#old zelda fans when the zelda series is like the first game

[jadedaegis]

How the hell can someone actually call TotK objectively bad?

Actually trash opinion. Fucking what is objective about the idea it’s a bad game when, you know. Millions of people love it. That GENUINELY means that it is only “bad” subjectively, since many, many people would disagree.

Fuckin grow up? Nothing about the word objective is literally universally ordained to be true. Time to forget about this person and move on with my love for TotK & BotW <3

EVERYTHING IS SUBJECTIVE.

and I will! Yell! about it.

[marinecorvid]

I should replay botw

[silent-partner-412]

the shitty statement aonuma released about being surprised by fans being disappointed by the direction of the zelda series has spawned a million people who clearly have only played breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom being extremely smug and annoying about their massive sales and just the current state of the series, and while all that is absolutely bothering the fuck out of me i just want to say this instead: what happened to 2d zelda???

like, we got a decent remake of link’s awakening a few years ago. but before that? triforce heroes in 2015 (which i think only barely counts) and then for a bona fide new 2d zelda game the most recent was link between worlds in 2013, over a decade ago. even then, that’s still basically a spiritual successor to link to the past, so if you want a game that’s a fully original concept, the last new 2d zelda game was spirit tracks in 2009. there is an obvious lack of 2d zelda on the market right now, despite the fact that they have actually made up the majority of the titles in this series in the past.

this seems like such a missed opportunity to me, especially in the current climate of the zelda series. you have these new big blockbuster games in breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom that are selling like nothing in the series ever has before, but have left a substantial number of core fans (myself included) feeling disappointed because the design philosophy in the older, more linear lock/key style has more or less disappeared with these new games. i feel like this should be an opportunity to try and please everybody; keep making 3d games in this new open world style that has clearly managed to reach a massive audience, but then keep the smaller scope 2d series running with the old style to please the weird veteran fans like me who have oracle of ages in their top 3 of the entire series. but this isn’t happening, at least as far as we know.

that said, the implication of that statement is that aonuma doesn’t even get why old fans might not like the new direction of the zelda series which is just so frustrating. i would love it if at some point they gave a small studio (or maybe a second or third party?) the greenlight to work on a new 2d zelda but i’m really not holding out hope.

[scopophobia-polaris]

I'm locking the fuck in on this one

Raising my hand to say I like all 4 of them but I fucking hate that hylia has been made as a one and true God to every people group in hyrule, it's not great world building and based on how hylia has been talked about in SkSw it makes no since why anyone BUT the Hylians and Sheikah would worship her, Hylia is a Goddess for the Hylians only because that's the only group she cares about.

I know from a stance on creator gods throughout culture and history they don't get as much attention as compared to broader more mass appeal gods ( as an example can you name one Greek primordial deity) I mean this is diffeent when it comes to Abrahamic religions of course because of monotheism but okay I'm getting off track. Basically the world building for Hyrule going from polytheism to monotheism can work but I don't think it would be HYLIA...... she's as states A. Specified to a single people group B. Is more absent than the Trio after sksw since we learn in totk that OTHER DEITIES CAN POSSESS HER STATUES AND TALK THROUGH THEM.

Hylia is really good flavor through a lens of like fictional anthropology, she's like cilantro, you don't want a pile of it!!!!!!!!! And the only reason I can assume nintendo went down the route of making her as the one God is because how much more focus recently they have been focusing on like, the royal family and zelda herself recently and I assume trying to make a backstory for why the royal family has powerful holy magic.

Okay now to really go down that Doylist shit

It has been stated that Hylia is a mixture of Amateratsu and well Christianity (despite what SOME people try to say about the Christians angle, she's specifically catholic and Japan's history with absolutely LOVING the catholic aesthetic when it comes to media ) like Hylia as a Goddess is clearly a parallel to.....oh God japanese imperialism and how it wasn't THAT BAD or some shit and I think it's funny that nintendo has doubled down on this basically by trying more and more to make the royal family in the game justified in any and all actions they take.

And given that Ninetndo has a bunch of aging men who are probably becoming more and more conservative as time goes on the more conservative angle of the recent games starts to make more since (this isn't to say the Zelda series HASNT been conservative in the past it very much is, but more blatantly recently, a lot of recent world building decisions may also be influenced by Nintendo's obvious stalking of Youtubers given how TotK turned out.)

Basically, I am sorry op but this was gonna be a comment and it was too big, the Trio is super cool and the fact Nintendo hasn't really brought them up or used them recently is really uncreative and the fact they kinda dropped hylia for an idea of her in the games points to some shit going on in the writing room, and it's probably because they wanted to make more safe even more broad appeal games than they have done in the past given the apprent financial failure of Wind Waker and that SkSw was so....linear.

Okay, another poll bc I have some beef with 'recent' zelda developments

<not actually recent

I feel very very strongly about the Hylian major religion being polytheistic and think making it monotheistic is boring and a coward move, BUT I am looking for diehards to chat with about it.

TO BE CLEAR i am looking for doylist conversations, not 'canon supported' stuff. I just want opinions.

[artsy-moonwalker]

A new fairy among the fountain.

Let me get a little personal.

My first introduction to the legend of zelda came to me when I was around eight years old. I was at my grandmother’s house, and noticed she had Mario 64 in her basket of n64 games. I was already a big Mario fan and wanted to play it, but my grandma insisted that I try out something different. So she put me on Ocarina of Time.

Ever since then, to be fully dramatic, it changed my life. That moment is so very special to me. Zelda has become my most favorite piece of media and was rooted that way since I was a little kid. My childhood would be completely different if I was never introduced to it, and I can’t imagine who I would be today without that spark of adventure motivating my life for all those years. It brought me comfort, creativity, warmth, inspiration, etc. etc. etc… I could go on all day. I would never change a single things if it meant not having the cherished memories I have with each Zelda game I’ve played.

But very recently, the person who introduced me to the series as a kid left us.

And when I returned home that day, the world spinning, my head numb, the only thing I could think of doing was playing Ocarina of Time. She loved this series. She loved the fantasy and the magic and the characters. She loved every aspect of it, especially the fairies. She even called herself one. I think I played oot that day because I wanted nothing more than to feel her presence once again. To bring out the thing her and I bonded over the most. Our strongest shared interest. I can’t begin to thank her enough for everything she gave me. The butterfly effect is SO real. And her gift of a childhood full of adventure is one I’ll never take for granted.

And now that enough time has passed, I like to think she flies among all of the fairy fountains in every version of Hyrule.

[livmightlive]

Dawn Headcanon

Probably my biggest headcanon for LU, and honestly the Zelda games in general, is that Dawn was quite a bit older than Hyrule when he rescued her in Zelda 1.

