Zelda: A Link to the Past is the reason I'm sitting here right now. It was the game that made me care about video games, that showed me what they could offer beyond five minutes of fun. It was the first game that enveloped my mind and imagination, that transported me to a world like books did. Going back to that world is an intensely nostalgic experience for anyone of my generation, and actually it reminded me of the things that some of the 3D Zelda games lack when compared to their 2D progenitors: chiefly, that sense of discovery and self-direction. I thoroughly enjoyed Skyward Sword, but it led me along by the nose when Link to the Past left me free to follow my nose.
A Link Between Worlds lets you do that, too. From the moment you step out of Link's house – in this timeline, he's a blacksmith's apprentice whose nightmares mean he's continually late for work – you're inhabiting a Hyrule that's almost exactly the same as the one I explored when I was seven, completely open, not fogged out or artificially closed off. Asked to deliver something to Kakariko village, I found that I remembered the way. Rediscovering this subtly different but overwhelmingly familiar world is a rare pleasure in video games, a form of entertainment that's neophilic to a fault.
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