half outside the game's control. I'll list them off here:
- You can't change directions while spamming your sword, instead you have to wait to move again, this is different from *every other 2D Zelda game*
- Enemies are extremely aggressive
- The lantern acts like a *flashlight* instead of an *actual lantern*, making a cone of light instead of a circle
- You respawn with half of your full health (same story in the GB(C) games but worse here because of the aggressive enemies), it's worse at a set 3 hearts in Zelda 1 (and Minish Cap but it's rare to die in that game)
- The magic meter exists (and for some reason the lantern uses magic??? Also I'm fine with Between Worlds' magic meter since it passively refills)
- Your position is not saved when you save and quit, meaning you have to trek back to the place you were when you did quit (which isn't as bad in Zelda 1 because its overworld is honestly not too big)
More nitpicky things:
- Link's pink hair looks bad in my opinion. It's not justified by palette limitations and it conflicts with the game's promotional artwork
- Link's running animations are way too fast compared to his movement speed
- Some of the items feel really weak to use, sometimes in spite of their actual effectiveness
- You can't pick up drops with your sword
- 90% of things that turn to look at you turn only their head in 90 degree increments, sometimes a full 180 degrees can happen with some enemies
- The object/character sprites in general don't look very appealing at all, and are sometimes inconsistent from different angles (Zelda herself only looks good from the front, and seems to have shorter hair at the other angles)
- The dark world dungeon theme is *unbearably* repetitive in both song structure and appearance (it's in at *8* of the 11 dungeons, torturous to listen to with how hard the game is)
- The low health beep is incessant
And worst of all, the entire internet set my expectations way too high. I had played nearly every other 2D Zelda game beforehand, and as such LTTP was a huge gut punch to all the progress in game design I was used to. I felt (and still do feel) *thoroughly* lied to. One of the only redeeming parts of the game was the Ganon fight, being tense even when fully upgraded, and housing *the* best music track in the game. It currently sits at second to last in my own Zelda game tier list.
If you liked it, good for you, but it's not the Zelda game for me. Excited for the next analyses.
Dude, are you my brother's spirit animal or something? He played this game when I came up to visit him and he hated it just as much and for many of the same reasons. An unpopular opinion for sure, but one I can respect after seeing what he went through lol.
#NotAllLanterns. Look up "bullseye lantern."
@@tkc1129 Look up both the spritework and artwork of LTTP's lantern; It is certainly not a bullseye lantern. Even if it was, I don't think it excuses how frustrating of a gameplay element it is.
Wow...
I thought I was the only one who considers the first Zelda to be the definitive experience. Granted, I played it back when it first came out, and I have fond memories of discovering new secrets, sharing them with friends, and just immersing myself in the game as a kid. I've played many of the other games, including A Link to the Past, and I can agree that they have their good points. I even believe that A Link to the Past is a good game. But I could never go along with all the others who consider this to be the pinnacle of Zelda games. I always considered the first one to be better because of the freedom you had playing it, and all the secrets that were packed into it. Hell, it's part of why I like the Souls series of games so much, since they give me the same feelings I got playing Zelda as a kid. I've always felt like a bit of an odd ball preferring the first game to A Link to the Past, but hearing you say the same thing makes me think I may not be so crazy after all. Or at the very least, I have company. :P
My flavorite game! I'm gonna have to wait to watch this when I'm at work, to numb the monotony of everyday life.
This is exactly what I do. And if you want some other good content, check out 'another Zelda podcast' here on TH-cam they're great to listen to at work!
My flave too
AHHHHHHHHHHH FINALLY
Hah thanks, I appreciate the enthusiasm. Sorry it took so long to make, but I hope it was worth the wait.
I found your channel from a comment you left on Nerrels channel. I’m always happy to find more Zelda reviews. Nice job on these.
This game is the gold standard of zelda, probably the most powerful link of them all at this point 👉 👈
i disagree with A LOT of what you said but this long vid is definitely well made (a link to the past is the best zelda 🗿🗿)
A very underrated Video, by an underated Channel. A great Exploration of A link to the Past and a great Critique of why it is and isn´t that good, what it does and doesn´t do well.
