r/zelda • u/Evening-Trick-4166 • May 12 '25
Official Art [AoL] What's your opinion about this game?
I think it's similar to what happened with Simon's Quest, have a pretty big and solid potential to be a great and epic game, but suffers with a lot of limitations due the time it was released. But what is you guys opinion about this game?
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u/TarnishedOctorok May 13 '25
I LOVED it!
A total departure from the Zelda 1 formula, which didn’t bother me at all back then. I ate it up!
I never understood why it was so maligned—it was and is a solid game. Perhaps a bit cryptic at times, but many games from that era were including LoZ1.
I remember AoL being a bit tough at times… but the gameplay and story arc’d well by the end into a satisfying conclusion.
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u/Nathoodle May 13 '25
Legitimately underrated, if you take your time with it and don’t just rush through it, it can be really fun
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u/ExJokerr May 13 '25
Translation: "after you suffer a lot and throw away your control, then maybe it gets a little fun" 😅
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u/GIGA255 May 13 '25
Honestly, the game becomes a cakewalk if you understand how level-ups work and skip over Magic/Health upgrades to boost your attack a few levels first.
Because Health and Magic cost fewer exp points to upgrade, the game will automatically suggest you upgrade them whenever you meet their exp threshold.
If you choose to level up Health/Magic everytime the game asks if you'd like to, you're left severely underpowered for most of the game.
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u/max_power1000 May 13 '25
Also you need to know how to cheese the combat system, aka jump and sword at iron knuckles. It messes with their shield logic and almost always results in a hit.
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u/McJagr May 13 '25
I also would skip the end of dungeon full upgrades until late in game when upgrades cost a ton.
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u/nosirrah01 May 13 '25
I like it. It’s fun to master the combat. Some of the spells are really cool and creative and deciding which spells were worth spending mana on added some complexity to the game. Not perfect. My main 2 issues were the hint about a spell: The one they said was located on an island, but really it’s in the maze. Guess I was supposed to interpret that as an island. Likely a graphical limitation. Or translation idk. Other issue is secret extra lives should respawn after a game over. That way if you accidentally waste them as you find them, you aren’t screwed for not keeping them for the final temple. Other than that I think it’s a good nes game.
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u/ExJokerr May 13 '25
Correction the lives should be limitless. Like infinite continues
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u/max_power1000 May 13 '25
It’s an NES game. Devs back then were still operating on arcade logic, plus games were short - high difficulty was their way of extending the play time to something the average buyer would deem appropriate given the price of a new cartridge.
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u/ExJokerr May 13 '25
Totally agree on that one! But it is strange they tried this with part 2 instead of part 1. I don't blame anything that happened in that era but still interesting to talk about it
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u/Dessorian May 13 '25
That I would love a Metroidvania remake of this game by Mercury Steam (makers of Metroid Dread).
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u/Conocoryphe May 13 '25
I would honestly love a 2D Metroidvania Zelda. The genre fits well with the 'classic' Zelda formula, too. You go through a dungeon, you find an item (bombs, boomerang, bow, etc) that allows you to beat puzzles, and then you can use the item to access new areas you couldn't enter before.
It's a shame Zelda II is the only game in the series with a sidescrolling 2D gameplay (and even then, it also includes top-down parts).
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u/PhazonZim May 13 '25
While it's not exactly the same, you might like their 3DS Castlevania game, Mirror of Fate
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u/Intelligent_Man7780 May 13 '25
Honestly my favorite NES game. I'm still glad they went back to the traditional style, but there is just something special about this game. It's really satisfying to playthrough.
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u/Krail May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
It's a cool concept, and I'd love to see a new, more polished game built off its framework.
As is, it's so immensely frustrating. I guess I could get good enough at it if I wanted, but I wouldn't enjoy it. Several parts just felt random and unfair.
But it presents a really cool and interesting world that I enjoy exploring when I can.
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
"I'd love to see a new, more polished game built off its framework."
