The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

This is a short and cutesy but very solid Zelda game, a bit underground by the series' usual mega-mainstream standards but worth checking out for fans who haven't played it yet. There's nothing exactly new about it besides the "Honey I Shrunk the Link" shrinking mechanic and it being a prequel set before Ganon and the rest of the series, but the world design, dungeons, items, puzzles, bosses, secrets, music, aesthetic - all rock solid!

Minish Cap has a lot of cute novelties but its items are really boring due to how over contextual they are and the game is much more heavier on Zelda's typical garbage puzzle design. The game HAS combat too but outside of boss fights the encounters are a lot more mindless and less considered compared to past Zelda's. The core gimmick is hypothetically cool, but it's utilized more to justify contextual setpieces than to actually function as a dynamic mechanic like LttP's Dark world concept.

Well crafted, charmingly presented, and mildly puzzly in the way you'd generally hope for from a 2D Zelda. It's on the easier side, and not as long as some, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though all the back-and-forth if you try to be thorough about the kinstones can feel a bit like busywork for padding. The shrinking and the little people are a major source of distinct flavor and charm.