Hello everyone! It’s time to play more Link’s Awakening. If this is your first time seeing this play through you can jump to part one here, or if you missed part two you can catch up here! Carrying on…

Next up was grabbing the magnifying glass, followed by the boomerang. I traded my shovel for the boomerang, so hopefully I won’t need it again! (You don’t! Trade the shovel!) I really like the boomerang, especially because you can one-shot many enemies with it. Getting back up to Mabe Village was a breeze with it! After grabbing a piece of heart, I headed towards the Signpost Maze. It took a minute to figure out, and once I got going, I clicked on the wrong sign at the very end and had to start over. After doing that frustrating step I paid 300 rupees and received a new song for the ocarina. I really didn’t like this song. I’ve loved the music so far in this game, but the frog song has to be my least favorite track thus far. I warped back to Animal Village, continuing on with my adventure, and encountered my good friend the owl. He told me to locate two shrines, one in the north and one in the south. He noted that I needed to head south first. I then found an owl statue that read “The Windfish slumbers long… The hero’s life gone…” I don’t know what that means but I’m ready to find out! The story keeps picking up, and at this point in the game, I’m hoping that this isn’t all a dream. 

Getting to the southern area was easy and I made my way through the desert area, finding another secret seashell along the way. I had missed a few so far, and I did not have the sword upgrade at this point. So this made shell 19! I found the shrine and defeated the Armos (with half a heart left…), and it was now time to learn some secrets of the island. So it really is all a dream. I loved the rhyme here, but knowing that I’m nearing the end makes me pretty sad. I’ve been enjoying this game so much, but the time to wake the Windfish was nearing. But how can I be sure if it’s all a dream when my owl friend tells me that I need to “trust my feelings”? Windfish, I’m coming for you! 

In order to learn more about the mysterious island I needed to head to the Face Shrine. I had a good idea of where it was at, so after checking the map and doing some quick navigating, I was ready to go through dungeon 6! Dungeon 6 was plain hard. I had to start from the beginning and reset switches too many times to count, and I got horribly turned around trying to find the compass. So turned around that I had to google a picture of the map to see where I was… Once I got my bearings I figured it all out. I snagged the next instrument, a secret seashell, medicine, and my power bracelet upgrade! I mentioned awhile back that I was short a secret seashell, but now I have 20, so I can upgrade my sword! Facade told me something that was concerning, but I must press on! Once I left the dungeon it was time to detour to Seashell Mansion! 

Once my sword was upgraded I headed back to Mabe Village, but not before slashing a bunch of enemies first! Unless you’re a completionist you can stop searching for the secret seashells once you get the sword upgrade. I hate that I didn’t have the sword in the last dungeon, but I had it now, so that’s all that mattered. I moved the weather vane and walked through the tunnel, then played the Frog song and revived the rooster! The rooster is ADORABLE! I  named him Reuben. So begins the adventure of Lonk and Reuben the Rooster!! Together we can FLY!! 

I made my way through the mountain area, found the bird key, got the 11th piece of heart, and found another fairy fountain. All with my new rooster friend. I love the blue rooster. Next an owl statue told me to beware of the bird so at this point I can only assume that a bird-type boss is next! I also hope that I get to keep my rooster in the next dungeon too! 

Sadly Reuben was abandoned at the start of Eagle’s Tower, and I wish I had had him, he would have made the hardest dungeon in the game MUCH more bearable. I was pretty set on doing this dungeon without the guide, and so I started to. I regret it. Y’all, I spent nearly two hours getting through this stupid dungeon. I found the Nightmare Key about 30 minutes in, but then I was hopelessly lost… Until I checked the guide. I had to muddle my way through the guide to figure out what I was missing and what I had to do to get to the top floor. Follow the guide for Eagle’s Tower! It. Is. HARD. The dungeon is a huge maze of puzzles and the one gimmick can be missed if you’re like me and don’t pay attention. There are four pillars in this dungeon and you have to use a giant ball that you can pick up with the upgraded power bracelet to knock down four pillars. I didn’t catch on to this fact until I was nearly an hour in and running in circles. I was SO confused and out of place that I defeated the mini boss before figuring out what I needed to be doing the whole time. After A LOT of time, and nearly rage quitting because I was so lost, I found my way through. (I also recommend finding the medicine hidden in this dungeon too, it saved my life!) After a ridiculously hard dungeon I was hoping for a pretty decent boss fight. I set a load point and headed up the ladder to fight the Evil Eagle. I’m actually really disappointed in this boss. I had hoped for more of a challenge for such a hard dungeon, but this really fell short. The first few fly overs that the Eagle made didn’t even reach Lonk’s sword, so I just stood there waiting for something to happen. Once the Evil Eagle was in range it only took a few good swings and I was done. I sat there asking myself, “Was that it. Is there more?” and was rather disappointed that there wasn’t a round two or something. I gathered the instrument and headed out of the tower. “The music of the Ocarina leads…” 

