Reviewing Monsters: A Legend of Zelda - A Link Between Worlds, Part 1

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

A Link Between Worlds is a bit of a weird one. It's the second Zelda game I've ever completed -- A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening were my first Zelda games, but it wasn't until Twilight Princess that I actually fully completed a full Zelda game. After that, I did A Link Between Worlds, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past in one huge Zelda sitting... but ALBW will always hold a special place in my heart due to it being the first '2D' Zelda game I've completed. 

It's a weird sequel-thematically-but-not-directly to one of the most iconic Zelda games, A Link to the Past. And it's... it's odd. The setup of Hyrule is identical to ALTTP, but the gimmicks and items are different, and instead of going to the Dark World, Link in ALBW goes into... "Lorule", a reverse-world version accessible by going through rifts in walls. Again, plot-wise it's typical Zelda stuff, and the gimmick-theme this time around is the ability to turn into 2D paintings in a 3D world.

Going on straight to the monsters!

Crow: I'm going to breeze through a lot of these monsters, because, well, ALBW is a huge homage to A Link to the Past, of which I've extensively reviewed the monsters off here and here. And especially its first couple of areas are a huge homage to ALTTP's equivalent areas, so a lot of the monsters behave more or less the same. Good ol' Crows are one of them, angry birds that peck Link and stuff. 

Rat, Rope & Bee: Let me breeze through some of the 'just an animal' and 'these show up in ALTTP' enemies! I forgot that the Ropes in ALTTP were black, too. Again, these are just simple enemies that hurt you when they poke you, and die when you poke them. Just like ALTTP, Link can later weaponize bees, which is probably one of the funniest weapons you ever have. 

Poe: Another long-standing enemy, Poes also behave identically to their ALTTP counterparts, rising from the gravestones. Again, pretty much a faithfully-rendered 3D version of the original sprite in ALTTP. Without repeating myself verbatim from the ALTTP review, I don't have much to say here. 

Blob & Buzz Blob: Regular 'blobs' don't actually exist in ALTTP, so the Blobs are technically brand-new! They're basically just the Buzz Blob without the electrical charge, though. I've always loved how RPG games go for slimes for their default weak enemy that can kind of show up anywhere, and well, just like ALTTP, the first areas in ALBW are pretty easy to prepare you for the Dark World Lorule. Buzz Blobs in this incarnation are permanently electrified, and don't have any Cukeman easter-egg wackiness. 

Octorok: A Zelda staple! They look a lot more like funny, chunky, land-dwelling octopi compared to previous incarnations, and I love these guys. They run around the Hyrule Fields and shoot rocks at you! This time, their rocks have a hilarious ink splatter effect! 

 

Zora: Or 'River Zoras', as the fandom call them! They still do the same thing of popping up of the water and spitting fireballs at Link. There's a bit of a Zora society with a Zora Queen that Link can interact with. It's an interesting bit of canon-welding across different depictions of Zoras, in that the Zora kingdom in ALBW is technically non-hostile to humans... but the majority of the Zoras that Link meets are hostile. I'm going to assume that all the Zoras that Link fights in the overworlds are just the equivalents to like, bandits or renegades. 

Armos: ...again, another one that's pretty similar to the ALTTP version. I've always loved the 2D games' take on the Armoses (Armosi?), personally. Yes, the 3D Armoses and their varying degrees of abilities are neat and all, but there's something so unsettling about a giant chess-piece of a statue just hopping around trying to squash you. I think I find the fact that the Armos's shield and sword are completely stationary and useless to be pretty hilarious. 

Tektite: These look a bit different, actually. The major details are the same, but thanks to the art-style, I feel like the ALBW Tektites end up feeling like a different breed of monsters altogether. Less jumping bugs with giant eyeballs, and more... giant eyeballs in crab shells with meaty finger-y feet. I guess it's the shape and orientation of the feet -- ALBW's Tektites have them just spread out and pretty fat, whereas the ALTTP Tektite have them folded up close to their body like some sort of leaping insect. As with most 2D Zelda games, a lot of enemies show up in different colour variations. Blue Tektites show up in regular Hyrule, while the more powerful Red Tektites show up in the evil realm of Lorule. 

Popo: I still don't know what Popos are supposed to be. A mass of worms? Plant vines? A land anemone? A plant creature? A Tangela? They still die in a single hit. They are way more aggressive compared to the non-hostile enemy from ALTTP, and will chase after Link. Lorule's more powerful version of Popo are red and yellow -- these don't exist in ALTTP!

