Once again Nintendo surprise everyone by announcing today another Nintendo Direct, which went live at 4pm UK Time. Over the next 30 minutes, plenty of info was revealed about upcoming Wii U and 3DS titles both known and unknown; but the bulk of the time (the initial eight minutes, longer than any other game discussion) went to The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Releasing in Europe in just nine days time (November 22), Nintendo chose today to launch a brand new trailer demonstrating the game. Following this, Nintendo took time to discuss many facets about the game…
New Characters
…Starting with some of the new characters you’ll meet. One important new character is a witch called Irene. Though she’s seen flying overhead at the start of the game, soon enough she introduces herself to you with a story about how, despite being a witch, she has a lot of bad luck herself and was informed that if she aided someone green, she could change her fortune. As a result – and somewhat begrudgingly – Irene offers her services to you.
What services? Well, how about quick transport? Homaging old ideas such as the Recorder whistle that allowed Link to move to another area quickly from the original Zelda titles, Irene offers Link rides on her magic broom to different areas of the game. You first have to unlock a location for the broom to reach by finding and interacting with Weather Vanes located in appropriate areas; but once this is done, at most points in the game you can touch a bell icon on the 3DS touch screen and select a Vane to be taken to. Irene will then arrive – often complaining – and fly you to your chosen destination. Interestingly, the Broom can even travel to the “Dark World” version of Hyrule (what, so “A Link Between Worlds” didn’t tell you there would be a dark world?) and even pick him up and take him to locations between both worlds – although it appears Irene does not ride the broom while in the Dark World – so it seems her broom really IS magic!
Also making an early appearance is a character called Seres, who is introduced as the daughter of Hyrule Sanctuary’s Priest. A gentle soul with a pretty appearance, don’t expect to spend time with her for long – meeting Yuga, your nemesis, at the start of the game, she is magically turned into a portrait on the wall and trapped there, creating the game’s plot.
New Items and Abilities
Of course, she’s not alone – Yuga also sends YOU into a portrait on the wall as well, before leaving to the dark world via a rift accessedvia the castle’s wall. But the Triforce piece within link lets him free himself from the portrait and back into his physical, 3-dimensional form – and this unlocks the “flatten yourself against the wall and scale it” feature that we’ve seen already and forms a key part of much of the game’s puzzles and dungeons.
Another new feature revealed today might be familiar to long-term Zelda fans. At some point in the game you will pick up an item called Zora’s flippers – yup, you know where this is going don’t you? – and gain the ability to swim and dive in water. No news yet as to the purpose of this feature (although all of us at Sanitarium Towers expect to see it featuring in at least a few puzzles or dungeons – just no Water Temple please!); but Shibata DID give us a hint as to a side quest involving the water. During your swim around Hyrule you may find a cryptic message in a bottle, referencing a man who loves the taste of premium milk. As it turns out, Hyrule now has its own Milk bar, like those seen in more recent Zelda titles. Ask the owner about premium milk and he’ll wonder how you found out about it; then tell you about a man who always used to order it every day before taking trips up the mountains, but who recently disappeared.
Streetpass Gameplay
Of course, it wouldn’t be a 3DS game without taking advantage of 3DS features – and one interesting new Gameplay feature being introduced in A Link Between Worlds involves special battles using StreetPass. Introduced to you by a kind, elderly fellow affectionately called “Gramps“, you will be able to create your own shadowy version of Link to share. Your Shadow Link will have the number of hearts and the basic equipment of your real Link character at the time of creation, plus you can specify another item of equipment for it to use (interestingly, there appear to be TWO equipment slots, but only one is used in the Trailer) – the equipment and the number of hearts your Shadow Link has determines a bounty that will be placed on its head.
After saving your Shadow Link, the next time you tag someone on StreetPass who also has the game, your Shadow Link will be sent to their game; and you’ll receive theirs. Gramps will be able to tell you if a new one has arrived in your game; soon after, their Shadow Link will appear in specific places in your Game World – and you can talk to them and choose to fight them in a special one-on-one battle! Defeating the Shadow Link sent to your game will earn you the bounty attached to them, which will be an amount of Rupees from 30 to – well, who knows? What’s more, there’s no penalty to losing – so StreetPass often and keep getting new challenges to fight and more bounties to gain!
One more thing…
During the Trailer, Link is seen acquiring a Bow from Ravio’s store – the place where all essential equipment can be rented and eventually bought for use in future dungeons. However, Ravio doesn’t charge for the rental. Instead he’s seen to say, “Normally I’d charge a rental fee, but I’ll lend it to you for free. This time, anyway.” Could this mean you don’t necessarily have to pay to acquire all the equipment in the game?
As mentioned earlier, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will launch in Europe on November 22nd – but if you’re a true Zelda fan and have the Rupees cash to burn, you won’t want JUST the game, will you? Also launching that day is the limited edition Link Between Worlds Nintendo 3DS XL Bundle, which alongside a digital copy of the game will also include the Golden, black-backed, special design Zelda 3DS XL. Shiny!
Finally, if you can’t wait nine days to find out more about Link Between Worlds, head to Nintendo’s Instagram page – http://instagram.com/nintendo – where today and regularly until the game’s launch, Nintendo will be releasing a total of four quick 15-second trailers offering more teasers in the run up to the game’s official launch. Oh Nintendo, you do spoil your fans…
With the introduction of Nintendo Network to 3DS, another feature that’s closely integrated into the network will also be débuting. The Wii U’s home-grown social networking tool, the MiiVerse – which up until now has been exclusive to the home games console – will soon be introduced to the 3DS as well, making for a truly mobile networking experience. Some 3DS communities have already launched; with more to join them over the coming days according to Nintendo – so keep your eyes peeled.