Gaming The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

[stewacide]

Curious if anyone's tried an aggressive CPU overclock and whether it smooths things out, since the stuttering seems linked to asset streaming. I'm leery of going beyond docked clocks.

 

[Hephaestus]

Curious if anyone's tried an aggressive CPU overclock and whether it smooths things out, since the stuttering seems linked to asset streaming. I'm leery of going beyond docked clocks.

I have. Maximum clock on everything.
Yeah, framerates are smoother, but the difference isnt all that big.
Load times are much improved tho.

 

[Bladexdsl]

87 on metacritic: bye bye performance day1 patch

the slowdown must only effect pirates

 

[Vi3trice]

DF do note the perf issues.

 

[ceanth]

DF do note the perf issues.

Would that suggest no day 1 patch?

 

[beard00]

i guess you can’t patch an underpowered console..

 

[Xzi]

DF do note the perf issues.

Seems like it's mostly the dynamic resolution changes which are causing performance issues. Would be nice if they let you set it permanently at the low end, but either way it should be something they're able to smooth out a bit through patching. A day one patch is looking less and less likely by the hour, but that doesn't mean there won't be any patches ever.

 

[godreborn]

will this game be playable at midnight? I think they use pacific standard time.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

nm. the game is now playable. I guess they used eastern time, 'cause it's still not 12 where I live.

edit: contra rogue corps and ni no kuni still do not work. I read somewhere that first party is updated at midnight while third party games are playable at like noon+ the day of release.

 

[SG911]

Apparently, you can't steal from the shop anymore despite showing it can be done at E3.....

First thing i tried when i got my hands on it. Good hour or so trying, don't think you can unless there's a new way of some sort. Probably not a thing anymore.

 

[FancyTorben]

GameExplain:

Fps issues due to memory(leak) problems; "sort of fix" -> download to internal storage = less (shorter) drops to 30fps + faster loading times

 

[cherryduck]

I keep trying and it ain't happening. Could you upload a vid/capture?

First thing i tried when i got my hands on it. Good hour or so trying, don't think you can unless there's a new way of some sort. Probably not a thing anymore.

You totally can. Here, I uploaded a video.

 

[Kadji]

Played for one hour, cleared the first dungeon and the first half of the second dungeon.
I tried every minigame that was aviable up until that point and I played in Hero Mode.
I have also played through the original game as well as the DX Port for the GBC.

I want to start with the things that are quite annoying:

• The frame rate as well as the resolution still flactuate heavily. I was hoping that it won't be as noticeable, but I was wrong. The 30 fps drops happen on a very regular basis. GameXplain as well as Digital Foundry have done performance analysis if anybody wants more details on that topic. It's still very playable and the drops happen only for a short time but they are very noticeable and do have a negative impact on the enjoyment I get from this game
  
  
• The lack of D-Pad support. I don't understand why the D-Pad can't be used in the game, it is completely deactivated, even thouh the game still uses 8-way movement. This is, in combination with the Pro Controller, not very enjoyable. Controlling Link with the Stick does not feel good, especially since the Pro Controller has sticks that travel further before hitting the edge of the housing, resulting in a bigger Deadzone. Maybe it feels better with the smaller JoyCon Sticks that don't have that much travel area around them, but I have yet to try them out with the game.
  
  
• While the "Dungeon Builder" is a nice idea that falls short on what it could have been it is realy sad that it replaces the photo shop. I would have loved to see the pictures in the brilliant art style that the opening movie is using. The Dungeon Builder, from what I have read, get's boring quite quick. I have yet to try the Dungeon builder out though.
  

Now, not everything is bad with this game. Here is everything that I think is good about Links Awakening on Switch:

• The graphics and artstyle, while beeing a very subjective topic, fit the theme of the game perfectly. The chibi, almost toy like artstyle give the whole Island a feeling of beeing not real. Very fitting in my opinion. The game can also look realy stunning in some situations, such as water reflections and lightning effects (torches in Dungeons come to mind) .
  
  
• The Soundtrack is, from what I have heard up until now, very good. Although I am not 100% satisfied with every new track (there just is something special to the GB Sound Chip) Grezzo / Nintendo did a very good job of capturing the original mood of the Soundtrack and translating it to a modern game soundtrack.
  
