If you find yourself crawling back to Ravio’s shop in desperate need of an item, only to find that your wallet has lost its jingle, you might want to have a chat with gramps in Kakariko village. Rumor has it that the old coot knows about something called “StreetPass”. And what can this mysterious “StreetPass” do, you ask?
“You can battle players you’ve tagged with StreetPass! Their characters become Shadow Link characters in this world. Once they appear, you can battle them.”
The only items you can use during these battles are the ones you’ve selected before you battle Shadow Link. The game restores your hearts both before and after the battle, so you don’t have to worry on account of your health. Additionally, regardless of whether you win or lose, you’ll leave with all the items you battled with intact.
Talking to gramps will let you set up your Shadow Link character. Deciding which items you want to bring into the fray (and whether or not they’re upgraded), as well as what gear you’ve found in the field, will up your Shadow Link’s “value,” which is displayed in rupees on the top right of the setup screen. This value determines your bounty for winning a match against someone else’s Link.
Rupees aren’t all that’s at stake—there are 50 challenges, ranging from simple things like “Win your first battle!” to more creative ones like “Use a bee to deal the final blow!” that you can earn from winning matches against various Shadow Links. The medals you’ve earned will be displayed on the top right corner of the records screen when talking with gramps, and I’m unsure as to whether or not it will be displayed on your Shadow Link when you StreetPass with others.
Between this and a couple of other details I’ll touch on later this week, when Siliconera continues its coverage of A Link Between Worlds, it looks like there’s plenty of content bringing you back to the game even after you finish the main story.