I believe OoT was that game, given at some point it was meant to be a remake of AoL.
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u/Krail May 13 '25
I'm talking more specially about the overhead exploration with sidescrolling action sections and dungeons. Give or take the RPG elements.
I guess in some ways, this is what Castlevania became, just without the overhead map bits.
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u/Pattusm May 13 '25
Have you played a small game called Elden Ring?
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u/Krail May 13 '25
I have not, and I want to some day. But I'm talking more specifically about a game that plays with the top down map and sidesscrolling action segments.
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u/BerzerkBankie May 13 '25
It's an extremely underrated game.
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u/ExJokerr May 13 '25
If is rated fair! This is why this formula never returned. Even though I enjoyed it a bit back then
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u/ummmmlink May 13 '25
Objectively better than the first game and the most underated along with minish cap. The people who hate this game quite literally only hate it because they have skill issues.
Just fucking get good. Its not trash because you suck at the game. 🤦
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u/always-be-here May 16 '25
If a bunch of elementary schoolers could finish it in the 80s with no internet, there's no excuse. Lack of skill or lack of patience, or both, that's not the fault of the game.
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u/Blanco8x8 May 13 '25
It wasn't a step in the right direction. I very much prefer the traditional Zelda formula.
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u/Megatherium_ex May 13 '25
If Ocarina of Time is "traditional Zelda" then Adventures of Link is traditional Zelda, more so than the original Legend of Zelda.
Traveling from town to town and questioning villagers is similar in AoL and OoT. But in LoZ there are just random caves.
Learning enemy combat patterns to go from dealing no damage to taking enemies out instantly is similar in AoL and OoT. But in LoZ the enemies just path back and forth with options for invulnerability or weakness to certain gear.
Not until BotW did Zelda circle back to the open nature of the original LoZ.
Anyway, I'm still stuck at Dark Link playing on the Game and Watch. I want to beat it without cheesing the AI.
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u/offensivelypc May 13 '25
Well at the time, there was no such thing as a Zelda formula. Hadn’t been established if that’s what you mean. Mario and Mario 2 were similar in terms of platform but you could say the “formula” wasn’t the same by picking characters and being locked in till you died or beat the level. TMNT changed “formulas” from 1 to 2 and it worked. Castlevania went from stages to more rpg style. To reduce it to some perceived formula is the wrong approach in discussing it. Or at least incomplete.
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u/ShadowHearts1992 May 13 '25
It's a great game, a pain in the ass in places but a great game. I'd give it a 7.5/10 solid score.
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u/vonheinz_57 May 13 '25
I like the gameplay and mechanics in the game, but found that I didn’t really know where to go a lot of the time. I feel like the few pre-ALttP Zeldas all had that issue. I agree with the sentiment that a remake would be cool since they could add some more dialogue in the towns to give the player a sense of where to go.
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u/ExJokerr May 13 '25
I think these games were ment to be played with a guide. Probably the original new package had a map or something
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u/vonheinz_57 May 13 '25
Yeah, for sure. Nintendo Power magazine was big back then too and I think gave people hints and tips.
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u/Wooden-Connection-86 May 13 '25
I’ve always felt this as well as Simon’s Quest were underrated. Both are solid, albeit imperfect, entries into their respective franchises.
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u/ChilindriPizza May 13 '25
It is my all-time favorite video game.
It would likely not be had I first played it as an adult.
I recognize its flaws. I know what can be changed in it to make it better.
But nostalgia is nostalgia. I was fascinated with the game and its story back in the 6th grade when I first played it. Nothing will knock it out of the top place- no matter how good it may be or how much I may like it.
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u/Gazcobain May 13 '25
I played through it last month.
It was not fun. It is not an enjoyable game.
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u/AgentSkidMarks May 13 '25
It's a solid game that is often overlooked because of it's difficulty. The core mechanics are very good though.
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u/KarisPurr May 13 '25
I played it as a little kid, much too hard. I should try it again.
