#SPIRIT TRACKS LINK AND ZELDA YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS!!!!!

[waroferas]

uuuuuuuugh i love spirit tracks so much btw

[wutheringmights]

Do you have any interesting CTB lore you can share that hasn’t been worked into the main story?

I am going to tell you something that is 100% canon CTB lore but will not appear in story due to there being no good place to go into this, frankly, superfluous tangent. But I can see all of this so clearly in my head that I have been half tempted for, like, a year now to write a little one shot that explores this.

Okay, so here it is:

Spirit was a little famous in New Hyrule before CTB due to not only being the youngest ever royal engineer but also for being the only one who did supply runs during the disappearance of the spirit tracks (that he was the hero who saved Zelda and New Hyrule was kept under wraps at his request).

However, his fame skyrocketed when he disappeared (aka: dragged into Warriors’s war). The mystery of his disappearance rocked New Hyrule to its core— the famous royal engineer goes missing one day, his train found abandoned in the Forest Realm, with no sign as to what happened. The newspapers reported the hell out of it, and speculation was rampant. Everything from being murdered to being kidnapped by aliens was thrown out there.

There were a lot of a amateur sleuths who were determined to do their own investigations and publish their findings in homemade pamphlets (New Hyrule was having its own version of a True Crime podcast craze). Some of these sleuths managed to figure out truths like Spirit’s connection to Zelda and the lineage of the Hero of Winds. Some even correctly speculated that he’s the hero reborn (but this theory is not always taken seriously). Many others were way off the mark to the point of it being hilarious (“Link Macaryll is a sadistic religious cult leader”).

The thing is that the last person to see Spirit alive was Linebeck III, who at this time didn’t really know Spirit as anything more than as the engineer he hired to do deliveries for him sometimes. So for the next 2 years of his life, Linebeck III was constantly tracked down by every amateur sleuth in New Hyrule as both the prime witness and suspect in the missing persons case. And he hated it! He felt bad for the kid but he just wanted to be left alone!

Which is made all the worse when Linebeck III became the person who “found” Spirit again, thus ensuring that his life would no longer know any peace.

[bigboobshaunt]

👑🐳👊🧚👍

This took me really long to respond because I am The Indecisive

👑 Favorite version of Zelda?

Honestly really hard to pick just one. I like BotW/TotK Zelda a lot because she has such a fantastic arc and you really feel for her and her story plus I find her very relatable...

Spirit Tracks Zelda is easily among my favorites too, her being a ghost and your companion makes her SO unique and she's really funny and cute and has one of the best relationships with her Link, and she also gets to shine in combat, too!

Skyward Sword Zelda also set the standard for her backstory and I think she's so likable but I do wish we saw more of her in general...

Ocarina of Time Zelda had such a cool story what with messing with forces she didn't necessarily understand while trying to plot against Ganondorf even though she was just a kid, not to MENTION the Sheik reveal which is just iconic tbh.

Both for Hyrule Warriors and Wind Waker I don't have much to say in general about them but I still really like their take charge, more active attitudes! I do hate how they lighten Tetra's skin color and remove her from being active in the plot when the reveal comes though... you hate to see it!

Twilight Princess Zelda... what can I say, she is an elegant sapphic icon and she will always be famous. I was a bit ticked off when they changed out her for ALBW Zelda in Smash because I think she is much more memorable.

I would be remiss not to mention Wand of Gamelon Zelda at least a lil' bit too... Idk she's cute and cheesy and I'm not sorry for including her. Maybe if Nintendo made her actually playable in their games I wouldn't have to do it but 💅

🐳 If you were a Zelda character, what race would you be?

Probably a Hylian boringly enough but I would kill to be one of those occasional enemies that does their own thing for some reason, like... I could be a wolfperson who can't eat their yogurt until you trade me a spoon for my boomerang or whatever.

👊 Favorite Zelda Villain/Boss?

Villain-wise, I love Hilda... she was clearly in the wrong but my god I can completely understand the desperation... Twinrova also I ALWAYS adore seeing whenever they pop up - I love me some comically evil grannies. Ghirahim and Yuga heard "slay" and said "this has multiple meanings and I'll do all of them," and honestly Ganon(dorf) is super cool always but I particularly enjoy his portrayals in ALttP, OoT, WW and TP. Shoutout to Veran and Onox too for variety's sake.

Too many cool bosses to mention but Koloktos is still my fave.

🧚 Favorite Zelda companion?

Uh-Oh... Here's the thing about me - I'm an Annoying Companion Enjoyer (tm) and I don't think I dislike any of them, even the infamous ones. Navi is my girl she was just trying to help and everyone attacks her and attacks her and attacks her... ungrateful behavior.

Tatl is so iconic and funny, I will always be mad they kinda toned down her mean girl-ness in the 3DS remake, even though I get that some of it was for accessibility reasons since a lot of her og comments just weren't helpful at all lmao... tho I think they could have struck a better balance.

Ciela is SO underrated, honestly. She had a good arc and I love her bickering with Linebeck so much.

Midna has the best story out of all of them and everything about her is excellence from her design to her attitude to her relationship with Link and Zelda... ugh she is so good, I miss her.

I've already said my piece about Zelda in Spirit Tracks BUT WHO CARES, HER AGAIN!!!

Fi is the only one who actually made me sob in real life from her last scene and I really enjoy her design and her dances and I genuinely think people forget how sassy she could be sometimes, not to mention being the actual Master Sword - I was ecstatic when they hinted at her existence again in BotW and TotK :)

👍 Favorite Zelda Headcanons?

The Triforce being in flux and changing aspects between its wielders in some games, like Zelda in BotW potentially holding Courage since her key scene was going up alone against Calamity Ganon and Link's usage of the runes and primary association with Blue could tie to him bearing Wisdom in them. If not just headcanon, I think it's a prime idea for fan content.

This one also maybe doesn't count as a headcanon per se but... the Zelda Timelines... I greatly enjoy speculating around them but I do believe taking it too seriously is generally just bunk. I don't think even the developers take them as a wholly 100% accurate and important deal and I think that's actually completely fine. I am an ALttP->Link's Awakening->Oracle Games truther btw.

[birdmomblogs]

wind waker link redesign!

[ID: character reference sheet for a redesign of wind waker link, nicknamed waker (he/him). waker has warm, light skin tone with freckles and green eyes. his long blond hair is braided. there is a burn up his left arm and left side of his neck and palm of his right hand. he has several sailor tattoos: a sailor’s cross on the upper chest, a nautical star on the right forearm, rope on the left wrist, a seagull on the lower left arm, a cucco on the right foot and a pig on the left foot. there is a lineup of the three layers to the outfit design. the underwear layer is short, puffy, white cotton drawers and undershirt with dark beige stays. the base clothing layer is a roomy, beige pirate shirt with red ties, pants made from his sister’s old poppy dress, leather boots and suspenders and the iconic belt from the hero clothes. the final layer has the addition of a vest and headband made from his grandmother’s purple waist band, tetra’s red neckerchief and a pirate charm hanging from his belt. additional information included on the sheet are: waker is 17, 5’3” and has an east coast canadian accent, waker is a descendant of four swords link and ancestor of spirit tracks zelda, and he is dating pirate captain tetra. on the right side of the page is a colour palette, a trans flag and a heterosexual flag. end ID]

fun bonus info:

waker and tetra will be t4t

i took some inspiration from mary read and��anne bonny, two famous women pirates that posed as men for much of their lives to avoid persecution. transgender wasn't a term around until two centuries after the golden age of piracy but there is a strong history of pirates being gender nonconforming, as demonstrated with mary and anne. i wanted to take that small piece of history and include it in waker and tetra. at its core (and ignoring the bad stuff), being a pirate is all about camaraderie and being proud that you are outcasts together. with those beliefs, i felt it was more well-suited that waker and tetra feel comfortable and supported in the bodies they already exist in and don't see the need to change and conform to any gender binary. i also thought it would be nice trans rep for those that don’t seek out gender affirming surgery👍

info on visible sailor tattoos: the cucco and pig are representative of rooster and pig tattoos sailors would put on their feet as good luck to find shore, should they go overboard. if a ship were to go down, crates of pigs and roosters would still float ashore because a wooden box is like a small boat :). the seagull tattoo is actually sparrows irl. each sparrow represents every 5000 nautical miles you sail. tetra has several more than waker obvi. a nautical star or compass rose tattoo is good luck to never get lost at sea. rope on the wrist represents his past job as a deckhand. the sailor’s cross is dedicated to a lover, which is tetra in this case.

info on non-visible tattoos which i couldn't add because they were too detailed: another use of sparrows in tattoos, is a sparrow with a dagger dedicated to someone you have lost. he has that as a tattoo for the king of red lions. it would be located on the back side of the same arm. the knuckles have "HOLD FAST" spelled out as a reminder to always have a tight grip on the rigging. on the webbing of his right hand, there is a crossed anchor tattoo showing his current status as a boatswain. a boatswain is like a manager of the ship but still under the captain in the hierarchy.

future tattoo: this one is funny but it is common for sailors to get tattoos of twin propellers on their ass cheeks. if you were to go overboard, they were said to be good luck for you to find shore quickly. waker does not have this tattoo yet but he thinks they are funny and really wants them because propellers make him think of linebeck's ship.

[linklewinklewoman]

The most basic one has her as a normal Hylian, though she is running around helping people. She is considered a folk hero and is beloved all across the land. She definitely had run ins with the Yiga because they mistaken her for Link just once. The butt kicking just fueled future attacks. There is no tracking her, she simply appears when needed by the people.

There is a half joke version of this where Linkle uses pure determination to kill the blights on her own, but obviously can't control the divine beasts without the sheikah slate. So Link does his thing with less trouble and the spirits like "I dunno man, crazy female hylian with twin crossbows." She doesn't even think she is the reincarnated hero. She is just doing what needs done. Eventually Link catches up and they tag team Calamity Ganon.