Thank you! I'm working on my Link's Awakening review right now, so feel free to stick around for that, if you're interested.
So, I think my opinions of the game may be higher than yours, but I wonder if part of that may be due to the fact that I've only played it through, like twice and with a few years in between. I feel like standing up to several playthroughs in relatively rapid succession may be a high bar.
Given your opinion that worldbuilding doesn't mean much if you don't care about the characters (and rightly so, I should think) I'm looking forward to the inevitable Link's Awakening review. It's probably my favorite 2D Zelda game, and IMO Marin is the first great Zelda character.
I must say, this review was very well done. It didn't feel like it was almost 2 hours long.
Thanks! Yeah, you're totally right about liking the game given the way you played it. To be honest with you, I like the game much more after a normal playthrough as well. It takes research and a critical eye to get passed those feelings and look at it with objectivity, which is why I had to play through it and write scores of notes in order to eliminate that internal bias. It's a very fun game if you 1) love Zelda like I do, and 2) aren't being super critical about it. That's why I think it's still a really fun game, even in spite of my cavalcade of logical issues with it. A 7/10 on my rating scale reflects that: it's good, but too fundamentally flawed to be considered great. And I totally agree with your comment on Link's Awakening; that's a game that took the time to make you care about its characters, so the ending where you effectively kill them by waking up the Wind Fish is absolutely gut-wrenching and tragic. I love its story to death, so I think you'll find our opinions on that game will pretty much be in sync :)
I think that multiple playthroughs moreso pushes immediate emotions about the game to the side, since LTTP was one of the most frustrating games I've ever played, and I've only done one playthrough. My stance on the game would probably be a bit more neutral with multiple playthroughs, but until then it's second to last in my personal tier list.
There is a good deal of freedom in this game. It helps that I have been playing this game the majority of my life. I got this game for my birthday the year it came out. I was 10 then I am 41 now. Anyway long story short once you have the hammer its actually possible to sequence break the game. Personally my dark world dungeon order is 1,4,3,2,6,5,7.
Mom was right, i never had any friends to play zelda with because i got 98 percent of my body tattooed with zelda pictures. what was i nuts, why did i put that laser eye on my forehead
I just love your Saharsrahla impression.
Hmmm I think the plot critique while varranted isnt entirely fair: its still a product of its time and I remember Back in the day, as a kid I cared about this text. It wouldve been jarring to Not have the dialogue, it was important.
Games Back then didnt have such storytelling as they do now.
But it was important.
Nowadays I can hardly imagine doing anything but skip all over the Story in this game.
But it wasnt always so.
The Times are a changing
How do you not have more subscribers?
The algorithm works in mysterious ways, unfortunately. One minute you're getting hundreds of subscribers every week, the next practically nothing. That's why you gotta genuinely enjoy what you do in order to keep up the TH-cam gig.
Great video. It's very interesting to see this game reviewed from someone who wasn't there when it launched. My glasses are way too rose tinted to see it's flaws. But you've peeked my interest that maybe it's not the greatest Zelda game. I look forward to checking out your other vids.
So what your saying is that off one particle of antimatter is shifted then Mario never would have existed
Man used guts theme in this video n that’s my alarm sound so I thought I had an alarm going off when it was just the vid💀
you do bring up several valid points, however, the cane of somaria is actually a versatile item if you know what it can be used for. keep in mind though that the item is still buggy and can cause the game to freeze if you exit skull woods when it is placed on the switch at the entrance. did you know the block can be used to hit switches instead of placing bombs? you can also use it to shield yourself from floor tiles if you do not want to waste using the cape or cane of byra. enemies that do run into it take damage however the block can only receive 5 hits. that being said though it could have been stronger and also survive more hits.
the other thing in regards to the linearity. yes temple of darkness must be entered first to get the hammer, however, believe it or not, but the hookshot is never needed for the other remaining dungeons except near the end of ganon's tower. skull woods and thieve's town has a navigational puzzle where you can use the hammer to reach a portal from the lost woods. misery mire you can dash bonk, but it is a bit tight here.
