Review: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

After finishing Final Fantasy XIII-2, I didn't play any new video games for a while. First of all, my spirit was crushed by the weight of Square Enix's complete and utter failure. Also, the weather was finally nice enough to actually go out-of-doors with regularity. I did pick up Civilization V, which I enjoyed quite a bit but found the replay value surprisingly lacking. I even went back to an old stalwart, Heroes of Might and Magic III, which I'm happy to report I still play every so often. But eventually I decided on continuing down the Zelda timeline and playing through my first handheld game in years, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. It only took me a couple of weeks to explore everything, even with working full-time and five fantasy football drafts to plan for, but no one expects massive amounts of content from an eight-year-old handheld game. What I did expect was vintage Zelda gameplay in bite-size form, and in that, The Minish Cap delivers with aplomb.

Consistently crisp and refreshing, the Zelda franchise satisfies. No, it's not a beer or a candy bar.

I loved the look and feel of The Minish Cap almost immediately. It reeks of an updated Link's Awakening (which I played and replayed religiously as a kid) and the plot continues the threads from Skyward Sword. This was my first experience with game developer Flagship, a subsidiary of Capcom who also worked on Four Swords and the two Oracle games. Their expertise in handheld gaming is evident, as the nuts and bolts of The Minish Cap all feel right. The scale and graphics are wonderful, the controls feel natural, and the dungeons and tasks are short enough that the player won't run out of battery life just before a boss fight. Keeping things short and sweet on a handheld platform is essential, and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and his team accomplish that goal extremely well.

As mentioned above, The Minish Cap begins with a nod to the world of Skyward Sword. The introduction tells of darkness descending on the land of Hyrule long ago, when a race of very small creatures called the Picori came from the skies (possibly alluding to Skyloft) to bestow a sword and a golden light on a young hero. The hero banished the darkness, locking the evil beings in a bound chest, and the Picori Blade was enshrined by the people of Hyrule. Every year since, they remember the gifts of the Picori in an annual festival. Seems like a standard backstory, but there are two things I appreciate. First, it hints at an untold story of a former Link, one whose adventures would take place between Skyward Sword and The Minish Cap. As the Zelda franchise has grown and changed over the years, Nintendo has done a nice job of tying together themes and stories, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a future Zelda title cover the Picori's initial trip to Hyrule and the hero they encountered. Second, it tells the story of a legendary sword other than the Master Sword, which as we eventually learn in other games, is tucked away in the Sealed Grounds. Instead, the Picori Blade is Link's weapon of choice, and The Minish Cap details how it eventually becomes the Four Sword. It's a fun little story, perfect for both the setting and the handheld console.

I always love way-epic stained glass windows.

More after the jump...

Unfortunately, my good vibes about the story didn't last for long. After the first few scenes that play out like a poor man's "Crono and Marle at the festival," the evil wizard Vaati reveals himself, sunders the Picori Blade, opens the box full of bad guys, and turns Zelda to stone. Stop me if you've heard this before, but it's up to Link to fix everything and defeat evil all by his lonesome. Link's first task is to journey to the Minish Woods, where the Picori (who call themselves Minish) still reside, as they are the only ones who can fix the broken Picori Blade. Now Link really gets to explore, where he is free to meet the inhabitants of Hyrule Town and other locations scattered throughout the world. And there are a lot of them, and not just the typical shop owners and patrons wandering the streets. There's a school with lots of students, a post office, a mayor (who handles things the king is too busy for, I guess), a carpentry business, a few dojos, a tavern, a hotel, and the old familiar Lon Lon Ranch, just to name a few. For a game so small, the dozens of inhabitants Link meets add to the richness of the story, and I found that very enjoyable.

The bustling metropolis.

After the lackluster festival scene, my expectations were lowered yet again when at this point in the story Link meets his companion for the rest of the game, Ezlo. Companions are a touchy subject in Zelda games, and I did not have high hopes for a talking bird-like hat. But it turns out that Ezlo is entertaining, integral to the story, and most importantly he knows when to shut up. Before he was a talking cap, Ezlo was a Minish sage and a mentor to Vaati. After creating the Mage's Cap, a gift to the humans that would grant the wishes of its wearer, Vaati stole the cap and used it to become a powerful sorcerer. After confronting Vaati, Ezlo is defeated and turned into his cap-like form. So there are two possible definitions for the titular Minish Cap -- the Mage's Cap created by the Minish sage, or the Minish sage who gets transformed into a cap. Not exactly Tolkien-level ambiguity, but I thought it was an interesting twist.

Almost as hilarious as Iago from Aladdin.

Link's new relationship with Ezlo leads to one of the two crucial mechanics in gameplay. In order to find and converse with the Minish, Link is directed by Ezlo to a magical tree stump that will shrink him down to Minish size. Throughout the rest of the game, whether he's searching the overworld or solving puzzles in a dungeon, Link will need to switch between his normal and Minish-sized forms at portals scattered across the land. Finding dead ends and walking long distances as the wrong size can be tedious, but overall it's a fun addition and makes for some interesting gameplay moments. Once again, this stays consistent with the theme of keeping things small, yet rewarding.

Seems like some pretty intense blueprints for moccasins...

