“Originality is the art of concealing your sources,” goes a quote of nebulous origins. Of course, while some may choose to tuck their inspirations away, others wear them proudly on their sleeve — everybody knows Undertale was influenced by EarthBound, or that a number of other indie games ranging from Tunic to Blossom Tales to more style themselves based on iconic series The Legend of Zelda. Mysplaced, an upcoming game from Clear Sky Games, doesn’t wear that inspiration on its sleeve so much as its chest. In 80 point font. Bolded. Underlined. Italicized.
Mysplaced is extremely reminiscent of the recent Link's Awakening remake, but there may be a bit more to it than meets the eye.
It's also one of the contenders on this week's Audience Choice episode of Rogue Jam. You can watch the full episode here: https://t.co/1DwERVc9J9 pic.twitter.com/2Kj4b6aocr
— IGN (@IGN) May 16, 2022
As even a cursory glance could tell you, the game bears a very, very strong resemblance to the Link’s Awakening remake from 2019. Not just in its cutesy graphical style and overall presentation: it has hearts, a sword, a shield, and what even appears to be a similar premise. It’s enough that folks in the replies and quote retweets are crying plagiarism. That’s a tough claim to outright confirm or deny at this point, as the game is trying to secure more funding as part of IGN’s Rogue Jam project and may see some form of transformation later on. But at the moment “ripoff” appears like one of the kinder words you could use to describe it.
The game is specifically slated for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which pretty much explains its entire purpose for existing — to be Link’s Awakening on another console. Whether or not you find that deplorable depends on the person, and even if the foundation is the exact same as that game we can already see a couple different items and dungeon designs. It’s hardly a bolt of inspiration, and certainly easy to roast, but given it’s made by a two-man development team just trying to stand out (even if it’s in a less admirable way) I can’t bring myself to dunk on it unabashedly. Games are hard to make, y’all. And while this probably would’ve been better suited as a mod or romhack… well, those don’t get much attention or money, do they?
Anyway, you can purchase the The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake on Nintendo Switch right now. It’s a good game! Though I guess it plagiarizes a lot from the Game Boy original, now that I think about it. Dang.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
