The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019 video game)/Wake Up!

Controls

Link wakes up in a house and is filled in that he has washed ashore on Koholint Island by a girl named Marin. With that out of the way you are now able to control Link.

The basic controls are as follows. This guide will cover new techniques as they become unlocked through progression.

You'll notice three hearts on the top left of the screen. This is your health. Each heart is made of four parts. The weakest damaging attacks will take off one quarter of a heart. When you loose all your hearts, you loose the game.

Movement controls

• You can use the left control stick to move around.
• You can use the A button to talk to others. and to interact with some objects, like the stands in this room, or Tarin's dresser chest. When talking, press A to progress to the next line, and B to fast foreword. The writing in this game can be pretty charming, so it's recommended that you only skip for repeated lines and speedruns. If you missed some dialogue you would like to read, immediately press and hold ■ (Square) on your left Joycon or on the left side of the Pro Controller to record a video of your last 30 seconds of gameplay. This is also handy for recording bits of gameplay you are proud of.

Subscreen controls

Press + to access the Items Screen. Hit R to move to the System Screen, hit R again to go to the Map Screen, and then once again to return to the Items Screen. You can also use the L button to traverse these menus in the other direction.

You start the game with just your clothes, a Green Tunic. This provides no special defense bonuses, but can be replaced later.

You can manually save your game on the system screen, though autosave makes this mostly redundant. When you save your game you restart where you saved, except when you are in a dungeon, in which case you start at the dungeon entrance.

Map controls

You can now also use your map.

• Press - to access the map. The map starts mostly blank, with faint sketches of what lies ahead. When you start exploring the world, the map fills in. You can press up on the right stick to zoom in, and you can pull down on the right stick to zoom out. You can press A on the map to place a marker where your cursor is, which you can move with your left control stick. You can have up to 30 points marked. The following symbols are available:
  • ♥ Heart
  • ♠ Spade
  • ♦ Diamond
  • ♣ Club
  • Circle
  • Triangle
  • ■ Square
  • Treasure Chest
• Markers are not permanent. You can select them with the A button and alter which icon is used, or delete them outright, by navigating the cursor to the on screen X button (Not your physical X button!). Removing a marker recovers one of your 30 markers.
• You can press X on the map to bring up the memories menu. This allows you to see recent plot events, as well as to see the total numbers of pieces of heart and secret seashells found.

Supported controllers

Here is a gallery of controllers supported by The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

• 
  Built in controls of a Nintendo Switch Lite
• 
  Switch with Joy-Con attached
• 
  Standalone Joy-Con (Add the grip attachments before playing.)
• 
  Joy-Con in a grip controller
• 
  Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

Introductions

Talk to Marin, and she will tell you to go south to go to the beach where she found you. She also warns you to be cautious of new monsters which have appeared. Next to Marin is Tarin. Make sure to introduce yourself to him, because he is holding onto your shield, which he returns to you. Tarin will helpfully stop you if you try to leave without talking to him, but the rest of the game will have items more easily missed.

Your metal shield is handy and can be activated with either R or ZR. This is not only your only means of defense, it will be your only tool to deal with enemies until you find a real weapon. So long as you have a shield, it is always equipped and ready to use. With your shield drawn you completely negate many attacks from the front, but move at about 2/3 your standard speed.

Leave through the southern door, and get ready for Mabe Village.