You are probably wondering how the game Four Swords can fill an entire book. Let alone make it a two parter. Four Swords has a story as flimsy as a Mario game: "The princess gets kidnapped and you save the princess." No more and no less. So how can this fill two manga books. Well the funny thing is, that the manga Four Swords is the only one in the series that is not based on the game of the same name. This book is actually based on the game's sequel Four Swords Adventures (or Four Swords+ in Japan) and that game does have enough of a story to fill two books. Although the writers did take some liberty with the story, many aspects of the game do make their appearance. In the previous books the other items that Link uses besides his sword make an appearance, but it is so little that it is not really memorable. In Four Swords however the various items have a far bigger part in the story than the previous books. The hammer, bow and even the fire rod make their appearances.
The biggest liberty Akira Himekawa took was in the events that actually play before the game starts. They used this to setup Link as an individual and to show his growth throughout the story. It begins with Link interupting the business of some bandits. Link is young, Link is strong, Link is fast, Link is agile. In other words: Link KICKS ASS. However Link is not a team player, which angers his father who is the captain of the Knights. And yet Princess Zelda keeps covering for her childhood friend. She takes Link to the ceremonial checking of the seal, but Shadow Link makes an appearance and kidnaps Zelda and sends Link to the Four Sword Sanctuary. As Link pulls out the Four Sword, splitting himself in four, he releases Vaati the Wind Mage. In the mean time is Shadow Link burning down Hyrule Castle and Castle Town to the ground. The four Links travel Hyrule and face of against many challenges and boss characters in order to finally face of against the master mind behind all this. Unlike earlier books the very final battle got a bit rushed though.
The five Links are all different aspects of the original Link at the beginning of the story. Yes this includes Shadow Link. Unlike the game Shadow Link is not one of the many copies, but THE dark side of Link. As Link splits in four and learns how to work in a team, each copy gets its own personality. Each Link is named according to its color except for purple Link. He is called "Vio" (short for Violet). Green is the most like the original Link he is focused on the job and empathic to every one around. While Vio is just as focused, he is more calculated and apathetic. Red and Blue are the comic relief duo of the story and very emotional. Red is a goof off and very gullable and Blue is a hothead, easily angered. Yeah I know. As someone who likes TMNT as well that felt weird.
The artwork looks good. It genuinely captured the feel that lies between A Link to the Past and Wind Waker. Between the more dramatic art there are some parts that are drawn goofy, but when that happens the story most often involves the comic relief duo Red and Blue. Although I like the black and white artwork, the lack of color was still a hindrance. Other characters appear during the story, however you still have to deal with the multiple Link's 85% of the time. And as they look identical it can be difficult to tell who is who. The clothes of the different Link's are textured different, but still look very similar. The only Link that is easy recognizable is Shadow Link (and Green Link far behind that), due to the black inking. But yeah, the lack of color is a big miss in these books.
Overall I really enjoyed Four Swords. The story is very well adapted and being split into multiple pieces was used very effectively. The lack of color for the outfits of Link can confuse the reader. However don't let this prevent you from picking up these books. The story is really captivating. A last little detail is that at the end of the second book there are great number of funny comics, which have some really good jokes.