The First Patch For Link's Awakening Is Probably Not The Fix You Were Hoping For

It was great. I enjoyed my play through. Not worth 60$ but $40 would be fair.

The graphics were cute. And pretty.

And the fps drops are null.
4/5

...I need to finish this game. I'm about to deal with the last dungeon.

Yes but, can I use the d-pad that would be perfect for this game? It's doing absolutely nothing as of now, and I already finished the game.

100%’d in a week right after its release. Pretty solid game, just wish it were more to it, the replay value is a bit low, building custom dungeons just isn’t enough.

"Not the fix you were hoping for"
Indeed this is not a fix to enable the D-pad for movement.

@Jaalsky Agree 100%.

@Cartune The custom dungeon thing was pretty disappointing imo. To get the heart pieces I needed to get from Dampe, I found myself having to use a lot of the same pieces. Maybe it was a me thing and I just need better pieces but I found it more of a chore to do than a fun distraction

I got so much to play, I booted this game
once.
When I first bought it in September.

"... and can suffer from serious performance dips during more heated moments on-screen."

There are some performance issues, mostly for a second or two when moving to a new screen, but nothing I would call "serious". You make it sound like it is game breaking, which it's not, just slightly annoying. I completed the game with no bigger issues. The only moment where it was more noticeable, was outside the Bottle Grotto.

I never had any issues when playing this game, but it’s always great hearing about issues being fixed to better improve the game.

As we are talking about this game, though it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the topic per-se, the Turtle Rock dungeon straight up kicked my butt. It was the only dungeon that made me look up a guide for.

They didn't bother fixing the glitch where you're stuck on a small island in Ukuku Prairie? You can jump to it but you can't jump off it! There's a Secret Seashell there. It was awful trying to get off that island, I died so many times.

@Aquamine-Amarine that's what sequence breaking gets ya, tbh. I had similar issues in one of the dungeons, not much can be done, except attempt to trace your steps back

I absolutely disagree with the whole "super serious performance issues" thing, it's completely a non-issue. Sure I hope they'll stabilize the framerate down the line and it really should be done, but even still, after beating the game, I can safely say it did not hinder my experience one bit. Essentially, the issue is quite a bit overblown.

The biggest thing they need to fix is the price.

@BenAV I think the blur is the effect that exactly improves the art style ... because it gives it a depth of field in which they look exactly like miniatures.

@Jaalsky I picked it up for 49.99 at walmart. Walmart has had all their games cheaper than most places for a little while now. Granted it's still $10 more than you wanted to spend, but if you are looking for your games cheaper that might be a good place to look.

Luckily I got this game for $10 on Amazon after using the $50 gift card I won from a watermelon eating contest last September. Game was great and definitely worth my time eating all those watermelon slices.

@Franklin @Spoony_Tech @Jaalsky I have complained a lot about the price (and still haven’t bought it yet). However, if you don’t plan on keeping the game, you could resell it and get most of your money back. But it will remain overpriced in the eShop.

@Franklin
So tired of the price complaint. What’s wrong with the price. Explain.

@Jaalsky I agree with 50% of your post. The game is cute, plays great and is good fun. I also don't really notice the slowdowns anymore.

But I won't complain about the price.

@Skalgrim Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild are $60 games. This is not. Like the Samus Returns remake (with some of the best 3D visuals on the 3DS), Link’s Awakening should have been $40.

Nintendo is making bank on the game, so I guess many don’t agree with me. But I will wait for a cheaper price or a used copy.

@Skalgrim

At a guess because it's not a new game.
It's a reskin, a rebuild, but the mechanics and story are old.

The Ghostbusters 2009 remaster for example, is 35 not 60.
And that's more or less the same thing.

I completed the game in about 20 hours. I'd agree that it doesn't have a great deal of replay value, but as I bought it for £40 and traded it for £36 the whole experience really only cost me £4.

They could have at least added a boss rush mode or master quest mode with harder remixed dungeons. 15 hours =/= $60 with no replay value.

@Tandy255
Uhm, I really don’t see your point comparing these titles?

@Skalgrim

25 year old game boy game, which they haven't even made to run properly.