I think while he was, I’m pretty sure canonically(?), around 10 or 11 she was more so like 17 or 18. I have no canon backing for this or any context at all besides that fact I like it for the following:

It’s no secret that fans of Hyrule and the first two Zelda games in the series have to do a lot of their own world building based off the lack of actual details the games give us. This paints a very lonely picture of Hyrule (in my modest opinion). He has no family members and not really any established friends in the series. Of course it’s implied that the Zelda’s probably think highly of him and he does have a few character interactions but the rest is purely left the speculation.

I like the idea of Dawn being quite a bit older than Hyrule because I like thinking that she brought him up as an elder sister to him, leaving him with a family member to return to. I also like the drama that would occur from her being older.

imagine: You are 18 and have been kidnapped by an ancient evil that not even you, the princess bestowed with power from the goddess herself can defeat. (I like to think that Dawn is brawny and tough. She is a princess yes, but she is the princess of a wasteland. She is a survivor with the rest of them.) You’re furious that this creature is razing your land to even more pieces and you are also disappointed in yourself. You have high expectations for yourself being one of the only figures of authority left in this place. You don’t expect to be rescued, it’s a dog eat dog world out here, but you are. And your brave rescuer is 10 years old 😭

I like to think that she’d be horrified that the only person in this world to try and save their princess is a literal child. So she takes him under her wing and finds that he is quite literally half feral. Like he growls at strangers and doesn’t know basic hygiene. So she takes it upon herself to teach this kid how to live as a proper person 😭

she feels kind of awful, like she’s stripping away his core as she civilizes this child, but she firmly believes it’s for his own good. If he doesn’t know how to clean himself he will fall to infection, even as he bites and screeches as Dawn painstakingly brushes and cuts the mats out of his hair. He hates learning math and reading, it caused him a frustration that not even fighting darknuts had caused him, but without it he can’t read road signs or spell books. Through blood, sweat, and tears Dawn manages to mold Hyrule into a person.

it’s not all bad though, she teaches him to forage for medicinal herbs and he takes to it like breathing. He starts smiling at her and rarely, in a hushed croaky voice, he shares conversations with her.

Dawn is the first to fight her own council when they want to cast out her little hero as his blood begins to drawn in beasts. She’s the first to cry when they don’t give her a choice and her little brother is cast from underneath her arms back into the wastes. he visits occasionally and sometimes she receives a letter, but there isn’t a day that passes that Dawn doesn’t miss those days he spent under her care.

I just really see Hyrule as the type of boy to have a big sister. She forcefully loved him and he learned to be loved.

(I think later on Aurora would be like a little sister to Hyrule giving him a little taste of what Dawn had to put up with him but that’s a different conversation)

I find Dawn really interesting and I feel like I don’t see much of her at all in the fandom. I think there’s a lot of potential in the princess of a wasteland kingdom (as so many people chose to see Rulie’s era). In general, I wish I could see more of the Zeldas.

if you have thoughts on any of the Zeldas pls lmk!! I love nothing more than hashing out different thoughts and headcanons

[lightningbreath]

I want to make it clear from the outset that having headcanons or theories is not a problem. Getting frustrated when they don't come true is not a problem either. But it is when people treat these headcanons as if Nintendo had an obligation to fulfill them.

I find it genuinely funny how some fans got so deep into their headcanons to the point of getting angry at the existence of Yona (poor girl) and the fact that Sidon is in a straight relationship, but that doesn't surprise me coming from people who claim to fight against stereotypes but are the ones who live and propagate stereotypes the most (the amount that most of the queer people I've met have been bugging me about being bisexual and aromantic is unbelievable).

I mean, as if canon would stop fujoshis from turning all the men in a series gay, no matter their sexuality, way of behaving or if they're in a relationship or not, so I don't understand why they say that Nintendo "removed the queer coding" when this was just a hc, Nintendo never implied that Sidon was queer, if they had said something like "a Zelda character will be queer" I could even understand, but that wasn't the case.

Now, in my opinion, the way Sidon talks and treats Link reminds me a lot of how my sister acts with the BTS boys, I think Sidon has a very idealized vision of Link, he talks about Link as if he were his favorite Marvel superhero and if we take into account that Link doesn't even seem to have frequented the Zora Region much during the time between Botw and Totk and that his ring doesn't even go on his ring finger.... anyway, it was cool to see Sidon's maturity, although his behavior is adorable, he's not a baby anymore.

I admit that Yona's introduction came out of nowhere, but honestly, TOTK introduces and disappears characters out of nowhere, Kass simply disappeared from the map, NPCs forgot about Link and the whole story of Sonia and Rauru also came out of absolutely nowhere. If Yona was the only one in this situation I would give her the benefit of the doubt, but that's not the case.

Not to mention that for a game ""with a hetero code"" I wonder why Nintendo didn't confirm right away that Link and Zelda are a couple instead of just saying this, I swear, how hard is it to formalize them? People will complain about anything, but no, Nintendo is afraid of I don't know what.

I will never forgive Nintendo for taking away the possibility of Zelda being a companion in the adventure or at least having a more constant presence. Thanks to that, I am living off of fanfics and fanarts.

P. S.: I wonder, if we ever get a remake of OoT, if Nintendo gives Malon a husband or canonizes OoT Zelink, how the fandom will react to that?

P. S. S.: Also, since people still complain to this day that TotK didn't turn Ganondorf into a "uwu boy who's just a poor victim of circumstances", a theory fueled by the appearance that the 10,000-year-old Hero had on the tapestry is because Ganondorf is a sexy man.

Although, on this last point I have to be honest, I was disappointed with the fact that Nintendo basically threw away the cinematics from the first TotK trailer and basically ignored the Sheikah technology, everything that Botw had hinted about the Zonai and the whole story of the Calamity from 10,000 years before Botw.

Anyway, it's just a question of how this fandom takes headcanons as if they were an absolute truth, and this ends up causing unnecessary fights because no one wants to admit that their hc may be unlikely to happen.

But that's just my opinion. Thank you for reading.

