Living the dream: Let's play Link's Awakening!

A small boat drifts in stormy seas.



A desperate sailor struggles to remain afloat.



The boat is stuck by lightning and the world fades to white.



A woman walking on the beach finds an unconscious man.



The camera pans up to reveal a giant egg at the peak of the mountain in the background.



Welcome to Let's play The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening!

Table of contents:

My current tasks:

Completed tasks:


Having grown up a Sega kid with a Game Boy, Link's Awakening was my first Zelda game (aside from maybe Soliel), and it's shaped my expectations of the series since. Why can't I make Link jump in the other games? Anyway, although I still think of it as my favourite Zelda, I haven't actually played it since the '90s. As such, this will probably be a sort of semi-blind LP. Maybe it'll all come back to me, or maybe I'll get stuck all over the place and you'll all have to tell me what to do. When I was a kid I started over after getting stuck in I think the sixth dungeon, only to find when I got back to where I was that I just hadn't bombed the right wall. Hopefully that won't be happening this time.

I'll be playing the Game Boy version rather than the Game Boy Color remake, Link's Awakening DX, because it's the one I know (I've owned a copy of DX for years, but never got around to playing it). This would also apparently allow me to break the game over my knee if I knew how to do it. Sadly, I don't. If you're interested in that, I recommend MeccaPrime's amazing video LP.

Well, on with the game!



Oh man, an audience choice already! Which save slot should I use? I'm pretty sure this makes no difference at all. My vote is for 3.



And what's my name? We've got five characters to work with, and the options to fill them in are upper case letters, lower case letters, and empty spaces. My vote is for Link, but I'm kinda boring like that.

Name him Link.

This is a Zelda game, therefore, his name is Link. (But I think you should name save slots 1 and 2 "Pants" and "Percy" respectively, and then ignore them.)

And man, I played the hell out of this game, back in the day. This should be fun.

Gotta be Link!

I gotta be the voice of dissent. We should name him Metroid.

What? 5 letters? Um, fine.

Mtrod?

(Meatrod?)

Aw, to hell with it. Link it is.

Name him Zelda.

Name him THIEF because you know why.

Oh, that'll be his name at some point, all right.

Name him Link first, though.

Rinku

I changed my mind. I vote for slot 2 and Rinku.

Call him ZELDA.

Enjoy that for all of a minute or so

and then name the guy in slot 2 Link and play as that one.

Then call slot 3 PANTS just for kicks.

Do that thing TE-Ryan said.

Actually actually

just save yourself some trouble and call him "THIEF"

Link is no thief, I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about.

Since this is a dream-like land, we should obviously name him NEMO.

This this this this

I wonder if it's good or bad that I caught Soli's reference.

Also. THIEF.

I think we all know what a proper thief's name is: FUKT.

Someone get this guy a coffee!

I'm changing my vote to this.

No. Call him Chain.

Do this and do a run without getting your name changed, for ironys sake.

FUKT pl0x

You just ate away my entire day.

Thank you.

(also changing vote to this)

Well, it looks like the Links have it. Lucky thing, because otherwise I'd have had to get the thread retitled to "FUKT's Awakening". I've filled in the other two slots as well. When I made the ZELDA slot the music on the name selection screen changed. That's nifty, but I was actually expecting the slot to start out with more heart containers. Maybe that's a cheat for a different Zelda game, or maybe I just misinterpreted all the screenshots in the manual showing a ZELDA file with ten hearts.



Link starts to return to consciousness.



He sits up in bed! I guess that's the awakening referred to in the title of the game.



never wake up! You were tossing and turning... What? Zelda? No, my name's Marin! You must still be feeling a little woozy. You are on Koholint Island!



I get out of bed and go talk to the other person in the room.



out of it... Name's Tarin... Hope yer feelin' better... What? How did I know your name? You think it's weird eh? Well, I saw it on back of this shield!



Tarin is good enough to return my shield. I'm sure you all can fill in the sound effect for this yourselves.



this washed up on the beach... If'n you go look watch out for monsters! Ever since you showed up, Link, I've seen 'em all over the place!



