Four Swords Adventures follows a different game style to the majority of entries in The Legend of Zelda series. With individual levels, stages, and minigames, there isn’t much room to get to know NPCs with many of them not even receiving names. For the most part, NPCs are named after what they are or what they’re doing such as “Man Who Lost His House” and “Unmoving Woman”. But when you take an iconic recurring character like Malon, of course the developers have to give the character a chance to shine and earn her name.
The Four Links come across the sweet farm girl Malon in the “Near the Fields” Level during “The Fields” stage. Her new pixelated design doesn’t leave room for much detail but her signature red hair among a grassy field makes her recognizable to fans before the character even introduces themselves. She adorns a cream colored dress trimmed in a muted yellow gold—both similar and simpler than the dress she is known to wear. Unlike her other designs, this Malon does not possess blue eyes. Two red pixels give her eyes color. While aesthetically pleasing, they also come across a little demonic at times. Not to worry, as our Malon has a good heart.
Upon speaking with Malon, she’s enamored by the sight of a Green Fairy speaking to the Links. Her papa explained to her that only good boys and girls get to meet fairies. Excited at the prospect of seeing a fairy and seeing said fairy talk to the Links, Malon decides to trust the four heroes with her situation. She explains that she is unable to get back home. After running errands, not only did it start raining, but the soldiers in the area started acting strange. They moved the old and worn down cannons and aimed their weapons at the innocent girl. Confirming that the Links are friends with the fairy, she asks to come with them through the fields and so begins an escort mission.
As a simple villager, Malon has 1 heart container and no way to protect herself. As she will follow behind Link, she must be guided through the cannon’s firing range and past the soldiers hiding in the grass if Link hopes to get her home safely. If Malon is hurt and loses her heart, Link will die too, giving the player an instant game over (better have those revival fairies ready)! Fortunately, Lon Lon Ranch is only a couple of screens over, so the escort mission isn’t too much of a hassle.
Upon returning the girl home, Malon’s father rewards the Links with access to the ranch’s horses. We do not get to see Malon hanging out with the horses or singing her iconic song, but her presence in the game, even while small, adds a little bit of character to the level. The designers could have simply started the level at the ranch and given the players access to the horses straight away, as some levels and mini games do. Instead, they decided to use well known character, Malon, to add flavor to one of the level’s mechanics.