[cat-mermaid]

So this post awakened an old memory of mine, from back in the days when everything and anything had a Serebii type dedicated website all of its own

i remember waaaay back in like the year 2000, there was this Zelda fansite that i swear was called "The kingdom of Hyrule" and it was crazy unique because it had these big complex interactive flash animated banners at the top of every page. I'm talking hand drawn, then had a little series of animations that played if you clicked or moused over them

Somthing this advanced on a fan website from back then? A website put together by probably one guy? This was big, this was not the norm! I used to go to school every day and it would be one of the first websites i would log onto once i got computer access, because they were vigilant about updating with even the tiniest scrap of zelda news. And of course it had just about all the documentation about every zelda game at the time, each game got its own page

I remember the last time it updated was right after Wind Waker was announced at the 2001 Space World event, but before it was released in 2003. There were a few updates, mostly about the negative response to the cel shaded toon look (you have no fucking idea how angry people were back then, people thought this was going to be a game for preschoolers) and then.....

nada

years went by and then around 2004 the animated flash images became replaced with those old school red x icons that indicate the image is broken or whatever

i remember being really bummed out because that website was still one of the most amazing labors of love i'd ever seen and probably haven't seen anything by one fan that came close since

i mean it even had an animated intro you could watch every time you first entered the website that had zelda link and ganon having a showdown! That shit was hard to do back then, combined with coding it to a website?

anyways i've tried to find it again since, but nothing. Do any older zelda nerds remember this site?

[ya-kiri]

My Thoughts on the Zelda Timeline and Tears of the Kingdom

Given how the Imprisoning War mentioned in Tears of the Kingdom contradicts the one mentioned in the prolouge of Link to the Past, Rauru and Sonia forming the Kingdom of Hyrule and being the first King and Queen (despite Ocarina of Time coming before) and the Ganondorf in this game seemingly having no recollection of past Links/Heroes and Zeldas or connection to the Ganondorf of past games...it's my guess that they reset the series lore starting with Breath of the Wild and the ten thousand years between it and the era of Myth.

The only other game that stills seems to have any relevant unchanged and non-contradicted canon seems to be Skyward Sword but that's mostly due to it being a starting point, the game's director being the same as BOTW and TOTK, and the Forgotten Temple. Honestly it seems like that because they reintroduced and make allusions to key moments and figures in the series in this game like the Sages (particularly King Rauru) and Imprisoning War from LttP, and Ganondorf and him being welcomed by the King and distrusted by Zelda like he was in Ocarina of Time. I should also point out that the original Imprisoning War happens right before the Fallen Timeline which takes place after OoT, and in that Ganondorf has permanently transformed into pig Ganon after killing Time Link and attaining the full Triforce.

There are too many timeline contradictions yet intentional references in the game's story to past games that it seems like a reboot is the most credible idea.

However at the same time, there are too many connections to previous games that take place after Skyward Sword that even the idea of a series reboot is questionable like the Temple of Time, old OoT Castle Town ruins, the sages from OoT being referenced by the stones surrounding the Master Sword and the Sheikah monks' poses during the Master Sword Trials, the Koroks and Deku Tree, the mural about Ruto's love for Time Link, Rauru sharing the name of one of the sages from OoT, and Darmani. Also, what are the chances of there being another event in Zelda lore referred to as the Imprisoning War that involves an incarnation of Ganon, sages, sealing Ganon, and one of the sages being named Rauru like the Sage of Light?

link to image: x

Are the games during the Era of Myth just that, mythology? Fairy tales? Is there even a Triforce anymore? The symbol is shown but its not referred to as such and Ganondorf in this game shows no interest or knowledge of the Triforce like every other character. On the opposite end of this is Skyward Sword which they reinforce is connected to the latest games with Fi, the Forgotten Temple and Sealed Temple connections, the tree growing out the wall and the fact the Hylia statue gives you the Goddess Sword:

It's so weird everytime Tears of the Kingdom's story made a reference to past games (that aren't Skyward Sword), when you think they are trying to connect them (like I initially thought), it turns around and makes it self-contained and isolated incident exclusive from any game that came before BOTW and Skyward Sword. With all the trouble Nintendo's had making sense of and reworking the Zelda timeline the past few decades for the fans and the success of Breath of the Wild, may be they wanted to wipe the slate clean (with Skyward Sword being the start of that initiative).

At first maybe they were hesistant which is why they stated the timelines converge into BOTW, but I guess they decided during TOTK's development or before and, again, may be due to the massive success of BOTW they just said screw it and just do it with the latest game's story showing the beginning of the Kingdom of Hyrule. These are just my messy thoughts based on my basic understanding of the timeline and theories I've heard and I welcome any other explanations.

EDIT(6/19/23)

So it's been brought to my attention that the Imprisoning War in TOTK may possibly be a second Imprisoning War (thanks @ghoul--chan ). The implications and can of worms that opens is shocking. Since Zelda was transported to the beginning of Hyrule as a kingdom and the start of the Royal Family, that would mean that she was transported to before Minish Cap. If that is true...dear goddess.... that would mean the Ganondorf in this game is one that existed before Ocarina of Time.

That also implies that two incarnations of Ganondorf had been somehow co-existing at the same time during the Era of Myth with one being sealed underground. This also mean that the Imprisoning War in Link to the Past is now retroactively a callback to this hypothetical first Imprisoning War; both involve sages, both involve a sage of Light named Rauru, and both involve sealing an incarnation of Ganon. Also, this means the Rito existed before Wind Waker making this mural from Twilight Princess HD reference to that!!

[arkus-rhapsode]

So I just Played Star Fox Assault For the First time in Years and I have some thoughts...

So Star Fox, a franchise that needs no introduction when it comes to weird directions for a franchise to take. What started out as another classic Miyamoto title that fit perfectly alongside the likes of Mario and Zelda. Star Fox kinda fell into the unenvieable position of Mid tier Nintendo franchise: Iconic enough to have a bunch of devoted fans and not be lumped in with the weirder more niche releases like Geist, Chibi Robo, and Pushmo, but not quite enough a sales juggernaut to become a core pillar of Nintendo that will almost always get an new game with each console like Pokemon, Animal Crossing, and of course, Mario. With the GameCube being a particularly tumultuous time for the furry space mercenaries.

I'll admit though, GameCube is where I come into the Star Fox story. As I was actually not really a fan of the original SNES game or Star Fox 64. This was because as flight based rail shooters where the cool animals were bound to their ships for most the game, I just didn't really get the appeal. But around the sixth generation with the advent of... Star Fox Adventures I was willing to give the franchise another chance. And while Star Fox Adventure is literally not a Star Fox game, I still enjoyed it as it focused a bit more on something I wanted-actual control of Fox McCloud the character (Of course then I played Smash Melee and basically got the same experience). But ultimately after the GameCube generation Star Fox never really stuck with me the way it had with its fanbase. But there was one more game on the GameCube that I hadn't played for a while. Like... almost 20 years ago. Star Fox Assault.

