Sunday, June 19, 2016

Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

Another game and another legend.  This time set in the lands of the Minish.  I have to admit, this is still one of my favorite Zelda games.  It came out in a time in my life when I had all the time in the world to play games and it was great.

The concept is still the same as previous Zelda games.  Go around collecting treasures, tools, and artifacts.  Once you have them all, you fight the big baddie and save the world.  This one is a little different in the fact that you have the Minish Cap.  This allows you to shrink in certain parts of the game to see the world from the tiny Minish point of view.  This is kind of unique because some things are only doable as a mini-Link.

The items this time are all kind of unique as well.  There are favorites like the Lantern and then new ones like the Gust Jar.  Using these items to solve puzzles is a series staple.  Each dungeon is unique, my favorite being the ice dungeon where the boss is something that is very iconic to the series but as a Minish, it is a much different fight.

One new feature from this game is the Kinship Stones.  These are halves of round medallions that you find the pieces to throughout the game.  By joining the pieces together you can influence the world in ways that will sometimes yield things like rupees or a Heart Piece but some are used to progress the story.  There are lots of these things and they are always good to keep around.

This was a good Zelda experience.  It expanded on the lore, seemed fresh for the time, and tried some new things.  I had tons of fun with this game when it first came out.  I then did a speedrun of it on my 3DS when I received it free for being a 3DS Ambassador.  If you get a chance to play this game, don't miss out.  It is a fun little romp through this big world.