Then you got your standard Linkle taking Link's place version. She thinks she is the hero cause of her granny. She gets famous using her self taught skills to take out monsters. Gets tested at the castle and blows away the knights. Gets assigned to protect Zelda. Even pulls the Master Sword. But being the hero is nothing like she imagined. Specially the politics. The fact she is a female hero does not inspire confidence. And there is a misunderstanding with Zelda cause she doesn't tell her. Zelda assumes Linkle thinks she is better cause she succeeded. Linkle realizes it isn't the title that was important. She wants to help people. And Zelda needs her help. So she supports the princess even when not wanted. And that leads to the eventual death and start of BOTW.

This leads into TOTK where Linkle happily helps Hateno and lives with Zelda. The kids love her stories and she entices them with those stories to help Zelda get them more into their lessons. She is always there for the bad nights and nightmares. When Zelda falls and disappears, Linkle is so distraught. She does everything to find her, even fall for the fake Zelda events. She is so relieved when Zelda is finally back.

I played with the idea of Linkle being a guard for Sonia. Doomed to fail of course. Sonia was a mother like figure for her. Sucha kind queen. Linkle could never forgive herself for failing and she has a tragic end going after Ganondorf.

Who wants to hear me rant about the multiple ideas I have for BOTW/TOTK Linkle?

[inkperch]

Linked Universe Zeldas:

My takes on LU style- Zelda’s. Note: I don’t really follow Linked Universe, and I don’t like a lot of their takes on the Links, so uh, don’t assume these Zelda’s dealt with the LU versions of the Links.

SS: goes by Hylia, she jokingly suggests it when they’re picking nicknames, and everyone else just pauses for a second then realises who exactly she is and freaks the fuck out, so it kinda sticks as a combination of an in-joke and just... well, she’s Hylia reborn, can’t argue with that! The others are all low-key taken aback by how not-leadery she is, she tends to be the most hands-off when it comes to planning because well- she just guards the triforce, Link is the one who earned all 3 pieces and used it’s full power. Meanwhile her descendants picked up Wisdom sometime in the intervening centuries, so she’s pretty happy to leave the plans to them and stick to being a mediator. Third most likely Zelda to pick a fight she can’t win, most likely to win despite that.

Minish Cap: goes by Shortie, bc these beanpoles tried that with Tetra and she threatened to stab them, but Minish just found it hilarious so it stuck. Surprisingly quick to pick up how to fight, occasionally gets the other Zelda’s into trouble by running off, but they usually agree with her that whatever caught her eye was actually pretty worth it, because deep down they’re all massive nerds, no matter how functional they appear. Also tends to randomly grab gifts for the other Zeldas.

Four Swords: just goes by Four, jokes about how much her Hero(es) would be annoyed by that. Usually the first to notice encroaching danger, and always the first to investigate it. At first the more combat-experienced Zelda’s were Concerned(tm) that she is the one sticking herself into unknown dangers, until she pointed out that A) she is considerably less likely to get herself caught unless Sheik wants to go, bc she knows she has less leeway to get caught than they are and B) they won’t be down a fighter for the rescue if she’s the one who gets caught, which they reluctantly concede.

OoT: goes by Regrets, which like, the other Zelda’s just hear her bitterly pick as soon as the topic comes up and immediately decide they aren’t touching that emotional baggage. It’s an mix of Child and Adult timeline Zelda, which kinda fucks her up when she thinks about it- especially seeing as she remebers both Ganondorf breaking free and killing one of the Seven Sages in the child timeline, and what became of the Hero of Time... who she remembers clinging to the thought he got to have the childhood he rightfully should’ve in the Adult Timeline, as the waves climbed up over Hyrule to seal the awakened and unchallenged Ganondorf. So yeah, she tries not to. She also remembers the start of the Defeat Timeline, where she was too late to save the Hero and was forced to lead the exhausted and scattered remains of her people to war to kill the Demon King.

Wind Waker: literally just Tetra, she also is the first to look at the less murder-happy Zeldas and give them a knife. She’s currently working on getting them all up to basic pirate crew levels of fighting without magic, just in case, and she’s constantly pestering the fight-y Zelda’s to a spar. Regrets goes along because she’s had three slightly different Zelda’s merged in her head so her skills are a little rusty, Hylia likes to do it just because people keep forgetting she learned to fight at the same school Link did, and their responses when she reminds them are funny to her. Tetra is picked up from after establishing New Hyrule, and she looks up to Hylia more than she’s willing to admit, often going to her for advice on the whole ‘founding a nation in peaceful cohabitation with the locals’ thing. Second most likely to start a fight she can’t win.

Spirit Tracks: goes by Ghost, refuses to explain the joke to any of the others and thinks she’s hilarious for it. She is, but she doesn’t need the ego stoke. They find out about the ghost thing when she accidently astral projects in her sleep at one point and wakes up to them freaking out over her corpse, which is implied to happen often. Tetra notices that she’s really really weird to train as a fighter, because she already fights pretty well but she also fights like she’s a giant fuck-off suit of armour with a sword as big as she is. She finds it amazing to get to meet Tetra, and is constantly asking her if various stories she heard as a child are actually true or if her mother just made them up or exaggerated. They were not, and Ghost thinks Tetra is the coolest person on the planet for it.

Twilight Princess: goes by Twilight, out of tribute to Midna’s nickname for her. Absolutely misses Midna, respects Regrets more than Regrets thinks she should, but she still angsts a lot about how she just surrendered to the unkillable army its implied she’s the only one who could even see properly who could turn them all into ghos- ahem. I may or may not have opinions about people thinking it’s the wrong decision from out of universe. But yeah, she absolutely angsts about it, and really looks up to Tetra and Regrets bc at least they acted, she just sat in her tower and waited for the hero she knew would be coming. Saying that though, she indulged Tetra’s pestering to fite exactly once (1), and promptly kicked her ass and went back to her book. Because really, what else was she going to do with all that free time while Link was fishing to win a Heart Container and she couldn’t leave her room? Ganondorf had to get the idea to have her use a sword somewhere.

FSA: Even among Zelda's, she stands out for how friendly she is- more than once she brought a ‘new friend’ back to camp who’d been trying to kill them seconds earlier. This got her the nickname Torch, because she shines light into even the darkest of creatures- although, Hylia would like it if she never interacted with any of the mini-Imprisoned from HW ever again please and thank you, that was a step too far for exotic pets.

(I’ll do a followup post for the Defeat Timeline, it has a lot of the older games I haven’t played and need to familiarise myself with the characters in, and it’s already getting late)

Hyrule Warriors: goes by Sheik, was unironically ready to fight her ancestor for the name, but Regrets doesn’t really care. Speaking of regrets, upon learning that Regrets did the exact same disguise in the Adult timeline, Sheik immediately wants to go stab Cia (and maybe Lana too) for letting her think she was getting away with the disguise when Cia had literally seen the exact same trick just one timeline over. (post post-game definitive edition, so Cia has her redemption arc) She also was never meant to be the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, and views it as a burden- without Cia’s interference, the Triforce of Wisdom and it’s visions would’ve been passively sitting in the royal vaults instead of etched into her hand, but fate got confused when the Triforce had been split, but the one who should inherit Wisdom was much better suited to Courage. This leads to a bit of a disconnect sometimes, where fate has changed her into a suitable host for the Triforce of Wisdom, but she just kinda isn’t one. She’s also a MASSIVE nerd (I saw those TP references in Linkle’s Twilight stage Nintendo! She literally started dropping random history quotes after almost dying, the nerd) so she’s constantly fangirling over all her famous ancestors, because if anyone had managed to hear legends from all 3 timelines, it would be HW Zelda. The most likely to pick a fight she can’t win, she literally only pretends to be functional and have impulse control when they’re in her Hyrule and her people can see her.

BOTW:

Both BoTW Zeldas avoid each other like the plague because yeah, that’s a physical manifestation of my failures. They’re not consolidated like OoT was for bonus angst- because just merging them would show her there’s a happier timeline where all of her friends survived and Hyrule didn’t fall and crumble to ruins while she and Link took a 100 year nap.

AoC: goes by Terrako, because why the hell not. Has Terrako with her, which gets confusing, but he’s an adorable Eggy Boi, and basically team mascot. Is using her Master Cycle+Sheikah Slate movesets, bc she tried to use her Goddess bow moveset and reality just kinda glitched bc there were two Zelda’s using the exact same power, and they both agreed to never try that again. 

BoTW: goes by Architect, because that’s what she spends half her time doing these days. Regularly nerds out with Sheik. Low-key dying inside from self-worth issues rearing up again now that she’s hanging out with all these legendary queens, but tries not to let it show and keep with a positive attitude, too mixed results.

[fatefulfaerie]

hi!! i love your writing, it's so good! i have a question: do you have any cute headcanons for zelink?

Oh boy

I don’t think you understand what you signed up for here

Like you didn’t specify a game

I’m going to have to go one by one

I mean it’s a fun activity but whew is it going to be a mess

I apologize in advance

Link’s Awakening

-Marin is a manifestation of Link’s crush on A Link to the Past Zelda

-Link does not die on the open ocean but gets saved by A Link to the Past Zelda on a big ship

-They suss out their past trauma and eventually fall in love, hence the famous picture in A Link Between Worlds

Ocarina of Time

-Link had feelings for Princess Zelda the moment he first laid eyes on her in the garden. It was a childhood crush then but over time, especially when he became an adult, he fell in love with the Princess.