Star Fox Assault feels like a weird middle child of the franchise no one really wants to talk about even though before the disaster that was Star Fox Zero on the Wii U, this was basically the last home console Star Fox game. And it looked to appease long-time fans of the franchise that wanted an in-depth 3D rail shooter and newer fans like me that wanted more direct character involvement gameplay. Assault originally started as an expansion of the Star Fox 64 multiplayer on-foot death match with the single-player story mode eventually being added later after poor reception to an E3 2003 showcase focusing on just the multiplayer aspect according to Electronic Gaming Monthly. This would also be a Star Fox that would be handled by Namco instead of Nintendo in-house. So did they manage to make that perfect Star Fox that would appease old and new fans and provide a fun multiplayer experience?

Well... its complicated.

Star Fox Assault, even now with my 20 extra years of developing my video game tastes still hits me oddly. The flight sections feel really slick and operatic, honestly Assault really made get the space opera vibes that fans often praised 64 for. The Arwing sections running on a much smoother frame rate than 64 also helps. Add on the damn great score after Adventures pretty generic one, and you might just have one of the best openings of the series. Seriously, even as someone who doesn't really like the flight combat sections, the presentation is strong.

But that's just the flight sections, what about the ground sections? While these section have been controversial, I actually like them. Fox being able to just get out of the vehicle and interact with these planets on a smaller scale is something that kept me from really enjoying the 64 game, but the problem with Adventures is that when they did this, their style of gameplay was closer to Ocarina of Time, with melee based combat and emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving. But Assault giving Fox a gun and making the levels being more open with little platforming honestly feels way more true to the series. Fox run and gunning through Aparoids feels like something out of Starship Troopers, and that's the kind of gameplay I think Fox and co should have and not a magic staff.

However, these on foot missions sadly are hampered by the controls. The tank-ish controls are just not conducive for me, and I would've preferred a more Star Wars Battlefront 2 style of third-person shooting. Also the GameCube controller is just annoying to play a shooter on. It always feels like when I need to get that one precise shot, I'm fighting with the control stick. Still though after all these years, this is still the part of the game I remember the most, and had hoped to see more of with some level of tune ups in future installments, but that ended up being a different story.

Speaking of the story, how is it? Honestly, the story is fun, introducing this new race of cyber insects that assimilate machines and people becoming such a threat the Fox and Wolf need to team up to beat them. Its simple, but lends itself to a lot of epic moments. Aparoids going for a more existential horror than Andros changes up the vibe of what we're fighting being a "Bug Hunt" (yes, I did just go there) and allowed us to put all of our characters under intense pressure. As well as have our banter with Wolf and his crew.

However, one thing it lacks from Star Fox 64 is branching paths, rather they opt for one much longer singular narrative which isn't a bad thing, but that leads into I think the biggest problem with this game, its single player mode is really short. All told-with cutscenes-I spent somewhere between 4 to 5 hours playing the main campaign. This is a shame because the branching pathways of 64 allowed for more replayability and unique play experiences. Now knowing that this game's single player mode came later while the emphasis on was making a great multiplayer experience first and that Assault would see multiple delays across its development cycle, its safe to assume the story treatment of the campaign didn't have enough time.

This is especially bad when we were in the sixth generation of console gaming. See, small tangent, I think one of Star Fox's problems is at its core its a very arcade-y style game, and by the time of the PS1, lots of arcade style games were getting left behind by console gamers. Stuff like Daytona USA, Pac-Man, and Virtua Fighter were more made to be quick quarter munching experiences that got pretty note-for-note home ports just weren't really justifying a purchase with what the amount of content they were offering. By now, gamers were looking for longer games, that were more ambitious in scope and story, and more complex in level design. They didn't have to be played over and over again, they were just a completely filling experience for gamers. This only got more prevalent going into the PS2.

Take for example, Panzer Dragoon by Sega, which started as a Rail Shooter like Star Fox in 1995, but by 1998 would convert in to a more traditional RPG to compete with the likes of Final Fantasy 7 on the Playstation.

But Nintendo being their usual unusual selves didn't really commit hard either way. You got arcade style games like F-Zero GX and WarioWare Micro Mini Games, but then you have games like Metroid Prime and Super Mario Sunshine that open the player up to these diverse 3D worlds and environments that you could sink hours into. Star Fox Assault sadly felt like it was stuck in the middle. You get some space sections that feel right at home with Star Fox 64, but clearly they wanted you to have something more than just being in the Arwing. But the story around those outside the Arwing or Land Master is so minimal it leaves a lot of Star Fox Assault feeling like potential was left on the table.

I know Assault isn't pure Star Fox like a lot of fans want. The on-foot sections were going to be divisive no matter what. There are fans who just want to continue the story of the Lylat Warriors but through the mechanics of 64. However, as a non purist and more casual enjoyer of the Star Fox franchise, I can say having a more intimate character levels can go a long way for people wanting to engage with the game and its world. Instead of just seeing Fox as a little talking head in the corner of the screen, being on the ground as fox fights for life is attractive. But its clear that these sections had a lot of potential just left on the table. Instead of taking the formula of Assault that mixed flying rail shooting sections with ground combat peppered with story and character moments and improving upon it and drawing out new stories or game ideas for it, Nintendo opted to basically just remake 64 again and again.

I guess we'll never know what it look like if Nintendo invested in a game that mixed the air and ground combat in a fun and slick fashion that offered a lot of content. Wait... they did do that it was called Kid Icarus Uprising!

Yeah, its kinda crazy going back to Star Fox Assault as someone who really enjoyed Kid Icarus Uprising and seeing what almost felt like prototype DNA for gameplay. Made even more surreal when researching that Masahiro Sakurai was originally considering making a Star Fox game for 3DS that would utilize the third person shooter style game play to highlight the handheld's 3D technological capability. However, Sakurai would apparently find the "Star Fox style" to be too restrictive for the gameplay he wanted to implement. So he went with Kid Icarus a franchise that had been much longer dormant.

Now look, I know this was supposed to be about Star Fox Assault, but believe when I say Kid Icarus Uprising is a fantastic game. Levels were split up into three parts: a flight rail shooter that would put your trigger finger to the test, an on-foot combat section that utilized stylus based movement, and a huge boss battle. Intersperced throughout a level is main character Pit bantering with his Goddess Palutena and villains that flesh out the characters and serve as a does of comedy.

It's crazy to say, and I'm sure it was unintentional, but I feel like I can see this game being built on the skeleton of Star Fox Assault's core mechanics. Making a character driven story of large scale proportions in the sky that would then become more intimate detailed levels on the ground that has a major focus on character interaction. Except, it manages to improve in the sections of Assault that needed more polish like its story length, its controls, and replayability.

