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Shadow’s Dungeon Reviews: Link’s Awakening: Bottle Grotto

Hey guys! This is ShadowSect, and this is the Link’s Awakening Dungeon Reviews! This dungeon is:

Level 2: Bottle Grotto

Hit the jump for the review by me, ShadowSect!

Here’s how I review dungeons (for the newbies):

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have a healthy balance of linearity and complexity that ends up entertaining, and does the design of the rooms work? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do that creates a fun package? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given, and if not, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing? Is there a form of competence or experience in the dungeon that holds me? How is the combat?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzles memorable? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item, and if not, do they have a common trait?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon, and if so, is it because of congestion or valid reasons? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Onto the review!

This dungeon was a much more simpler dungeon to review, probably because at face value it’s very similar to the previous dungeon, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and there are new things in this dungeon. This dungeon withholds the second instrument, the Conch Horn (ALL HAIL THE MAGIC CONCH), so let’s get down to collecting this item! And review the dungeon…. of course.

Dungeon Design (15): I’ll keep repeating this forever, but if there’s one thing I can praise the handheld games about, it’s their dungeon design. This dungeon, while having a linear pathway, splits into two almost immediately after defeating the miniboss. The dungeon is very malleable, as you’re able to go through it at your whimsy, and it still manages to withhold some complexity, and that’s mostly thanks to the block changing by hitting the crystal you’ll find very early in the dungeon. The dungeon’s very reasonable, having rooms that never seem too congested, and you’ll find the miniboss room to take advantage of things that were introduced in the overworld. It may get a bit boring, mostly in the first part where you have to backtrack a bit, but it holds up rather well, and the second part’s side-scrolling rooms are simply amazing. 14 points.

Visuals (15): The dungeon’s name is Bottle Grotto. Simply put, you’ll find a lot of bottles here (they’re more like jars), and the map is in the shape of a bottle as well. The latter part, Grotto, is a cave that is located near a source of water and is prone to flooding. Well, it is located literally right next to a swamp, though there’s no water to be found in the dungeon itself, though the dungeon is blue in the color version. I still think the sprites are top-notch, and are visually striking for a handheld game. This dungeon also introduces something that this game did first in the entire Zelda series: Have a different dungeon music for each and every single dungeon, which I think is amazing. No more do I have to get used to hearing the same thing over and over again. The dungeon music isn’t exactly the greatest in this dungeon, sound more like a remix of the previous, but it works. Nothing is really completely visually striking, but you don’t expect much from a handheld this old. 13 points.

Gameplay (15): This is where I feel that the game is really starting to borrow things from A Link to the Past, and it shows, but that doesn’t mean that they included new things. But to end things on a more positive note, let’s start with the bad things first. This dungeon is repetitive. Very. You’ll see yourself doing a lot of things more than once, mostly in picking up bottles after finding the Power Bracelet and the constant switch of changing rooms. There’s no true new things to keep you really invested here. That’s not saying that there’s not a lot to do here, but that doesn’t exactly count for a lot if it doesn’t apply itself fully. The Power Bracelet is an awesome item though. I kind of wish it was like the Link to the Past and simply an addition to Link instead of being an item of itself, but I digress. Of course, it helps lift heavy things, but the way the dungeon has you use it is very effective, especially in the quick side-scrolling section after you find it. The map and compass are also found very early, which works really well for someone who sucks at the game (me!). The combat, however, is still excellent, and it’s better here with new enemies that aren’t meant to be easy (this isn’t still Tail Cave), especially the mini-boss and boss. Also, the second part of the dungeon, again, is very fun. 11 points.