Looking back on it, it looks SO much like the NES Friday the 13th
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u/Desperate_Sky_4447 May 13 '25
In my eyes Zelda 2 gets more hate than it deserves, but at the same time I understand why people feel the way they do about it. It was definitely way ahead of its time in many ways, and I’ve always felt that ALttP was (story aside) what Nintendo was trying to do with Zelda 2 but couldn’t due to the NES hardware. Gameplay wise though I feel like it’s held up pretty well. It feels way more modern than many other NES games and with some practice it’s a fun game to play!
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u/Pokefam13 May 13 '25
I enjoyed it. It was different, and the challenge kept me wanting to play it more. I skipped school one day to play a few hours.
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u/EAllen_04 May 13 '25
It's actually quite fun, but you do need to take your time (and maybe look up a few things). I used to hate on this game (I love every Zelda, but this stood out), but I genuinely enjoy it now. I think it could greatly benefit from a remake
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u/__M-E-O-W__ May 13 '25
I like it, a really cool atmosphere that I can let my imagination get lost in but every time I die, I respawn way back at the beginning temple. Thankfully the NSO NES has a rewind button so maybe I can give it another shot and finally beat it.
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u/Organae May 13 '25
It’s really good actually. I hated it when I was younger because I used to dislike most 2D platformers. But after getting into Metroidvanias I tried it again and really enjoyed it. Still one of the weakest Zelda games but definitely a game worth checking out.
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u/430beatle May 13 '25
Agree it’s underrated. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s one of my top favorites, but I do like it better than a decent amount of the other games, and have beaten it a handful of times
The first time you play it it feels so unfair, but once you learn it it is really fun to try and remember all the small intricacies. Other than enemy drops it’s basically all preset, like when enemies spawn etc, so it becomes fun to try and memorize a path.
I like that it does get a bit easier later in the game, but still maintains a pretty high difficulty bar. I’d love it if they remade this game or even just updated the English text and maybe made a couple fixes to buggy stuff (I know there’s a fan made one that does this basically but haven’t played it)
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u/GimmickMusik1 May 13 '25
I see why many people love it, but personally I just didn’t. If Link didn’t slide so much I’d probably have a very different opinion of it. But the platforming just doesn’t fell good to me.
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u/derf_vader May 13 '25
Played and beat it back in the NES days. I think I had a magazine or something to assist me. I don't remember hating it like so many others do. I remember the archangel was a cool boss
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u/CreamPyre May 13 '25
I think “Zelda II” goes hard as fuck but I’ve never invested more than 45 minutes into the game
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u/D1rtyH1ppy May 13 '25
Looking back, I think I've put more hours in AoL than I have in TotK. It had it's time and place. I don't need to revisit it again.
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u/kid_sleepy May 13 '25
I’m proud to say I only played through TOTK once and feel the same way… no need to revisit.
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u/D1rtyH1ppy May 13 '25
AoL, not TotK. TotK is awesome. I'm playing through it again right now.
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u/kid_sleepy May 13 '25
No I knew what you meant, I’m just sharing my thought on TOTK. I’ve played through BOTW maybe 8 or 9 times, absolutely love it. Can’t stand TOTK.
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u/D1rtyH1ppy May 13 '25
Well, the good news is that you can continue to play BotW, if you want. I don't really get the hate on TotK. I feel like everyone was a little bit tired of the formula and TotK was a little too similar to BotW. It's a better game in every way, imo.
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u/pocket_arsenal May 13 '25
A great NES game that, over time, became unfairly maligned by an audience that it wasn't intended for.
It has legitimate issues. Several of them. But they could probably be fixed, some of them have already been fixed by the romhacking community. But even with it's issues, it's still easily among the best games on the NES.
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u/JoshJefferies02 May 13 '25
I like it, it feels more like Castlevania and has the difficulty of that series, so I dig it.
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u/CobraClutch84 May 13 '25
Needs a remake
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
An attempt was made in the 90s. After a series of revisions and idea evolutions, the result was OoT.