I'm really glad we got a modern Kid Icarus game that fleshed out these characters that I guarantee most had only heard about for the first time through Smash Bros Brawl, and even though it aesthetically and gameplay wise was a soft reboot, still acknowledges the Kid Icarus games before it and the events that would appease older fans and intrigue newer ones to look into. All done in a very presentable and fun package. But it's a shame knowing that this could've been an opportunity for another franchise. A franchise that would've honestly slotted in perfectly with this style of gameplay and who have been having an identity crisis for years and seems to be now on Nintendo's self.

Going back to Star Fox Assault, while I don't think it would've converted me into the type of fan of Star Fox that waits with baited breath of hoping to see it mentioned once in a Nintendo Direct, I do see a lot of potential for it to become a thing I like. The world of the Lylat System and the anthropomorphic space-farers that inhabit it has definite appeal to reach a wide audience. The epic space battles of a Mass Effect, but with the soapy furry drama of Sonic. But it seems like the barrier of entry for Star Fox is finding that fresh idea that gets both fresh and iterative, but also attractive to new players that will grow the brand and please the existing players. And when I see how that it can be done for Kid Icarus and how close it is to Star Fox Assault, it makes me lament that we may have found that direction for franchise and let it slip away.

Sooooo yeah. Replaying Star Fox Assault after so long. I'd say the game is mostly fine to good. With the key decider, I think, for players is going to be if you got enough fun out of 5 hours worth of gameplay. Since Assault is a GameCube game, that means that its only available through second hand like eBay. And because the price for GameCube games is really jacked up, I do think its hard for me to fully recommend this game when I don't think it has one hundred dollars worth fun.

It also is just not "pure" Star Fox. Its not 64 2. Bt it isn't as radical a departure as Adventures. So I know that there's just going to be a bunch of people who don't like the new sections period, I do think it fits enough in the series that it makes its inclusion justifiable as opposed to Adventures. At the very least, I can say this is a game with a lot of potential. And we may probably never see that potential implemented in the Star Fox universe.

[princess-of-the-corner]

BOTW+TOTK could potentially be used as a soft reboot of the Zelda series. There's scant mention of the Triforce and Golden Goddesses; Hylia is apparently back to goddess state and Link can phone her through her statues; the time span between BOTW and the first Calamity/Rauru's era is so great that relation to other eras loses significance; it doesn't seem like this is even the same iteration of the Kingdom of Hyrule as in all other games. Heck, the Ruto mentioned in history murals you can find in TOTK and the Nabooru mentioned by Urbosa in BOTW might not be the same characters from OOT, but similarly-named individuals from the 10k+year period.

I wouldn't be surprised tbh.

Like as much as I like fucking around with the interconnectedness of the Timeline, it is starting to get a little hectic.

Not to mention fans going apeshit when things go against the Timeline, like botw itself havign both the Zora and the Rito.

A soft reboot allows them to kinda do whatever the hell they want without having to worry about trying to make it all one solid thing.

Now I don't think it'll be a full scrap. I think they'll still reference the old games and yes the references to Nabooru and Ruto and the others are supposed to be referencing those particular ones. But it's not going to be as strict of lore.

[6ad6ro]

speaking of zelda... i gotta admit it's been pretty mediocre since skyward sword came out. that game was obv the worst zelda has ever been, and it broke aonuma's brain to the point that he just turned zelda into an entirely different game (botw). which was completely unnecissary. the traditional zelda formula wasn't the issue with ss, those parts were great. the problem was it's dependancy on broken motion controls and horrendous mechanics. it was a bad game because it was BAD, not because people were sick of zelda.

we got lbw between ss and botw, and sure it was fine and all? but let's be honest. it was sidegame quality, and didn't hold a candle to lttp which it was supposed to be a sequel to. i also don't think the "pay rupees to get all gear instantly" was good at all, imo it kinda ruined it. i prob shouldn't complain tho, bc it was worlds better than what came after. botw is zelda in name only. and i'm sick of hearing dumbasses say "it's just like zelda 1!" no it's fucking nottt. z1 was fairly linear, you COULD do dungeons in "any order" but nobody actually would. progression was dependant on gear and stats. and all the later zeldas were a slow evolution of that same formula, eventually putting a big focus on story and characters and aesthetics. oot had infinitely more in common with z1 than goddamn botw ever did. botw was just a shameless combination of the most successful games of the time: skyrim, minecraft, gta, dark souls. don't get me wrong, it's not an objectively terrible game. but it IS objectively unlike what zelda had been for 30 years. THAT'S why i dislike it. i love zelda because it's zelda. i don't love botw because it's not really zelda, it's an impostor that takes up the slot where a more traditional zelda could be. because botw exists, we don't get real mainline zelda games anymore. then came the la remake. which... fuck i love orig la so much. and the remake's aesthetics SUCKED. it was a shallow remake of a masterpiece. i can't begin to understand why people look at toddler toy lookin lar and say "yeah that's the same". orig la, even ladx, had aesthetics that worked well when it was both light and dark. lar looked and sounded kiddy no matter what. it was everything people hated with that first e3 look at windwaker, but with none of the redeeming intention that ww had in execution. and it was yet another slap in the face of pixel art, a 2d game made 3d for no reason besides companies don't think 2d games can sell. and then of course then we got ANOTHER botw, totk. which as i said was much better than botw (and had much more traditional zelda elements). but that's purely when compared to botw. totk is still barely a zelda game. i am well aware the only reason i kinda like it is my expectations are already in the gutter. finally, we got eow. which i played for like an hour before realizing I'M SICK OF MINECRAFT ZELDAS. aonuma clearly doesn't want to make zelda games anymore. take him off the series. yeah sure i loved mm for bein so experimental, but right after we got a ton more traditional shit. and mm was a hell of a lot closer to traditional zelda than any of these newer zeldas. i saw interviews where "aonuma doesn't know why people want to go back to traditional zelda". well tough shit aonuma. they do. because people loved zelda. you should know that because you made like half of them. and i think it's perfectly reasonable that you're sick of making similar games over and over. but that means you SHOULD MAKE OTHER GAMES! or nintendo should allow you to move on to other projects. at the end of the day, if these new aonuma games weren't called "zelda". if they were their own things, and real zeldas were still being made by other people who actually loved zelda for what it is? i'd be fine with them. i may not like "aonumas wacky open world adventure game" as much as the new zelda games, but it'd be a cool new series i could appreciate. i wish all these new zelda fans who didn't really like old zelda and only jumped in because everything had changed could see things from the other side. and understand that things don't have to be this way. could understand that the reason a lot of us "purists" dislike botw and eow isn't at all because we hate the games themselves, but more because those games came with a big middle finger to what we love about zelda. i don't think it's too much to ask for zelda fans to want zelda games, do you?