skull woods is the smallest dark world dungeon and the optional rooms have bad door logic. one room has a navigational puzzle but only provides resources behind a locked door. two other locked doors are from drop entrances and the player can actually get stuck here if they use a small key on the wrong locked door and the fallmasters make it easier to mess up here. if this happens you have to save/quit. i do think skull woods was a great concept but it is a poorly executed dungeon.
i don't think temple of darkness is a bad dungeon. i actually think it is a good dungeon but some of the small keys could have been placed in better spots while the arrow switch should have appeared in the eastern temple. keep in mind if you reach a dead end, the magic mirror really helps, but it also reminds the player that they have to come back later. yes it is a tease and the best solution here would be to add some resources, but dungeons such as the forest and water temple also can put the player at a dead end if they do not navigate the dungeon rooms thoroughly. also the bombable floor does have some clues. for one you see there is a stair well and the pit pattern resembles the drop floors in the tower of the hera. here the player should figure out that they need to drop down here. there is also a bombable trap that can teach the player about bombable floors. they see a crack in the wall and instead it reveals the floor. if i fixed the temple of darkness, then i would move the small key in the dark room closer to the eyegore statue room and also change the second mimic puzzle to be more challenging. i would also remove the peg switch in the room below it and instead have it placed in the eyegore switch room.
water dungeon is weak i will give you but it does have some verticality puzzles.
the dungeon in thieve's hideout i would not really say is bad design but it is a missed opportunity dungeon. i would not be surprised if blind telling you to escort him outside was a translation error, however i have no idea what the original text was and it could be the same thing.
also the fire rod can be substituted for bombos medallion in the ice temple. there is also a design flaw in that dungeon where if you enter it without the hookshot and miss out on a small key you will get stuck in the hookshot where mirror warping is the only way out. i have no idea why the dev team added a shutter door here while also placing a block near the door as it is a one way path.
one trapping i have noticed about z3 dungeons is how small keys are next to locked doors frequently. it appears the tower of hera is the only dungeon where this never occurs because it only contains one small key, however, part of the reason this occurs so frequently is because of program limitations where you can only have two events per super tile (which can be divided up into quadrants which gives the illusion of more rooms).
so when it comes to the temple of darkness the magic mirror is a big help here to get around dead end backtracking. also one of the locked doors is optional because of this. the mirror is extremely versatile in several alttp dungeons.
Your assessment mirrors my own experiences on my first playthrough 2 months ago, especially concerning the 7 dark world dungeons.
I feel, nostalgia overrides so many of the game's flaws, however it is still a major step forward from Zelda 1 ( let alone Zelda 2)!
And to be quite honest: Had I had the opportunity to play this as a child with enough time, I might also be so very nostalgic about it. As an adult with a job and a kid of my own, I simply don't have the time nor the patience to deal with the game's many secrets and obtrusive gameplay tho.
The only part where my opinion differs from yours is its comparison with Zelda 1.
Side note: I'm totally with you on your preview rating of WW and SS!
If you wanna look at a game whose "nostalgia overrides so many of the game's flaws," look no further than everybody's favorite pile of shit known as Ocarina of Time.
ALttP is a step down from Zelda 1, and I feel this is evident in the densities of the two games. ALttP has a more restrictive order of operations, and enormous amounts of space with nothing of note in them, particularly toward the middle of the map. Zelda 1, on the other hand, has secrets on nearly every screen, and gives you the freedom to explore it all at your own pace. Unlike aLttP, Zelda 1 only has areas that feel like locations in their own right, not just pathways to pass through on your way to other places.
It's pure speculation from me, but to answer your questions at the end of the video, I think the 7 wise seal prevented Ganon to get full access to the power of the Triforce and Aghanim is a puppet he can only control from the other side. there is also something about him being corrupted man, making him less able to access the power of the Triforce.
With that said, MAjora's Mask is clearly better than Link to the past.
If memory serves, the hammer from dungeon 1 actually opens up three and four as well as two but you have to go to kakariko in the light world to get to them.
