I was a bit late to the party as far as the DS is concerned but when I was traveling there was a special for new DS systems that included this game and it was under $100. Since I had a 12 hour flight the next day, I thought it would be a great way to help keep my claustrophobia at bay on the super-long flight. It turned out to be a fantastic purchase
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I was a fan of Zelda all the way back to when it appeared first on the NES, later on the SNES A Link between Worlds was, IMO, one of the most perfect games ever made. When the converted to 3D, I don't know why but it just somehow wasn't as great to me... maybe it is because I am old. Due to the small screen size of a DS, I wasn't interested in a 3D experience so when I saw the screen-shots it was pretty clear that this game was almost the same as the SNES game, and that appealed to me immensely.
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Perhaps it is the simplicity of it all that I enjoy but it was probably also a bit of nostalgia as well. The game is reasonably long and just like in the other Zelda games it is open world to a certain degree. There are certain parts that you simply cannot get past because you don't have the necessary item yet. Then, they went and made it kind of up to you about which area you tackle next because you actually purchase or even rent the necessary items in a shop rather than find them. Therefore, there are a number of ways that a person could go about finishing the game.
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you are able to "link between worlds" when you discover these cracks in the walls and you embed yourself into said wall and then shift through to an alternate universe that has a very similar topography. In most cases, this takes you to various items or areas that you can't access by any other means.
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The bosses are just the right amount of creepy, probably because this game, like most Zelda titles, is meant for a younger audience as well as old. None of them are too terribly difficult and offer just the right amount of challenge to gamers of all ages.
The story, as you expect from Zelda, is pretty good and keeps you interested throughout. I have purchased around 15 games for my DS over the years and this is one of the only ones that I have bothered to complete. I think it may have had at least something to do with the long flight, but for the most part, i think it is a fantastic game.