-Link was ULTRA concerned that he couldn’t find the princess anywhere as an adult. He feared that he failed her and their plan and was so relieved when she revealed herself as Sheik. He even cried

-Zelda fell in love with Link during the time that she was teaching him various songs as Sheik. She denied it herself for a while but eventually she accepted her feelings and longed to be with him as Zelda and not Sheik, which is why she foolishly revealed herself to him

-Zelda felt too guilty to keep Link in her time just because of her love and wished to send him back to time where he could relive his childhood

-Link couldn’t muster the courage to confess and figured that him going back was what Zelda wanted, so he complied

-Zelda has to get over her regret and it  h u r t s

Majora’s Mask

-I believe that the “forgive your friend” applies to both Navi and Zelda. Link must forgive Navi for leaving him in his time of emotional need after being sent away by his love and he must forgive Zelda for sending him back and forcing him into such loneliness, grief, and almost uncopable trauma that to everyone else “never happened”

-Anju and Kafei foils Link and Zelda (It's a storytelling tool. It means they parallel each other inversely and are thus contrasted)

The Wind Waker

-they’re kids but...Link has a crush on Tetra

Twilight Princess

-this one is really complicated because I wrote a whole fic about it but basically after the events of Twilight Princess he becomes her knight attendant and they fall in love 

Phantom Hourglass

-Link realizes that his crush on Tetra is a crush on Tetra about halfway through the game. Linebeck says something snarky like “you didn’t know that? It’s so obvious” or something like that

-Tetra still sees him as the goofball he is

-As they grow older and mature a bit they go from good friends to full-on lovers

Spirit Tracks

-they both have BIG crushes on each other

Skyward Sword

-I don’t even know what to tell you 

-I literally wrote two books on the subject

Breath of the Wild

-they change by the hour and they all contradict each other

-Nintendo please give me clarity on Friday

-Okay but they also get married and have twins. Zelda is on bedrest and Link  tells her to stay put but she doesn’t listen and goes to where she was conducting experiments (all the way to Blatchery Plain) Link finds her and gets upset that she’s nine months and went all the way out there but she insists she’s fine. They sit and relax for a bit but it isn’t long until her water breaks. They kind of have a dejavu moment when Link says “if we can just make it to Kakariko you’ll be fine”, which is what Zelda said to a very injured link a hundred years ago a while before the “memory” started. Anyways, Link makes a joke like “why is it always here?”. She ends up having the twins at Dueling Peaks Stable. Link and Zelda each get to name one. Link names the boy Elijah and Zelda names the girl Wendy, deciding finally on not continuing the “Zelda” trend. Once Zelda has recovered, and once they get visits from Kass, Sidon, Riju, Yunobo, Teba, and basically the rest of Hyrule, Link and Zelda go back to their home in Hateno carrying their children lovingly in their arms.

-or something like that idk

Thank you so much for the ask!!

Did it satisfy your wildest dreams because I guess I could elaborate idk my head hurts from graduate school applications

[telesthisia]

(No reblogs! Make a new post please!)

|| The Basics ||

Name: Zelda of Hyrule Nickname(s): Zel, Zellie, Elle, Ellie Age: 19 Species: Human or well Hylian 

|| Personal ||

Religious Belief: The three golden goddess + Hylia but... she’s known as the forgotten goddess in her timeline since certain legends faded away from the public’s knowledge but not at all the royal family’s. Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility / Kindness / Patience /Justice Primary Goals In Life:  To create a brighter future for her people for generations on end, leading to the eventually famed Golden Age before the Hero of Time’s downfall... though Hyrule has recovered once she’s born there are still remnants of ruin from that era as such she wants to protect her people as well as make Hyrule safer, while she doesn’t do it within her lifetime because limited lifespan her dream does still come true years later aka LOZ and LOZ 2 don’t be fooled by the plot, Hyrule was in its prime during those games!  Languages Known:  Hylian Secrets: Well... it’s no secret among her staff but outside the castle, she keeps her poor health (heart condition and undiagnosed rare anemia problem) and near lack of magical stamina a secret since that can put her at a pretty bad disadvantage. She has plenty of enemies, namely those who align themselves with Ganon and the resurrection of him is still possible provided the person is a powerful mage with knowledge of doing that sort of stuff in the first place. And then there’s also court drama she has to worry about but that’s for another long lengthy headcanon post I should have out... soon... ish. Also while obvious with partners and in a meta sense and if you’re super observant but her guise Elle is, in fact, her, the princess of Hyrule so... ye...  Quirks: Her birthmark of the Triforce is... certainly unique. But if we’re talking mannerism rather than physical then allow me to just ramble because hoo boy! When nervous or worked up, she often tucks her stray hairs behind her ears, even when she’s not feeling those emotions she’s always fiddling around with it (in her royal wear) often flipping it out of her face or trying to make it look a little neater. She has the Pendant of Courage, a gift from Link and often clutches on it when she feels the need to summon her courage if she’s feeling not that brave, often trying to recall Link’s courage during his many adventures. When using any of her PSI powers she tends to have a nose bleed, as such, she often carries around a handkerchief and tries to cover it up before going off somewhere to stop the bleeding. When laughing, she likes to hold her smile behind her hand... and when yawning she tries to cover her mouth. SHE IS THE WORST COOK TO EVER EXIST holy crap but can make mean cookies. When flirting (more like embarrassed flirting pft) she looks away to the side and twirls her hair around her finger trying to hide her red cheeks. Her romantic out view on life stems from the fact that she was constantly surrounded by death and history and art so there’s morbid beauty in the melancholy... this girl gets excited over Friday the 13th and samhain ok like... there’s a lot to unpack with that. THERE’S MORE BUT I’VE RAMBLED FAR ENOUGH!!!  Savvies: Well... she bakes pretty good cookies BUT UH!!! YEAH she’s pretty proficient with her light magic! While she can’t do the amazing things other Zeldas can do because of limitations she’s not someone you would want to mess around with. She’s learned to work around those limitations and has great control over her powers. On top of that, she somehow knows how to use a crossbow so :’) while not the light arrows (she’s too weak to wield a bow) and it was a lucky shot she at least knows enough about how it works to fire it in the first place. She reads a lot, even as a kid she’d sneak off to the library to read the history about Hyrule or read maps and well she’s pretty knowledgable about her nation as a whole! And thanks to sneaking out she knows how to sneak past the guards and knows all of the secret passages in her castle like the back of her hand! Can’t forget her amazing political insight and ability to think outside the box! She has pretty innovative ideas for her times esp when concerning the common folk, but sometimes they don’t always go through because well... nobles. 

|| Physical ||

Height: 5′0″  Weight: you never ask a lady her weight! >:0 Scars/Birthmarks:  Has a cat scratch scar on her right palm which is also where the triforce is located! Abilities/Powers: Light magic, as the descendant of the mortal goddess she has been blessed with the Light Force. On top of that she’s come from a line of sages and has the Triforce of Wisdom so as you expect she has so much magic. She can heal, bless your weapons, smite away darkness, sense darkness (As a matter of fact she’s pretty sensitive to it and it makes her lowkey sick if it’s too much) and then there’s her PSI abilities which includes clairvoyance and telepathy! And then... her connection to the spirit realm.  Restrictions: AHAHAHA SO MUCH, she’s a glass cannon which is why she’s so, so, so easy to kidnap in the first place. She may put up a fight but not for long, as such her tactics are always to make a distraction and then escape. But she has poor stamina and just a poor heart, she can’t really overexert herself without a) causing pain and b) passing the hell out which was common in her younger days. Using magic takes up a lot of stamina as shown in ALTTP esp with the more powerful spells, you need an amazing reserve to cast all of that and sadly while she has good control she doesn’t have good reserves. SOOOOOOO to fix this she always has to take medicine of magic. Mana blockage is a thing that can happen, more often than she’d like to admit which causes pain once again and makes using magic pretty hard. Now onto her telepathy and clairvoyance. While they sound useful there are restrictions on those as well, for one with telepathy while she can contact anyone so long as she finds their signature subconscious she doesn’t have to worry about distance too much so long as they are within her range which is... maybe more than 200 meters? I need to think about the range more because there are certain places where she can reach you and cannot but there’s def a range limit. She tends to get nosebleeds and headaches from using telepathy. Her clairvoyance is where she can see bits of the future, but they are very vague and hard to decipher and there’s always a chance of the future changing or not changing. As for her connection to the spirit realm, pretty much she can see dead people... in her dreams and there’s no way of shutting this power off she’s gotta deal with the horrors that is this realm. Now seeing spirits isn’t anything new in LOZ but contact to the spirit realm is something that’s implied that only royal family members can do... as implied by Zelda’s words in BOTW where she said her mom (or grandma??) could hear the voices of the spirit realm.  

|| Favorites ||

Favourite Drink: Rose tea Favourite Pizza Topping: Basil...  Favourite Color:  Blue!  Favourite Music Genre: She pretty much likes slow and relaxing music, piano comes to mind but *kayne shrug* Favourite Book Genre: Romance aHEM as a princess she doesn’t have time to read cheesy romance novels and fantasize about the day where someone riding on a white horse will sweep her off her feet and they ride off into the sunset never having to bear the burden of her heritage and responsibilities hahaha..... but history and folklore. She likes tragic stories that have bittersweet endings.  Favourite Movie Genre: Fantasy, tragic tales, suspense, romance flicks  Favourite Season: Spring Favourite Butt Type:

Favourite Swear Word: "Goodness me!”  Favourite Scent: Forest scent, the fields, that ancient scent you smell when visiting old places, the smell of book pages  Favourite Quote: “Time has stopped for me long ago.”

|| Fun Stuff ||

Bottom or Top:

Sings In The Shower: Yes!!! Well... rose soaked bathwater because she’s spoiled stupid by her castle staff and Impa but she’ll hum a tune here and there!  Likes Bad Puns: Of course! She has the playfully innocent attitude so puns is right up her alley! Morality: Lawful / Neutral / Chaotic / Good / Gray / Evil Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other. Favourite Food: APPLES!!! Namely baked apples and more importantly apple strudel! Her nation is famous for having delicious apples that can help cure fatigue and even rise up stamina a bit! She’s very much a follower of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” esp if that doctor keeps giving her bitter medicines.  “Boss” Theme Music :  Excuse me for using a sad track... but... sAD MUSIC HONESTLY SHE’S DEPRESSION PERSONIFIED!! It reflects her hidden melancholy for like everything. I feel like if you have to fight her as a boss it’ll be more of a beautifully sad moment than something epic like that boss fight with puppet zelda which slaps honestly.  Their Opinion On The Mun: “Does she thrive on my pain?”  