Full Switch game price just isn't justified. Not even the first remake of the game.

@KitsuneNight
Hmm I don’t think you know much about making games. I don’t either. But. This is a completely new game. Made from the scratch. Yes. They use the same ideas and templates. But they can’t just copy/paste a game...
This is entertainment for about 12 -15hours if you don’t speed run. That’s the average game length of all games. If you value length or graphic over gameplay and most of all fun? Well. Then we maybe can’t discuss this. Because I’m the opposite.

And the slow downs? I payed on Lite and I really didn’t notice any. Maybe there’s a difference with the original one.

I’m not trying to bash your opinion. You are completely free to think this game is overpriced. But I just want to know a valid point on why it is overpriced. Not just some bugs/slow downs or game lengths. Most games nowadays are rushed with bugs.

I paid $100 Canadian Big Boy dollars for the edition with the art book. No regrets. I play my games at a moderate pace, I love all the things people seem to dislike in the comments (blurring on the screen, oldschool Gameboy elements), and don't take a lot of issue with the occasional frame rate drop. Fun, and pretty. Obviously nostalgic as hell for me. I'm just with the D-Pad people lmao!!

@abbyhitter different strokes there bud, you don't see me posting on Miley Cyrus forums even though I'm a big music fan now, do you? Apparently the value is there for hundreds of thousands of buyers, so, that's just like, your perspective man. Just throwing a 'does not equal' sign in there doesn't make that definitive math ahahah. I'm just ribbing though, have a good night.

I'm already on my second playthrough of this game. Unironically the best $60 I've spent this year thus far.

@BenAV yeah, I get what you mean. I noticed it too. However I thought it was part of the charm... even if it was efortless.

It was better implemented in 3D Dot Game Heroes.

I played through this twice now and i didn't notice any of these so reported framerate dips and whatnot. Seems like it's just really overblown. If Nintendo never patched it for that reason i think the game would be just fine. If it's not effecting the gameplay in any major way why bother? They aren't going to patch every little flaw.

@Skalgrim

Uh, you'd be surprised.
I am aware there isn't a huge red button that says "remake game nao".

But the thing with this Zelda is, that its still the same old Zelda from 1993.
It's a complete overhaul yes.
But it's a reskin.
A remaster.

If you played it before, it holds nothing new for you, just like the Ghostbusters remaster. Which is why I compared it with that.

Zelda Ocarina Of Time 3DS is also a remaster with quality of life improvements, but priced accordingly.

And I am not talking about bugs, ( it has those ) or game length.
But this is a old game, reskinned to look new and priced like a new game.
That's what most people object too.
It's been there and done that.

The Ghostbusters remaster is the same thing, but more priced accordingly.

And i went in to both knowing exactly what they are.

@Jaalsky Agreed. And the story they already had it. The only job they had is to remake the graphics. Everything was there already. It's not a new game and seeing the graphics... even with Zelda/Link name it doesn't justify this pricetag. It's very light/child game.. 60$/€ is just weird. Nintendo is really taking anything they can from customers wallet. They know the name is high so people will get it anyway. Well not from me. 40$/€ max and no penny more! nuff said

I am waiting for a Price patch

Played through it twice. Never once noticed the frame rate issues. I know they are there but I just don't care or pay attention, I was too busy playing the game and floating in oh so sweet nostalgia.
Great game. 9/10.

@Galenmereth "a disappointing remake" - what? Seriously. Why, because of a few dropped frames or you had other issues?

@Alucard83 Still, if it's a new game for you and you never played the original, it might be worth full price to you. But that said and having loved the experience twice over, I agree that a 49,00 pricetag at least would be a bit more sensible. Even if it's just a nod towards customers "ya, it's an old game".

@BenAV I thought I was the only one who thought that! The blur kept making me think my screen was greasy! The art style in this game is delightful, the blur just muddies it up!

@Galenmereth fair enough, just played it handheld and some of the things you mentioned might not be as glaring that way. I do agree, that it didn't add much but I hold no grudge against Nintendo, I knew what I was getting when I bought it. Thanks for clarifying!

@YagaMaki Should be an option to switch off. But as I understood it in some "making of video" they needed it to hide some technical issues or keep the framerate up or something.

