History YMMV / TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[EvilSorcerer Yuga]] starts off working with Princess Hilda of Lorule to capture Hyrule's Sages to revive [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganon]] so the Triforce of Power can be returned to the mortal plane. He also imprisons several soldiers around Hyrule Castle by [[PhantomZonePicture turning them into paintings]]. Yuga merges with Ganon and mercilessly attacks Link, only to be stopped by Hilda who sets him off to free the Sages. After all the Sages are freed, Link gains the Triforce of Courage. After wearing Yuga down, he then betrays Hilda, puts her in painting, and then merges with her to get her stolen Triforce of Wisdom. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Yuga himself reveals that he didn't care about restoring Lorule at all]]; all he wanted was to reshape it [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]]. He even tries to cause Lorule's destruction at the end for that purpose, with only Link standing in his way.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[EvilSorcerer Yuga]] starts off working with Princess Hilda of Lorule to capture Hyrule's Sages to revive Ganon so the Triforce of Power can be returned to the mortal plane. He also imprisons several soldiers around Hyrule Castle by [[PhantomZonePicture turning them into paintings]]. Yuga merges with Ganon and mercilessly attacks Link, only to be stopped by Hilda who sets him off to free the Sages. After all the Sages are freed, Link gains the Triforce of Courage. After wearing Yuga down, he then betrays Hilda, puts her in a FateWorseThanDeath in a painting, and then merges with her to get her stolen Triforce of Wisdom. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Yuga himself reveals that he didn't care about restoring Lorule at all]]; all he wanted was to reshape it [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]]. He even tries to cause Lorule's destruction at the end for that purpose, with only Link standing in his way.]]

** Some people have loads of trouble with the Octoball Derby minigame. The Hotfoot race also gives some people trouble. [[note]]unless you use the warp to Lorule, travel via broom and the warp point closest to the finish line back to Hyrule[[/note]]

* {{Mondegreen}}: There are... various interpretations of the OminousLatinChanting in Yuga's battle theme, ranging from the humorous "Pompous pompous Yuga" to the ridiculous "Yuga, phallus phallus Yuga!".

* AlternateSelfShipping: It didn’t take long after the game’s release for Link/[[spoiler:Ravio]] and Zelda/Hilda to gain steam within the fandom.

* {{Shipping}}: Link/Zelda and Ravio/Hilda as ShipMates is almost omnipresent in the fandom. Alternatively, there's also the less prominent, but still common [[ScrewYourself Link/Ravio and Zelda/Hilda]].

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Althought the reception of the game is positive, some lament the rehashing of the world map of [=ALttP=].

* {{Shipping}}: Link/Zelda and Ravio/Hilda as ShipMates is almost omnipresent in the fandom.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The story of the game has [[GrayingMorality one of the most morally ambiguous themes]] ever explored in the Zelda continuity: [[spoiler:Is it justified to save a dying kingdom (Lorule) by condemning another one (Hyrule)?]]. The problem? It's only addressed in the last 20 minutes of the game. Before then, with the exception of some brief, few and far in between {{Foreshadowing}} moments, it had what looked like little more than an ExcusePlot, which felt like a huge step back in the improving narrative of the franchise. The ending resolution of [[spoiler:a DeusExMachina magically fixing everything, thus averting any sense of sacrifice or consequence,]] also cheapens the conflict. On the same note:

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Althought the reception of the game is positive, some lament the rehashing of the world map of [=ALTTP=].

* {{Mondegreen}}: There are... various interepretations of the OminousLatinChanting in Yuga's battle theme, ranging from the humorous 'Pompous pompous Yuga' to the ridiculous 'Yuga, phallus phallus Yuga! '.

** Lynels, centaur-like beings that previously appeared in ''A Link To The Past'', [[SurpriseDifficulty are back with a vengeance]]. With the Forgotten Sword, they take an [[TheJuggernaut insane 30 hits to shut down]] (that's [[BossInMookClothing eight with the Golden Master Sword]]). Their fireball attack has also changed to a long-lasting, [[BreathWeapon flamethrower-like stream of fire]], which tracks your movement, preventing you from circling around or even reaching them unless you have the Hylian Shield to NoSell it. They also dish out a shocking amount of damage: ''three hearts'' per hit in the green tunic (in Hero Mode, you're looking at ''[[UpToEleven TWELVE hearts damage]]''). If you're facing them without item upgrades or the Hylian Shield, it would be best to simply avoid them, and if forced to fight anyway, ''never'' engage more than one Lynel at any one time. Unlike most enemies, Lynels cannot be stunned; even the Sand and Tornado Rods only serve to give them a free hit on you. Only the Ice Rod can momentarily freeze them on the spot for a few seconds, and if it doesn't have the "Nice" upgrade, you'd have to get well inside their attack radius to use it. Worse, there are ''tougher'' versions located within the Treacherous Tower, which, in addition to the flame stream, have the fireballs of their ''[=ALTTP=]'' counterparts. Counter-intuitively, however, the Nice Fire Rod shreds them, since the column of fire hits them repeatedly, causing them to flinch and stop attacking each time. And of course, knocking them over a ledge kills them immediately.