I've been waiting for someone to correct me on this for almost a year now, when I replayed it again and realized that that was technically possible. Congratulations, sir, for being the first one to point that out.
@@octorokreviews lol! serves you right! :P But in all sincerety i really enjoy this video so far. I've been watching it in segments. I've been rethinking my TTRPG dungeon design in light of your critique of ALttP. Thanks!
You do indeed need to go to Kakariko Village in the Light World first for Dark World Dungeons 3 and 4. Most times I replay this game, I'll beat Dungeon 1 and make a beeline to Dungeon 4 in order to get the Titan's Mitt so I can get the sword upgrade early.
The only thing I didn’t like is how much it held your hand in comparison to the first two. It was a little odd when you’ve always had to read into cryptic stuff to figure things out and it’s now got a waypoint. I would’ve been ok with go here and nothing else. I think it does seem to do better towards the end though. I really like how they added the spin attack to compensate for not having diagonal attacks. The pc port is awesome, it takes a little compiling to work but it’s cool to see the thing run at 900fps on a pc 😂
Your underrated
Thanks! I certainly try my best to make good videos, so I’m glad to hear you liked one of them that much.
@@octorokreviews yw my dude and I agree with a lot of the statements you said.
41:15 - I like your joke here. I think it would be even funnier if she tried giving her speech, but as you yeet the plot you play her speech at like 3 or 5 times speed.
1:12:00 - to me it looks like you found an exploit that makes the boss's 2nd phase look super easy. I don't remember it being that easy whenever I fought it.
50:44 I think at this point, players have learned to bomb or ram every cracked flours or walls, so it seems obvious you should drop a bomb there. As for unmasking the Boss, one of the villager in the light world tell you that Blind hate light, so the moment you have your suspicion about the girl, you know light is a way to confirm it. Other hint: no one remains human in the dark world unless they have the Moon Pearl. the prisoner girl still being human is an other clue she is fake, beyond not wanting to go outside.
The one issue that remains in this specific plot was why she asked you to bring her outside in the first place. Maybe Blind thought it was night time at first.
Aside from time, I mostly agree with your review that this game, while good, is a bit over-praised. I got to play Link's awakening before Link to the past and my enjoyment from te game suffered a it from that comparison.
May i ask what is your favourite zelda game? You might have said already so sorry
A good question, and no, I haven't explicitly said it before now. I think I find myself playing Zelda 1 the most; it's quite easy to get into and doesn't require any real time investment like the others. In that sense, I think I have the most fun with that game. My actual favorite though, in retrospect, would have to be Ocarina of Time. It has the best story, the best world building, top notch dungeon design, and definitely the best world design in the entire series - there's a reason it's the highest rated video game of all time. So those two are my favorites, with Ocarina being my objective choice, and Zelda 1 being my subjective one.
@@octorokreviews I played zelda 1 a few years ago just out of curiosity because i loved botw and was floored at how good it was. Couple years later i played ocarina and majora expecting to like majora more because of the weirdness but found that ocarina to be the real masterpiece of the 2. Botw, ocarina, zelda 1, thats how I'd rank them and im super curious on how youll do botw (whenever that is) because i feel like youll be able to provide so great insight beyond "dont like divine beasts" and "weapons breaking sucks". Love the content, even when its not zelda, keep it up!