Finished the game now, but I do wish they gave the option for assigning items to the Dpad and shoulder buttons! No reason not to, as an option, as it stands those buttons are just wasted.

@Scollurio Oh really? I can't understand why this game should have any technical issues when you have Oddysey and BOTW running without a hitch, but then again I know nothing about game development.

Nintendo releasing this game as a full price title should be considered as offensive to gamers as EA microtransactions.

It's got a new coat of paint, but it's still the same short game with little replayability.

@YagaMaki Neither do I but I also didn't get sick from the blur!

@DinnerAndWine TBH, I thought it was overpriced (given that it's a remake of a very old game) but got it anyway due to being a big fan.

Had an absolute blast. Amazed that it held up so well after all these years. Money well spent.

@DinnerAndWine NO, just NO. What Nintendo does with their mobile games is far worse, and nothing, really nothing is as bad what EA and Bethesda do.

I do agree it's a short game, but to me, not having much time to play anyways, it was a sound investment. Played it 2 times over. 30 hours in. That's 2 Euro an hour of fun that I paid - beats Cinema and sounds fine to me!

It's a good game but I find it difficult to progress at times without a guide. I'm just halfway through and I've put in about 10 hours.

On Amazon Germany it's already down to 47.99. I don't think I've ever seen the price on a non-third party Switch game drop that much that fast, except for Pokémon Let's Go which dropped to 40 within two months.

Very nice game. I have over 30 hours of play and i did not finish it yet. I am at last dungeon. Moreover this is first Zelda for my 7yo daughter. Milestone

Glad to see the game still sold well even with the usual moaners complaining it was to expensive.

FrAmeRATe?!?! Can't you fix it?

@Manah looks like there is some kind of promotion or sale going on. Every single first party Nintendo game that I checked costs 47.99€ right now.

@KitsuneNight Ocarina of Time 3D was a fully priced game as well. The only difference is, that the full price on 3DS was lower.

I'd honestly rather they fix game breaking bugs than little slowdowns

@countzero
Nice, I didn't notice. Dragon Quest XI is only 45.99 too, I should probably buy that now.

I love the game, put more than 25 hours into it. And, it is one of the very few games that I want to play again. I am very content with my purchase.

@BenAV I agree! I played it for 5 minutes and then moved on to other games I have, hoping that it will be fixed at some point

Great game but the framerate is all other the place

@sanya_exe Same!

@countzero

The thing is that since 2011 people have become used to games dropping in price very fast.
Or next week, in some cases ( Fallout 76 )
As well as getting discounted fast.
Enormous sales on Steam,
Humble,
Fanatical,
Groupees,
Indiegala
Even nintendo's own eShop and others.
And people have become used to games being cheap.

Throw in remasters and collections that are cheaper,
or more bang for your buck.
Such as : Ghostbusters Remastered 35 bucks
Spyro Reignited with 3 games 40 bucks.
Crash insanity trilogy also 3 games, also 40 bucks.
Or the Sega Megadrive collection, with 50 games for 30 bucks.

Nintendo's offering of a single remade game for full price comes off as a tad skimpy.

Agian I knew exactly what i got myself into, but other people want more for their 60 notes.

@retro_player_22 This is an amazing way to purchase video games. I’m gonna register for as many eating contests as I can, now. 🤣

I do notice some places are better with the framerate issue after this patch. Mabe Village for instance. Animal village seems better but not totally resolved. Maybe that’s why they didnt mention framerate issues in the patch notes? Has anyone else noticed improvement after the patch.

I love the game but I definitely am distracted by the FPS dips and wish you could turn off the bottom of the screen blur.

@hoopderscotch They made OoT 3D right? If I recall those games have significantly slowed down now due to system updates and no software updates to fix it.

Neat - too bad I already finished the game.

I may try for 100% completion if a performance patch is ever released - that's not to say the game runs terribly (far from it), it's just that the patch would give me a reason to return to the game.

@arekdougy The special editions did seem like the better deal.

@Skalgrim Samus Returns and Link’s Awakening are both remakes of Game Boy adventure titles. I think the comparison is quite apt.

