A neat 2D Zelda with some fun new items and ideas but ultimately fails to actually do anything radically new or interesting compared to its predecessors.

Oracle of Seasons is fun enough but it’s tough to go from Link to the Past to Link’s Awakening to this. It’s noticeably less impressive than the prior two 2D games both in terms of world design, bosses, dungeons, and puzzles. While I do enjoy the puzzle-first intent of this game, most of the puzzles themselves didn’t feel particularly good to figure out especially compared to the stuff in LTTP and LA. In most Zelda games, the bosses and puzzles have an intentional visual design to them that makes it clear to the player which items they would need to use to interact with the world. Some amount of trial-and-error is to be expected when solving puzzles, but a lot of my time with this game was just cycling through the items in my inventory to see what worked. In fact, almost every boss fight was literally me just playing “guess and check” with my available items to see what damaged the boss.

I do think some of the mechanics in this game were cool. I really like the concept of Seasons as they add variability to a limited map size and a nice degree of puzzle-solving to just getting around the world. That said, it ended up being kind of a pain to find the right stump to change seasons for the location you needed since seasons would inexplicably change or reset between some screens but not others. I also thought the magnetic glove was a really cool spin on the hookshot that we’re used to. In general I liked the system of taking basic items like the slingshot, feather, and boomerang and getting upgraded versions of all of them that are a spin on how we’re used to those items functioning. The ring system was an interesting idea, but having to go back to the ring shop to change which rings are in your inventory is terrible. Plus only being able to equip one at once means that, once you find the good one, why would you ever change your rings again?

Overall, Oracle of Seasons is a fun entry into the Zelda franchise but it is a clear step-down from its 2D predecessors in just about every way. Instead of making improvements in areas that needed it (like combat), the only new things it tries are just a couple of new items and ideas that don’t really offer anything substantially different from other games in the series. The most interesting thing this game does is the Link-Play system but I haven’t played Oracle of Ages yet. Will modify this review after finishing both games.

+ Cool new unique items I haven’t seen in a Zelda before
+ The seasons system is a cool way to get more out of a smaller map

- Puzzles and boss fights felt more like trial-and-error than actual problem-solving
- Combat is still as iffy as prior games
- Seasons are a cool idea but it ends up being kind of a pain
- The ring system sucks