#or like those cutscenes about legends in video games like loz

[giriduck]

Despite all the other excellent sci-fi / fantasy shows that have come out since Game of Thrones totally biffed their final season, even though it’s a totally different genre, it feels like The Last of Us is specifically filling the void that opened after GoT ended. Not sure why. Maybe because it feels like it’s more embraced by the mainstream (SNL jokes, more news articles about fungal infections, etc.).

As someone who grew up with video games long before they were mainstream, and who suffered through three decades of truly terrible movie adaptations, both the quality and popularity of Arcane and The Last of Us feel like a real arrival for the game industry as sources of mainstream entertainment, beyond just player and streamer audiences.

Unlike many video game adaptations, it’s not just gamers tuning into The Last of Us. It’s wild to think that the majority of the people watching the HBO series have not played the games and likely never will. It’s also really refreshing that the show—despite some differences—feels true to the games, down to the deja vu in how shots are framed. It very much feels like a long cutscene from the source content, which feels authentic to the players while also more accessible to viewers. It helps that some folks from Naughty Dog are directly involved with the show.

This is all to say that someday, when a Legend of Zelda prestige show is likely inevitably made, there is increased hope that whomever working on it understands that there is a return on investment in making it very good, and how part of that checklist of quality is creating an adaptation that is close—in art style, pacing, and atmosphere—to the original. If you hit those well, then audiences are more accepting of specifics like divergences in dialogue and small shifts in story order, etc., but only if it feels earned by making the world feel familiar to them.

As much as my adult fan brain would love a gritty, HBO-style LoZ series, in reality, it would probably be the smartest approach to embrace an Arcane-style or maybe a She-Re (reboot) animated series—especially since LoZ is meant for such a wider swath of ages.

But wow. Good job, folks. We have come so very far from the Super Mario Bros and Mortal Kombat movies of the early 1990s. ❤️

[rainysfatesonas]

The more you love the harder it is to save them all.

So I told @miki-7heaven about this angsty idea since Mariposa has a lot of people who love her.

I added some stuff to this idea, since Mariposa has a very important position in her country it puts all her loved ones in danger and because Mariposa tries to save them all at once she ends up saving none of them. The heart with a sniper circle on each character is where I imagined was the fatal shot.

Characters: Mariposa as the focus @papillionrecordhouse , Valencia (the far left is mine), Dante (second left) @mo-re-mi123 , Alex (first right) @karu-ck , Haku @xianha (the far right.)

[cloudninetonine]

I’m bored and sad again so guess what time it is? Head canons!

-Legend is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to anything player related. Like, after he remembers he is basically a constrictor snake around them, has to be touching them at all times, he even hisses whenever anyone comes too close. He has had so much torn away from him (including player if, on his side, they had to leave for every in between of his journeys. Don’t know if that’s the case, but it’d be angsty as hell if it was. Having them leave, to coming back, only to leave again and repeat the cycle until they stopped returning.) and he is not going to let one of the things he just got back again go.

-Player must pet every. Single. Dog. They see. Big retriever? Pets. Little angry chihuahua? Pets. Big wolf- HOLY-! Better yet they know it’s Twilight and by the looks on the others faces most if not all of them don’t know. So they get to make puppy talk all they want and won’t be deterred by Wolfie’s grunts or growls because they know he won’t actually hurt them, while they also are completely aware of his situation and why he isn’t turning in front of everyone else to stop the merciless petting.

-There have been times where the player has (begrudgingly) looked up the answers to puzzles online, but they have done it so rarely with the Zelda series because it’s their favorite and they’d hate to spoil anything. This means they are the Loz puzzle pro and can take just one glance to solve half a dungeon, they are just that used to the Zelda formula. Every time the boys are stuck on a puzzle player comes swooping in spewing out orders faster than Epona can run, within a minute they’ve made it to the next room and can continue with their lives. It’s very strange for the chain.

-Player has shown them a cutscene or two from Botw, where in that game there is voice acting. One of the boys asks “do we also speak in your quote on quote ‘games’?” To which player, innocent (evil) smile on their face, shows them a ten minute video of all the Links over the years making their wide range of grunts, yells and “HYAH”s.

-Player shows them all the silly little games they have on their phone, to which the gang get addicted to playing temple run or something and strive for a better score than everyone else and proceed to very quickly drain the phones battery over the course of a day. Player is not pleased to say the least.

-“So basically they are metal carriages with no horses and a spinning wheel inside to move it about?”

“Hit the nail on the head!”

“…Yeah, not sure I believe that.”

“Wah- oh come on!”

-Player has mentioned Fi before and freaked out Sky. Like- “how do they know? Did Fi come to them at night and tell them? Are they also a spirit in a sword and they all know each other or something?!? Is that why (Name) is so weird?!”

Player: Thanks goodness the other two aren’t here!

Time: What other two?