I think the criticisms are fair overall, I think for a lot of people who grew up with this game we see it through rose colored glasses to an extent. I recall being very excited about this game but at the time, the only zeldas we really had was the first one which was great, and the second one which even at the time had mixed reviews... generally kids back then saw the first game a lot more positively at least among the guys I knew. I do recall nintendo power was running comics based around a link to the past (and also super metorid) around when this came out which added a little more to the characters in this game, but it was still geared more towards kids. Looking back I wish they included that comic series with the game but hey they had to give a reason for parents to shell out money for nintendo power lol I can't say the comic really saves the plot holes in the plot though. One thing I do recall is that stupid red cane that makes blocks, it was also useful for setting off switches cause when you lay a block, if you hit the botton for using the item again the block will explode into 4 directions so when I was a kid I actually found it more useful then bombs for setting off the switches in puzzles because bombs tend to have more splash radius and can turn a switch from blue to orange back to blue occasionally, especially if there are two of those switches on top of each other. With the cane you can just drop a block next to one and set yourself up where you need to be after triggering the switch then make it explode with the wand. Other then that though it is fairly useless though. But looking back I find most old games I liked a lot had awesome sound tracks and sound effects, they tend to bring these old games to life since back then all they had was sprites. The sound was easily 10 out of 10 in a link to the past so that's prolly a big reason for a lot of people back then they have fond memories of this game. If I could go back and change anything though, I'd polish up the plot a lot, and include the Nintendo power comic with the game to add more character development to the characters in it, maybe polish the dungeons up a bit, but it would of been cool if Nintendo kept making gold cartages with this game and included a little cut out window in the package so you could see it. Just because as a kid that's what drew me to Zelda in the store was this shimmering gold game and the art on the cover. I'd of liked to see them continue with that. All and all I remember this game as being amazing but then I haven't gone back and played it through in years and most people I know who played it but didn't grow up with it find the game to just be ok to good. There's certainly some rose colored glasses involved on my part.
Great video, I might not agree on everything (especially Zelda 1 being the better game) but a lot of flaws you pointed out are true and I feel people gloss over them when talking about it
This sucks that he made a 1:45 hr long vid for such little attention 😔
I enjoy Oracle of seasons. I like more action based game play. Rings make the have more options as well! However, that is my that. I do agree with points on ALTOP.
Also play the game without training rings . I like the Seasons as a stand alone experience.
One you get past the cheap-ass Moldorm boss of level 3, this game is great!
Dude, your son is so cute! Bless your family, man.
*sees title*
PRECURSOR?!
Sconches lol they're barbecues
While I don’t necessarily disagree with some (or even most) of your analysis, I think the biggest flaw in a review comes from not playing it in order of release - by playing a lot of the other 3D games released after it, you don’t really get how big of a technological advancement it was from Zelda 1 & 2. It’s alot like how everyone rips on OoT for its limitations, yet it is the very first 3D Zelda game - so it had to start somewhere.
I do agree the wall of text (aka lore) after beating a level is annoying by todays standards, back then it was great to have a story told (even if it wasn’t probably the best way to go about it in hindsight).
Unfortunately in todays world, if you start with the 3D games and go backwards to their 2D roots, you’re going to find lots to criticize because of limitations of the day, and you will compare them to what their newer 3D games do better - this unfortunately can (and usually does) lead to an unfairly critical review.
While i grew up with it as my 3rd Zelda game I ever played, I do try to skip past the wall of lore at the end of a dungeon (and heaven forbid how much I will cuss when I accidentally click “I don’t understand” at the end of that wall and it’s repeated all over again!!), I don’t feel this is necessarily bad game design, but rather a first attempt at making a Zelda game with a fleshed out story (Zelda 1 & 2 had very little story)…..
Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s just me appreciating a game for what it was when it came out and having context for what other games were out at the time (and how much better ALttP was compared to almost everything)….at the end of the day, there are flaws for sure. But overall, it is a great game and does deserve recognition for how it progressed the franchise forward, and improved on everything it’s predecessors did (or didn’t) do.
I actually did play all of these games in order of their release; I know I made several comparisons to future games from the franchise, but those were comparisons I made in retrospect to enhance my argument. I actually think this game is a downgrade compared to Zelda 1 in most respects; sure, it looks a lot better, sounds a lot better, and improved the boss design to a large degree. But the freedom Zelda 1 provides is still unmatched by any other game in the franchise, and in my humble opinion, having no story is better than having a terrible story, especially when it interrupts the flow of gameplay the way that a Link to the Past does.
I also don’t believe that it was necessary for a Link to the Past to have a bad story in order for future games to have good stories. Plenty of game franchises have started out with very strong storylines both before and after a Link to the Past. And sure, the game was large in scope for the time, but that doesn’t make it good, and I think that’s the main point of my video: a game can be important while also not being a masterpiece. Is a Link to the Past important? Yes. Is it good? Mostly. But that doesn’t excuse the game’s many flaws, which, as you yourself said, can be quite irksome to deal with.
