The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening's dungeon design | Boss Keys

Hi. I'm Mark Brown, and welcome back to Boss
Keys

You know, despite the fact that Zelda: Link's
Awakening is one of my most dearly beloved

games of all time, I completely forgot just
how much it brought to the Zelda franchise.

Flying on a chicken? That was Link's Awakening.
Trading sequence? Link's Awakening. Playing

different songs on an ocarina? That was Link's
Awakening. Fishing, mini-bosses, and jumping?

It all goes back to this wonderful, and very
green game.

Though, I'm going to be playing the Game Boy
Color re-release Link's Awakening DX for this

video. It's almost identical but I've put
a link in the description to a complete rundown

of the changes if you're interested.

Link's Awakening was made by pretty much the
same team as A Link to the Past, but as it

was a handheld game the developers felt more
free to experiment and try new things. In

an interview, years later, director Takashi
Tezuka said it "was like we were making a

parody of Zelda".

Alongside the more bizarre choices, like cameos
from Mario and Kirby, Link's Awakening also

makes some fundamental and, I think, very
beneficial changes to the Zelda formula - especially

in the dungeons, which is what I'm looking
at in this series.

The compass, for example, now shows the location
of treasure chests on your map and plays a

chime when you enter a room containing a key.
These features cut out the frustration of

hunting down a lost key, and make the compass
a much more valuable item to find.

These bird statues work like the Sahasrahla
stones in A Link to the Past but now you must

first find the stone beak to hear the hint.
That's one more thing for the designers to hide.

But the biggest change comes down to how the
big key works. Lemme explain.

In A Link to the Past, the big key is used
to open the chest that contains the dungeon's

item - which is a brilliant touch. It gives
you a real sense of excitement as you rush

back to that big chest you saw earlier, giddy
with anticipation to find out what's inside.

That sometimes involves backtracking, sure, but it's meaningful and motivated backtracking.

You're excited to return to the chest.

But in Link's Awakening, the item is just in a
normal chest, which doesn't need a key. This

is basically how Zelda will work for the rest
of the franchise. The chests containing key

items will sometimes be bigger, but will remain
unlocked.

Also, that big key was used to open one door
in A Link to the Past's dungeons, which would

normally reveal the second half of the palace.
So, in Misery Mire, the big key gives you

access to this more linear, second basement
area. And in Thieves' Town, the big key lets

you leave this maze-like opening section to
explore the rest of the dungeon.

In Link's Awakening, and - again - pretty
much every game since, the big key - now called the nightmare key

- specifically opens the door to the boss's lair.

But, don't be fooled into thinking that this
make's Link's Awakening's dungeons less interesting.

Far from it! Because instead of opening up
a second half of a dungeon, Link's Awakening

opens up a second phase.

And it does this using the dungeon's key item.
In all of the dungeons except for Eagle's

Tower- which we'll come to - the rooms are
littered with obstacles that you can't bypass.

Like holes in the floor in Tail Cave, heavy
pots in Bottle Grotto, and deep water in Angler's Tunnel.

Then, when you get the key item - the Roc's
Feather that lets you jump over those holes,

the power bracelet that lets you lift those
pots, or the flippers that let you swim in

that deep water - the dungeon changes in an
instant. All those places you couldn't access

before are now open to you.

And that rush of anticipation we saw with
that big chest returns. You're excited to go back

to those areas and see where they lead. Maybe
not quite as excited as you were when you

knew you were about to get a new item. But
still. It's that motivated backtracking.

Though, with a difference.

Because, the big key only opens one locked
door, but an item like the fire rod or Pegasus

boots lets you bypass lots of obstacles. That
means the entire dungeon is recontextualised,

like it's a mini Metroidvania. This gives
you more to think about and remember as you explore.

And it gives each dungeon a nice sense of
progression. In every dungeon except Eagle's

Tower - it's coming! - you first work to find
the item. Which then gives you access to the

nightmare key. Which then lets you take on
the boss. That formula might be strained by

Zelda game number ... 16? Or however many
we're up to now. But it's good for Link's

Awakening.