** After winning the piece of heart from the cucco dodging minigame, you unlock the minigame's "Endless" difficulty setting. It isn't actually endless. It ends if you are able to keep from being touched by a cucco for 999.99 seconds. That's just a little under '''17 minutes'''. This unlocks a giant cucco that serves as an endless source of health, [[BraggingRightsReward although there are plenty of Fairy Fountains serving this same purpose that are available right away.]] The whole thing is so ridiculous that it was considered a UrbanLegendOfZelda before it was confirmed by the strategy guide. Completionists everywhere are settling for 99.9%.

** After winning the piece of heart from the cucco dodging minigame, you unlock the minigame's "Endless" difficulty setting. It isn't actually endless. It ends if you are able to keep from being touched by a cucco for 999.99 seconds. That's just a little under '''17 minutes'''. This unlocks a giant cucco that serves as an endless source of health, [[BraggingRightsReward although there are plenty of Fairy Fountains serving this same purpose that are available right away.]] The whole thing is so ridiculous that it was considered a {{Pop Culture Urban Legend|s}} before it was confirmed by the strategy guide. Completionists everywhere are settling for 99.9%.

** After winning the piece of heart from the cucco dodging minigame, you unlock the minigame's "Endless" difficulty setting. It isn't actually endless. It ends if you are able to keep from being touched by a cucco for 999.99 seconds. That's just a little under '''17 minutes'''. This unlocks a giant cucco that serves as an endless source of health, [[BraggingRightsReward although there are plenty of Fairy Fountains serving this same purpose that are available right away.]] The whole thing is so ridiculous that it was considered an UrbanLegendOfZelda before it was confirmed by the strategy guide. Completionists everywhere are settling for 99.9%.

** The games' art style, which uses fairly undetailed textures and SuperDeformed models even during cutscenes, which differs from its slightly more realistic official art. Some fans love it for its color and character, helped by the fact that the game runs at 60 frames per second[[note]]as opposed to the ''Zelda'' standard of 30 fps[[/note]], while others (including a few reviewers who otherwise like the game) claim that it's hideous.

** Getting all 50 [=StreetPass medals=] too. Given that it's a SocializationBonus, it's already impossible in many parts of the world, and some of the challenges are annoying even then (kill Dark Link in under 10 seconds, kill Dark Link without moving, use a Bee/Golden Bee/Sand Rod/whatever in the battle). While the game can generate Dark Links on its own, it takes 4-5 hours for each one and putting the system in sleep mode doesn't count, and due to the nondescript appearance of the NPC running the system, it's easy for players to end up ignoring him completely and never turning [=StreetPass=] on for the game which means that getting [=StreetPasses=] even via relays tends to be disproportionately rare. Its mitigated by the likelihood increasing if you go with your 3DS to game stores or just transit through populated urban environments, but only to a point. It doesn't help that Shadow Links vanish after ''losing'' against them too, giving only one chance per fight. So despite being able to get a BonusBoss out of the deal, many completionists are ignoring this one too.

* ThatOneLevel:
** The Ice Ruins. It's a very treacherous SlippySlideyIceWorld with very narrow pathways and tough enemies throughout the dungeon. If you don't have trouble with it on Normal Mode, you're surely going to on [[HarderThanHard Hero Mode]]. Amusingly enough, the game seems self aware of the level's status given that its predecessor in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', the Ice Palace, was also considered this, as several wooden signs proclaim your doom along the route you must take to reach it and by having it and Turtle Rock's geographical locations swapped.
** Skull Woods. It's pretty straightforward for a dungeon with multiple entrances and exits, but inside, you'll be constantly besieged by Wallmasters who will only be stopped for a while by killing one. Normally they'd just be a nuisance, but there's several points where you're walking on extremely narrow paths over pits, dealing with darkness, fighting White Bari who take time to kill if you don't want to take damage, standing on moving platforms over pits that move very slowly, or carrying an essential object that slows Link down - and more than once dealing with most of the above all at once as the Wallmasters relentlessly try to grab you. And while the Wallmasters can be defeated, giving some breathing room before eventually respawning, many puzzles in the dungeon require the Wallmasters, so if Link defeats one then finds a button that requires their assistance, there's nothing to do but wait for it to respawn. It doesn't help that your Skull Woods experience is capped off with what some players deem ThatOneBoss.