[multbasa]

IDK if this is controversial, but apparently TotK won't get DLC:

Good.

Honestly I can't think of a good way for them to add DLC. I would like a second quest playing Zelda like what was thought of for Skyward Sword but we already see her main story beats and there's not a lot to even make a good playable experience with her in TotK.

Do we really need more shrines or another temple like what was added in BotW? Not really.

There's a lot to do in TotK and I really enjoyed it. I still enjoy it. I have my own issues with the game but they wouldn't be fixed with DLC: personally I don't think the random order of the memories works in this game and I think it should have been only available in a set order. I did watch all the geoglyph memories in order but I watched them all before finishing the temples. I wish I had not seen them first since I liked how the story played out with a mystery involving this Zelda in Hyrule yet I already knew exactly what happened to Zelda. When I play the game again from the beginning eventually I will probably play everything in a set order to keep the story in line. That being said, I absolutely love the ending and the final boss and everything leading up to that. This is seriously my favourite ending to a Zelda game to date; it was beautiful, challenging, cinematic, everything I wanted it to be.

BotW's DLC involved the late champions and I adored the final photograph together, but TotK doesn't have that. The champions have moved on and I don't think the old sages need to be fleshed out because they were quite one dimensional—if that. If they were fleshed out, I don't even know what that would be about since they basically just get involved to fight Ganondorf.

Anyway, I don't think TotK needs DLC, and as a long time fan of the series, I can't wait to see what the next game will be about, who it will be about and where it will take place. I want something fresh and new. I loved BotW Link and Zelda and the other characters but it's time to move on. TotK finished off their story.

If there's no DLC, Nintendo probably has already begun development on the next title which is super exciting. Can't wait to see it in...6 years...oof, I'm going to be 30 years old by then.

[drsteggy]

Can I get some DVD commentary on Uneasy Lies the Chosen of Farore? I know you have been in the process of rewriting the core fic and there are so many parts of it I love, so if you're able to talk about the rewriting aspect, that's a bonus!

I don't really have a specific section, more of a general point for discussion. Maybe less DVD commentary and more Farore interview exclusive!

One of the things I suspected on my first read through was that Twilight Princess really played a big part in furnishing the world. I went in to your fic having only played OOT and BOTW and there were some commonalities (though I think with OOT it might have been more of a general LOZ vibe because I'm not sure if you had played it at that point). Now that I've played TP and think back to Farore, I really feel its influence in the 'dungeon' design and some of the geography.

What parts do you think the games played in terms of influencing your worldbuilding on Farore?

Thanks so much for the ask, my god I love going on about this fic so much.

The rewrite has mostly been trying to bring it up to the level of how I write now vs how I did then. I lean into perfectionism (though I swear I’m much better than I was) and I will tweak things endlessly. There were a few things I felt were a little rough and never got smoothed the way I liked. The entire back half of the fic got pretty much written and published as I went week to week because I hit a spot where I just had to finish it- I knew how it would end, and I wanted to make sure it hit its marks. I wasn’t comfortable without having the safety net I had at the start, but the people who offered to beta at the start slowly shifted priorities and drifted…and man, if I could not keep a beta readers attention, how well I was doing here?

I mean, part of the fic is about imposter syndrome and learning who you are and all that and. Yeah. I half joke that Link is a self insert. I’m not the train wreck he is at the start of the fic by miles- but there are places where he is very much some hard projection. But by the second half of the fic he was getting his shit together, so I figured maybe I should try and follow that example.

So when I was first trying to deal with my Zelda brain rot, which was mostly Breath of the Wild brain rot, I ended up in a community of people who were very much Gamers who liked Zelda games. When I started Farore in its original six chapter form, I’d only played BOTW and the geography/map is 100% the BOTW map. The Zora’s Domain is differently laid out, but I think that’s it. I can show you where I decided specific things were otherwise.

What I learned from this was people who identify as gamers first don’t really gel well with people who identify as Zelda fans first. Like these guys liked to shit all over BOTW Zelda (a 16 year old girl in the game) and go on about how a non male hero should never be a thing and turned me into a defender of the princess (who I’d only experienced as her yelling at me to that point, and I wasn’t really a fan) Eventually I left because they decided to make fun of cosplay photos I shared.

But these guys were obsessed with Twilight Princess. Obsessed!!! In particular, they talked about the Arbiters Grounds constantly. They claimed, more than once, that it was the best dungeon in the series!! And this influenced me as I continued the fic.

I’m a Switch girl, though my Nintendo introduction involved a Wii in 2009- I was recently married and unable to work as I was trying to deal with state level bullshit about a professional license that ultimately kept me sidelined for 3 months. I was going stir crazy and spouse decided I should learn to play MarioKart. I still had this Wii and started to track down older games to play them.

I scored a copy of TP and had already decided the Arbiters Grounds was going to be the desert dungeon in the fic, but I wanted to play through it first. As it turned out, playing TP with a Wiimote was a bad combination for me and I kept slopping into lava before I even properly entered the Goron temple. I ended up watching someone do a let’s play of that dungeon before I wrote it.

Much, much later I learned my Wii could play GameCube games and I did eventually play TP via a GC disk. I remember getting a chill when I finally rocked up on the Arbiters Grounds, and I do not feel that I made that dungeon as scary as maybe I could have- I don’t think I changed a lot in the rewrite because there’s a lot in that chapter that I really love and thought came out well.

I had also played part of Skyward Sword as I was writing (and I feel that after BOTW, this game has the most influence on the fic, particularly over the Link/Zelda relationship) and I knew spiders were sort of a thing in Zelda games and that’s why I made the first dungeon boss sort of a spider (it only has six legs, so it isn’t a spider) I was unaware that there was a classic dungeon boss that had a spider form, so when people were going on about Lady Ghoma in my comments I was very what about that. I was super shocked when I hit that dungeon in TP lol.

I will say TP has some of my favorite dungeons and the most fun bosses. I kind of wish that I knew about Snowpeak Mansion and the City in the Sky as I was writing, but I think my Link would have had a mental breakdown at the very thought of that much hookshot. He probably would have been into making soup, though.

I tried to Easter egg as many games as I could as I wrote- except I decided this was before BOTW- so that game is not mentioned at all aside from the map. I think I did a pretty good job of it, considering I hadn’t played (and had not completed any) many as I was going. I definitely hit Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Links Awakening, Wind Waker and the manga from Hyrule Historia. One comment I got on the fic - one that really touched me, too - referenced the Picori and the reader assured my Link that he wasn’t really alone. And like, I literally teared up reading that, because it was something my Link needed to hear but he also probably wasn’t open to hearing it at that moment. And I had no idea what Picori were…and now I’m sort of sad I didn’t think to go back and try and weave them in, but maybe I’ll do so as the edit goes on.

