The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is the seventeenth original Zelda game. It is the first Zelda title developed specifically for the Nintendo 3DS.

A Link Between Worlds is an indirect sequel to. It features a similar Overworld, gameplay, and music. The title thus marks a deliberate return to the series' 2D roots.

The game was released on November 22, 2013 in North America and Europe, November 24 in Australia, and December 26 in Japan.

Story
After having a nightmare involving facing down a dark, shadowy figure, Link awakens to the sound of Gulley, the Blacksmith's son, calling for him. Having overslept again and shirked his responsibility to his master, Link follows Gulley to the Blacksmith's shop where he runs into the departing Captain. As the Captain thanks the Blacksmith for his new shield and departs, the Blacksmith's Wife quickly realizes that the absent-minded Captain has forgotten his sword and tasks Link with returning it to him. A guard at Hyrule Castle's front gate reveals to Link that the Captain intended on visiting the Sanctuary before returning to his duties.

As Link arrives at the Sanctuary, he walks in on a conversation between the Priest's daughter, Seres, and the gravedigger, Dampé. Seres offers to retrieve the Captain from inside as Dampé continues speaking to Link, before the doors to the Sanctuary slam shut and Seres screams in terror. Dampé informs Link of a secret passage into the Sanctuary beneath one of the graves, and urges Link to use the Captain's sword to navigate the passage and rescue those inside. As Link arrives, he witnesses a strange sorcerer by the name of Yuga casting a spell on Seres to transform her into a painting. The Captain - having failed to defend the Priest and Seres - met with a similar fate on the Sanctuary's wall. As Link charges to confront Yuga, the sorcerer transforms into a painting himself, yet retains his mobility. Link loses consciousness after hitting the wall, and Yuga escapes with Seres' portrait in tow.

Link awakens in his house once more, this time with a strange person in a rabbit hood greeting him as he regains consciousness. The person introduces himself as the merchant Ravio. After learning what happened to Link and asking permission to stay in his house a while, Ravio gifts him with an old, musty bracelet and suggests Link report the happenings to Princess Zelda so something can be done about it. At the gate, a guard laughs at Link's story and gains the attention of Impa, Princess Zelda's attendant. Impa allows Link entry into the castle as she announces Link's arrival to the Princess.

Princess Zelda quickly recognizes Link from her dreams, and gives him the Pendant of Courage - something Link at the time believes to be a simple good-luck charm - and tasks him with finding the elder of Kakariko Village, Sahasrahla. Upon meeting him in his home, he urges Link to warn his student Osfala of Yuga at the Eastern Palace, since he is also a descendent of the Seven Sages. Link finds him at the entrance, but Osfala is sure of himself and does not view Yuga as a problem.

After navigating through the palace, Link sees Yuga turn Osfala into a painting before his very eyes. After Link manages to get the upper hand in their battle, Yuga furiously turns him into a painting as well. Leaving him there, Ravio's Bracelet lights up and frees Link, granting him the ability to merge into walls freely. He finds Sahasrahla at the entrance of the palace shortly before hearing an earthquake near Hyrule Castle.

Yuga puts a barrier around the castle, upsetting Sahasrahla, who believes the Pendant of Courage is still inside. This is relieved when Link reveals he already has it; he is then tasked in finding the other two pendants in the House of Gales and Tower of Hera so he can obtain the Master Sword to break the barrier and save Zelda.

After obtaining all three Pendants of Virtue, Link ventures deep into the Lost Woods and pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal. Returning to Hyrule Castle, he destroys the barrier and confronts Yuga. Near the top of the highest tower, Yuga turns Zelda into a painting as well. Link and Yuga battle again, and Yuga then flees through a crack on the wall.

Link follows him, only to find himself in Lorule, a dimension opposite to Hyrule that is on the verge of ruin and Yuga's homeland. In the throne room, Yuga revives Ganon with the paintings and fuses with him to obtain his Triforce of Power. Becoming a beast, Link is almost doomed until Princess Hilda appears and imprisons Yuga. She tells Link he must save the Seven Sages if he wishes to save their worlds from Yuga's threat.

When all Seven Sages are saved, Link is gifted with the Triforce of Courage. He returns to Lorule Castle to confront Yuga for the final time, only to have Princess Hilda end up betraying him, shortly after explaining Lorule's history of how it too once had a Triforce, but the people destroyed it due to the conflict it caused. While it was done with good intentions, it had terrible consequences on the state of their world. Wanting Hyrule's Triforce in order to save Lorule, Hilda takes Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom, and is ready to take Link's Triforce of Courage as well.