  
• Hero Mode is a realy good addition to the game for people that have played through it manny, many times. The game in it's original difficulty is not realy hard, playing in Hero Mode and going for a 0 death / good ending Run can put you under pressure, especially in the early game. Double Damage from enemies means that the first Boss only has to hit you twice to kill you (2 hearts damage). Also, and I am not 100% sure on that, it seems like Bosses are harder on Hero Mode. The first Boss needed 4 hits to kill, and after the 3rd hit he went into some kind of "rage" mode. I am quite sure that in the original game you only needed 3 hits and the boss never "enraged" or something like that.
  
  
• The changes in minigames are interesting. Especially the crane game is much harder now with realistic physics. It took me multiple tries to get the Yoshi doll, especially since the crane speed is much faster now and does not come to a full stop instantly when not pressing the button anymore (just like in real life). In the fishing minigame I noticed that the heart piece was not on it's usual location, I also was unable to catch the "big fat fish". The minigames are much harder from my first impressions, which is nice, since they now offer additional rewards.
  

Now to finish this post here are some more impressions that are "neutral" - neither bad changes, nor good changes (in my opinion):

• It is very interesting that Nintendo / Grezzo put more emphasis on Shield usage. For example, the Enemies in the Forest with a sword and shield: In the GB version you could hit them from the side if positioned properly. Now in the Switch Remaster it seems like you have to block his attack before you can hit the enemie. Trying to hit it from the side did not work out.
  
  
• No "Return to Main Menu" option after death. Your only options are "continue" and "Save and exit to main Menu". I am not 100% sure how reliable the auto save feature is, but saving by hand and reseting the game if you died seems to be the "safest" way to get a 0 death run. I would have liked to have a "load" function in the game over screen, but this is only a minor anoyance.
  

Now, after the hype is gone, the big question remains: Is it worth 60$?

Honestly, I don't think so anymore, at least not yet. The FPS problems, in combination with missing D-Pad support, are quite a downer. If those problems get patched I will again recomend the game, even with it's 60$ price point. Right now the game feels more like a 40$ title.

 

[psbernitz]

I have further noticed that in handheld mode the music is very quiet and barely noticeable which is quite sad because I want to hear the difference compared to the original.
The framerate issues however ruin everything:
I loved this game 20 years ago because of the crazy degree of immersion but every time these drops happen I lose the immersion

 

[Dazzcooney]

I have further noticed that in handheld mode the music is very quiet and barely noticeable which is quite sad because I want to hear the difference compared to the original.
The framerate issues however ruin everything:
I loved this game 20 years ago because of the crazy degree of immersion but every time these drops happen I lose the immersion

Finally someone mentioned the music in hand held mode , I thought my switch was finally on its way out . I couldn’t believe how quiet the game was, I started checking all my other titles . Very sad that the gorgeous music is this way and hoping they can patch it . This is one title that the TV is crying out for but my small children always command that.

 

[Amingo]

Guess we didn't get a day one patch. Let's just hope they'll patch it later on.

 

[Xzi]

Guess we didn't get a day one patch. Let's just hope they'll patch it later on.

Yeah, a bit surprising. I'm used to navigating to 'software update' as soon as I pop in any new cartridge. Guess the devs were overdue for a break the second this one went gold.

 

[SG911]

You totally can. Here, I uploaded a video.

Shit. Well i guess i just suck this time around then lol.

 

[belisleian]

I use my last key on the wrong door in dungeon 1 .
Any way to restart dungeon??
There is a room too were is a rock bloking it. ( Might need a bom)

 

[Rahkeesh]

Finally got to try this and... as someone who never owned a gameboy and only dabbled in the DX version recently, I think they compromised the outdoor gameplay here too much for the sake of graphics. Everything just feels slow, zoomed way out, and on a tilted plane you can't read as easily. I just don't feel the same kind of zippy freedom of movement and precision you get on the original. ALBW was close enough that they could've easily done a good remake of LttP in that style, but this one feels like more of a step backwards.

 

[Amingo]

I use my last key on the wrong door in dungeon 1 .
Any way to restart dungeon??
There is a room too were is a rock bloking it. ( Might need a bom)

I'm 100% sure that there is no way to softlock a dungeon. Normally there are exactly as many keys as there are doors. In fact there are more keys in the first dungeon than would be needed to actually finish it. Guess you just didn't find one of them, yet. To finish the first dungeon it's not necessary to bomb that blocked door!