Link's Awakening Announced

Wait, what's happening? Did this blog travel back to the year 1993? It is quite unusual that Nintendo releases a game of the same name again. Usually they add something like "DX" or "3D" or "HD" or they change the title around like they did for Metroid: Samus Returns. They could have called this "Link's Awakening HD" or "Link's Reawakening" or even "The Dreaming Island" as a nod to the original Japanese title, but this game is just called "Link's Awakening", exactly like the GameBoy original.

But it also looks pretty much exactly like the GameBoy original, if you see through its new clay graphics. It's like a one-to-one conversion of the original game's environments, like every bush and every tree and every sign is in the same place.

And this feels almost odd. In the past, whenever Nintendo attempted to truly remake a Zelda game, it turned into its own thing. When Capcom remade the first The Legend of Zelda for the GameBoy Color, it turned into Oracle of Seasons. When Nintendo remade the overworld of A Link to the Past for the Nintendo 3DS, it turned into A Link Between Worlds. And with Link's Awakening it was only natural to expect something similar, a "requel" for the game. But we're getting probably the most accurate Nintendo remake ever here (not counting remasters like Ocarina of Time 3D).

The new clay visuals also take some getting used to. They are cute and it explains why Grezzo was looking for experience in Unreal Engine and Unity, because it looks a lot like modern topdown adventures with this art style. Let's see, where they will go from here. Remakes of Oracle of Ages & Seasons immediately come to mind as well and hopefully we're also getting a new multiplayer Zelda in that style.

But maybe this will also feature some sort of multiplayer. From what we've seen so far, it really is just an accurate remake, but they could add some features on top of it. After all Link's Awakening was a game, where Link had many companions, with the Chain Chomp, Marin, the Ghost and the Flying Rooster. Maybe they'll add a special companion for a coop mode or so.

What I really like is the seamless overworld. It makes a big difference, if you can peek over from Mabe Village into the Ukuku Prairie without any transitions between screens. In a way this is even somewhat a realization of the environmental teasing in the original game, where you had screens that showed you what's ahead of your current area. You could even take a peak at the final dungeon's area before visiting the second dungeon... And it is nice that this has been brought to the next level with this remake. You can even see the soldiers at the bottom of Kanalet Castle while on top of the castle.

There also seems to be one item-based change compared to the original: Link is always auto-shielding, like in the Nintendo DS games. This was not the case on the GameBoy and there are probably some more changes for convenience in item handling, e.g. placing the Pegasus Boots onto a shoulder button or so. Also, he's using a Hylian Shield for the job, but it does make sense considering that he brought it from Hyrule.

What's also interesting and unusual for Zelda are the anime style cutscenes. We've never had this before, but it looks like Nintendo is cooperating with some studios here, since Fire Emblem: Three Houses is getting lots of anime cutscenes as well.

Anyway, at the end of last year, I have expressed troubles about replaying my beloved GameBoy classic (see here), because I've played through the game so many times already. But this is exactly what I needed to get back to Koholint, where I certainly will replay the original once more before getting into the remake, just to have the comparison.

After all, it will be the differences that make this interesting.