After Link and Yuga battle once more, Yuga betrays Hilda and takes the Triforce of Wisdom from her, now having two pieces. Planning to take Link's to remake Lorule in his image, they have one final battle. Zelda grants Link the Bow of Light, which he can use to get Yuga out of his painted form. After a long battle, Yuga is finally defeated.

Zelda is freed, but Hilda is still desperate to save her kingdom. After a brief argument between the two, Ravio shows up and reveals himself to be Link's Lorulean counterpart. He explains to Hilda that this sort of chaos is exactly what led to their Triforce being destroyed in the first place. Realizing the error of her ways, Hilda sends Link and Zelda home through Lorule's version of the Sacred Realm. It is revealed that through the crack on the large slab there is where Hilda and Yuga first felt the presence of the other Triforce, which led them to devise their plan to steal it. Ravio, being a coward at heart, was too scared to confront them himself and came to Hyrule to find a hero who could stop them. After Link and Zelda's departure, Lorule grows dark, showing that it is at its end at last.

Returning home, Link and Zelda find themselves in Hyrule's Sacred Realm, with the whole Triforce up ahead. They both touch it, with the wish for Lorule's Triforce to be restored after all they had seen. It is granted, and then reforms right in front of Hilda and Ravio. They are surprised and grateful to them both as light shines on Lorule once again, saving it and Hyrule in the end.

Overview
A Link Between Worlds uses traditional 2D gameplay as featured in the early Zelda games, unlike the Nintendo DS games ( and ), which used an unorthodox touch-screen control system, and the 3D games, which started with.

The top screen shows the main game, while the bottom one shows the map, Rupee count, item buttons (X and Y), a button labeled "Items" which allows players to access a twenty-slot inventory, and "Gear," which provides an overview of Link's main items like Pendants and the sword. The touch screen is comparable to that of, though the map is enhanced in several ways: the player can zoom in and out of it, up to 20 pins can be placed to mark locations, and the map tracks Link in real time. The A button controls basic actions like transforming and talking, the B button is dedicated to the sword, and X and Y use items. R raises the shield, and the D-Pad can shift the camera in certain areas.

The 3D capabilities of the console enhance gameplay in several ways; for example, some dungeons allow the player to see beyond the current floor they are on. An Energy Gauge that regenerates over time also appears, this time used for every item in the game, even replacing collectible bombs and arrows.

At the beginning of the game, only the Y button is available for items; later, Link finds Gulley's Pouch, which allows him to equip items to X. Also, after he meets Irene, he can call her at any time with a button on the touch screen.

Item Renting
A Link Between Worlds is non-linear compared to other recent Zelda games, almost to the extent of the original, allowing Link freedom in choosing dungeons or areas to explore. This was accomplished with a new item rental system, which allows Link to temporarily use any item in the game, provided he has enough Rupees.

Item renting is done through Ravio's shop, which carries all key items- they are no longer found in dungeons. Link can either rent or buy items, the difference being that renting is temporary and costs fewer Rupees. If Link loses all of his hearts while renting items, they will be taken from him and returned to the shop, forcing him to trek all the way back to re-rent them. This was a conscious decision on the part of the developers to make the game more challenging. Purchasing items, on the other hand, is far more expensive, but allows Link to keep the items and also allows him to upgrade them with Mother Maiamai.

Wall Merging
A major new ability in the game, tied to both the gameplay and the plot, is the ability for Link to transform himself into a drawing. This ability is used to cling to (and move along) walls, fit through tight crevices, and access Lorule, among other functions, allowing it to be an integral part of puzzles. Other characters in the game, such as the Sages, also become portraits in a similar fashion as a plot device. This ability depletes the Stamina meter, so it cannot be used indefinitely. Link resembles a hieroglyphic sketch in this mode, as do others who have been transformed.

Development
Confirmed by Eiji Aonuma on November 3, 2011, this new installment takes elements from previous console Zelda games. Aonuma also stated that it is not a direct sequel to any of the other titles released on the Nintendo DS. Shigeru Miyamoto publicly stated he wished to create something "new, based on, or starting from" in an April 2012 interview. The game was officially revealed on April 17, 2013 during a Nintendo Direct. A playable demo was made available to the press shortly afterwards, showcasing the dungeon from the trailer.