[mudora]

unnnghhh, I just need to get this out of my system before it gets stupid.  I promise, it is a -very- silly and light criticism of current totk discourse revolving around the three Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Honestly I shouldn’t even be negatively affected by just some fun theories being thrown around, but clearly I’m bothered by it for some reason. And I can likely explain why. (This isn’t to stop fun fan theories from being made or me being an old codger and saying NO to fans, because that’s completely rude. If those developments are genuinely exciting to you, I getchya.) 

Current talk is that at least in BoTW and ToTK, the dragons that are roughly named after the three goddesses (not my assumption) (and are referred to as she) by the Goddess statues, are Zonai who consumed their stones. So at least in this universe that BoTW and ToTK decides to be in, these goddesses were mortal in some way or somehow turned their secret stones into the triforce or... something along those lines. I don’t inherently like this line of thinking, for a few reasons. Sort of the same reasons I don’t inherently like the idea of Zelda basically being the Virgin Mary figure in skyward sword and onward. It’s just opinion, and shouldn’t affect your fun times. And for some dumb reason it bothers me and I just want to explain why. The Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, were not sideliners when it comes to the entirety of Zelda lore. They made the world, full stop, and possibly other worlds that also appear in the Zelda series. They -made- the kingdom of Hyrule, and left the Triforce behind after their creation was complete. They have no official appearance in any game (these are not the oracles), but their hand is -felt- in certain ways. Even if their presence is subdued, they still call the shots on their creation. Just like them, their respective Triforce Pieces represent their philosophy. Din is most comfortable in their Power. Nayru has ageless Wisdom, and Farore gives courage to all she holds dear. Together, they represent The Legend of Zelda’s whole philosophy: As one, they are perfect, working in tandem. Apart, they are still powerful, but become imbalanced and that imbalance throws the world into chaos, as it has time and time again since the Triforce’s original separation in Ocarina of Time. The Goddesses Themselves continue to have namesakes within the series, which is where the Dragon’s names in BoTW and ToTK will become more familiar. At least since Twilight Princess, the Light Spirits that protect the world of reality from shadow, are named subtly after their creators. Faron (Not Farore), Lanayru, (Not Nayru), and Eldin (not Din). They bear the responsibility of protecting creation and the Sacred Realm from the shadow the Twili created, and naturally were eventually banished to the Twilight Realm due to their sacrosanct acts. This is, as far as I remember, the first time we hear of these names. They were created by Din, Nayru, and Farore, but they themselves are not the gods incarnate, and never were. They simply had a purpose, and carried their namesake due to who mothered them into existence.  Now, again, I don’t really subscribe that much to a timeline, and never really have regardless of the “Official” timeline existing. BotW and TotK feel wildly different in terms of what is included in them. We at least know there are *stories* of the Hero of Time, the Hero of Winds, the Hero of Twilight, etc, etc. or they are at least vaguely mentioned in ancient rites and likely moldy tomes that haven’t seen the light of day in thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Most of this ancient era has come and gone, to the point where the Sheikah tribe of old developed frickin computers with magic powers, and by the time THAT was featured in BoTW, it was already ANCIENT Sheikah tech. But with the events of ToTK, I’m completely complacent in thinking this could be a completely different -universe- then the actual “Official” timeline.  Much like how Termina exists, It’s not really difficult to imagine several different Hyrules existing in many alternate realities, dimensions, planes, what have you. And just because the Zonai exist does not inherently mean the Triforce and the Goddesses don’t also somehow exist in this set universe. I don’t believe the Goddesses would suddenly decide to become Zonai, when perhaps they are the ones who created them anyway, much like the Hylians, the Gorons, the Zora, etc. And even if there are multiple Hyrules, The Goddesses literally made it. I doubt, in any timeline, plane, reality, dimension, that fact would somehow be different, as they are literally the ones responsible for its actual existence. The Zonai, after all are said to be -descended- from Gods, and are only seen as gods themselves due to how these Gods GIFTED these guys with Secret Stones.  This of course, brings us to the dragons in question: I do understand where people believe these three dragons could be the Goddesses. Though the Zonai consider the process of Draconfication forbidden, I don’t really think it’s as forbidden as we think it is. Where I differ from the current discourse, however, is that I don’t remotely think Din, Nayru, and Farore were somehow Zonai, and partook of their sacred stones and it became the triforce. This just doesn’t make sense with the very little we have to go on, for a lot of  reasons. 1, we have to presume Din, Nayru, and Farore already exist, and have existed for Milennia. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Hyrule -would not exist-. Neither would the Hero, Neither would Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, etc.  However. I have a theory that the Dragons are the God forms of the Zonai. Though they are a bit goat like, they also share... quite a few draconic traits on their own, no?Sharp teeth, hair that more serpentine dragons have from Japan and China. They came from the literal sky and wished to bring their bounty to the races of the land. The Zonai -revere- dragons and dragon kind. The Secret Stones themselves obviously don’t just turn Zonai into dragons, as we can see from Zelda consuming hers. I presume, that these gifted Secret Stones likely come from the God-like dragons that the Zonai likely descended from. When swallowing a stone, you are inheriting the power of presumed God-hood as defined by the Zonai. You become immortal. You lose yourself. Because mortals and Gods are profoundly different. Now, whether or not Dragons are capable of becoming mortal on their own is a good question I can’t answer, but I suspect the Zonai have -way- more relation to the concept of the dragons then they do Din, Nayru, and Farore. The same goes for the Dragons that are already within Hyrule: Dinraal, Naydraa (Wtf that isn’t even close to Nayru), and Farosh.. These guys have way more in common with their other namesakes, the light spirits of twilight princess, then they do with the actual Golden Goddesses. And they presumably also share something with their Light Spirit Namesakes. They are guardians of the springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage respectively. However I picture this relation to be more of these dragon gods wishing to protect creation from ages long past. Perhaps these Dragons never became Zonai. Perhaps these dragons are Zonai who wished to fulfill a purpose in protecting these springs. But being the Golden Goddesses themselves? I highly doubt it. There is plenty of room within the Zelda universe to have the Golden Goddesses remain as such, and to have other gods and spirits fulfill myriad roles deemed important to the Cycles.  If anything, I would say the Zonai are an interesting addition to the many races of Hyrule, and their story is a more compelling one, when viewed in a lense that encompasses their relationship to dragonkind. Not God-kind. Or... at least DragonGod Kind. I also feel like viewing it this way is -way- easier to swallow then somehow relating the Secret Stones to the Triforce. These are their own unique goodie. ToTK, more or less, is a lesson that the Triforce has already taught many times, but through a different lens. Might and Power can obviously come from many different things in Hyrule, and a DragonGod’s essence? Well.  How could Ganondorf, one who seeks power with relentless force, resist?  In her Wisdom, Zelda chose to seek this power to protect her Kingdom from the plague she so feared.  And Link, once again, is the edge of the sword, stuck within the power struggle. Yet his courage and valor lead to the destruction of the Demon Dragon.  I don’t know about you, but the Goddesses are definitely watching. And not as dragons. 