Was tagged by: no one

Tag 15 People: wHO EVER WANTS TO DO THIS

[aion-rsa]

Zelda: Skyward Sword Joy-Cons a Blow to Left-Handed Link Fans

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While The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for Nintendo Switch was arguably the biggest game revealed during Nintendo’s recent Direct presentation, it’s hardly a surprise that the internet is losing its collective mind over the also recently revealed Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Joy-Cons. I mean, just look at them:

The colors alone make these controllers a winner, but the real joy they inspire comes from the fact that they’re modeled after Link’s most famous pieces of equipment. The right Joy-Con is designed to resemble the Master Sword while the left sports a design similar to the one typically featured on the Hylian Shield.

Much more than just a wink and a nod to the franchise, the layout of these beautiful controllers will offer an additional layer of immersion for Zelda fans who want to feel as if they’re truly swinging the Master Sword and holding the Hylian Shield. Is it all very nerdy? Yes, but considering that Skyward Sword infamously relied on motion control integration, the time feels right to release Joy-Cons designed that further enhance the sensation of actively participating in that game’s combat.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

As incredible as these controllers are, though, it has to be acknowledged that they throw fuel on the fire of one of the great debates in the nearly 35-year history of The Legend of Zelda franchise. Yes, I’m talking about the neverending (and often confusing) argument over whether Link is left or right-handed.

As a logical person of the world, you’re probably wondering why there is a debate over this subject. Shouldn’t you be able to just look at Zelda games of the past and simply note whether Link is holding his sword in his left hand or his right hand? That’s a fine idea, but that method is actually the source of this problem. For example, check out how Link holds his sword in The Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time:

Those photos (and images of Link from the original Zelda games) would seemingly close the book on this subject, but before you make up your mind, take a look at how Link holds his sword in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild:

Given the timeline of those examples, you may think that Nintendo eventually just decided to swap which hand Link uses at some point during the franchise’s evolution. However, this situation is remarkably more complicated than that. For instance, Link holds his sword with his left hand in the GameCube version of Twilight Princess but uses his right hand in the Wii version of that game. Skyward Sword Link uses his right hand, but the Link featured in handheld adventures released after that title uses his left. Even Super Smash Bros. doesn’t offer a clear answer to this dilemma as different versions of Link hold their swords in different hands.

That photo actually lends a little weight to the idea that the various versions of Link throughout the Zelda timeline simply use different hands. While that makes sense (and isn’t necessarily inaccurate), there is a somewhat official explanation for this swap that actually has nothing to do with lore.

See, the original version of Link was indeed intended to be left-handed. However, the nature of 2D sprite processing and animation means that you’d sometimes see Link appear to use both hands during combat sequences in early Legend of Zelda games. Still, most of the character art from that time showed Link holding his sword in his left hand. His leftie status was seemingly solidified by the first 3D Legend of Zelda game, Ocarina of Time.

The first notable in-game appearance of right-handed Link can be found in the Wii version of Twilight Princess. While Link remained left-handed in the GameCube version of that game, Nintendo decided to essentially mirror the tile for the Wii port so that Link held his sword in his right hand. Why? The thought at the time was that a right-handed Link would better visually convey the motions of Wii players who performed combat actions using the Wii Remote in their right hand. That philosophy carried over to Skyward Sword which relied even more on the sensation of using motion controls to recreate the feeling of swinging a sword.

The idea that Link’s right-handed incarnations were reserved for the series’ motion control-focused releases was seemingly supported by 2009’s Spirit Tracks, 2013’s Link Between Worlds, and 2019’s Link’s Awakening remake which all featured a left-handed Link. However, a “breaking point” for this debate occurred when fans discovered that Link uses his right hand in Breath of the Wild despite the fact that the game’s motion controls aren’t nearly as extensive as they were in the Wii Zelda titles. Here’s what producer Eiji Aonuma has to say regarding the decision to make Link right-handed in Breath of the Wild:

“In terms of right-handedness of things, when we think about which hand Link is going to use, we think about the control scheme. With the gamepad, the buttons you’ll be using to swing the sword are on the right side, and thus he’s right-handed.”

It should be noted that Aonuma has also stated that he believes Link to be ambidextrous and that the team generally doesn’t care how he is portrayed. At the same time, he noted that the Wii changes were inspired by a desire to “change and adapt to the majority of players.”

That explanation was met by confusion from some fans who noted that they had been inputting actions on the right-handed side of Nintendo’s controllers for years while the on-screen Link remained left-handed. The reveal of these new Joy-Con controllers has inspired a similar reaction from those who feel this is another blow to the left-handed Hero of Time.

P excited for Skyward Sword HD, but gotdamn if it doesn’t remind me and rub in my face that Link, once one of the rare left-handed video game heroes, is now right-handed for motion controls. I enjoy good motion Cs, but the (minor) discrimination makes me sad @NintendoAmerica

— THE MangeloRIAN (@angelogico) February 18, 2021

Also, Link is left handed. Stop this lefty erasure, Nintendo.

— Anthony Carboni (@acarboni) February 17, 2021

I will play the Skyward Sword remaster if and only they flip it so Link is left-handed Y'all have no idea how long I hung onto the GameCube Twilight Princess for this

— ✿🕸 🎄The Haunting of Blythe Manor🎄🕸✿ (@BlytheKala93) February 18, 2021

Clearly, some fans are joking/exaggerating about this topic, but there are plenty of left-handed players out there who always loved the idea that one of gaming’s greatest heroes was a southpaw. While it makes some sense that the Skyward Sword HD version of Link remains right-handed given the history of that game’s motion control support, it remains to be seen whether or not any future versions of Link will be left-handed or if right-handed Link is indeed the new world order. At the very least, it stands to reason that Link will remain right-handed in Breath of the Wild 2 (whenever that game is finally released).

What do you think? Do you still imagine Link as a left-handed hero? Should Nintendo return to that design in future games? Sound off in the comments below.

The post Zelda: Skyward Sword Joy-Cons a Blow to Left-Handed Link Fans appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[thechurchillreview]

Contains minor SPOILERS.

Cala Maria gif courtesy of @casioonaplasticbeach​.

The debut game of Studio MDHR is the completely hand drawn 1930s cartoon inspired Cuphead for the Xbox One and PC. Particularly the Fleischer Studios short starring Bimbo known as Swing You Sinners! (1930). For example, Cagney Carnation’s idle animation is one a ghost has in it. A later significant donnybrook borrows from that cartoon’s aesthetic and characters too. There’s visual grain filter and simulated 24 fps too! There’s a deliberate color inconsistency between Cuphead’s design and the hues for his victory screen: a commonality found with older cartoons. An Inkwell Isle II boss character speaks with a Porky Pig inspired stutter whilst possessing a moniker close to a famous animator’s (Grim Natwick). Natwick, in real life, spoke with a stutter, making a double reference to cartoon history. 

As a cartoon fanatic and a seeker of run and gun games, I had to check out Cuphead for sure! 

On Xbox One. 

My name is OrchardBlossom. 

Cuphead has been in development for seven years and is the final result of seven people animating it is beyond mind blowing. Their names are Chad Moldenhauser, Danielle Johnson, @jake-clark, Thomas “Smo” Smolenski, @habihanna, Joseph Coleman, and Tina Nawrocki. Take a bow y’all! *Throws roses, kisses, glitter, and confetti*��

Cuphead, is, as cliche as it sounds, a dream come true for me. 

The moment I tried the Sony Imagesoft (publisher) and Traveller’s Tales (developer) Sega Genesis game Mickey Mania in the early 90s, I’ve been relentlessly searching and totally craving another release that utilized hand drawn animation that pulls from classic cartoons. In it, Mickey Mouse can toss marbles at foes and his HP that’s represented by fingers on his glove is 5. The player goes from left to right avoiding by jumping over or trouncing adversaries. Mickey Mania’s opening level is the culturally and genre significant Steamboat Willie (1928) and a later one is a favorite of mine known as The Lonesome Ghosts (1937). Often I’d avoid enemies and not proceed so I could soak in the game’s distinctive visual aesthetic for a second longer. Similarly, I’d prolong a couple of clashes in Cuphead for that very same reason. Despite never winning against the final fight in that damned The Prince and the Pauper (1990) stage, that Mickey Mouse game still retains a special place in my heart. In fact, when taking a slight break from Cuphead I fired up my Sega to only lose against Captain Pete…Again. 

25% of Cuphead features run and gun stages that bring to mind Mega Man, Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Metal Slug, and Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Your introductory HP is 3 and can be higher if you sacrifice the strength of your weapons via purchased charms. Charms are bought using Coins found in levels and around the hub islands of Inkwell Isle.

With this currency, charms or weaponry can be bought at Porkrind’s Emporium. For instance, the Smoke Bomb Charm makes your dodge waaaay more efficient. The Coffee Charm is ideal for plane boss battles since you cannot make your Shrink dodge any better in them: this allows you to obtain Super Arts of powered up techniques faster. Cuphead’s basic projectile weapon is known as the Peashooter. The boomerang-like Roundabout is your best bet against most bosses if you’re adept at facing the opposite and firing it. Chaser is a weak homing weapon that’s perfect for boss battles that require both tricky and constant dodging (like the final phase of queen bee Rumor Honeybottoms). Experiment with your six firing weapon selections and find what’s the most comfortable for you though. Remember that Cuphead and Mugman can fire while ducking/moving and their firing angle can be adjusted. 