Now that I have an item, I try it out a bit, then I talk to Marin again.



the beach where I found you. Since you washed ashore, lots of nasty monsters have been in the area, so be careful, okay?



Link has some nice little pushing animations, but nothing is budging. Before I go anywhere else, I'll just check to see if Tarin took any more of my stuff.



He is not amused. Maybe I'll smash his pots instead:



But I'm too weak... What else can I try?



Pressing start brings up my inventory. At the moment, I have my shield (equipped to B), three hearts containers, and nothing else. The left side of the screen will fill with useable items as the game goes on. Any of them can be equipped to either the A or the B button, and many items can be used in combination if equipped together. The circle of numbered squares at the bottom right are for plot items that I don't know about yet.



Pressing select brings up the map. It looks like Marin and Tarin's place is up in the Tal Tals. Also, this island has what seems like a pretty unlikely shape.



I step outside.



I try to flip this chicken with my shield like Tarin suggested, but all that happens is I get knocked back. I guess it's not a monster.



To the south of the house is a phone booth in a tree.



With no one to stop me, I try to loot the place, but Link just comments on the decor.

I have no idea who Ulrira is. Let's call again:



You know, there is a library in the village that might have some good information for you! Talk to you later! CLICK!'



just push all the Buttons at once! Uhh... Don't ask me what that means, I'm just a kid!

To the east of the phone booth is this shop/child combination. The kid has an important bit of game knowledge to impart.



The shop is unfortunately inaccessible, as Link can't get past the long grass surrounding it.



I harrass the dog with my shield as I did the chicken, and just as pointlessly.



The next screen to the north has only a patch of overgrown grass in it. Above that is a shop I can get into.



lot to learn, trying to buy something you have no use for!

I've already got a L-1 shield, so the shopkeeper won't sell me another. What I don't have is a shovel:



Nuts. But what if...



Aww. I know it's possible to steal from the shopkeeper, but he was watching me like a hawk this time.



I head west. This dog doesn't seem to like me. Maybe it saw me bugging the dog by the shop earlier.



The statue is a nice (if odd) bit of scenery that I'm sure I'll be moving or destroying at some point. Not sure why it's possible to walk into this little area of the next screen up. I'll be sure to dig there when I get that shovel.



You won't be able to lift it with just your bare hands...

This building won't be accessible until I raise my strength somehow.



save, you will start at the last door you went through... I'm not really sure why that is 'cause I'm just a kid!



Papahl, pleased ta meetcha! I'll be lost in the hills later, so keep a look out for me, hear?

Here's the father of the kids I've been seeing around town. He's just as fond of breaking the fourth wall as they are, or maybe he just knows he has a bad sense of direction.



I am sometimes confused... By the way, do you know Yoshi? My baby keeps on asking for a Yoshi Doll and I don't know what to do about it!

The boys' mother gets in a little bit of Nintendo cross-promotion.



I check out the furniture and the other side of the house. All those pots are pretty heavy.



I head back outside and take a shortcut back to the rooster statue. Link does a little flip when you walk off an edge. I like flips.



I head to the right of town, but am blocked from leaving in that direction by grass I can't walk through and rocks I can't lift. Apparently there's an animal village to the east somewhere. I head back into town.



Next to the phone booth I find this old couple's house.



This is the dude I was talking to on the phone! If he won't talk to me, maybe I can call him:



Thanks for calling! ...Well... CLICK!' ??? ... You must have dialed a wrong number...

Of course, I can't call him from his own phone. I have no idea what the deal is with the Bucket Mouse.

I stop to enjoy this rocking animation for a little bit.



North of the old couple is a ball with a face tied to a post.



The door at the right of the house takes me to the kennel. I'll be back for those bones when I get a shovel!



The left door is the main house, with another small creature in it, plus this woman.



How cute!



buddy? I'll only charge you 10 Rupees...

• Fish Not Now

You're short of Rupees? Don't worry about it. You just come back when you have more money, little buddy.

What a nice guy!



I head out of town to the left. If I could cut grass, I could proceed to the north. I could also flip off that cliff edge into that well.



