The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Like many other action/RPG games, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap starts off with a sleepy hero. The story begins with Princess Zelda coming to Link's house, only to find him asleep. Link gets woken up and the two head off to the Picori Festival, which is named after a race of miniature people, in Hyrule Village. But before going to the festival, Link's Grandfather, a blacksmith, hands him a sword to take to the King. At the festival, Link chases Zelda around the town as she goes from booth to booth. Eventually, she wins a prize and hands you your first item to add to your growing arsenal. Afterwards, Zelda has had her fill of fun, the pair venture to the castle and the true story behind this latest installment in the Zelda series is revealed. The sword Link delivered to the castle is of the utmost importance to Hyrule's safety. It is called the Picori Blade, which is an ancient sword whose magic keeps evil locked in a box. It has become a custom for the winner of the festival games to touch the blade for good luck.
Unfortunately for Hyrule, the champion Vaati has other intentions. The Picori Blade is destroyed, the box is opened, and a mass of evil spreads the land. And to make matters worse, Vaati curses Zelda, the Princess of Light, and turns her into stone. It is at this point Link is charged with his latest mission. With the Picori Blade shattered, Hyrule is in need of a hero. Link must go to the Minish Woods and find the Picori and convince them to repair the shattered sword. Only then can the curse be lifted and evil be put back in the box. A bit into the game, things get really crazy when you meet some weird creature named Elzo. He attaches himself to your head... he's your "Minish Cap" and in-game assistant, similarly to the fairy in the Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and The Wind Waker. The good news is with the Minish Cap, err... Ezlo, Link can shrink and go boldly where no Link has gone before!
Gameplay:
The Minish Cap plays much like A Link to the Past. However, there is enough different about The Minish Cap that separates it from A Link to the Past. For the most part, the game play is the same, except there are a few twists with the navigation, battle system, Kinstones & side quests, the arsenal, and dungeons & puzzles.
The game offers a new way to navigate with Link. In the early stages of the game, Link joins forces with Ezlo, who is a Minish Cap and provides Link the ability to shrink. A lot of the puzzles and secrets in the game are solved/unlocked by shrinking into a miniature version of Link. This adds a somewhat interesting dynamic to the game. The concept is analogous to A Link to the Past, where you could travel between dimensions at will with your magic mirror, or Ocarina of Time, where you could use your ocarina to time travel. While you did shrink a frequently most of the time you can't tell. When a miniature Link is somewhere the normal sized Link can be found, you're a tiny blip on the screen. But there are many places for miniature Link to go and when you get there, the camera "zooms" in and game play looks normal.
As for the battle system, it's pretty much the same as other Zelda games. You have a sword, boomerang, etc. and you hack and slash your enemies. Of course, there are certain monsters that require certain weapons to defeat them. However, what makes the battle system different than previous installments is the ability to learn new sword techniques by visiting different master swordsmen throughout the game, including spin attack, sword beam, dash attack, peril beam, rock breaker, roll attack, down thrust, and great spin attack.
Kinstones are a new and somewhat interesting portion to the game. Basically, as you travel Hyrule you'll find Kinstones in treasure chests, in bushes, under rocks, or dropped from monsters. Kinstones are used to make a connection with people by "fusing" the stones together. As you meet more non-playing characters in the game, you'll find more people you can match Kinstones with. Once a match has been made, a random act of "good" occurs, which may be a treasure chest appearing out of nowhere or a secret door opening up. After which, you can obtain a rupees, mysterious shells, or a piece of heart. The Kinstones are a side quest you can skip over if you want. However, there are a few exceptions which require you to participate in fusing Kinstones. Another side quest in this game is the collection of mysterious shells. Mysterious shells are used as tokens in a figurine drawing game. Collect 'em all! It's a lot like figurine collection game in Super Smash Brothers Melee.
In order to turn little boy Link into a massive hero, you'll need an arsenal of tools. Many of the items you'll are similar to the items in previous Zelda games. You've got your trusty Sword, Shield, Boomerang, Bombs, Bow & Arrow, Gust Jar, Cane of Pacci, Mole Mitts, Flame Lantern, Roc's Cape, Pegasus Boots, Ocarina of Wind, and up to four bottles. There are also passive tools such as Grip Ring, Power Bracelets, and Flippers. With your arsenal you'll be able to blow things up, set things on fire, jump, run, travel like the wind, climb walls, light heavy rocks, and swim! Ultimately, it becomes very critical to understand what your tools can and can't do to get through the game. In many cases, you'll find yourself switching through many of them to get through the latest dungeon.
The final portion to The Minish Cap's game play are the dungeons and puzzles. For the most part, the puzzles are not very complex or even extravagantly different than previous Zelda games. However, there are two major aspects that make the puzzles different. Firstly, being able to shrink your size makes for interesting considerations as you travel the different parts of Hyrule trying to unlock the elements needed to rebuild the Picori Blade. Secondly, as you gain new elements and add them to the Picori Blade, you can the ability to temporarily clone yourself. In many stages of the game, you'll need to be able to toggle two, three, or four switches at once! There are even some enemies that require you to attack them in synchronously! It can be frustrating at first, but gradually you'll get the hang of it. This game also features a lot great deal of puzzle solving outside of dungeon areas. In order to successfully get through many of the dungeons, you'll need to find new tools by embarking on many non-dungeon journeys.
Overall, I was quite pleased with the game play of The Minish Cap. The only drawback is the game play felt too easy. With the exception of the final boss, I played through the game without dying or really having any trouble. Another aspect I found annoying about this game (and perhaps the reason I got through it so easily) was when there was a pot or brick in dungeon containing hearts, bombs, arrows, etc. you could get the heart, bomb, etc., exit the room, reenter and get it again. So basically, if you needed to regenerate you're health, you just had to find the right room. Despite, my slight annoyance, I found The Minish Cap to be a thrilling experience. It's a very fun game that should appease any Zelda fan.
Graphics:
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap's graphics look great. It uses a 2D graphics engine and offers a lot of detail for a simple picture. Link has never looked so good on a handheld unit. The graphics are most comparable to the GBA release of A Link to the Past. Overall, the graphics look great!
Audio:
The audio is pretty basic and pretty bland. It gets extremely repetitive and annoying. You might be better off just turning the sound off and listening to the radio.
Conclusion:
While I did thoroughly enjoy The Minish Cap, I don't think it is nearly as strong as A Link to the Past, which is my favorite game from the Zelda series. The biggest issue I had with The Minish Cap was the challenging factor. The game felt a little too easy and too simple at times. Nonetheless, it was still a great experience and if you've enjoyed a good Zelda game, The Minish Cap should do you well. It comes highly recommended.