Likewise, in a plane, one can use the gun or bombs. I didn’t realize this until late in the game, ha ha! 

The remaining 75% of Cuphead consists of brimming with personality and creativity boss battles alongside some toe-tapping worthy jazz-infused tracks. Cuphead is a game that takes patience, analyzing patterns, learning to properly parry (leads to the capability of utilizing stronger weapon moves and Super Art techniques), knowing when to stop firing versus dodge some more, ducking, and changing your weapon set or Super Arts when necessary. Now, it is possible to hold down the fire button and switch between weapons on the fly. I personally found it overwhelming, an additional challenge of sorts, that made it increasingly harder to accurately concentrate during either run and gun stages and boss battles.

So, in Cuphead, you will die a lot. I guarantee it. I died 1111 times beating it on Normal mode alone. I didn’t give up nor go above 3 HP. It was immensely satisfying when I won against everything. 

But I feel this by design: the game’s mechanics are solid and each time I lost I didn’t blame Cuphead since everything is clear. Trial and error is in the game’s DNA. Controls aren’t an issue essentially. They’re quite responsive, so each failure unquestionably feels like my fault. If an attack or enemy isn’t pink, it cannot be parried, so it must be avoided or slain. The directions in which bosses bombard you don’t change at all (besides after a phase alteration where new moves are still very much broadcast)…The order isn’t consistent however. And my advice is to always stay on guard. Sometimes, the smartest attack is to wait though. 

Whenever you do lose, a progress bar is unveiled about how dismal or great your overall performance was. Along with a taunting quote from a boss. Like Wally Warbles, a Woody Woodpecker colored bird says, “Even without my feathers, you’re in for stormy weather!” Talk about adding insult to injury! This actually compelled me to keep going. I wasn’t deterred because I learned from my errors and mistiming mistakes until I won. I can defeat some of the initially seemingly impossible boss battles without taking a hit now. 

In short, Cuphead is tough yet fair in my eyes.

Alas where it falters most is the usage of two boys as our protagonists. I get that is supposed to be a homage to Mickey Mouse (with a hint of Felix the Cat?) and the long forgotten Oswald the Lucky Rabbit with each sporting said famous character’s colors/gloves. That’s cool I guess.

Still, not Cuphead and his sister? Because it isn’t like Betty Boop isn’t that famous or anything right? Or how about neither a guy or girl? They’re anthropomorphic characters with a cup and a mug for heads! Why solely men…?

Cuphead is a tale of owing a debt to the Devil through gambling. They are forced to collect soul contracts from the lives of others the Devil and Dice King’s casino have corrupted. Or lose their own lives instead as grisly punishment. The minimalist plot is conveyed through a excellently done storybook motif. I prefer Cuphead’s bro Mugman who told him to stop gaming when the Devil challenged him.

Mugman’s the one I never get to play as. XD

Yes, despite the game creators (Chad and Jared Moldenhaur, brothers) stating Cuphead wanted to avoided a damsel in distress narrative as the main one a.k.a. a retro concept that should stop being the norm. However, there’s a small juxtaposition between this and Cuphead writer Evan Skolnick. In Cuphead, women are unfortunately in short supply. The most prominent recurring one (Legendary Chalice) is literally trapped and has to be saved to unlock the powerful Super Art abilities located in the Inkwell Isle Mausoleums. I mean our introduction to her in the game is the word “HELP” with an exclamation mark for emphasis. Saving her grants you more useful Super Arts that assist in stage and boss fights, but aren’t necessary to beat the game. To achieve victory, the player must parry all of the spectral threats to release the straw-halo spirit from a repeated prison thrice times throughout the course of your journey. 

For some reason, a celebatory background statue of her can be seen in Rugged Ridge, suggesting her character was once one of considerable prominence in this game’s world (or storyline I suggest). My real query is why the Legendary Chalice has “legendary” in her name in the first place? So, why couldn’t she of been similar to a Great Fairy from the Legend of Zelda series then? As the protagonist Link, you locate the Great Fairy fountains and she gives you something for the effort. Or what if the Mausoleum parry challenges were meant to prove that Cuphead and Mugman are worthy to own the sacred Super Arts Legendary Chalice has in her possession?  

I sincerely wish her character’s background had been suitably expanded on. Like maybe she sees potential in them for completing the Mausoleums in Inkwell.  Perhaps her role in the game could of had more meaning? How it stands with Legendary Chalice simply plays into a classic video game trope I’ve always loathed. The damsel in distress the Moldenhauser bros tried to not use. 

Others women talk to you in the hub world or ask for assistance in some way. Like a fish fishing, for one! How wonderfully weird. Is she a cannibal by chance?

What remains are bosses. Ahem, how few there are that is, yeah. Out of twenty plus bosses only seven feature women with five being the actual focus.

The introduction to planes battle has Hilda Berg: an Olive Oly zeppelin that transforms into the constellations Taurus and Sagittarius (they are coded/drawn as men) during the fight. Another is a drunken martini glass that’s part of an alcoholic beverage trio you might contend with. The Domino mini-boss has two halves: the top is a hat and bow while the bottom is a skirt with that same bow serving as hers. This half has distinct lashes and red heels as well. There’s the Betty Boop sound effect laden Cala Maria, the gigantic mermaid seen in each trailer for the game’s release. Sally Stageplay is the most memorable for me with her battle taking place in a theatre with a live audience: it opens with a wedding and has her theatre husband in the background not contributing to the fight while trying to take care of a baby. There’s the aforementioned Rumor Honeybottoms, in an intense scenario which pushes you to your platforming and parrying limits. My favorite in terms of concept to execution is in the Inkwell Isle II level Sugarland Shimmy! She is called Baroness von Bon Bon. 

Here’s an intriguing fact: the singer for the seemingly masculine Cab Calloway influenced antagonist Dice King is sung by Alana Bridgewater (her vocals are fantastic!).

All in all, I recommend Cuphead. The indie darling is an equally exhilarating and addictive game with a superb soundtrack to boot! On top of that, Cuphead’s nods to video games and animation history are an impeccable fusion I couldn’t get enough of. Cuphead’s fun and challenge is raised with a friend on-board for the surreal worth taking ride. You can revive your teammate for a price (they return with 1 HP left and any subsequent revivals become increasingly harder to pull off) through parrying their ghost or taking HP (Like a thief…Blargh. ) from one another upon dying in boss battles or levels.

Oh, there is indeed a lower difficulty, but the developers will sadly not let you truly finish the game if you select it. Bosses lack entire phases and overall health. Locking content in this manner does disappoint and irk me for those that desire the full Cuphead experience. Especially for those that are already put off by the game’s difficulty curve as a whole from the get-go. Since part of Cuphead’s joy is seeing so much creative and stunning animation lovingly crafted on display. Listening to new music. Drinking in the atmosphere prior to being killed for the umpteenth time due to miscalculating a parry or boss attack. This is lost for those that choose Simple. *Sighs despondently*

As are the game’s wonderful secrets I won’t divulge here. 

On the other hand, folks should give Simple Mode a gander to check out lost animation Normal and Hard Mode doesn’t have. ;)

A PSA for those seeking an A rank on the Run and Gun stage Funfair Fever! Um, there’s a glitch in the game that won’t allow this achievement. Meaning, you have to conquer it with a P (Pacifist: only parrying, no shooting) rank as an alternative. I spent hours attempting to secure an A rank to no avail until I succeeded with the P rank I needed towards earning a game secret. This has just been patched.

My recommendation for Cuphead would be loftier if gender representation had been better and Simple Mode had encompassed all of the game. It doesn’t. You’re mocked by Dice King and that doesn’t seem right to me. No one deserves to be made fun of for playing something that is meant to be purely entertainment.

My feelings towards the red skinned turban wearing genie magician guy in the game bother me as well. Like he’s time period accurate and ultimately offensive. Should of done some in-depth research before posting this. :(

P.S. Dr. Kahl, is named after animator Milt Kahl, but modeled after Sonic’s Dr. Ivo Robotnik and Mega Man’s Dr. Wily. You’ve been warned. So many deaths were caused by him. So. Many. Losses. *Shudders*

[gascon-en-exil]

The Not Really Definitive Ranking of the Zelda Series: #14

#19 - Four Swords

#18 - The Adventure of Link

#17 - Phantom Hourglass

#16 - Four Swords Adventures

#15 - Spirit Tracks

#14 - The Legend of Zelda

I’m about to do a bad thing. Spending an entire blog post critiquing the original Legend of Zelda feels particularly ill-timed at the moment, as this game is currently enjoying a resurgence of interest in the fandom thanks in large part to its spiritual successor Breath of the Wild. I’m not denying that, nor am I denying that LoZ represents one of those great historical milestones in gaming that ought to be respected for what it contributed to the medium: battery-backed save files for console games, an expansive world with near-total freedom to roam and secrets to discover on every screen, an unprecedented level of content via a second quest with relocated and redesigned dungeons, and the beginning of one of the most recognizable and well-regarded franchises in gaming. Even its questionable localization has become famous in its own right, with some of its most meme-worthy lines making cameos in later games. For those reasons alone I bumped this game above two titles that I consider to be merely average, because that kind of historical significance certainly merits it.

From the perspective of someone who wasn’t born yet when LoZ was released and who only picked it up for the first time more than a decade later, however, this game has aged really badly.