I love the light-heartedness of this game's text.



to look at the island map... But, I don't understand what they mean by that...



Hearts, you'd better enter a house or cave... Why? I have no idea, I'm just a kid!

South of the well I meet the last two of Papahl's kids, who give me a little more information about how to play the game.



'After you put a Bomb down, you can pick it up by pressing the Button again. You can then throw it by pushing the Button one more time. Did you know that?'

'The Properties of Warp Holes: There are some Warp Holes on Koholint Island. You can warp to and fro using these holes. If you jump into the Warp Hole at which you arrived, you will go to the next one in the sequence. You can only warp to a hole you have seen with your own eyes...'

'How To Handle Your Shield Like A Pro!: If you hold the Button down, you can defend yourself from enemy attacks, and you can fillip some enemies, too... Besides the standard shield there is also a mirrored variety which can defend against beams!'

'Secrets Of The Whirling Blade: The Whirling Blade technique has been handed down from generation to generation by the family of the hero. To use it, hold down the Sword Button and build up your power. When you have enough, you can release the Button! Can you master this?'

'Auto Map and Memo Guide Book: You can see an island map by pressing the SELECT Button. The dark parts of the map are places you have not yet visited. Move the cursor and press the A Button to get more information about and area, or to replay the message you got there...' Ahhh! How convenient!

'Selecting The Item That's Right For You: You can select your favourite item for the A and B Buttons on the Sub-Screen. Using different items, you can fight without a sword! Try many different things to find what's right for you!'

This library, along with the kids in town, is basically the in-game tutorial. There are two books left:



The map you get with the select button only shows places you've been, but the atlas in the library shows everything. I'm at the Village Library. The shop blocked by grass is the Trendy Game. The Animal Village is near the south-east corner of the island.



I can also see where the dungeons are, and which order I'm supposed to take them on in. Handy! I found the Raft Shop, so if I find myself needing to cross some water I'll know where to go. At the top of the island is the Wind Fish's Egg. But I don't know what that is yet!



The last book is a scary one:



But I won't be reading it today.



Trying to examine the bookshelves leads to this amusing message.



I check out my personal map, which is much less filled in than the one in the atlas. Note that I'm nowhere near the Tal Tal mountain range that the map showed the first time I opened it.



I head south. At this point, I've left town, and I'm leaving it there for today. Just let me do one thing:



Here's the world map so far:



And here's my to-do list:

• See what else washed up with me on the beach.
• Get strong enough to lift pots.
• Get strong enough to lift rocks.
  -Enter the building at the north of town.
  -Take the east exit out of town.
• Figure out how to get past long grass.
  -Get into the Trendy Game shop.
  -Cut down the field of grass in town.
  -Jump into the well west of town.
  -Enter the mysterious forest.
• Buy a shovel.
  -Dig up Bow Wow's kennel.
  -Dig up the area above the Flying Rooster statue.
• Do something with the Flying Rooster statue.
• Find a Yoshi Doll for the baby.
• Go fishing.
• Get a magnifying glass.
  -Read 'Dark Secrets and Mysteries of Koholint'.
• Get off the island, I guess?

Link's gonna be a busy guy for a while!

hey.

no.

both names had equal votes.

i demand a revote.

EDIT: wait i didn't see yours. whoops.

This is an absolutely splendid LP.

Link: Kishi, Beowulf, Eddie, hafrogman, Gerad, TE-Ryan, Kalir (6)
Zelda: Guild
THIEF: SpoonyBardOL, Mogri, aturtledoesbite (2)
Rinku: Mogri, Guild, WormRider (2)
NEMO: Solitayre (1)
FUKT: MoneyCityManiac, Eddie, recentteen14, Umby, aturtledoesbite (5)
Chain: Torzelbaum (1)

My vote would actually make it 7 to 5 for Link.

Welp. Shows how blind I am.

(I missed the last line of hafrogman's post. Just saw the Mtrod part.)

A splendid update. This is going to be an amazing LP.

I love the care you took in preparing the gifs!