The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a top-down action game with puzzle-solving elements similar to the original The Legend of Zelda. After the side-scrolling and RPG-like gameplay of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, the game is a return to the top-down view and gameplay style of the first installment. It introduces major new items to the series such as the Master Sword and the concept of two different worlds, which was revisited to some extent in Ocarina of Time with two distinct time periods rather than dark and light worlds.
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I really enjoy this game! The exploration is fun, the graphics are nice, and it really captures a lot of what makes the Zelda games (and games with similar gameplay, aka my experience) so fun. For having released over 30 years ago it has aged remarkably well, it genuinely holds up to this day (though many classic SNES games hold up very well, LTTP feels especially good to me). There’s a lot to do and play around with, be it exploration, item finding, or just doing the main story. There’s a lot of content and it feels like a game that’d be great to replay.
The dungeon design is almost always great, save for Ice Palace. It’s fine, but ice puzzles and movement already suck and its rocking a puzzle that is either incredibly easy to cheese if you go out of order (which I did) or is really frustrating to do (source: friend testimony). But beyond that, I found the dungeons to all be really fun! The Dark World is also a really fun twist on exploration, making familiar areas in the map feel brand new and introducing a new level of exploration. The Dark World is definitely the highlight of the game for me.
That said, I feel like LTTP suffers especially from being vague and cryptic when it comes with what to do, especially for side content. There’s a lot that you can find and explore, which is good, but the game struggles to actually direct you to these side things. I don’t think for things like heart pieces its too big of a deal, but for unique, optional items it kind of sucks. Even with the main story, sometimes the way to actually progress doesn’t feel intuitive or clear. From the SNES games I’ve played in the past, this feels like a common problem, but I still think that LTTP struggles a lot more with not being clear than other titles.
Regardless, LTTP does A LOT right, and was an important step in the right direction for Zelda. I see why this game is so beloved and has been since its release.
The dungeon design is almost always great, save for Ice Palace. It’s fine, but ice puzzles and movement already suck and its rocking a puzzle that is either incredibly easy to cheese if you go out of order (which I did) or is really frustrating to do (source: friend testimony). But beyond that, I found the dungeons to all be really fun! The Dark World is also a really fun twist on exploration, making familiar areas in the map feel brand new and introducing a new level of exploration. The Dark World is definitely the highlight of the game for me.
That said, I feel like LTTP suffers especially from being vague and cryptic when it comes with what to do, especially for side content. There’s a lot that you can find and explore, which is good, but the game struggles to actually direct you to these side things. I don’t think for things like heart pieces its too big of a deal, but for unique, optional items it kind of sucks. Even with the main story, sometimes the way to actually progress doesn’t feel intuitive or clear. From the SNES games I’ve played in the past, this feels like a common problem, but I still think that LTTP struggles a lot more with not being clear than other titles.
Regardless, LTTP does A LOT right, and was an important step in the right direction for Zelda. I see why this game is so beloved and has been since its release.
pretty good
A rock-solid refinement of the Zelda series at its time and continues to be fun now. The dungeon concepts are all quite unique and great to explore. Past the stellar opening hours up to the reveal of the Dark World, I did lose a bit of engagement from the scenario as I settled into the routine of conquering dungeons. Otherwise, this was a great trajectory point for the series, and It's cool to see where modern Zelda began.
Great aesthetic. Liked what I played. Need to go back and finish this because I know I'd enjoy it.
RetroArch - Android
Conozco el sentir común de los jugadores hacía Zelda, suelen ser videojuegos muy apreciados que cumplen con estándares de calidad altos, intente en muchas ocasiones jugar alguna de sus entregas, empezando por OoT, MM o TP, todas dejandome indiferentes, con está entrega en un inicio no fue así, en general la sentí inmersiva y muy buena, musicalmente muy impresionante y jugablemente solida, al menos hasta que llegue más o menos hasta la mitad del juego, donde empezo a abundar una cantidades absurda de cosas/enemigos que te hacían devolver al inicio de la mazmorra, agregando el hecho de que para volver donde el jefe si este te derroto debes volver a recorrer la mazmorra de nuevo, aún jugando en emulador no use ninguna clase de savestate por lo que sentí esa frustración al completo, con otras muchas que solo hacían sentir al juego estirado artificialmente y con una dificultad todavía más artificial, la música pasó de ser amena a tediosa, pues solo están las mismas canciones una y otra vez, siendo un tedio absurdo, eso se adereza a momentos fuera o dentro mazmorras de resolución de puzzles que resultan inverosímiles y sin una guía directamente irracionales, la historia es mediocre sin nada destacable y las batalles de jefes generalmente insufribles, me cuesta creer el impacto que tuvo, especialmente por que en su generación existen muchos juegos infinitamente mejores, al final lo complete solo por inercia y una obligación autoimpuesta. No muy recomendable.