Enemies (15): The enemies are ok, I guess. There’s definitely a variety of enemies in this dungeon, from jumping skelton-Stalfoses to frickin Shy Guys. We once again have the Blade Traps, Goombas, Hardhat Beetles, Keese, Sparks, Spiked Beetles, the green variation of Stalfoses (that jump to try to land on you), and the Zols. We also have the Pols Voice returning from the original Zelda, and a couple of new additions exclusive to Link’s Awakening. We have the Mario Boo Buddies, which constantly move towards Link and don’t shy away when he looks at them, but they will disappear for a second if struck, and lighting the torches where they’re found will make them flee and when struck have them die. There’s also the Shy Guy sort of enemy called the Mask-Mimic, which have to be tricked to turn around so they can be killed from behind. Then there’s the Piranha Plant, behaving the exact same way as in Mario except you have to strike him with the sword instead of avoiding it, and then there’s the new Vacuum Mouth, which in 5-second bursts attracts all creatures (including Link) to it so that Link falls off the edge. Also, if Link hits the Vacuum, he goes to the beginning of the dungeon similar to Wallmasters/Floormasters. Annoying! Again, there’s definitely a variety, although it doesn’t fit the theme of the dungeon in the slightest (that’s annoying to me from a design aspect), but oh well. Unfortunately, most of the enemies are actually easier in this dungeon after the initial meetup to the new ones, and despite the entertainment of some, the new additions are clearly copying off from Mario. Then there’s the miniboss, Hinox, which makes a return from A Link to the Past (with its own introduction!). Instead of throwing bombs, they charge at Link, and if they grab him, throw him to the sides of the room to leave Link both stunned and heavily damaged. He makes a very entertaining miniboss, and I promise you’ll enjoy him. Then there’s the boss, Genie. He’s…. kind of stupid. He constantly repeats to break the pace of the game saying you can’t break his bottle, and then you simply dodge his fireballs and throw the bottle he hides in, and after doing that 3 times, you simply strike him as he throws fireballs at you (while he flies around the room). He’s ridiculously easy to kill, but if he manages to hit you with either his fireballs or himself, he does a lot of damage. I mean, dang. But other than that, the enemies in this dungeon aren’t exactly as good as last time, especially the minor enemies. And again, I can’t really explain in terms how bad the Genie can actually be unless you fight him, but I’ll try. His dialogue is really annoying, and it breaks the pace as the fight stops while he’s talking. And this happens about 5 times. God. 10 points.

Puzzles (15): Now we have some good puzzles. The puzzles are definitely good in this dungeon, as there’s the crystal returning from Tower of Hera in A Link to the Past that changes the blocks of the rooms (though there’s only one color of blocks). There’s also a room where you have to kill the enemies in a certain order (which you must get a hint from an owl statue that can be found early in the dungeon), and then there’s the enemy puzzles of course. There’s also lighting up rooms to get a small key/open a door. I found the puzzles here a welcome addition to last time, and while the puzzles definitely did not fit with the theme (except for the bottle one in a side-scrolling room), most of them were very memorable. I wish there was more puzzles that involved the dungeon item, or puzzles that didn’t borrow a bit from A Link to the Past (especially being released right after), but I’ll take what I can get (at least it’s not like last time). 11 points.

Challenge (10): This dungeon is quite challenging from the previous dungeon, though that might just be me. The dungeon, to me however, has a great balance of difficulty, having very easy minor enemies but a challenging miniboss with a bit of a rousing boss. Despite the great design, the dungeon is still a bit linear for the first part, as there really is only one way to go. Also, the boss and miniboss could be a bit of a huge sudden difficulty curve to some. But I’m glad that there was no congestion, that it was still possible to die but not too big of a possibility, and that it wasn’t too easy (I’d rather have something be too hard than too easy). 8 points.

Fun Factor (Tilt) (15): I’m going to bash this dungeon for not being very fun, because it wasn’t for me. I didn’t really feel excited going through this dungeon, as it was blatantly obvious to see things I had already seen before. It’s not something I want to come back to, especially after seeing the pace-breaking moments. What pace-breaking moments? Well, before you get the Power Bracelet, every single dang time you try to pick up a jar or rock, the game gives a message saying “That seems heavy! If only you had something to pick it up with. You won’t be able to lift this yet!”, which is incredibly pace-breaking, but that’s not really a problem until after you get the Power Bracelet. You see, it gives you the same message if the Power Bracelet isn’t set to one of your buttons. So even after you receive the Power Bracelet, you’ll still get the same annoying message if you’re not careful, which is incredibly stupid and a bad design flaw. Still, I might be bashing the dungeon too hard on something the game has a problem with, but it’s glaring. The dungeon is still entertaining for the most part, as I only got bored in the first few minutes of it. Also, the dungeon was the perfect length yet again, so I didn’t feel this feeling for very long at least. Again, this dungeon isn’t devoid of entertainment, but still… 7 points.

Overall, 74 points. Fun. That may not exactly be the best title for something that isn’t exactly fun, but at least this dungeon has good design! And good visuals. And a good challenge. And actual puzzles. If it wasn’t so not-entertaining with that really pace-breaking moment that occurs a lot, and had a better boss with more challenging minor enemies, maybe this dungeon would’ve been great! Regardless, there’s still things that are good here (puzzles+design). Design really does matter in a dungeon, and it is really good here. Meet me next time in Key Cavern, where there’s way too many Keys, enough where I start questioning my sanity…

(end)

What do you think about the review? Too soft? Too critical? Let me know in the comments and the poll in the discussion!

If there’s anything I missed, or you have something to say about this dungeon/review, let me know! I’m not afraid to change the score or implement what you suggest!

                                                    –ShadowSect