Introduction

Now that I have completed A Link to the Islands, I found this Wind Waker inspired hack to be a fascinating concept and intrigued me to try it out for myself. Along the way, I have noticed a number of issues that need to be worked on as well as areas that could be improved upon. I will address them below:

Game-play Review

Each dungeon received a significant increased in difficulty as you progress, which lines up according to the Zelda format. The addition of the ASM hacks was an improvement to the game to be able to explore more freely with this layout. The graveyard being more useful was a great addition, it reminded me of Link Awakening DX and became more than a space. The lack of indicators on the map on where the dungeons could be found was a fun concept because it forced you to speak to anyone in order to find them and how. This concept felt similar to the NES version of Zelda, where you are free to explore almost any dungeon you want, even though you will face obstacles because of it. It was a fun challenge. It was an interesting concept to add the magic maze to get to the next dungeon, as long as the answer for it was easily assessable somewhere on the map. In this case, it was.

It was a great idea to have the Minish Cap Link, but why did he have to look like he had a bad sun tan? It’s very off-putting when you have to play like that throughout the whole game. The world map itself was an intriguing concept at first, but as I began exploring, it didn’t feel as open and immersive as I would have liked. It felt empty and unmemorable, which is unfortunate because there was potential with this map to be had. The open exploration in this world map can be difficult to navigate when you are constantly looking out for a way to not be soft lock because of a glitch or improper tile placement. The amount of skeleton knights is insane because you only have so many bombs unless you make money to wish the fairy more bombs. There are a wide variety of enemies that don’t only have to be skeletons that you could utilize more. After reaching the dark world, you are only given a small portion of the world to explore, which is disappointing considering the potential it could have. Along the way, you will discover that most of the equipment will be found in one location, which I found disappointing. The main reason is that it was given to me too easily, and I prefer to work for it. This is why it is important from my perspective to utilize both maps.

Writing Review

The narrative being told here has been decent. I’ve noticed that sometimes the writing sounds closer to being the original game rather than being its own story. I have also noticed that Ganon mentions the wizard as if we fought him twice, but he never appears in the game.

Suggestions

– Adding a Read-Me Log of where items are and a Change Log of what was changed in the original game to make things clearer.

– You could extend the islands to the dark world by using lava and the Cane of Somaria as a form of travel.

– The dark world’s seas could also be transformed into a huge swamp.

– Optimize the use of both maps to expand exploration and improve item placement.

– The water ripples should be polished to look more consistent with each other, instead of looking like you are swimming in two different waters.

Conclusion

After reviewing this story, I actually enjoyed it to a degree. I believe this hack as a lot of room for improvement. This hack is intended for anyone who is interested in trying the game, regardless of their experience. I’ll recommend this hack to anyone who wishes to try out, even though there are a considerable number of issues that’s need to be addressed. This is considered to be the final version; I hope that this hack will be revised one day to reach the potential I believe it to have.