Player: These two other Links I know, you wouldn’t want to meet them.

Wind: Ugh! You’re telling us there are more? Just when I thought I was free from even more overbearing adults.

Player: Nah, I bet you won’t ever meet them. One’s game is… a little too out there, and the other doesn’t even have a game, it’s all perfectly fine-

Koridai and Courage, emerging from a random portal: Heeeey-

Player: (screeches)

Anyway, that’s it. I hope my description on Korodai and Courage was accurate. I believe they are the cd-i Link and the, “Well excuuuuuussse me, princess” Link respectively, but I may be wrong on that.

(You're completely correct on Courage and Koridai babes, those cringey boys)

ALSO LOVING THE HEADCANONS KEEP THROWING THOSE MY WAY THEY MAKE ME HAPPY TO SEE THEM!

"Nah, because- something like the divine beasts makes sense but a car doesn't!?"

"Yup."

"That's it, put your hands up we're about to fight."

My personal experience with puzzles is that they're literally the light of my life, fucking love those things (hate having to look for solutions to hard puzzles tho) so Player happily commits to the puzzles in the dungeon while the Chain is debating their next move.

"So, if we-"

"Done."

"....What?"

PLAYER NEEDING TO PET THE DOGS-

"....(Name)?"

"Yeeeeeesssss?"

"Why are you cuddling a wolf?"

"This is a dog?"

"No...no it's not..."

"Huh....well, she ain't done anything yet so I'm not bothered."

[gamesdoneslow]

PlayLog - LoZ: Twighlight Princess (2006) #3

Today let’s talk about weirdness!

I’ve only played a few Legend of Zelda games, and have only finished one to date. Besides Twilight Princess it’s been Ocarina of Time and the divisive Majora’s Mask - a game that seems to mark a high point in the series’ unbridled weirdness. By contrast, OoT hews much closer to the narrative roots of “hero saves princess with magic weapons” - a narrative structure that purposefully evokes myths, fairy tales and, well, legends of the past. Twilight princess seems to try and straddle these two styles, presenting itself as traditionally Zelda on the surface and bursting with bizzarritude underneath.

Ooccoo gives me nightmares - In the other games mentioned, the Ocarina was occasionally used as a tool for quick navigation in and out of dungeons. Twilight Princess has no magical instruments, and its solution for this mechanic is to create a being of pure horror that Link can carry around on his belt like a sack of bombs.  Ooccoo defies description, but if I had to try I might go with “David-Lynchian Chicken-Fairy.” Huh, you know I just realized there aren’t any fairies in this game. Perhaps Ooccoo and her disembodied, flying-head offspring ate them all.  The surrealness of running into Ooccoo is only compounded by her overwhelming friendliness. I can only imagine the forced smile on Link’s face as he trades pleasantries with her, his legs leaden and sluggish, his heart frozen in the icy grip of terror. She even writes you a nice letter after every dungeon you visit. SHE HAS NO HANDS, AND YET THE LETTERS COME. 

These stories are creepy - The three magic fairies-of-color made the lands of Hyrule and populated them with fluffy critters.  They made the Triforce of Power, because they’re so great, and then evil men came and tried to use it for badness. This is an abridged rendition of the LoZ lore as I understand it from OoT. It seems to be largely intact in this game as well, although this time the story was a little... wiggy. The third (fourth?) spirit of light returns you to your human form, and then says he has some backstory to fill you in on, but warns you that you may not like it. In this version of the legend, the “evil men” seem to be represented by Link himself, or shadowy versions of him, with creepy pupil-less eyes. Links gf Ilia is there too, but at one point she pulls a knife on link, and also loses her pupils somewhere.  Then the spirit cautions link that those seeking the power to change things will often become corrupted by that power; this warning set to a creepy scene of Ilias raining from the sky.

I kind of dig the implications - Again, sticking close to the fairy tale theme has advantages. The narrative in LoZ games is almost elemental - few people are put off by the child-like fantasy of them, and there’s something comforting about knowing what’s going to happen based on the trappings of the tale. When link pulls a sword from a stone, or talks to his fairy sidekick, it triggers your brain to say “oh I’ve heard this one before. Now’s the part where I go smite evil.” What these narratives lack is intrigue. It’s hard to build suspense when the audience knows the punchline. I said all of that to say this: I really like this creepy cutscene. It implies some darker themes masquerading as the elf-boy adventures we know and love. The bad guys look like you, decked out in “hero” garb. The threat comes from the doe-eyed girlie you’re supposed to be saving, and the warning that “power corrupts” is directly at odds with a game about collecting powerful weapons. This resonates well with Midna’s taunting attitude towards all things traditionally heroic, and the generally discordant mood of the twilight zones.  Whether or not these ideas pay off, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, the intrigue is there.

Games Done Slow is a play log where I record thoughts and criticisms through a game-design lens as I play new and old video games. More to come!