I think LA needs some TLC à la AM2R. The opening sequence had me PUMPED for a remake of my favorite Zedla game, and then it was like, "Oh, some beady-eyed, turd toy character art style..." when gameplay footage started rolling.
If you're going to change art style and game mechanics, it should be for a title that has strong storytelling and pacing. Link's Awakening really wasn't that. To me, it always seemed be an attempt at being counter-mainstream (to possibly not sour the taste for fans of 1, 2, ALttP and keep development quick and inexpensive), and that was always its appeal to me. In the same way that Mario Land 2 had the character familiarity while toting a new gameplay feel, Link's Awakening offered a similar experience with a Zelda flavor: It packed the surprise of being huge for a DMG game with fluid controls and item mechanics, enemy variety, and dungeon designs that weren't overly difficult and could be belted out one by one on car rides or school day afternoons.
All of that said, I'd like to reiterate that the story wasn't the strong point of this installment, and that if the game engine and its mechanics are completely different from the original, I believe the storytelling should be fleshed out in a way that expands on the absurdity, and visits more on the uncertainty of the island's reality, all in a way that can improve its place in the timeline theory.
That's just all of my hopes and dreams in one basket, though. My expectations aren't set too high, and we'll only get what we're going to get. At the very least it's an entry point to the top-down Zelda formula for a whole generation of people whose only familiarity is possibly BotW. Perhaps enough will be inspired to check out the GBC version for the original experience and see for themselves if a nearly 30 y/o game holds up or if the remake was justified. It can also serve as a reminder to the originals' fans that the classic will always be there to fall back on.
