J.P. sees the new Zelda announcement as a reason to go back and give a classic another chance.
It’s no secret to anyone who has frequented this site for a while that I kind of hate The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Calling it hate is really exaggerating – I really only shit on it the way I do because it’s fun to annoy the rest of the people on staff and in the forums. Really, I just don’t like it, despite trying.
It’s a weird feeling when you don’t like a game that virtually everyone else calls one of the greatest of all time. You sometimes feel like there’s something wrong with you and that you’re the only one who can’t see why it’s great. I played through most of A Link to the Past on the Game Boy Advance and just couldn’t get into it, and then I tried again when the game hit the Wii Virtual Console, but I still didn’t really take to it.
Meh.
I keep going back to games like this, thinking that if I just keep playing a game, it’ll click at some point. This has worked at times. When Metroid Prime came out and was immediately heralded as one of the all-time greats, I rented the game and returned it after playing for a few hours and not liking it at all. Years later I would give the game another chance and I fell in love with it. I want that experience with Link to the Past.
Last week’s announcement of a 3DS sequel to the game sparked disparate feelings in people: some ecstatic at the thought of a new game in that style; some wary at the thought of this new game tarnishing the reputation of the original. For me, it was a sign that I should give the original game another chance. I hope I don’t have to wait long for it to come to the Wii U Virtual Console. Once it’s out I’ll pay my $1.50 and play it with every hope of understanding what everyone else sees in it.
