Shortly after I blogged about playing Pokémon, we stopped. We got some Pokémon to pass level 20, but the kids lost interest –I guess the combats are a bit samey–.
So we started something completely different, or may be not that different because is not an RPG but Lenna’s Inception –from our pile of unfinished games– gets a lot of inspiration from games like this. We are playing ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap’, and looks like we are close to finish it –according to an online guide, at least–.
This is one of the Capcom Zeldas from 2004, and it is heavy on puzzles. The gimmick of this one is a magical talking cap that can shrink Link to the size of the Minish, a type of tiny magical creature that only children can see.
I didn't know how to deal with this boss
The game is your proto-Zelda game: introduces new objects to solve new types of puzzles that allow you to investigate new areas to progress on the story. It also has a good number of small side quests that can be unlocked by “fusing Kinstones” with the inhabitants of Hyrule. And it also includes rescuing Zelda from a curse, of course.
The game looks fantastic on the GBA and we are playing it emulated on a big screen. The bosses are interesting and fun, and considering that this is probably the further I have got on a Zelda game, I would say is not too difficult –even if sometimes it is very obtuse, but in those cases I would suggest checking a guide; we look at the screenshots and that’s enough to give us a spoiler free experience–.
This key included a mini-puzzle later on
In general I would say the game has aged pretty well. I recall some complains about swapping objects too much, including in the sequence to defeat some of the bosses and sometimes is not clear at all what or where, including using a bomb in specific place –how classic!–, but considering Minish Cap was designed to be played on a hand-held and we have the Internet to get unstuck, in my opinion this game is very enjoyable by today’s standards and I totally recommend it.
Hopefully we won’t lose interest and we will finish it, for a change!