Game profile
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
A lovingly crafted remake of the Game Boy classic with a charming diorama look. Link is stranded on a mysterious island and must collect instruments to awaken the Wind Fish.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Action / Adventure, set in a fantasy world. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays light and upbeat. The structure is guided rather than open, so you are moved along instead of dropped into a map. Sessions of an hour or two sit at the sweet spot here.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. The story matters and gives the mechanics a frame, without taking over. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available on one platform. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Charming diorama visuals
- Compact dungeon puzzles
- Nostalgic classic
This fits you if
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you enjoy being made to think
- you want to live through a story, not just play a system
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
- you want something light that leaves you in a good mood
- you want to actually finish something for once, 12 hours and done
Look elsewhere if
- you specifically want an open world to roam
- you want to play it side by side with someone
- you want something with real weight to it
- you want either a pure challenge or pure relaxation, not the middle
How long is The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening?
About 12 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 2 weeks, or 6 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 87 out of 100, which puts it above 71 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 356 overall. That is mid-table for this database. Not a standout at the top, but solidly rated.
For comparison, Action averages 83 points across the database, so this one sits 4 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 323 collected ratings.
Released in 2019, so it has 7 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2019
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Puzzle
- Playtime
- approx. 12 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Present and relevant
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Fantasy
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- Switch
- Critic rating
- 87 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | 2019 | approx. 12 hrs. | 87 | Mid price |
| The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | 2024 | approx. 25 hrs. | 85 | Full price |
| Tunic | 2022 | approx. 14 hrs. | 89 | Mid price |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | 2017 | approx. 50 hrs. | 98 | Full price |
If you liked this, try these
- 85/100 The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, longer
- 89/100 Tunic Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, rated higher
- 98/100 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, longer
- 82/100 Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, longer
- 91/100 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, longer
- 83/100 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, longer