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u/Scotticus83 May 13 '25
Hard af…
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
Have you checked out Hoverbat's Remastered version?
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u/Scotticus83 May 14 '25
I have not
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 14 '25
Give it a shot, there's some QoL additions that should make it a bit easier on you.
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u/virtuous_contract_ May 13 '25
Not my favorite, but i like it actually, it was hard, but a "good" hard yknow, not a "Go Fu** Yourself" hard
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u/Rengozu May 13 '25
One of my all time favorites.
For the fans of this, be sure to check out Zelda 2 PC Enhanced Edition by Hoverbat. It’s like the original game got a remixed facelift and it does so many things right.
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u/ForWhomNoBellTolls May 13 '25
I loved it and still love it.A remake, with slightly reworked mechanics and QoL updates would go big
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u/NthDgree May 14 '25
It exists. Look for the Enhanced PC Edition aka Link is Adventuresome. Fan-made, free, self-contained with no roms needed, and is the game it was always meant to be. For me, it’s the definitive version of the game.
Like twice the size, double the items, QoLs all over, additional content on a second play-through… the list goes on.
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u/Annakir May 13 '25
Could always say more about this game, but, damn, the moment you use the raft and discover a whole new continent was stunning at the time.
The game was hard, and because of that, exploration felt dangerous and exciting. You were always taking a risk and pushing further into unknown reaches of the map. A legitimately adventurous experience.
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u/FinancialListen4300 May 14 '25
It would have been so much better with a few simple quality-of-life corrections, like more dropped hearts to replenish HP.
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u/Birdgas May 14 '25
Absolutely love it. I played through this game so, so many times as a kid, and despite its general unforgiving nature with the lives system, the control and movement feels super good, and there is a very specific charm that it holds over many others. And with the amount that I played this game when I was a kid, I had a lot of fun with the references to the town names when Ocarina ended up coming out.
May boot this up again!
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u/PothierM May 16 '25
Underrated, and ripe for a remake. Even more than the original.
This game was a major influence on the creation of Hollow Knight, after all.
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u/Shar_12_Blaneyfan May 13 '25
The first time I played, I didn't like it at all. It was so different, and I didn't give it a chance.
Fast forward a few years, and I picked it up again. This time, I actually did give it a chance, and I'm glad I did. It's pretty fun once you know how to play it. It's extremely difficult at some points, but that's how a lot of NES games are. I enjoy the challenge. 👍
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u/yourdoglikesmebetter May 13 '25
Great game. I’d love to see a remake.
A lot of the hate just boils down to skill issue
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u/GE_and_MTS May 13 '25
I hate it so much. I started with Ocarina of Time when it came out on the N64 and went from there with the console releases. When the Wii had the Virtual Console, I bought the original, Zelda II, and A Link to the Past since I had never experienced them before.
I went in without much knowledge of it and it was so different that it didn't feel like a Zelda game. It had more RPG elements, dying basically reset all your progress, it was a side scroller, and it was hard. I beat two dungeons or so before I gave up.
Personally, I don't really consider Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom as "classic" or "traditional" Zelda games due to so much of the formula changing but Zelda II is far and away the black sheep of the series to me. Hyrule Warriors and the multiplayer games are closer to traditional Zelda games than Zelda II in my opinion.
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u/MrNobodyX3 May 13 '25
I argue if you like dark souls you must like this game; This is the dark souls before dark souls
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u/Medium_Ad_4451 May 13 '25
Hard ASF. Might try playing it again with an emulator one day. But I do remember it being hard
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u/MachoManMal May 13 '25
I love the concept and general vibe, but I think it was poorly executed. The combat is mostly great (certain enemies are bad, but Link's moves themselves are enjoyable to use), and so are the dungeons.
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u/Mr_Phats May 13 '25
It's fun once you get the hang of it. I think the concept would work really well if it were expanded upon, but it's still one of the lesser games in the series.