Games can be old and gold, like with Ocarina of Time (which still holds up to the modern day), but a Link to the Past is fool’s gold; beautiful at first sight, but increasingly disappointing the closer you examine it. I can appreciate its historical importance, and even enjoy playing it for most of the game’s runtime, but I refuse to give it any further slack simply because of its legacy. Especially when there are much better games in the Zelda franchise to compare it to, both older (Zelda 1) and younger (OoT, TP).
Thanks for watching the video and commenting, by the way; I really appreciate it.
I disagree with everything you've said. You weren't there at the time. Oh well, moving on.
The same year A Link to the Past released, Final Fantasy IV released.
Good stories definitely existed in games by this point, there isn't much of an excuse for ALttP to be written like this, in my opinion.
To be honest. I liked Zelda 2 better than Zelda 1. It’s like playing botw over skyward sword. For me. Tutorial shmooturial.
I had to beat this game one weekend. In high school before the girl i was dating would cuddle with me. I was a sucker. I ended up marrying her. Now instead of playing zelda every sunday morning im in church. Good or bad im not sure we will all agree on the same conclusion.
I definitely have a lot of nostalgia for A Link to the Past, but I think you are being a bit harsh in a couple of areas. Namely, your anger at the text dumps and blaming the narrative for restricting your exploration in the Dark World. You are really exaggerating here and I think, not taking into context when the game was made and what it's focus was. The story was an enhancement to the game, but not the focus. As well, once you clear the first Dark World dungeon the rest of the Dark World largely opens up. You said Dungeon 1 only unlocked Dungeon 2, but that is not true. 3 and 4 are also unlocked. Getting the item from Dungeon 4 also unlocks both dungeons 5 and 6. From there you can beat several dungeons out of order if you want to, such as going directly to Skull Woods or Thieve's Town.
Regarding Thieve's Town, you are hinted at the boss early in the game in Kakariko Village. An NPC tells you about Blind the Thief and how he hates light. Finding that unique room with the lighting shining onto the cracked floor is a the final hint. A little cryptic maybe, but not unreasonable. I suppose the puzzle might work better if to reach that room you had to first find the "Maiden" then be lead to that room with nothing blocking you from the floor. So you bomb the floor and jump down with the Maiden and that makes her transform. I think the boss of that dungeon is rather unique and memorable. That's your loss.
I did think even as a kid that the that the text dumps at the end of each dungeon got repetitive, but that was on repeat playthroughs when I knew the story by heart. I think you have exaggerated this issue because it just seems to bother you in a way that it doesn't mother other people. Not saying you are wrong to be fundamentally annoyed by text dumps, but they are pretty much a product of their time. As well, your presentation of those is a bit manipulative reading them in a deliberately annoying voice. Again, I don't think there is anything wrong or unreasonable about being annoyed by text dumps, but your tastes are not universal and the text dumps should be taken in context. I should also point out that the reward of beating each dungeon is that juicy Heart Container.
The problem with Zelda 3's story isn't the story itself or even the text dump, but the fact that characters have no development or much interaction with the player. They are bare bones. Now that too is a product of its time, but is still a detriment. NPC's in every Zelda game after blow it totally out of the water. I'm sure we both agree the story itself would be a lot better and stronger if the text dumps were replaced with proper conversations or cut-scenes and character interactions. I had hoped since I was a kid that a remake of ALTTP would do exactly that. Sadly, it never really happened. I wish a true ground-up remake was done because ALTTP's concept with the Dark World vs Light World is my favorite in the series. The lore is great and I'd love to see it worked better into the story.
I love ALTTP but I do agree with much of what you say, including your criticisms. I think that the sequels to ALTTP have long since surpassed it as a games and as Zelda games in particular. I think ALTTP's legacy is that of a foundational title alongside or on top of the original. A Link to the Past walks so that Link's Awakening and Ocarina of Time can and so on can all run.