As I exited the tower I was sad to see that my rooster was gone, and I checked the building near the tower to find that he had made a new friend. I’m actually REALLY sad that the rooster is gone; Reuben was my friend. He will be missed, but alas, Lonk must wake the Windfish. (Reuben would be proud…)

I used the guide to travel around the mountain tops and I ran into Marin. At first I thought she said that a THIEF put her up there, but then it hit me that she said monsters and that MY name was Thief. I’ve never regretted stealing an in-game weapon so much. I’m now labeled as a thief and the game has no problem reminding me about it. Word about stealing a bow must spread around Koholint Island fast. Thief… So much for Lonk. After saving Marin my owl friend came to tell me where the final instrument was, and that I must play the song of awakening. He also mentioned that Marin sang The Ballad of the Windfish to the Egg atop the mountain. Will Marin and I wake the Windfish together?! I hope so! I loved playing the ocarina with her earlier in the game. 

It didn’t take me long to follow the guide and find the giant turtle, so I played the frog song and it woke up. I really wasn’t expecting to fight the turtle, because it was cute. I was expecting it to talk to me like all the other animals in the game have. A couple of rapid hits with the level two sword and I was done. I checked the guide to see where to go next and it revealed to me that this was the final dungeon… I REALLY didn’t expect that. Though my inventory had all of the key slots filled and I only lacked one instrument– But all of the other dungeons took so much more work to get to. This just seemed too easy. I entered the dungeon, mentally prepared this time for another long trip of figuring this out on my own. Wait, I take that back… Last time was too long, I’m using the guide. 

The guide is really straightforward and quick on this one. Where I got caught up was continually falling into the many pits of lava, and the moving block puzzles. I took the time to figure out the moving block puzzles myself when I got to them because I wanted to say I did part of this dungeon unaided. Honestly, I loved the moving block puzzles. They were fun to figure out. If you play on the virtual console I recommend using the D-pad to do these puzzles. I followed the guide and found some familiar mini bosses, and a new enemy. I also found my final piece of heart! I’m not a hardcore completionist when it comes to games, but I’m so glad that I got all the pieces of heart. Having so many definitely came in handy! 

I continued to make my way through the dungeon and found the Magic Rod! I had no idea that the Magic Rod was in the game so I was really excited to use it! My final challenge of the dungeon came in the first ice room before fighting the nightmare. It took some figuring out, but needless to say I made it through! The Nightmare was also pretty easy again. A handful of rapid fire shots and Hot Head was defeated! Hot Head told me that I never should have come, and that I was part of the dream too. I was ready to find out what everything meant. I picked up the final instrument of the sirens and continued on.

I made my way back to Mabe Village and to the Library to read the Dark Secrets and Mysteries of Koholint Island. The pattern given is supposedly different for each game, but the one given to me was super easy to remember. Right. Right. Right. Right. Up. Up. Up. Up (And yes, I still wrote it down…) Before heading to visit the Windfish I spoke to a few of the residents and in my heart I knew what was about to happen, but I wasn’t ready to admit it yet. I spoke to Marin again and she told me that she made a wish to the Windfish and that I was the kindest boy she ever met. She wouldn’t tell me her secret, but now I really wanted to know. I approached the egg, pulled out the ocarina and played the Ballad of the Windfish… ready to awaken the one I’ve heard about for so long. I loved that all of the Siren instruments appeared as I played! This was such a fun cutscene, and definitely a very memorable game experience. My hope of waking the Windfish with Marin did not come true, but I really love the way that this bit played out. I really, really enjoyed it.