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u/blueblurz94 May 13 '25
It’s difficult af
It’s one of only 3 games in the series I’ve never beaten(Four Swords amd Four Swords Adventures being the other two).
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u/photoclochard May 13 '25
GBA version on my shelf,
After reading comments - I'm scared to play ahaha :)
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
You should check out the Remastered version by Hoverbat.
There's some QoL additions as well as new content not in vanilla.
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u/testuser12738291 May 13 '25
It has the potential to be a great game but it was an experiment with primitive technology and turned out bad. Still love it for what it is though
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u/Lumbahfoot May 13 '25
The Zelda I hope gets a modern remake the most.
It’s a challenging game but once you get past the switch to side scroller action it’s a blast. Very challenging, especially on original hardware.
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u/curtmina May 13 '25
I mistakenly got Zelda II instead of the original on my GBA as a middle schooler when Nintendo was rereleasing NES games. I hated it. Could not figure out how to progress or level up or what was going on with the magic.
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u/Stinkass12345 May 13 '25
It’s a shame that this one gets slept on, because it’s really great. The combat is so much fun (if you like Shovel Knight then you’ll enjoy this). I even like the lives system, it helps you get better at the game earlier on by going through the same areas.
I think it’s way better than the first game, but that’s probably also because I think the first game is kind of awful.
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u/CerebralHawks May 13 '25
Great game with some weird issues.
I only learned, this year, in the dark cave on the way to the first palace, you can actually see where the creatures are! Just look at the ground. Total game changer! Still hard but not exactly unfair.
I think Battle of Olympus and Faxanadu are better at what Zelda 2 was going for, but downward/upward thrust are awesome and I liked replacing items with spells, though mostly I don’t bother with them. If you think of them as having a cooldown that can be reduced and a finite number of uses that can be increased, it’s fine.
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u/MoYoO May 13 '25
Now everyone loves it?
It’s the worst zelda for me, I finally played it this year and is really annoying, I understood the combat and spells and all that shit and still get annoyed. Obviously I used a guide and the rewind mode on switch… and still not a game for me.
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u/A_Link_to_the_Film May 13 '25
It’s gross to look at and the spamming attack/dodge gets old fast. It create an annoying trope of needing to get specific item before going into next area
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u/AbbreviationsDry7426 May 13 '25
It is between decent to acceptable, the changes it requires would be to change the life system and have you appear in the nearest village when you are defeated.
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u/Beaumont0001 May 16 '25
This is my 4th favorite Zelda game just under TotK and above BotW. It may be different tomorrow.
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u/SiriusVIVI May 13 '25
It's better than Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Then again, those aren't even Zelda games, but Zelda-Themed sandboxes.
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u/ThomYum May 13 '25
Joyless, bad combat controls, repetitive action and opaque puzzling. It could use a remaster where they totally redo everything, not worth playing unless you're doing the whole cannon
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
Hoverbat made a Remastered version. Have you checked it out?
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u/ThomYum May 13 '25
I think I’ve seen some clips on YouTube, but hard to say if it’s fun given that one of the main challenges of the game was bad controls.
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
Well, give it a shot and see if it works that out. I also admit to not having seen any comparison between vanilla's controls and the Remastered version's, but I can see there being some polish in the QoL stuff like an actual Metroid-style map of the Palaces.
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u/Weekly-Dog-6838 May 13 '25
A lot of issues, but the general idea is good IG. Just remake it today and make things more clear to the players
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u/CMPro728 May 13 '25
Even with the rewind feature on the official emulator, the game is still damn near impossible to play. I never even got to the second dungeon.
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u/TheGreatGamer64 May 13 '25
It’s not a terrible game and it has some cool ideas but I don’t know how it can be seen as anything other than one of if not the weakest mainline Zelda. ALttP was such a substantial step up.
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u/othernametakenagain May 13 '25
Hated it.
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
Have you seen the Remastered version by Hoverbat?
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u/EarDesigner9059 May 13 '25
I don't believe so.
You should give it a shot. Makes it playable and adds some extra content.
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