The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening is a truly excellent game. While many are excited for the remake coming this year on Switch, it is also important to remember why it was such an amazing and important game.
This was the first major Zelda game to truly have a deep narrative. While A Link To The Past had a story and NPCs, the story was not very unique. It was the first attempt at a major storyline, but it just wasn’t there yet. The townsfolk were also fairly nondescript and didn’t have anything to make them stand out.
Link’s Awakening was different in that it had both characters with real and distinct personalities and a story that dealt with existential themes. This started a trend that has continued to the present day with Breath of the Wild. It was not just the townspeople who had personalities though but also the enemies. Everyone felt unique and different and that was a good thing.
Link’s Awakening also helped solidify the dungeon design that the series uses, where you defeated a miniboss to get an item that was then used to navigate the dungeon. Even A Link To The Past did not have this formula, and it was put to good use in Ocarina of Time.
Lastly, to look to the future and the remake, many have felt that the visual style doesn’t fit. I disagree fully because Link’s Awakening is supposed to be full of visuals that do not seem quite right. This is a thematic choice as it establishes that something is off with the world you are in. The new style fits perfectly and I wonder if the cameos will receive tweaks as well to reflect the changes and additions to Nintendo’s library.
Link’s Awakening is a truly important game and when the remake comes out, we should appreciate what it did for the series and gaming as a whole.