Online gaming publication IGN has awarded Link’s latest adventure an impressive 9.4, stating that it’s one of the best Zelda games ever created and up there with the classics. The reviewer says that The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds recaptures the spirit of adventure that gave the early games Zelda their potency, but it’s not a total revolution.
What could have been an easy sequel that traded on past glories is instead a compelling argument for digging up the foundations of Zelda and seeing what happens – rather like Wind Waker did 10 years ago. A Link Between Words is not a total revolution, but it may very well be the start of one. I haven’t been so challenged by a Zelda since Ocarina of Time, and rarely have I been so consistently surprised by one.
Between Worlds recaptures the spirit of adventure that gave the early games Zelda their potency, and lays out a vision for Zelda games still to come. It invites them – and us, the long-term fans – to let go of conventions that may have been comforting, but were ultimately holding us back. It’s at once intensely nostalgic and powerfully novel, unpatronising and cerebral. As a Zelda fan, I couldn’t wish for much more.