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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 7 weeks ago.
Play Overview
Link's Awakening's unique cartoon art style paired with the shallow depth-of-field effect makes playing the game feel like playing with physical toys and is a noticeable departure from other Zelda games such as Breath of the Wild. You traverse through the open world and battle enemies using your sword and protect yourself with your armour, as well as completing the sometimes quite difficult puzzle-based dungeons which can be based on colour puzzles, locating keys and much more.
You can throw heavy objects like bounders to clear your path, grapple across gorges and dash into enemies to defeat them, and you can find and upgrade your gear as you go. Using your abilities, you explore the island on a quest to collect eight instruments and awaken the island's legendary Wind Fish in order to escape. Unlike many other Zelda games, Link can also jump and there are also several platforming sections in the game.
Benefits
This game is good if you want to:
- Build resilience
- Critically Assess information
- Use games in church
- Get children reading
- Re-think your assumptions
- Walk in someone else's shoes
This game has been the inspiration for the following activities:
Duration
Age Ratings
Rated for younger players in the US. Rated ESRB EVERYONE for Mild Fantasy Violence. Players use a sword, arrows, and magic attacks to strike enemies (e.g., turtles, slimes, bats, birds) that usually burst into clouds of smoke when defeated.
Skill Level
8+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game.
Our Game Pathways reveal how 17-year-olds play this game:
- 17-year-old: Navigating An Unmapped World
Game Details
Release Date: 01/01/1999, updated in 2019
Out Now: Game Boy and Switch
Content Rating: PEGI 7
Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Adventure, Fighting (Action, Platform, Puzzle, Role-Play and Traversal)
Accessibility: 17 features
Components: 2D Overhead, Hand-Made and Open World
The Legend of Zelda Franchise
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is part of The Legend of Zelda franchise of games:

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