I’m not even talking so much about the graphics or audio quality - because, yeah, NES - but more all that this game can offer now vs. what it offered back in the late 80s. Many of the mechanical innovations have long since become unremarkable by their ubiquity in the industry, and the allure of discovery has vanished thanks to the internet. In ten seconds you can Google an in-depth text or video walkthrough that shows you where and how best to acquire every single thing in LoZ, and provided you can master the game’s combat (the difficulty of which stems largely from the stiffness of Link’s movements in comparison to every other top-down Zelda) there’s little challenge to obtaining anything. It may have been huge at the time, but LoZ’s world map today looks...well...

...not.

Of course this is true of every Zelda; indeed, Breath of the Wild has already been more or less completely laid bare in various places online after only a month. The problem with the NES Zeldas is that they have very little to recommend them once their mystery has been stripped away. Shigeru Miyamoto may have envisioned the experience of LoZ as a collaborative effort among players sharing stories of their adventures in the world of Hyrule, but the evolution of both technology and the gaming community has rendered that original experience as something impossible to replicate. BotW is excellent proof of that.

And therein lies the problem: I have no nostalgic feeling for LoZ because I wasn’t around to experience it firsthand, and as such all I can see when I play this game are the countless ways in which almost every subsequent entry in this franchise has improved upon this basic model. If I were ranking games solely based on my own personal enjoyment this one would be further down near Phantom Hourglass, and as it stands I can’t really justify seeing it above any of the games I genuinely liked. That’s not to say that I can’t appreciate the more open-ended, nonlinear design of LoZ in contrast to my introduction to the series A Link to the Past or the even more influential Ocarina of Time - my top three should all demonstrate that point quite clearly - but I do acknowledge LoZ as a game that was great for its time as well as a game that could be (and was) improved upon to become great again for a different time.

Next time (and the one after that): the two Zeldas that must always be discussed in tandem.

[wherethestoryhasimagination]

More BoTW ‘sequel’ ideas;

(expanding upon this for @ramune-explosion )

additional links provided :3 likely best to gain full context from them;

SS TP MM

when you pick your starting Rune, your guardian programming is able to access secondary features not able to be run on Slate tech; (the other runes might be available later)

Bombs; instead of only creating bombs full of blue energy, you can also perform a variation of the Guardian’s trademark Beam attack; a quick shot that does the minimal damage of the bombs, usually used to get other explosives to go off, or a charged beam like the Guardian Scouts use; (Upgrades may give you the ‘super armor’ that the scouts get while charging)

Cryonis; instead of only freezing water in block formations, you can now create a Ball of Ice that does everything a Ball can do. roll around, run into things, get bigger if rolling through snow, hit switches... (maybe freeze non-water objects to make them brittle?)

Magnesis; not just moving individual metal objects; you can also electrify them temporarily; (a bit like thunder Blight) (maybe an upgrade will make thrown metal weapons home-in slightly on targets)

Stasis; not just stopping Time; can also accelerate certain objects; (maybe an Upgrade could let you reverse aging time on an object (with a hearty cooldown) to get something to return to where it once was; or maybe that should be the default; idk; stasis is kinda funny; a few possibilities here)

Camera; not just pictures; Advanced Tracking can Highlight Targeted objects, and provide much more specific Arrows, rather than just radar blips. perhaps also highlight enemies through walls? a good utility;

Disguise choice; Gerudo, Goron, Hylian, Zora, Birb... (and perhaps some other ‘secret’ disguises not available at the start) (like Shieka Monk) (customization is a Yes)

you start with just one, but might be able to get others later; each with certain base abilities & potential Upgrades. (some ‘plot shrine’ will give you your first, (maybe more?) upgrade part, which will automatically be used to create your disguise+base ability)

Picking Gerudo Male... As the one with the Triforce of Power... well... that might make things a deal harder at the start; to the point where the Player would be strictly warned about the consequences; A real, No-stealth, Glass cannon kind of choice; The Triforce of Power is Pleased by this Disguise, and leaks out a tiny bit more of its energy to you.

Goron; full Flameguard, but weaker stealth. later upgrades may give one-handed 2-handers, roll attacks, ext...

Zora; the ability to actually swim properly without getting waterlogged; faster swim speeds, (up to the rate at which Sidon went during the divine beast combat), waterfall climbing, ext...

Birb; far superior gliding, a weaker version of Ravioli Gale (which can be upgraded further), better stealth, ext...

Traditional Gerudo; (the advised, easier start choice) well, the Yiga Clan hideout isn’t far from Town; you can easily enter, and very likely get official Training in weapon use as a guard(ian). With Gerudo Town as a base of operations with plentiful access to decent items & gear, things ought to be a bit easier on you...

And if Link just so happens to be hunting you, and has seen through your disguise, (the guy has faced enough Yiga to know their disguises)... Well, they might cause a scene if they tried anything in town. You are safe there. maybe you’ll even sit at the same Bar.

Hylian; highly convincing disguise; upgrades include various quality/ease of life options, better Horse control, and, as a high tier upgrade, the famous ‘slow time’ ability Link possesses. (A Goron or Zora out in the Snow is very suspect, but a Hylian, well, they could be anywhere!)

(bonus surprise?) if you make and wear the full Guardian Armor Set, people might mistake you for Link

(extra thought; would better monster disguises be worth a thought? As a Bokoblin, while people would still call attention to you if you did bad things, it wouldn’t be as harsh a response as if you were found out to be ‘That Rouge Machine!’)

upgrades for your Guardian Tech exist as well; Runes, Tools...

The Scientists probably help you even though they know what you are cause they can be a bit kooky like that; just fascinated to see how you develop.

‘meals’ work differently; (unless you got the Hylian gastro-generator Upgrade)

You have a far more discerning Eye for Guardian Parts; while others might just see a dozen of the same type of Screw, you can tell the differences between them; Some that can be ‘cooked’ into ‘stamina’ restoring ‘meals’, electric resist, temporary hearts... basically all the usual cooking effects; Gemstones can be used in cooking to, with unique effects of their own. like maybe temporary elemental damage, changing the color of your default Guardian weapons to match;

yea, that’s another thing; while nearly every other weapon in the game would be better than them, (unless you upgrade them,) you should always have access to weak variants of the Guardian spear, sword, & Ax; (maybe you can unlock a guardian boomerang, or some other weapon types as well)

The great Plateau is, instead of a dizzying drop, a brutal climb. But, many important things can be found there... The Other Runes, for example, & a Certain Monk living under the shrine of Resurrection who will make sure you EARN those Runes. (maybe you can extract something from the 1-hit obliterator?)

maybe Shrine entrances will take you even further bellow the Shrines to the ‘Maintenance Level’. As a Guardian, you get taken to The Works, presumed to be there to fix things by the Shrine workings.

Also, forget needing to pray in very specific locations to upgrade, to the point where you have a dozen not-Spirit orbs waiting to be used; you are a clever Machine; you can upgrade wherever you want; (though maybe have certain high tier upgrades require a certain location in the maintenance level to get)

Plenty of potential here; it could be a Mechanical mess, or maybe things broke down a while ago, and dirt & rocks & such have gotten in, creating a whole new kind of environment. (might be cool if some variant of Mogma(Skyward Sword Moles) were to be found, with a secret disguise available for them with their own thematic upgrades) (also, at this point, a full and proper skill tree would probably be good; it isn’t as simple as ‘Heart or Stamina’ after all... Though different upgrades may include/be Hearts &or Stamina for different races. (high stamina birbs, high Hearts Goron...) )

|3 ... I’m running out of steam at the moment for ideas on Gameplay quirks... there’s probably something obvious that is a part of the base game that I’m missing...

! ah, Koroks? hmm... there could probably be some kind of excuse for Koroks, if they were to be re-used... either on the Shieka advanced Tech side of things, or the ‘right heart to see them’ side of things.

& Great Fairies... maybe they can help you get some of the last stages in a particular upgrade path, or maybe they physically enhance your non-organic Body, like they do to Armor; give you more health, more stamina, more base-Defense... (Maybe they could be the source of some more... unique, non-machine like upgrades; like the gastro-generator which lets you heal via people food)

Ending Ideas;

there could be just about anything down there. including the ‘neutral-?bad?’ ending; ‘fixing’ things down in The Works is the most lucrative source of Upgrade Parts, but if you Fix Everything... Then a whole lot more than just Shrines, Towers, & those massive Spires around The Castle will start popping up; ‘You did what you were designed to do; now bear witness to the World We Designed you to make; the Era of The Shieka will return’ You Survive;

‘Bad?-POWER’ end, you’ve gone around and blown up all kinds of important stuff; attacked towns & destroyed their fortifications & fully operational Guardian Stalkers... When you make it to the birb Divine Beast, you get a total Power Trip; Controlling the Beast Directly, able to rain down destruction. You Survive;

‘neutral end(s)’ you didn’t really blow anything up, but you didn’t really do all that much good either. When you win the contest being held to find the next Pilot of the Divine Beast, you are found out. You are Targeted; Link is ready to finally settle this;

(if you somehow manage to beat Link;) Zelda won’t stand by & watch Link Die; With her greater control over her Divine Power, and Greater understanding of the Ancient Tech, She Purges your Programming; You Die;

(If Link beats you...) You Die; but by beheading/helm splitting; your Program still exists... You Still have the Triforce of Power... maybe you’ll manage to find a new vessel eventually... you kinda survive in that way; Via... Reincarnation...

(good end; helping make things right with The World) :) You win the Divine Beast Pilot Contest, and you get to Fly it all the way to Hyrule Castle... (bad end if you start shooting; Link rips you from the controls, & fights you; same kind of results as neutral ends) But, once there... Link & Zelda finally realize who/what you are; much later than they do the other time; you must be acting much more like a real person...

Link has The Master Sword at the Ready, but... has their doubts about how much of a threat you are...

You drop the disguise...

