We’ve been playing Link’s Awakening.
I want to give it glowing reviews, but it’s really just okay.
Maybe it’s because I’m coming down off the high of a truly amazing game.
Or maybe it’s because I was expecting something more like Twilight Princess or Breath of the Wild.
Twilight Princess was a cross between an RPG and a puzzle game. We loved it in our house! Breath of the Wild felt a lot like Zelda crossed with Skyrim. Again, we loved it. There was more than enough story to keep us going even if we would have liked more. The DLC was disappointing to us, but the core game itself was excellent.
I never played the original Link’s Awakening, so I can’t say how true this is to the original. Although I played the original Legend of Zelda, I stopped playing video games at a certain point in my life and didn’t pick them up again until my husband guided me back to them after we met. So, yeah, there were a lot of years I missed.
Still, Link’s Awakening felt more like playing Link in Mario Brothers game. It even had a lot of the same mobs.
Maybe it will get better, but I think we’re close to halfway through the game now.
My daughters love to watch, and I think my oldest could actually play it with little help. She’s working her way through Twilight Princess on the old Wii, and I think that is more difficult.
Still, I am disappointed. I have always been intrigued by the Legend of Zelda series. It reminds me of this William Shakespeare quote:
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Ganondorf born king of the Gerudo with a burning desire to rule the world.
Zelda born the princess of Hyrule.
Link whose story changes but is ever entwined with Ganondorf and Zelda.
My daughter once asked me who my favorite character in the series was. The writer in me answered Ganondorf.
The game may be called Zelda, and we may follow the adventures of Link, but the story is Ganondorf’s. Zelda is wisdom. Her course is set. Link is bravery. His course is determined in reaction to Ganondorf.
Ganondorf is power.
He could be an elemental force of destruction. Raw power like a volcano. Like he was in Breath of the Wild.
But in other retellings, he isn’t. He’s born a man that has free will. That makes choices.
And we do not know that all of his incarnations are evil.
If he chooses the light, perhaps the triforce resonates in perfect harmony and ushers in an era of peace and prosperity. When he chooses the dark side, well, there’s a reason Hyrule is destroyed in the opening scenes of Breath of the Wild.
But the choice is always his. Link and Zelda are simply responding with wisdom and bravery to his choices. Makes for an interesting character.