Stalfos: There are way more different kinds of Stalfos in ALTTP, but in ALBW we only have two. It's interesting that they have a more realistic bone-like texture, but they look so utterly comical. I think it's those very stylized faces, which look less like a human's skull and more like a Little Green Man alien. The white ones jump around a lot, while the more powerful red ones throw their bombs like boomerangs at Link. 

Soldiers: These are all the soldiers! I think I had all of them? I'm probably missing some sort of different helmet/weapon combination at some point. Anyway, unlike the implicitly human/Hylian soldiers that Link fights in ALTTP, the soldiers in ALBW are explicitly painting monsters created by the dark magics of the main villain, Yuga. I don't really have much to say here, fighting humanoid knights does feel kind of cool after spending a good chunk of time fighting like, slimes and animals. They have a wide variety of weapons. Some throw bombs, some chuck javelins, some use swords and shields, some use bows... they sure are soldiers!

Sand Crab: It sure is a crab! It sure moves sideways! I love the Sand Crab, their expression looks so surprised. As with my commentary on ALTTP, I like the colour palette. 

Rupee Like: We saw some of these guys in other games (but not ALTTP), and they debuted in Four Swords. They're a variant of the iconic Like Like, but with an anglerfish lure that ends in a rupee. The rupees are actually slightly differently-shaded in this game. Not much to say, though, I've spoken about them before.

Bari & Biri: Hyrule (and Lorule)'s resident electrified floating jellyfish monsters return! Again, not much to say here, they behave similarly to how they did in previous iterations. They are electrified, and sometimes the electrification wear off. Ranged weapons are effective. The red and yellow versions, upon death, split into smaller, eyeless Biris. The gray and yellow versions are tougher versions that appear in Lorule.

The original ALTTP versions of the Bari and Biri only show up in the Dark World, but here we have variations that show up in both Hyrule and Lorule. If I'm not mistaken, the Lorule ones will actually discharge their electricity if you kill them while electrified. 

Keese: Most of the returning monsters from ALTTP are more or less identical to the originals, but the Keese receives a brand-new-face with a nose, larger eyes and ears and adorable little vampire fangs. They otherwise behave similarly to how Keeses have always done. 

Bubble: The 'Bubble' equivalent in ALTTP are the ones the fandom usually calls the 'Anti-Fairies'. The Bubbles here still look the same (or, well, the Fire Bubble does, at any rate) but they behave more similarly to their 3D counterparts, actually being enemies that hover around the room and attack Link. There's a rather rudimentary elemental-attack system here, where the Fire Bubble is vulnerable to the tornado and ice rods, while the Ice Bubble (which appears a lot later in the Ice Ruins) is vulnerable to the fire rod. 

Eyegore: Yet another repeat enemy, the Eyegores still behave similarly, being immobile statues until Link comes near at which point it opens its eyes and tries to murder you. I think the red one is the most powerful here, I don't really remember. I still love the pun on their names, and they still retain their vulnerability to arrows. Five of these guys in a dark room end up being a miniboss in the Thieves' Hideout.

Mini-Moldorm: OH MY GOD LOOK AT THE BABBUS. I love just how adorable this game's artstyle makes the Moldorms. The fuzz around their circular bodies look more like fur than just random caterpillar fuzz, and this has the glorious side effect of making ALBW's Moldorms look absolutely like fucking hamburgers. And they have giant cute baby eyes! The brown one is met on the way up towards the Tower of Hera (where the boss is a big Moldorm), while the purple ones show up in some areas in Lorule. 

Deadrock: The Pokemon gym's entrance statue returns. They still turn into stone when you hit them with a weapon. Unlike in ALTTP, though, the hammer in ALBW will absolutely murder these angry-looking jerks when they are in stone-form. 

Lynel: They look goofy! Can you believe this is the same Lynel as the impressive lion-centaur monster from Breath of the Wild? Or, hell, they even look pretty goofy with that grinning snake-face compared to the side-profile they had in ALTTP. Lynels are found primarily on Death Mountain (the black ones are in Lorule's equivalent) and they breathe fire. The Lynels are definitely one of the most punishing enemies for their respective parts of the game. Pretty cute, even if they are kind of goofy compared to the rest of the ALTTP-import monsters. 

Terrorpin: A lot of these are just recurring enemies, huh? Well, I could think of worse things to do than to re-visit ALTTP's bestiary. Terrorpins appear very early in this game relative to AlTTP. They sure are tortoises that can be flipped around with the hammer!