You drop to your Knees...

You distill information in the way that is traditional for Ancient Shieka Tech...

...

You start to Cry...

In a moment of recognition, Link catches a drop with their Shieka Slate...

Your Memories begin to play back on the screen...

The beauty you’ve seen in this World... How much better it is than The World the ancient Shieka had planned...

The joy in meeting new people...

The help you’ve offered... The help you’ve gotten...

Your acts of kindness... And the kindness you’ve been shown in turn...

Every Smile you have seen along the way...

Your perspective of Link and Zelda... Fearsome Destroyers who hold control over whether you live or die...

...

You tell them that you don’t want to die...

...

And they tell you that everything is going to be ok...

[soulcrazy2017-blog]

Nintendo Switch: Will it replace smartphone gaming?

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Nintendo Switch: Will it replace smartphone gaming?

Just while we notion that hand-held consoles have been now not applicable  smartphone and the Sony Playstation Vita changed into the closing of its breed, Nintendo took some other shot on the section using freeing a brand new handheld console called Transfer. The brand new device is completely extraordinary from the Japanese organization’s previous ventures just like the Nintendo 3DS. The transfer is extra of a modern handheld console that is familiar with the idea of flexibility this is required to compete with smartphone gaming. The reality that Transfer may be carried in a single’s pocket, performed on the go and can even be linked to a Tv display via a dock to supply a right console-like enjoy, reflects that.

Ever because its release in Japan last week, Nintendo has offered over 330,000 devices of Switch in Japan alone, in keeping with a Japanese mag Famitsu. It is also available in US and United Kingdom at $299 (around Rs19,000). There may be no replace on India availability but.

The simplest benefit that Transfer gives over a telephone like OnePlus 3T is the bodily controls, which might be continually going to be greater intuitive than contact controls The only advantage that Switch gives over a smartphone like OnePlus 3T is the physical controls, which can constantly be going to be extra intuitive than contact controls The way it compares towards phone gaming

gaming

Nintendo’s biggest assignment may be to persuade customers to head for a standalone hand-held gaming console, while their very personal telephone can fulfill most of their gaming requirements. Smartphones with a large screen and powerful hardware are without problems to be had at Rs10,000 these days, and the platform is not lacking regarding content material both. Some the most famous gaming titles offering console degree snapshots consisting of F1 2016, GTA, Assassin’s Creed and FIFA 16 are to be had on Android and iOS devices.

Some of the smartphones even provide larger displays with better (2,560×1,440p) or (1,920×1,080p) display screen resolution than Switch, which comes with a 6.2-inch (1,280x720p) display.

The Switch can also sense a bit massive and heavy (299g) for game enthusiasts with small hands, but it won’t be difficult to hold round as its manager panel known as Joy-Cons are removable and may be carried separately.

One of the highlights of Nintendo Switch is the reality that it may be linked to a Tv display via a dock. It calls for the user to take off the Pleasure Cons and park the Activate the dock. The Pleasure Cons can then be attached collectively and used as a recreation controller. This allows it to copy a recreation console like gaming enjoys at display screen resolution of 1,920×1,080p. Telephone users can hook up with Television screen using Google Chromecast or screen mirroring technology, but none of them are capable of streaming games easily on a big display screen. Film playback may work nicely, however with games. There may be a wonderful lag.

The handiest gain that Transfer offers over a smartphone like OnePlus 3T (Rs29,999) is the bodily controls that are always going to be more intuitive than touch controls.

As of now, it gives a handful of games including The Legend Of Zelda (motion-journey), Rapid RMX (racing) and Shovel Knight (side scrolling recreation like Mario. As of now, it gives a handful of games which includes The Legend Of Zelda (action-adventure), Fast RMX (racing) and Shovel Knight (facet scrolling sport like Mario. Content material matters

The success of Switch may even depend on the gaming titles it gives. As of now, it gives the handful of video games together with The Legend Of Zelda (action-journey), Rapid RMX (racing) and Shovel Knight (side scrolling sport like Mario). Nintendo lately announced that over 60 Indie video games might be launched for Transfer this year. Among huge names, EA Sports has a FIFA sport, Telltale Games have Minecraft Tale Mode, 2K video games has NBA 2k18, and Capcom has Ultra Street Fighter 2 in the pipeline for Transfer.

nintendo

Like smartphones, Switch will no longer only be a gaming console. It could be used as a multimedia device to circulate content material from Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. This option isn’t always available proper away but could be introduced soon.

Regardless of its barriers, Transfer may be more amusing than telephone gaming. But, it will need greater games to attract greater consumers.

“Mobile Generation” has advanced our daily lives on many stages and it has profoundly raised the best of lifestyles for plenty. However, the threats coming from Mobile era also are very actual and concerning for statistics technology and services.

Essentially, botnets are massive unlawful networks of inflamed machines – commonly computer or PC systems, that are commonly used to send outgoing visitors to different systems to infect their network or device. But attackers are the usage of Mobile botnets to infect the opposite community/gadgets the usage of smartphones.

Infected smartphones that turn out to be a part of a botnet can gain whole access to the focused tool and unknowingly carry out positive duties like recording audio and video, taking photos, sending text messages, open web pages, steal consumer information, delete files, launch denial of provider assaults through HTTP floods and carry out internet injections, if supported. An HTTP flood from a Mobile botnet can without problems produce over a hundred,000 unique IP addresses, making it more and more difficult for websites to mitigate such big-scale attacks. As the botnet grows, every infected phone gets delivered to a community of bots managed through a botmaster (cyber-criminal).

Cellular bot-infections were first observed inside the yr 2011. DroidDream and Gemini each were romanized game apps with bot-like competencies that compromised Android devices. There have additionally been Cell botnet attacks centered at iPhones, Blackberry and Symbian gadgets. So no matter the working gadget your cell phone runs on, these kind of precedents are robust instances for Mobile antivirus safety.

How can boys get to smartphones:

smartphone

Customers are without problems get tricked to put in malware through malicious apps found in the Google play store, third party app stores or through malicious emails, that gains the root get admission to of user’s device. Devices which might be inflamed with that malware end up a part right into an international botnet without having a strength of resistance. From there, an attacker controls a device (as an infected botnet) through a command and manage device where the attackers can ship some of the assault commands to these inflamed devices to be able to perform the specified actions and release illegal sports thru it.

Online gaming presents spirited or supportive games on the computer with various customers, thru Internet or a nearby place network. Now, a query arises, why it’s miles required to play against a laptop once you have got the option to play with an individual? The solution for this question is that Online gaming hyperlinks you with various players of the globe and creates such an environment for you in which you may deal with every other and experience as a real scenario.

Thru Online gaming, you could subjugate a rival of this type of nature which would not but live in this world. The action between players is managed through servers in net video games even as photos and sound are treated along with your PC. There are mass sorts of Net games to pick out with. You could play complex games promptly with the help of a speedy Internet connection.

On-line gaming calls for a network that includes solitary or extra computer systems to paintings as servers. The computer systems of the players are termed as clients. Clients link to the server via the Internet or a neighborhood community. The server acts as an agency of the internet gaming that maintains track with selected recreation of player, keeps information of participant and also presents gossip between gamers.

At the time of playing the game, the server helps the moves of every player. As individuals shift, play a card or blaze a weapon, the “kingdom of the world” messages is dispatched to the server using their computer systems then after receiving the signals server transmits those alerts to the opposite patron computers immediately. Any actions that you make on the time of sport emerge on different customers’ computers. The client laptop then transmits the sounds and photos, as a result, presents the obvious consequences for all players.

Net games can be classified into organizations. One group this is on hand via centralized servers at the same time as other organization that runs thru allotted servers. Federal servers host the games that allow a range of customers to play concurrently at the identical time as is needed in vast gamers games like Ever Quest. The primary server enclosed with numerous statistics concerning the state of affairs for these games. The world of the game runs non-stop around the clock, for this reason, the game keeps either you play or now not. Net games in no way virtually end, you can continue to play as per your desire. To begin play person wishes to open the customer software program that connects to the master server of the sport.

Even as in a distributed system, server software stores several excited game servers on customers’ Desktops. The instantaneous strategy is used in video games consisting of Delusion and three-D shooters like Quake III Area and so forth. These video games need very set off updates known as “country of the sector.” Disbursed servers increase the percent of communication out; a solitary server hardly maintains up with several Quake gamers.

The sports servers talk alerts to the master server in each minute, and the master server shows the addresses of every dynamic game servers. If you need to play, then you want to get the listing of lively game servers to be had with the grasp server. Gamers can inquiry man or woman servers, from the information listing, regarding the category of sport exist on that server; the “dying time” and how many games are gambling or duration requires for speaking of instructions among the server and the participant. Gamers normally select a server of the much less ping time earlier than they link immediately to the game server.

[postgamecontent]

Quintet Spotlight: Illusion of Gaia

Original Release Date: November 27, 1993 (JPN)

Original Hardware: Nintendo Super Famicom

I imagine in the world of game development, getting a publishing deal can sometimes feel like winning the lottery. If that's the case, attracting the interest of Nintendo probably feels like winning the big jackpot, particularly when they're on the lookout for a tent pole release to fill out their fall schedule. I'm not sure what drew Nintendo's interest to Illusion of Gaia, to be honest, but it proved to be a major windfall for Quintet. The game had sold a reasonable, but not unexpected, total of 200,000 copies in Japan when it was published by Enix in late 1993. With the weight of Nintendo's full promotional weight behind its overseas releases, Illusion of Gaia managed to sell 450,000 copies across North America and Europe, making for Quintet's biggest hit since the first ActRaiser.

