Link's Awakening (2019 Video Game)

''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Grezzo and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. ''Link's Awakening'' is a remake of the 1993 game of the same name for the Game Boy. It retains the original's top-down perspective and gameplay, along with elements from the 1998 re-release '' Link's Awakening DX''.

The game features a new art style in contrast to the previous games in the series. The gameplay is presented as a "retro-modern" art style with toy-like character designs, diorama-like world designs, and tilt-shift visuals that evoke the original game's presentation on the Game Boy. The opening and credits cutscenes are presented akin to anime. It also features customizable dungeons which the player can create and then complete for rewards.

''Link's Awakening'' received generally positive reviews for its improved gameplay and faithfulness to the original game, though its technical issues were criticized. As of December 2022, the game has sold over 6.46 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay

''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' is an action-adventure game with a top-down perspective. Its story is set on Koholint Island, where Link, the player character, is stranded after his ship is caught up in a storm. After being rescued by a girl named Marin, Link embarks on a quest to collect the eight instruments of the Sirens and awaken Koholint's legendary Wind Fish in order to escape the island. Similar to other ''Zelda'' games, the player traverses an open world with dungeons scattered throughout, featuring puzzle-solving sections and boss fights, along with trading sidequests. In contrast to other top-down games in the series however, ''Link's Awakening'' allows the player to jump over obstacles and onto platforms, and also features side-scrolling platforming sections.

The "Color Dungeon" from '' Link's Awakening DX'', which features color-based action and puzzle gameplay, is included. In the ''Link's Awakening'' remake, Link's sword, shield, and upgrades are permanently equipped, allowing more items to be equipped to action buttons in comparison to the original game. Various minigames also received updates, such as realistic physics in the claw crane minigame. As players progress in the game, rooms from completed dungeons can be collected as pieces that the player can use to reassemble their own dungeons by visiting the non-player character Dampé at his shack. The player can then complete these dungeons in a time attack mode to earn rewards such as a life-replenishing fairy bottle, contributing to an increased replay value over the original game.

Players can also unlock "plus-effects", which can be added to customized dungeons to enhance their gameplay. The Link figurine from the ''Link's Awakening'' series of Amiibo offers a unique plus-effect, summoning Shadow Link to chase the player through the dungeon; defeating Shadow Link increases the value of rewards earned upon completing the dungeon. Other figurines from the ''Zelda'' series of Amiibo and ''Zelda''-themed figurines from the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series of Amiibo will unlock a random one of five special chambers in ''Link's Awakening'', which cannot otherwise be obtained in game.

Development

''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' is a remake of the 1993 game developed for the Game Boy. ''Link's Awakening'' had previously been remastered for the Game Boy Color in 1998 as ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX''. While the original game was presented in 2D graphics in an almost square ratio on the Game Boy, the remake is presented in 3D graphics and a widescreen ratio on the Nintendo Switch. Some sections of the game's dungeons do not fill the width of the screen though, as certain puzzles and boss fights were designed to work with the tile count of the game's original square ratio.

The game adopts a "retro-modern" art style distinct from other ''Zelda'' games, departing from the original game's ''A Link to the Past''-inspired art style while retaining its simplicity. The toy-like plasticine character designs also depart from the '' Wind Waker''-inspired designs typical of many top-down ''Zelda'' games since the release of ''Four Swords Adventures''. It features a tilt-shift effect that exaggerates the camera's perspective and depth of field. The effect was inspired by the appearance of the original game's "small ..but very vast" world on the Game Boy's 66 millimeter screen; series producer Eiji Aonuma chose a diorama-like art style to help achieve this effect.

Dampé's shack, which houses the player's customized "Chamber Dungeons", replaced the Camera Shop from ''Link's Awakening DX'', which served as a Game Boy Printer hub. The idea for Chamber Dungeons came after Shigeru Miyamoto inquired with Aonuma about the possibility of implementing ''Super Mario Maker''-like gameplay into the ''Zelda'' series. Feeling that simply allowing players to create their own dungeon would be too difficult, Aonuma instead introduced Chamber Dungeons, by way of letting players rearrange existing dungeons as a way of achieving this goal – repurposing them as puzzles themselves for players to solve.

While the original game and ''DX'' use simple sprite-based graphics for the cutscenes due to the limitations of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, the remake features hand-drawn animated cutscenes, directed and storyboarded by Junichi Yamamoto. Oswald Katou handled the concept art, backgrounds, and color design.

Release

''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' was announced via a trailer showcased during a Nintendo Direct presentation in February 2019, and was showcased with a demo at E3 expo that June. The game is published by Nintendo, and was released on September 20, 2019, distributed digitally via the Nintendo eShop, and on physical game cards through third-party retailers. The game would be the 2nd most trending game in the eShop on the day of release, only being surpassed by '' Untitled Goose Game''. A "Dreamer Edition" of ''Link's Awakening'' included the physical version of the game packaged with a ''Dreamer Art Book'' featuring concept art. A "Limited Edition" exclusive to Europe included the physical version of the game encased in a Game Boy-themed SteelBook packaged with an expanded 120-page art book. A limited two-sided poster of the game was given out to those who pre-ordered at select retailers. A ''Link's Awakening''-series Amiibo figurine of Link was released simultaneously with the game, replicating the character's design as he appears in ''Link's Awakening''. Aonuma described it as the first Amiibo figurine to faithfully replicate Link's in-game appearance.

Reception

''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Most critics agreed that the main game needed little change, but that the quality of life updates were welcome. ''Forbes''s review states that ''Link's Awakening'' is "an excellent remake of an already faultless Zelda game". While ''USgamer'' stated that the remake "improves most of the flaws" from the Game Boy version while maintaining what made it a classic in the first place, they did note that "slowdown issues pop up from time to time".

Sales

''Link's Awakening'' launched at #1 on the UK, Japanese, and EMEAA physical all-format charts, becoming Grezzo's biggest debut and the fastest-selling Switch game of 2019. It sold 141,375 physical copies in Japan and 430,000 copies in Europe during its first three days on sale. As of December 2019, the game sold 250,947 physical copies in Japan. As of March 2021, the game has sold 5.49 million copies worldwide. The 2023 CESA Games White Papers revealed that the game had sold 6.46 million units, as of December 2022.

Awards

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

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''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening''
at Nintendo.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019 video game), The
2019 video games
Action-adventure games
Open-world video games
Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development games
Nintendo Switch games
Nintendo Switch-only games
Single-player video games
The Legend of Zelda video games
Top-down video games
Video game remakes
Video games about dreams
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Ryo Nagamatsu
Video games set on fictional islands
Video games that use Amiibo figurines
Grezzo games