There are some instances in A Link to the
Past where you need to backtrack with your

newly equipped item to bypass an obstacle
but they're few and far between. Take the

hook shot in Swamp Palace: you need to use
it precisely twice, in the same room, to finish

the dungeon. That same item in Catfish's Maw
in Link's Awakening is used to collect two

small keys, get the nightmare key, reach the
boss, and access a bunch of optional items.

This focus on items also extends to the bosses.
Only a few of the bosses in A Link to the

Past were weak to the item hidden in that
dungeon, and Arrghus is the only boss that

requires you to use the dungeon's key item.
In Link's Awakening, almost every dungeon

has a boss or mini-boss that is defeated with
the key item.

This Game Boy game once again lets you carry
a handful of small keys, and you get to decide

which doors to unlock - giving you some real
choice in how you proceed through the dungeon.

But unlike A Link to the Past, this game does
not mess around. Even in the very first dungeon

you can carry three keys in your pocket at
once, and in the second dungeon you can choose

between three doors from the word go.

Now, so far in my analysis I've found that
when you're presented with multiple locked

doors, you can always find the same number
of keys - or more - elsewhere in the dungeon.

But in the dungeon Key Cavern you will find yourself in a room with four locked doors, and only

one key in your hand. Ultimately, three of
the doors lead to single rooms - two of which

are completely pointless and the other is
optional. But it's a fun way of making the

dungeon look more complex than it really is.

You'll get your key back in all three rooms
but the clever clogs out there might realise

that if you leave these doors to last you'll
actually run out of keys. To stop this from

happening, for those who feel the need to
go in every single room, Key Cavern has nine

keys for eight locks. Cheeky.

Some stray thoughts before I get on to Eagle's
Tower. These card suit enemies are cool but

these horse head things are super annoying.
It's cute how all the dungeon maps look like

things, and it leads to a good puzzle involving
the "eyes" of the Face Shrine.

I like this puzzle where you can

only see this cracked, bombable wall by standing up
on this high platform. And the bonus Color Dungeon

is nothing to write home about.

Okay so Eagle's Tower is really good. It's
the only Link's Awakening dungeon on multiple

floors but it makes really good use of this fact.
It has a bit where you drop down from one

floor to the other like in the Tower of Hera.
And, oh yeah, the fourth floor falls down

and crashes into the third.

To do this you must pick up this giant metal
ball and throw it at these four pillars. Which

is easier said than done because you can't
take the ball downstairs or jump while holding

it. It's a different type of key: one that
makes you think about how to move it.

So to get it around the dungeon you have to
throw it, then go around and get it. It forces

you to be smart about where you take the ball,
and to figure out how you'll get both the

ball and Link to the same space. This dungeon,
and Turtle Rock which follows afterwards,

also uses a lot of one-way doors and paths
so you can't just wander around the dungeon

freely. You need to understand the space and
make deliberate choices in your navigation.

My only disappointment with Eagle's Tower
is that you never need to visit the third

floor so you could quite easily miss out on
the fact that one part of the dungeon gets

radically changed because of your actions.

So, as we can see, a dungeon in Link's Awakening
is all about keys and locks.

Small keys are many keys, for many locks.
The nightmare key is one key for one lock.

And then the item is one key for many locks.
You can even add in the crystal switches - those

orbs that raise or lower all the blocks in
the dungeon - which are like many keys for

one, giant lock. And then you have the ball
which is a key for four locks but it's heavy

and, well, you get the idea.

This gives Nintendo a lot to work with to
create some truly devious and non-linear dungeons

for us to play. I think Link's Awakening marks
a high point in Zelda's dungeon design and,

well, we'll have to wait and see where it
goes next...

Thanks for watching. Next time on Boss Keys
we're going 3D, we're going back and forth

through time, and we're entering... the Water
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