It's a curious candidate for that level of success. As you would expect if you've been following this series of articles, Illusion of Gaia is a very strange game. At its core, it's another decent action-RPG in the vein of Soul Blazer, albeit with better controls and a more interesting spread of enemies. It's got a lot of puzzles baked into it, many of which are unusual sorts for this genre.  But the most memorable thing about the game is, once again for a Quintet game, its story. At first blush, you might expect something like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, or Secret of Mana. That was certainly how Nintendo positioned it, even going so far as to redesign the game's logo to resemble that of Zelda. Illusion of Gaia starts off like just about any fantasy RPG, sending an boy named Will off on an adventure to find his dad, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

It takes a while for the game to tip its hand. For the first half of the game you're mostly busy zipping from one twisted take on a real Earth location to the next, collecting gems, getting new abilities, and seeking out statues that are presumably needed to track down Dad. The now-familiar Quintet moralizing and philosophical meanderings are sprinkled around a bit, but there's something a little too comfortable about Will's mad-cap journey that he takes with his friends and a runaway princess. There are flashes of what's to come. When you don't do as the king orders you at the beginning of the game, he locks you up in a prison to rot. The discovery of an ancient Gold Ship hints at a tragic story for its previous inhabitants, and culminates in Will and the Princess being trapped on a chunk of floating wood for three weeks. But you escape the prison, and the raft ride ends safely enough, with Will and Princess Kara being reunited with their friends.

Soon, the hits start piling up. A beautiful town serves as little more than a facade for a slave trade. One of your young friends who went missing isn't recovered. Nearly every person you meet who has even a modicum of power turns out to be awful. Then, things get really wild. Illusion of Gaia is a bittersweet story filled with a lot of shocking turns. It's a deeply introspective game, and it's hard to say if the ending is really all that happy or not. Just about every situation in the game resolves in a way that tries to leave the player feeling conflicted, and it can be quite brutal for a Nintendo-published game of this era. That the game is painted up in the usual bright colors of a 16-bit Japanese RPG only strengthens the whiplash.

The Nintendo localization team tried to paint over things a little bit. Any references to gods are changed to references to "spirits", and a visit to a village of obvious cannibals skirts around the topic so gingerly that it's almost more horrific when you piece things together. One of the biggest gut-punches comes from a seemingly unimportant side quest involving a variation on Russian Roulette. There are five glasses in front of you. One glass has poison in it. You and the opponent take turns drinking until someone dies. Your opponent goes first, and you each gulp down two drinks without any ill effects. The final glass is obviously the poisoned one, which means your opponent loses. The game is called as such, but the man you've been dueling with suddenly grabs the final cup and drinks it down anyway in a bizarrely suicidal act. Naturally, he dies.

You soon learn his backstory. Six months ago, he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Since then, he's been playing the gambling game to earn money to ensure his wife and child would be taken care of. He recognizes that to achieve this, he has had to benefit from the misfortunes of others, but he seems resolute that he did what he had to. As an attempt to make up for it, he entrusts you with the plot coupon you need to move on. As his wife reads his final will and testament to you, she remarks that there is nothing more valuable than time spent with those you love. It might just be a platitude, but there's a hint of sadness in there that suggests she would have been happier if he had spent his limited time with his family instead of trying to make money.

There's no way you can miss that section, but there are some things that demand a more careful eye. At one point, you'll come across a civilization of angels who are supposedly an an advanced evolutionary form of humanity. Their logic and reasoning skills are excellent, and they come off sort of Vulcan-like as a result. They no longer feel emotions, but go through the motions of things like dancing to try to spark something. These angels are isolated, as direct sunlight is fatal to them. If you look around their village, you'll find a macabre sight. A woman is standing in the direct light, and if you try to talk to her, you'll find that she is dead. The implication is that she killed herself because she could no longer tolerate such a frustrating life devoid of passion. It's a small thing, but Quintet never misses a chance to convey their desired messages, it seems.

Self-sacrifice seems to be one of the primary lessons the game wants to teach, which is funny since Will does anything but in most cases. In fact, Will is downright destructive at times in pursuit of his quest. One section early in the game allows you to sell out a runaway slave for a red gem. There are no negative consequences for doing that, apart from your own feelings of guilt. Failing to get that gem, however, will prevent you from opening the path to the secret dungeon, its boss, and the story resolutions they bring. Interestingly, that boss is a cameo appearance of Soul Blazer's first boss, and the primary means through which the games are connected. He makes direct references to Blazer, and it's strongly suggested that the events of this game play out in the same world as the previous one.  

That's particularly interesting because, spoilers, this world turns out to be Earth. There's even a story reason for why the real places and people you run into are jumbled into a weird mish-mash. A comet approaches the planet every so often, and when it's near, the world twists and humanity's progress is reset or advanced in unpredictable ways. You'll sometimes come across the ghosts of inhabitants of previous versions of the world. In the end, when you beat the comet, the Earth is restored to its familiar form. Its modern form, no less, with skyscrapers, streets, and grey as far as the eye can see. Will and his friends have no memories of their adventures, but have apparently met each other as school classmates in this restored timeline.

Even in the ending, Illusion of Gaia can't help but twist the knife a little. As the Earth is restored, it notes that while the villages hold only smiling faces, the planet itself is sad. Earlier, the game compares Earth to a mother, saying she feels lonely when her children forget about her. This connects to the running theme we've seen in all of Quintet's games, where humanity's progress is portrayed as an unfortunate outcome. And again, humanity is the author of its own misfortunes, as the comet itself is simply a weapon that turned upon its makers. Since Will's power comes from Gaia herself, we have yet another case of the gods coming to humanity's rescue only to be forgotten in the end when they are no longer needed.

The game isn't always heavy, though. Contrasted against all of the despair and tragedy is a sometimes bizarre sense of humor. One section of the game has Will battling monsters in a floating sky palace. When he's finished his work there, he ends up falling through the air. His cousin Neil is piloting an airplane and goes for the dramatic save. Unfortunately, he drops a contact lens and ends up missing on the first pass, forcing him to swing around a second time to nab Will. Of course, the reference to contact lenses is only in the English version, as is the case with many of the game's more odd brushes with humor. But the visual gag of Neil missing on the first pass is there in all versions, showing that the game isn't afraid to laugh at itself from time to time.

On the whole, the localization effort is pretty typical for its time, which is to say, it's not great. It's clear enough to get the main ideas across in most cases, but there are quite a few grammatical errors and a few out-and-out mistranslations. The most famous of the bunch is connected to the giant sea creature that attacks the Gold Ship early on. In English, they call it Riverson. This is of course supposed to be Leviathan. It's possible this was meant to scrub out a biblical reference, but I doubt it. That said, the localization is quite heavily censored. As I mentioned before, its increased vagueness actually makes some situations more effective, but it's more obvious than most games of the era when it's trying to cover things up.

The story is the main reason to play the game, but the action mechanics did get some serious improvements over Soul Blazer. Will is more agile and has a greater variety of moves at his disposal, plus two additional forms that greatly increase his combat capabilities. The dungeons are longer and feature less backtracking than Soul Blazer, but there is still a little too much back and forth for my liking. Similarly, there are a lot more enemy behaviors and mixed groups to consider. The bosses are kind of duds, unfortunately, but there aren't that many of them, anyway. 

The real trial in this game is surviving the lengthier dungeons. The puzzles offer more variety this time around, as well, but that variety sometimes comes in the form of silly set-ups like comparing two rooms to find the differences. There's still a focus on clearing rooms of enemies, but it's usually not required to progress. Instead, it's your primary means of powering up. There are no experience points. You'll get periodic improvements to your strength, hit points, and so on by beating all the enemies in an area. The game is difficult enough even with all of those extra stats, so you'll probably end up flushing out all of the baddies just the same. 

Illusion of Gaia is considerably more linear than most action-RPGs. You'll sometimes be able to go back one or two locations, but more often than not, once you leave a place, you won't ever be back. It gives the game a snappy pace, but it makes its major side-quest a real pain to deal with. You need to collect 50 red gems that are hidden throughout the game. Some of them are rewards for doing certain tasks, others can be found by searching in obvious locations, with a few hidden in truly dastardly places. If you miss even one, you are locked out of the extra dungeon and the story content it brings. It's hard enough to find them at all without using a guide, but the fact that you generally can't go back to places means that if you want to see that secret boss, you'd best be following an FAQ or checklist the whole way through.

While I have my gripes, Illusion of Gaia is clearly a more refined and larger-scale experience than any of Quintet's previous games. It has the developer's fingerprints all over it, but it doesn't feel out of place as a Nintendo-published game in terms of quality. Quintet brought a lot of major talent on board for this game, with the character designs handled by the well-known shoujo manga artist Moto Hagio, and the story written by acclaimed science-fiction author Mariko Ohara. As a result, it has a feel quite unlike most of its contemporaries. The contemplative story feels ahead of its time, with pop culture in Japan yet to take its major nihilistic turn with the 1995 release of Neon Genesis Evangelion. With big names on board and longer development time than any of their prior games, Quintet was clearly banking on rolling a hit. It's a good thing, then, that it turned out to be a solid performer. Unfortunately, the developer's fortunes went downhill quite rapidly from here, but that's a story for next time.

There aren't many easy ways to play Illusion of Gaia through legitimate means anymore. It was never re-released on any other platform, likely due to Hagio and Ohara holding joint copyrights on the game with Quintet. You can either play it with the original cartridge, or use more nefarious means. But it's certainly worth playing, as it has a unique vibe to its story that you don't often see in the sunny worlds of RPGs. The closest analog I can think of outside of Quintet's other titles would be the Dragon Quest games, but even those are more upbeat and hopeful on the whole than this game. As Nintendo-published Super NES RPGs go, Illusion of Gaia is like the suicidal, alcoholic, abusive counterpoint to Earthbound's warm, fuzzy blanket. Interesting, to say the least.

Previous: ActRaiser 2

Next: Terranigma

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