Mario Odyssey and BotW are much different titles, but the original scope and gameplay that they give warrants a premium price.

But like I said, the game has sold very well. Obviously many don’t agree with me. The real test will be to see if the eShop version ever reduces in price after a few years.

1.Fix fps
2.Tone down annoying replay messages
3.Dpad support
4.Shadow link boss in hero mode
5.Og photo album as dantes reward
6.Hd rumble support
7.Bottled acorns and powers
8.Breakable shield by bombs
9.Great spin power up 50 shells reward

@Quarth

I agree. I've just finished the game and I barely noticed a problem. I mean the original GB game and a ton of stuttering when things got busy but this you have to look for it.

Jeez, just fix the damn frame rate!

@KitsuneNight the Ghostbusters remaster and the Link's Awakening remake are not the same thing, they rebuilt the entirety of Link's Awakening from scratch, they only updated the resolution of the Ghostbusters remaster.

To be honest I never found the framerate issue to be particularly distracting anyways

I need to finish this game before Luigi's Mansion comes out.

@Aquamine-Amarine You can jump off with the right timing, and you're not even supposed to go there to begin with, the chances of landing a successful dash are extremely slim. Tried myself.

I usually notice performance issues if they hinder the experience. Don't remember anything like that in this game other than a frame rate dip here or there usually when transitioning from one screen to another but it was barely noticeable.

Owning and playing this game is like the equivalent to having a nice looking figurine on a shelf based on something you loved when you were younger and while you can still admire it now, but aren't sure if you should spent the money on it. Super surprised I got bored playing it. The Gameboy experience for me in Junior High was just killer.

Eh, I enjoyed it, but it's pretty minimal. I don't think it's a 9.4/10 or whatever people are saying the overall score is averaging.

Pros:

• Nostalgia
• Fun, even if pretty basic, gameplay
• Graphics update is a fun aesthetic
• Music/sound update is a good fit

Cons:

• Framerate lapse/stutter isn't gamebreaking, but annoying
• Dampe's dungeon-maker aspect feels like a pointless addition to try to act as a "filler" for replay/playtime padding
• Game doesn't feel like a $60 game, it feels like a $30 game due to short length and lack of additional content for a "remake"

The frame rate issues were not really an issue at all. It was a little jarring at first but then I stopped noticing them, and they never happened in any point where it affected gameplay for me. This does sound like a game breaking bug so I’m glad they focussed on this first!

@Quarth

It's pretty rough. If they would've locked it to 30fps I think it would be better. Or got rid of the haze effect which may improve performance. I don't care for it honestly. Not sure why they did it.

@sword_9mm I don't think it's rough, just mildly irritating. It's just in the overworld. The dungeons runs perfectly fine.

@Quarth

I just meant the stuttering. If they'd capped it at 30 it would hold there.

Going from 60 to 45 to 33 to 45 to etc. is a bit jarring imo.

@sword_9mm I guess we see it differently. I like that the game is 60fps otherwise. It's irritating with the framedrops, I agree, but it doesn't affect the gameplay IMO (except for a little while outside Bottle Grotto).

Apparently I'm the only one who never experienced these supposed "performance issues." Price is just fine people. Get over yourselves.

Call me crazy, but fixing a bug that impedes progress sounds more urgent to me than the occasional fps dip in particularly hectic moments.

They really need to iron out the performance. Certainly nothing gamebreaking, but absolutely noticeable. Really don't see any reason for a remake of a GameBoy game to drop frames.

Still a great game!

@LinkSword Frame rates drop seemingly for no reason at all, for me at least. It has nothing to do with the amount of stuff happening on the screen. There's no reason why a top-down game can't run with a consistent frame rate on the switch.

@BenAV Agreed, not real sure why people are down voting you right now lol. It honestly looks like someone smudged oil on the bottom and top of the screen.

@Jaalsky holy crap I got my copy for 37 bucks at CDKeys (100% legal btw), no idea why you all keep buying from Nintendo Shop.

I have yet to find the fps drops and I'm almost done with it. Maybe it's the switch or playing mobile. It doesn't feel like a $60 compared to breath of the wild for the same price.