** Clearing the Endless Mode at the Cucco Ranch, which requires you to dodge Cuccos for '''999.99 seconds''' (that's '''16:39.99 minutes'''), unlocks a very trivial and minor reward: [[spoiler:a giant Cucco supposedly sits near the ranch, and talking to it heals your hearts]]. Because of how tedious it is and how minor the reward is, fans are split whether or not getting it counts towards OneHundredPercentCompletion or not.

** The bomb throwing Hinox in Lorule is far more dangerous than its ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' DarkWorld counterpart. It throws bombs at a much faster rate, and the explosion radius from these bombs are larger and stronger too. The only guaranteed safe way to take it out is from a distance using the Bow or the Master Sword's {{Sword Beam}}s.

*** Death Mountain has Ice Hinox, which throw freezing snowballs instead of bombs making them even more annoying to deal with. It also does not help that both have the ability to grab Link for heavy damage as well.

** Clearing the Endless Mode at the Cucco Ranch, which requires you to dodge Cuccos for '''999 seconds''' (that's just under '''17 minutes'''), unlocks a very trivial and minor reward: [[spoiler:a giant Cucco supposedly sits near the ranch, and talking to it heals your hearts]]. Because of how tedious it is and how minor the reward is, fans are split whether or not getting it counts towards OneHundredPercentCompletion or not.

* EpilepticTrees:
** Because Gramps from [=StreetPass=] seems to have all of the same skills Link has [[spoiler:as revealed as him being the BonusBoss of the [=StreetPass=] challenges]], many believe that he is the Link from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]''. Those who don't think its Link speculate a lot on just who a 100+ year old man who can do one-handed handstand push-ups might be.
** Because Lorule is a ParallelUniverse to Hyrule complete with several characters having [[AlternateSelf Alternate Selves]] there have been countless theories regarding the Lorulean mythos, including the Triforce's virtues and the creation goddesses, among other things.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: It's easy to mistake Yuga for a woman, what with the dress-like robe, high-pitched [[GigglingVillain laughing]] and screams, and androgynous name.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: It's easy to mistake Yuga for a woman. The androgynous name doesn't help.

* Narm: After rescuing all seven sages, the game gives you an orchestral arrangement of Lorule's overworld theme as you prepare to enter Lorule Castle and confront Yuga for the final time. Which would be great...except for the fact that nothing about the landscape of Lorule has changed by this point. The grand new song comes off as a jarring case of SoundtrackDissonance when it's being played over such a destitute, ramshackle kingdom that's overrun by rogues, monsters, and ne'er-do-wells.

* ItsShortSoItSucks: Many people claim that it is one of the shortest games in the series, even if you go for OneHundredPercentCompletion. However, whether or not this is a bad thing depends on who you ask. It may be because players have been used to longer games from the late 90s onwards. Difficulty aside, ''Link's Awakening'' may be even shorter, and that's nothing to say about the original ''Legend of Zelda''.

* ScrappyMechanic: The SaveGameLimits, to some. Unlike in ''Skyward Sword'', where the Bird Statues are sufficiently plentiful even in the dungeons, those of ''A Link Between Worlds'' are completely absent in the latter areas; so if the player needs to pause their playthrough when exploring one, they will need to either use a Warp Portal if it has been unlocked, or backtrack all the way to the dungeon's entrance if it hasn't. Then there's the AntiPoopSocking when the game is saved after a very long play time: [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper "You've been playing for a while. Why don't you take a break?"]] ({{beat}}) [[CaptainObvious "You can end your game from the pause menu."]]

* ItsShortSoItSucks: Many people claim that it is one of the shortest games in the series, even if you go for OneHundredPercentCompletion. However, whether or not this is a bad thing depends on who you ask. It may be because players have been used to longer games from the late 90's onwards. Difficulty aside, ''Link's Awakening'' may be even shorter, and that's nothing to say about the original ''Legend of Zelda''.