Edit: Oh, and as a kid I had a neighbor who skipped the Moon Pearl somehow for some reason and was stuck after beating Agahnim. I think you should keep in mind that game developers hand-hold players so much because a lot of people get stuck on really, really simple puzzles and mechanics. It's just the way of the world.
I do disagree with you here, I would rather return to LTTP than LOZ1 or OOT any day, but it's not like what you pointed out in the video isn't based on some truth. The story is just that, a nothing burger, but I think most people don't consider the game to really have much of a story in the first place. I would have to pay a little bit more attention to your individual critiques of the dungeons to comment there, though I would say that for a 2D entry, there has been a lot worse, which might say something about 2D zelda? Not sure!
Zelda 1 had money making game
Come on! Blind's puzzle is one of my favorite in the entire, despite how bad the dungeon is.
I remember, as a child, being hyped up to find that Blind guy that was mentioned in the beginning of the game. And everything clicked so rapidly in my head when I saw the empty boss room.
First time I played, going out of the dungeon with the lady didn't feel like a waste of time to me, because I could use the new dungeon item to save the frog/dwarf that upgrades your sword.
So it felt like, to me, how the developers wanted to do this dungeon, you try to rescue the lady, discover she is a fake because she run away from the sun light, save the frog that you probably saw before getting inside the dungeon, get better sword that makes the dungeon easier and defeat the boss.
54:08 Also, I don't think that dungeon re-used the same to layout to recycle assets, I think the developers legit wanted to bring a sense of safety to the player, only to break it in the next room.
I'm using my anecdotal first experience, but first time I got trough that hard first dark world area (I died a lot to those cyclops), getting inside the dungeon and seeing the familiar shape I thought "oh, thank god, it's just going to be same dungeons with harder enemies, that's going to be easy" only for my expectation be immediately broken by the next room.
Also... sorry for leaving three large comments, but this one will be the last.
I know you wanted your review of the ice palace to be positive, but that last block puzzle before the boss is my most hated puzzle in the entire game, specially considering how well the dungeon is designed overall, and I'm surprised you didn't mention it.
It's so bad, in fact, that the GBA version straight up just removed it and made a more obvious puzzle. I hate it so much that I always skip it with the Cane of Somaria.
Fuck that block puzzle.
@@user-zm4ro7yh4e There's a lot to unpack here, but I really appreciate the engagement on your part, so... here we go:
Blind the Thief's encounter only really works if you know what you're doing before going into the dungeon, or if you get lucky. Yes, Blind the Thief is mentioned passingly in Kakariko village, but it's a completely random and insignificant tid-bit at that point in the game, so I feel like absolutely no one should be expected to remember it by the time you get to his dungeon (which isn't even named in the game - only outside materials call it "Blind's Hideout," so putting the two together is quite difficult). As for the part about being tricked leading you into exploration, I must protest, because one: the Titan Mit is easy to miss, and therefore won't necessarily be in the player's possession upon being dragged outside, and two: most players won't take that as an opportunity to explore, like you did. You'd have to one: know about the Master Sword upgrade before hand, and two: be willing to leave a dungeon half finished in order to pursue that side quest, which you could honestly do with any dungeon if you really wanted to. Is it unique? Sure, but that doesn't make it good.
As for your comment on dungeon 4, it honestly just sounds like a personal experience that you had when playing the game. It's great that you felt that sense of relief turn to dread like you did, but I think it would be reading too far into it to say that that was a purposeful design choice by the devs, especially since most people would not assume they were repeating a dungeon like you did, since the Dark World had been shown to house entirely different structures from the light world before this point. A cool experience, but a personal one nonetheless.
As for the Ice Palace block puzzle: I actually did write about it in my original script, but I cut that section out for time, since my discussion on the Ice Palace was already dragging on by that point. Perhaps I should have kept it in, because it is incredibly intriguing to me that the devs designed that puzzle in such a way that a sequence break could actually let you skip it. When you say that you do dungeon 6 before 5 in order to get the Cane of Somaria so that you may skip that puzzle entirely, I think "damn, that's incredible level design." Rewarding players for sequence breaking is super great, as it enhances player freedom and allows players to spice up their subsequent playthroughs of the game. I don't think it's terrible as you say, but I do understand where you're coming from, because it does require circling back around a floor or two after hitting a switch, and that can take some time. But the fact that the devs designed the puzzle so that sequence breaking would let you skip it entirely is a sign of smart game design, so I think the fact that you choose to do that in all your subsequent playthroughs is actually a symptom of the puzzle being good, rather than it being bad.