The other mechanic essential to gameplay is a modification of the "split Link" seen in the two Four Swords games. After Link and his Minish friends repair the Picori Blade, Link needs to infuse the sword with the four elements for it to reach its full power. As the sword regains its strength, Link is able to use it in special areas to split himself into two, three, or four copies. Things like navigating puzzles, moving structures, and fighting bosses requires a mastery of controlling all of Link's forms simultaneously. As with manipulating Link's size, deciding how to use this ability is a fun way to add a little complexity and difficulty to gameplay.

I wonder what happens next!

Although the bulk of the game focuses on reforging the Picori Blade and transforming it into the Four Sword, Link also acquires a full assortment of Zelda's trademark gadgets. Not many of them are new to the series, but that's not surprising for a short, handheld game. I was happy to see the Pegasus Boots make a return appearance, since walking at normal speed is boring, while sprinting through a crowded town brandishing a sword is totally awesome. One of the new items, the Gust Jar, is a lot of fun to use. Nothing is more satisfying than sucking an enemy into a vacuum-like jug and firing them against a wall. Another all-new item is the Cane of Pacci, which Link can use to flip himself out of holes and onto higher area previously unreachable. Finally, Link has new methods of digging and jumping with the Mole Mitts and Roc's Cape, respectively. I really like the Mole Mitts, which makes digging a lot more fun than just using a shovel, and also allows Link to tunnel through certain caves. Although my favorite Zelda item, the Hookshot, is nowhere to be found, I found the assortment quite enjoyable.

This looks fun as balls.

As for dungeons, there are only six, but that's okay. The areas themselves are fun to explore, and can be finished in a short amount of time. The challenge is derived mostly from puzzles involving how to enter a certain room or area of a dungeon. As I said before, using both the Minish-sized Link and split Link is essential. There are also a handful of enemies that require you to strike them in a certain way or use a special item, but they don't really tax you too much. By the time Link makes his way to the Palace of Winds, which is where the final element is hidden and also happens to be my favorite dungeon, the enemies do begin to get difficult. Old favorites Wizzrobes, Stalfos, and Darknuts roam the palace, and can deplete Link's hearts significantly before he reaches the boss. Speaking of bosses, most of the battles are short but furious. In every instance, Link must manipulate his surrounds and his gadgets to open up a weakness before ruthlessly hacking away. There's nothing too harrowing, but they are more than capable of sending you to the game over screen if you're not too careful. Gleerok, the boss of the Cave of Flames, gave me some headaches after I ended up trapped in a pool of lava multiple times.

"'Shrink to Minish size,' they said. 'It will be fun,' they said."

Of course, the final dungeon and the battle with Vaati are the toughest to overcome, and Vaati's three forms are all difficult in their own right. This was my first game featuring Vaati, and any Zelda game without Ganon is a bit of a letdown. But I must say I was pleased with how much I disliked Vaati by the end. Betraying his former master, turning Zelda to stone, releasing hordes of monsters, manipulating the people of Hyrule, and finally attempting to suck the Light Force from Zelda, all of this makes it very clear that Vaati is a massive prick. Conquering his final form is satisfying not only due to the difficulty of the battle, but also watching him submit to defeat.

Cheer up, emo kid. You come back at least two more times.

One last thing I wanted to mention about The Minish Cap's gameplay was the introduction of a new quest item called a Kinstone. Link must gather Kinstones of various shapes and colors in order to match them with Kinstones belonging to the other residents of Hyrule. By creating a match, Link opens up new treasures and secret areas. While I liked the new wrinkle to exploration and treasure hunting, there are by my count one hundred matches to be made, which to a completionist like me is quite a lot. Factor in the 136 figurines available at the Figurine Shop, a variation of the Gallery from The Wind Waker, and that's a lot of grinding to get every available item. It's a change from what I'm used to in most handheld games, and in particular the Zelda series, and I didn't much care for it.

Let the torture begin.

Just to reiterate, the technical elements of the game are wonderful. The Flagship team created the graphics, sound, and score to amazing effect for a handheld console. I was especially impressed with the animation, as each of Link's movements, actions, and conversations with Ezlo looks smooth. Much of the score is memorable, and there are many themes familiar to Zelda fans like "Royal Crypt," "Inside a House," "Syrup's Potion Shop," and of course, "Hyrule Field." My favorite classic was "Rainy Mount Crenel," which is from the beginning of A Link to the Past. Staying within that region, I thought "Mount Crenel" was one of the better "original" tracks, even though it borrows from the Hyrule theme. Finally, "Cloud Tops" seems like the unofficial theme from The Minish Cap, mixing old and new melodies beautifully.

My overall experience with The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was a positive one. It offered exactly the kind of enjoyment every good Zelda game does, and while it was not especially robust or long (except for those damn Kinstones) it delivers enough to keep you interested, and more importantly, having fun.

The Basics		The Rest
Gameplay	7/10	Dungeonosity	7/10
Characters	8/10	Mole Mitts	9/10
Story	7/10	"Small But Mighty" Theme	8/10
Sound	9/10	Kinstones Aplenty	3/10
Graphics	8/10		10/10
Score	39/50	Score	37/50
Final Score: 76/100