Upon the game's release, an official Iwata's Ask feature was released, an interview conducted by Satoru Iwata to the game's developers, regarding the game's conception and creation. They revealed that the project involved a rocky development cycle, being put on hold after various members of the team were drafted to other 3DS/Wii U projects. At first, the game was meant to be a sequel to the Nintendo DS games, and a prototype was made in 2010 that featured the same cel-shaded Link as seen in Spirit Tracks, with a simple flattening ability that allowed Link to blend into the wall.

This prototype approved by Shigeru Miyamoto (who had dismissed previous ideas for the game as "20 years old"), the team was ready to develop the game, but they were drafted to various Wii U titles and SS undefined; the team effectively disbanded. Aonuma quietly resumed work on the game along with a few other people before the rest of the team began returning. Miyamoto then proposed that the game be based directly on, and development started "in earnest". Elements that the team focused on were achieving a framerate of 60FPS, which allowed the action on-screen to flow smoother and also allow drag-and-drop item rearrangement on the Touch Screen, use of stereoscopic 3D, and new gameplay elements that built on A Link to the Past.

Timeline Placement
A Link Between Worlds is an indirect follow-up to A Link to the Past and its direct sequels, set in the same world as the SNES classic, but features a new storyline and new dungeons. In various interviews, Eiji Aonuma said that the game shows what happened to characters from A Link to the Past after the events of that game, but features different incarnations of Link and Zelda than those of A Link to the Past. The Hero and Princess of A Link to the Past are mentioned repeatedly, and their story is even narrated through a series of paintings in Hyrule Castle.

A Link Between Worlds takes place centuries after the events of but before  in the "Downfall" split timeline after Ganon successfully defeated Link in Ocarina of Time. It features different incarnations of Link and Zelda, including the descendants of most the characters from Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past, such as the sages.

The final cutscene of the game reveals that it is most likely set immediately before Hyrule's Golden Age, which was when the Royal Family of Hyrule gained possession of the unified Triforce, and peace ruled the land. The main story of the game ultimately concerns how all three parts of the Triforce were unified and enshrined again in the Sacred Realm. The game ends with Link and Zelda touching the Triforce together and wishing Lorule, along with its own Triforce, be restored to its former state. Both worlds are restored to lasting peace, having learned to respect the power of the Triforce.

Setting
A Link Between Worlds takes place in both Hyrule from A Link to the Past and an alternate, corrupted version of Hyrule, called Lorule. Lorule once housed a counterpart to the Triforce of Hyrule, with similar powers and history. However, wars were fought over Lorule's Triforce, and the people ultimately destroyed it, resulting in Lorule's corruption. As a direct counterpart to Hyrule, Lorule features many counterparts to Hyrule's citizens, like Princess Hilda to Princess Zelda.

Audio
The game features re-arranged music from A Link to the Past. The sound effects are also carried over from A Link to the Past. In addition to this, the "StreetPass Battle Theme" and "StreetPass Victory Theme", are rearrangements of the famous "Temple Theme" from The Adventure of Link, marking only the second time that a music theme from that game has appeared in a subsequent Zelda game (the first was in when Zelda awoke). This is because in StreetPass mode, the player is Link and the opponent is 'Shadow' Link, inspired by the controversial final boss fight from The Adventure Of Link.

The Japanese commercial theme is a deliberate throwback to the original commercial from A Link to the Past, featuring new vocals by Schadaraparr.

Limited Editions
A special limited edition 3DS XL bundle was released, including a gold and black Zelda-themed console emblazoned with the Triforce on the top and bottom, and an eShop code to download the digital version of the game. It was released at retail price of $219.99 in the United States.

A collector's edition version of the game was also released exclusively to the European retailer GAME. It included a physical copy of the game, a eShop download code, a cartridge holder shaped as Treasure Chest which plays the item get fanfare, and a poster.

Trivia

 * While experimenting with a strict top-down view with 3D graphics, the team ran into a unique issue: the game "looked boring" because only the tops of characters' heads and buildings could be seen. In order to emulate the older, 2D, pseudo-3D graphics, all non-environmental models are skewed in their placement, to slightly face up at the camera. At certain parts in the map, this can be seen on statues and tall grass by wall-merging.
 * A Link Between Worlds's Hero Mode is the only one in the series to include recovery hearts.
 * This is the first Zelda game where the highlighted text is blue rather than the traditional red.
 * Bosses in this game flash red when they are low on health to indicate that they are near defeat (Big Moldorm gradually turns red as it takes damage).