Hardhat Beetle: Oh yeah, these jackasses. They look much less like beetles, and more like squids, don't they? Makes a lot more sense when you realize that their original Japanese name doesn't specify 'beetle' or anything insectoid at all. They're still notoriously annoying in the Tower of Hera, knocking Link off of upper levels and stuff. Hardhat Beetles are one of those enemies that are super-irritating to face, but become trivial once you get more and more weapons. The red ones are the stronger ones. 

Hinox: And this is what I think of when you say 'Hinox'. I'm not sure why I like the ALBW's version of Hinox so much, but this is the first enemy that greets you when you finally unlock Lorule, the 'dark world' of ALBW, essentially being the enemies you really want to run away from until you get better equipment. They're basically the same bomb-throwing cyclops-es that they are in ALTTP, but look at that face! The Hinoxes are so happy to be in this game, and I feel like they look so much more expressive. A bunch of them also serve as kind of a miniboss on a rail-tram-track ride thing. Blue Hinoxes are snow-themed ones with funky sweaters that hang out in Death Mountain (an ice mountain in Lorule) that lob snowballs at you. You'd think snowballs are less deadly than bombs, but they freeze you in place!

Ropa: Oh hey, these guys! These are the creatures that greet you in the original Dark World. They sure are weird anemone-plant things! There are a lot of them. 

Snap Dragon: Another personal favourite of mine! Giant plant monsters with massive fleshy maws and two chicken legs. Always a favourite in ALTTP, and I like that they return. None of these enemies really do anything different, but I do like to see them in 3D form. 

Like Like: Another classic enemy! Of course the Like Likes are only found in Lorule, these evil bastards. I think the implication here ends up being that the Like Like are the 'dark world' counterparts of the Rupee Like? Any shield consumed by ALBW's version of the Like Like is permanently lost. No 'beat them up to recover your item' shenanigans here!

Moblin: As usual, the pig-men populate Lorule's overworld. Three variants exist -- the spear throwing one, a spear-and-shield one, and a sword-and-shield one. Their shields blow up when you use the fire or ice rod on them. It's nice to be on the equipment-destroying side for once! Otherwise, not much to say here. Moblins sure are Moblins. 

Hyu: Lorulean versions of the Poes! Their faces are a lot spookier this time around, looking like someone carved a face into a piece of wood or something. Just like their ALTTP counterparts, they aren't hostile and won't hound Link... but will hurt him a lot if you run into them. They're not limited to the graveyards, however, and will populate the Skull Woods and Thieves' Town. 

Zirro: I swear this is a Mario enemy. It's another returning ALTTP enemy, a mushroom with feet and weird angel-wings. The ALBW model makes the anatomy a bit more clear, and the Zirro has these tiny Oddish-feet. I thought those were mandibles on the ALTTP sprite! They spit explosive spit at Link, and are weak to the Ice Rod. A variant shows up in Death Mountain that shoots snowballs. Not much to say, otherwise. 

Karat Crab: A NEW ENEMY! This is the Lorule version of the Sand Crab, and it's got one oversized claw like a fiddler crab. I like how much more threatening the bright red eyestalks are compared to the Sand Crabs! Just like many Lorule/Dark World monsters, the Karat Crabs are essentially stronger and tougher versions of the Sand Crabs, but it's nice to see that the lowly crabs have a Dark World counterpart after so long. 

Taros: Cow-men! ALTTP always had a large population of beast-men enemies. The more powerful red Taroses wield tridents. The weaker blue Taroses wield... what is that? Pokey-spears? Pokey-sticks? Is that an actual weapon? The Taroses are found mostly in the Swamp area. 

Stal: Lorule's environment is populated with skulls instead of rocks. Some of the skulls are actual living skulls! I feel like they show up a lot more than their counterparts from ALTTP. I love them! They're bouncing skulls!

Slarok: Another favourite from ALTTP, the Slaroks are Lorulean Octoroks. Only instead of being land-bound octopi, they are... slugs with giant eyestalks and four spike-like feet and a weirdly pillow-like body? They sure look naet!

Dacto: These Lorule-versions of the Crow always looked adorable! They look like old-school anime dinosaurs. Having relatively adorable large chibi heads makes them look a lot less scrappy compared to their ALTTP counterpart. 

Ku: Evil dark-world Zoras! They have one eye and one buck-tooth! Unlike the ALTTP versions, though, the Kus actually can climb out of the water to fight Link in some areas. That adds a bit more to what's otherwise originally a pretty bland palette-swap. 

