The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds/Gameplay

Starting a New Game
Press at the title screen to get to the file-selection menu. There are three files to choose from. Use or  to navigate the menu and  to go back. Select New File to start a game from the beginning. The main character's default name will be entered as Link, but you have the option to Rename them. A cutscene will occur upon the start of a new game. To skip cutscenes, press and select Skip.

Saving Data
This title is a bit different from others in the series that players may be familiar with in that you must save your progress at a weather vane, rather than at any time from a menu. Also, data will sometimes be saved automatically in certain instances. Saved data can be loaded from the file-selection screen. To delete a saved game, choose it from the file-selection screen and select Delete. Then, hold, , and simultaneously to delete it.

Basic Play
This title is an action-adventure game similar to previous titles in the The Legend of Zelda series. While it is a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES, and shares gameplay elements of that game, this particular game is also notable in that it offers a degree of freedom in exploration and dungeon sequencing, perhaps reminiscent of the first The Legend of Zelda on NES. Controlling the hero (Link), the player will use items, explore the overworld and dungeons, and solve puzzles to progress the story.

Hearts
Hearts can be thought of as life energy, or health. Your hearts will decrease upon taking damage. Hearts can be found to replenish your life energy from various sources, such as defeating enemies or breaking pots. Defeating most dungeon bosses will reward you with a Heart Container, raising your maximum heart number by one. Further, there are Pieces of Heart which are hidden throughout the game. A total of 4 individual Pieces of Heart are necessary to make one Heart Container. If you lose all your hearts, the game will be over, at which point you can choose to continue or quit, but keep in mind that quitting will leave the game unsaved.

Rupees
Rupees are the currency in the game. They can be used to buy items from shops or Ravio (see below). They can be found from various locations, including from defeated enemies or slashed tall grass.

Items
Items can be accessed from the menu by pressing. They may be used to help solve puzzles, or in combat. This game is unique in the series in that rather than obtaining many of the items from dungeon chests, they must be rented from a character called Ravio who will appear in Link's house. Ravio will allow you to rent items for a price, but you will lose access to them and must rent them again upon getting a Game Over. Later in the game, however, the items can be bought from Ravio for good. What's more, your item usage is limited with an Energy Gauge. The gauge replenishes after a short time, allowing infinite uses of any item, just not in quick succession. Because of this, items like bows don't require arrows, for example, and there are no upgrades like quivers or bomb bags which players might have come to expect from The Legend of Zelda titles.