Okay, I totally wasn’t expecting a dungeon setting here! I was not prepared for this. I was ready for the game to end, but now I’m ready to keep going one more time! I will say this– pay attention to the book in the library. My maze code does not match any that are given in Zelda Dungeon’s guide. I am playing the DX version on the virtual console so that might have made a little bit of a difference. I jumped down the hole at the very end of the maze and prepared to face the final Nightmare. 

The first shadows were pretty straightforward. I had some trouble with shadow Ganon and the spin attacks, but everything up until the final stage was not hard to figure out. If you are playing on the virtual console I suggest creating a load point, and having some magic medicine too! The final boss is HARD! I tried the boomerang trick to try and one-shot him like the guide said, but sadly, this did not work for me. I had to bide my time and use the arrows the defeat him. His eye does not stay open long. Once he was defeated it was time to hear the end of this amazing story. I really wanted to see Lonk, and not Thief, but regardless I beat the game! “Hoot! Young lad, I mean… THIEF…” C’mon…

Anyway, I LOVE this area! It’s so dreamy and ethereal. I really loved the owl’s reference to the different pieces of the Triforce too. And FINALLY, the Windfish! He’s so beautiful and cool! I can’t believe that the game is really over. Koholint was all a dream… Not a dream of Lonk’s but a dream of the Windfish. I was close in my guess about the ending of the story, but I expected the Windfish to be part of a dream I was having, not the other way around. “Come… let us awaken together…” The Dreamers are finally awake, but my memories of the island, and this game will last forever. The final scene of everything disappearing made me extremely sad, but seeing the Windfish travel across the sky made me so happy! Unfortunately, I died MANY times so I did not get to see Marin again before the game ended.

I really, really loved this game. I’ve never been a fan of older Zelda games besides the lore factor. Before this; the oldest Zelda game I played was probably Ocarina of Time when I was a kid. Link’s Awakening has changed my mind. I loved the story, the map was easy to navigate, and it was a very easy and quick Zelda title. This is a game that I would recommend to anyone who has never played an older Zelda game, or to someone who wants to step out of what I would call mainline Zelda titles like Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, or Breath of the Wild. I’d like to list a few pros and cons to this game before I wrap this play through up.

First the cons. This game is incredibly short. I spent a bit longer playing since this was my first play through but, on another play through, I could see myself cutting my playtime in half. There are a lot of optional things that you could cut out. Like the trading sequence, and the secret seashells, and heart containers. I didn’t even do all the photography options that you can do in the DX version of the game. The game is also really easy as far as dungeons and bosses go. It sounds silly to wish for a harder game, but I do like a bit of a challenge. The hardest dungeon was Eagle’s Tower and the Final Nightmare (and for a time I thought the Genie Clown was hard too, but give me a break on this point…). That’s it as far as cons go; now for some pros! First off, the story is AMAZING! The story of Koholint and the Windfish captivated me from the very beginning and progressed beautifully. The different kinds of weapons and tools in Link’s arsenal made for fun puzzles to solve and fun ways to battle. The music in this game… I could write another article on how amazing this is, but I’ll leave it at this, it’s a very beautiful soundtrack. Finally, this game is memorable. This was my very first play through. Some may say I cheated and used a guide, but I wanted to get through this game so I could be ready for the remake. I tried my very best to keep track of where I was and do a lot of map traveling by memory, and I tried to do a few dungeons without any aid. I highly recommend the guide from Zelda Dungeon though! It helped me through many tight spots and made finding the secret seashells and heart pieces a breeze. 

My favorite parts of the game as far as playing were Reuben the Rooster (may he dream peacefully), the BowWow sequence, and every instance with Marin. I really love her as a character.

This is a wonderful Zelda title, and is officially one of my favorites. This was also my first handheld Zelda title, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m glad that I can finally be counted among the Dreamers! I really hope that you enjoyed this play through commentary! I enjoyed writing it and getting to experience a classic for the first time! I look forward the the Link’s Awakening remake! My one hope for the new game is that, regardless of how many times you die, we get to see Marin fly off through the sky as a seagull. That is my one dream, and wish! 

I really enjoyed doing a play through of this game! There are many other Zelda games that I have not played, so what game should I play next? Vote in the poll below!

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Heather Beard is a writer for Zelda Dungeon. She’s a (crazy) cat lady with a passion for Zelda lore, and really cheesy pizza. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and Twitter!

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