Helmasaur: Again, not too much to say here since everything I can say about the Helmasaur has already been said in ALTTP. That's one of the big reasons why I probably didn't do the ALBW review back in the day -- so many of these guys are identical to their ALTTP counterparts. These guys look neat in 3D, though. 

Light Ghini & Dark Ghini: New enemies! New compared to ALTTP, anyway... the Ghinis have had a long history of showing up in Zelda games, and these guys look identical visually, being one-eyed ghosts with long tongues that lick you. Mechanically, they're kind of the spotlight of the Dark Palace, which now actually has an actual gimmick that relates to the name of the dungeon! Light Ghinis are visible when the room is bright, and die easily... but become invisible if you turn off the light. Dark Ghinis are the opposite, being completely visible when the room is dark, but cannot be seen in the light. Both of the Ghinis can still be hurt if you can guess where they are and shoot ranged attacks at them, but being floating ghosts that can hover over chasms and whatnot, it's obviously a lot more safe to do the light/dark gimmick properly. 

Goriya: They look more explicitly artificial here, huh? ALTTP's Goriyas were never meant to be associated with Goriyas from previous Zelda games, and are in fact a new enemy type called "Copy". Green Goriyas in ALBW will copy Link's movements until they come into eye contact with Link, at which point they charge towards him. The red ones also copy Link's movements, but they can shoot fireballs. Pretty interesting that they made the Goriyas look more... metallic? Clay-like? 

Kodongo: "Ko" meaning small, so these are small Dodongos! Though I don't think Dodongos actually make an appearance in either ALTTP or ALBW. They sure are ceratopsid dionsaurs that breathe fire! Not too much to say here. 

Swamola: Swamolas! Or "Moldworm", in the original Japanese version. The Moldorms here are "Tail". They look so buggy! Again, they're more or less identical to how they looked in ALTTP, except the 3D model allows a bit more clarity at how the details work. I'm not sure if it's biologically feasible for those two mandibles to be attached right onto the bottom of the eyeballs. The Swamolas hang out and burst out of the murky waters of Misery Mire. 

Vulture: Desert Temple area time! Note that in ALBW, just like ALTTP, once you unlock Lorule you can really go into any of the areas as you want. This is just the order that I scribbled down when the enemies show up in my old playthrough. Vultures are basically just stronger versions of the Crow, except they circle around Link. 

Geldman: Yet another returning enemy, the Geldman show up in the desert regions and move towards Link like ghostly elementals. It's more or less the same thing, but the new item original to ALBW, the Sand Rod, can manipulate the sand under the Geldman and cause us, after ten years, to know what's actually under all that. ...it's a pair of legs and a black set of speedos. Obviously as a monster I do like it better when it's just an ominous upper body moving in the sand, but, hey, comedy.

Water Tektite: Or "Hover", they're still weird pond-skating bugs! They have gigantic lips, though, which isn't particularly obvious in the original ALTTP sprite. There's really nothing all too new other than the addition of those antennae/eyestalks. I think I'm still distracted by that pair of massive lips on a bug. 

Kyameron: It sure is a blob of water that bounces around the room. I'm not sure whether to classify this as a 'trap' or an 'enemy', but since we can actually kill it, yeah, enemy seems about right. They're basically infinitely-respawning enemies in the couple of rooms they show up in. 

Bawb: I thought I could get through everything in a single day, but I'm kinda tired so we'll close it off with two new enemies original to ALBW. Bawbs are something equivalent to Bomblings or Bomblets from Twilight Princess, being monsters that can take the place of bombs to solve puzzles before you get the bomb item. Which, in this 'pick whichever dungeon you want to do first', is highly possible. Beyond the fact that bombs will hurt Link, I don't think the Bawbs are actually hostile. Pretty cute, too, having a rather disinterested-looking eye and a bunch of stubby legs. 

Gyorm: What a weirdo! Gyorms are new to this game, and they're... they're Mega Slowbro! Their 'main' body is a spiral-shaped hermit crab shell with spikes, and a propeller underneath to help them move around upright. But its real main body isn't a crustacean, but best described as a mutant seal with a face resembling... a mole, I guess? They are completely invulnerable to anything that's not a hookshot, which will separate the real Gyorm from its shell. The shells remain after you kill a Gyorm, and you need the shells to solve some of the puzzles. Kind of a fun weirdo!
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I was heavily debating on whether to do this or not, because... 80% of this page is just 'oh hey this guy showed up in ALTTP, it sure looks the same, more or less', but... but I wrote words, and if nothing else, it serves as a fun little showcase of the weird range of creatures in 2D Zelda's bestiary. Oh well! Expect part 2 sometime soon.