Thanks for the engagement; it makes me happy to see people react to my video with such thoughtful and well laid out comments like yours.
@@octorokreviews well, you asked for engagement, so I give it on to thee 😉
I will admit that I'm emotionally invested in the Blind's summoning puzzle, because my memory of solving it is really nostalgic for me.
But I still think it's defensible from a gameplay standard. The early big key, the empty boss room and how small it is are the three features that makes this dungeon memorable.
I think that changing the damsel with a chest with the big key and locking up the boss room wouldn't make the dungeon better, it would just turn an annoying dungeon into an annoying and generic dungeon.
I know that it wasn't designed well, but I think there is merit in what they were trying to do, by changing the pace of a dungeon and trying (but failing) to make it revolve around a single puzzle, which is summoning of the boss.
Yeah, I can't really prove or disprove that point, without the devs answering it, of course. But I still believe it's a callback, I don't think that copying and pasting a single room and changing the tileset would've saved too much memory.
That actually blew my mind. All these years when I did it I thought I was breaking the game. Like, doing something the devs didn't see coming, like it was a glitch or something.
But now I think I just fell into the developer's invisible hand and never realized it.
That actually makes the GBA version worse in that regard because now, despite the puzzle being easier, you can't skip it.
I never saw it in that way, you definitely changed my perspective. You should have included that point in the video.
Thanks for replying, that's the reason why I enjoy smaller channels. You can actually make comments the engage video instead of inside jokes. 😊
if i remember correctly sword upgrades are irrelevant against blind because his damage is fixed regardless of sword power.
28:10 I don't see how this makes Slime any worse than the vast majority of isekai which all do the same thing, except Slime's unoriginal Dragon Quest-esque fantasy setting is at least way more vast and interconnected than any of those. It's also really just an iyashikei series more than it is a typical isekai, so Rimuru being overpowered is not as consequential or important either.
U said link met a new enemy hukuboku after you beat one ten minutes early when u say u loved the dungeon
lol I ignored sarahsala , he’s there for cry babies.
Definitive 2d game? Theres only 2....u cant use other console variations
HEY, LISTEN? let's give you some of your own medicine. If u woke up for real as link and u had to choose a companion to assist you. who would it be. SAHASRALA, FI, TATL, NAVI OR THE DARUNIAN GUY......no other options....and don't thinkbyour getting if as easy as just picking one.....tell us why? Oh boy is this gonna be great. Cannot wait to see if you actually respond. My guess is you wont. Whats a matter McFly..... CHICKEN 🐔
Juxtaposition eh.....yeah you lost 80 percent non millennials on that word
Yeah - disliked and switched off when you said you didn't like it.
“Precursor to greatness” are you kidding? It’s barely been surpassed. No it’s not as long as later games, but it does Zelda ever than any other game in the series other than Zelda 4
But you really.lost me when you were refering to the Player as "He" exclusively.
Not all players are "he", for which I am an example.
Also: Exposition bitch?
...
Damn, boy, whats the matter?
I’m pretty sure I just do that when writing because the player character (Link) is male, and because I’m male. That’s probably why I stick on male pronouns when describing these things. I’ve tried other ways of doing it but it all felt unnatural to me, and using ‘they’ is grammatically incorrect so I avoid it when writing scripts (though I do tend to use that word in normal speech). I’m just experimenting.
Also, I called the maidens the “history bitches” because I hate them and I thought it was funny lol. Maybe that joke didn’t land for everyone but if so, I’m sorry about that. Also, I’m sorry I didn’t reply to your comment immediately - it must have slipped through my notifications haha.
Zelda 2 rocked. Gets way too much hate