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

So I feel like at this point im becoming kinda known for having a very enthusiastic, positive voice when it comes to Tears of the Kingdom. Because of that, I do want to delve into things I hope the DLC will touch on and points of the story that are indeed weaker and I wanted more of! And… then I’ll go into why I’m not completely upset about it.

First and foremost, the sages of old. While we have seen old sages for mere moments in the past, the reason I feel differently about totk’s sages is that we have a character actively interacting with them, aka Zelda.

The sages of old are faceless (which may be a result of opting to utilize headpieces and reusing avatars due to them focusing on the rest of the game) and all have the same cutscene. It was incredibly repetitive and boring by the fourth time we saw it. Zelda’s scene with them is similar as well, which is fine but having an added variety and flair would have been nice, especially as I’m going through the game again.

Overall, the critique is the lack of details in the past. I wanted more and I understand the direction they took, a balance between botw’s open world and a linear story game. It’s more in depth in Botw but not absolutely required like the rest of the Zelda games. That in general is a commonly shared negative critique.

For me, I actually thoroughly enjoy the open world, not entirely linear storyline. That is of course not the case with everyone, but that was the entire concept of botw and ultimately its sequel; they delivered games with entirely open world concepts and a story that is followed through the player’s choice rather than a requirement. And both are fantastic. Botw was light on the plot, totk was much heavier and does have a more distinctive storyline.

Love or hate, they did it well in ToTK. Not perfect, but pretty damn well. It ultimately comes at the sacrifice of story details, especially with characters like the old sages. It’s disappointing to say the least, but it is simply a product of how the games’ concept affected the story.

Another thing I am not entirely a fan of— Nintendo establishing a whacky timeline and then completely abandoning it. Of course, so many people can theorize and speculate but I feel like a lot of common criticism of the game would be helped with them officially stating where this game appears in the overall timeline. Especially if they say “botw and totk are the skyward sword of a new timeline, one so far into the future the remnants of old legends are rare to find”.

That’s how I’ve taken botw and totk. Rauru and Sonia are the first to establish a new Hyrule. They have no connection to Skyward Sword and the rest of the series, because they are so far along in time that tens of thousands of years have passed. The Zonai, the secret stones, and the Sky Islands are all pieces from a time and era we were JUST introduced to. I’m anticipating more knowledge, lore, and history to come to light in future games. I’m okay not having ALL the answers. Because I recognize that botw and totk are the start of a NEW era of Zelda games.

That angers some people, some dislike it, others are fine with it, and some even love it. I’m okay with it because I have enough faith that this will all be explored more in depth in future games. But it is a flaw in ToTK, one I understand, and it’s completely okay that it’s one I don’t necessarily like! Patience is key my loves.

Something I do not love at all is Nintendo’s firm standing on Link being the ‘link to the player’ rather than his own character. I find some of the best Zelda stories have a strong, expressive Link! In botw, I do get it! But in totk… I wanted more. Because then I remember Wind Waker and Skyward Sword, two of the absolute best stories in the Zelda franchise (in my opinion, twilight Princess is also up there) and I get a tad disappointed.

Totk is still open enough that there are people that DESPISE Zelda for ‘stealing’ Link’s house and are vehemently against the idea of Zelda and Link being together, when it is all but stated in the story and the details we got. I feel like half of the emotional appeal of totk’s story truly comes from Link’s wish to bring her back home to him, safe and smiling. It was his entire motivation in Botw, to see her smile again, so taking that perspective and really appreciating Zelda brings that strong emotional reaction totk’s story targeted.

So yeah. If I go on more, I’ll just be talking about how people have the right to dislike Zelda but if they do, then they won’t get the emotional connection to totk and its story the way players are intended to. And that is their right, but it’s not how Link canonically feels about Zelda so yeah. If we just got small expressions from Link, maybe some of that could be avoided.

Alas.

The depths— insanely cool the first time I dived down! But they’re repetitive in their own way, to the point that I have not gone back down once since completing the side quests (bargainer statues, Kohga, Mineru) and lightroots. Though whoever said “let’s make the lightroots connect to the shrines on the surface” I want to give you a forehead smooch bc you are a beautiful genius and I love you.

I think that getting to fight the final bosses for the temples and the Gleeoks are super fun, which makes up for the repetitive landscape. I’m not insanely bothered by this, but I do dislike that a third of my maps are completely ignored now that I’m done with it story wise.

A commonly shared opinion is the stupidity of having to run up to one of the Sage avatars to activate their power. I replayed botw and the sheer joy in getting to take out a Modulga by using Urbosa’s Fury only to remember that it takes much longer now made me very thankful. But yeah.

Tulin is Perfect. The rest? Nah. Give me a Sage button rather than a map in the wheel. Like geez, it shouldn’t be so difficult to call your avatars over. Even when I whistle, I’m chasing Sidon down and he’s useless so I banish him.

Overall, I wanted more DETAILS. But I understand the concept; I got enough to make me excited for when we get more. I can live with the flaws because I can celebrate all they did right! I love Zelda, I love the new sages, and I love the side quests that brings Link closer to characters like Hudson and Penn.

I adore the little communities, Link’s side adventures, and the new landscape changes. I love the sky islands, because they’re just really fun to create whacky Zonai flying contraptions to try and reach the ridiculously far ones. Yeah, they could of had more of an impact in the game but as someone who can and would travel the surface level of Hyrule 1000x and not get bored, I didn’t mind how little I spent in the sky once i did the lightroots and side quests pertaining to the sky.

Overall? The game is pretty damn amazing. The new lore, the characters, and the quests are all so fun. It’s a brilliant game with a phenomenal emotional storyline that had me actually distressed for DAYS. No other game has done that to me for as long as this game did.

So yeah it’s precious to me and I am a Totk enthusiast and a Zelda enthusiast and a Zelink enthusiast. I am a ✨supporter✨