#the title is literally just me being silly in BotW

[mr--link]

Hi! You're coolio! What is the meaning of your blog's title? And who do you ship DVa and Pharah with? And Zarya?

Thanks!

Blog Title meaning: *JJBA narrator voice* In Breath of the Wild, there is a rare armor set called the Radiant Set that makes Link look like a fucking LUCHADOR. Even better, when equipped at night, they look like THIS.

Furthermore, when upgraded twice and worn as a set, skeletal monsters won’t attack you, and bone weapons will deal more damage! When I don it for battle, I call out “I AM SKELTER! MASTER OF THE BONE ZONE!” and speak in a very Papyrus-like voice for the rest of the fight. I guess you might say Skelter is like a wrestling persona I take on!

Now, for shipping!

D.Va: I (br)OTP her with Zarya in a lovely ship I call Z.Va! Bunnyribbit is pretty cute too!

Pharah: Romantically, no one! Though I VERY much brOTP her and McCree!

Zarya: I (friend)ship her with D.Va. I’m rather taken with the ship Zarcy, though!

(To be totally honest, I self ship with Zarya and Pharah. And Jasper. And now Lady Urbosa. Troid liom.)

[tortilla-of-courage]

Skyward Sword - comparing NPC names in English and Spanish

For this I’ll be comparing mainly 2 (technically 3) translations of SkSw: English (ENG), Spanish (Latinamerica) (ESP-LA) and Spanish (Spain) (ESP-SP). If available, I’ll add the Japanese (JP) too. The spanish ones might be the same in some cases, which will be marked as (ESP). (I might also add an extra translation or two if i know them)

Link (リンク - Rinku), Zelda (ゼルダ - Zeruda) and Impa (インパ - Inpa) stay the same in all translations. Some of them have some minor changes tho (beware of slight spoilers for SkSw)

(Special thanks to @sunnylaurels for sharing the Japanese names for the Skyloft NPCs! And to @attllhak for sharing some French ones! - Really Long post under cut)

Main/Important Characters

Fi (ENG) - Fay (ESP) - ファイ (Fai) (JP)

These are basically the same, just different spelling. There’s a lot of speculation as to what Fi’s name is based on. For some reason I like to think it’s because of “Wi-Fi” but anything goes

Ghirahim (ENG) - Grahim (ESP) -  ギラヒム (Girahimu) (JP)

This one’s interesting because both ‘translations’ are technically right. English follows it more “to the letter” doing “Gira” as “Ghira”, while Spanish interprets it as “Gra” since Japanese doesn’t do the two-different-consonants together thing, but overall both are the same

Groose (ENG) - Vilán (ESP-LA) - Malton (ESP-SP) -  バド (Bado) (JP)

Groose, Groose, Groose. Probably the main character with the MOST changes. “Bado” seems to be referencing the Japanese pronunciation of “bird”, but could also be interpreted as “Birdo”. LA Spanish’s “Vilán” is sometimes seen as referencing the english “Villain”, but recently @/deerdroo pointed out to me it’s most definitely referencing the “Gavilán” bird, which resembles a little eagle (Wikipedia calls it a “sparrowhawk” in English). Not sure what Spain’s doing with “Malton” but I like it. And of course “Groose” follows the bird naming theme most of Skyloft has (referencing grouse and goose). Also his name in French is “Hergo”

Demise (ENG) - El Heraldo de la Muerte (ESP) -  終焉の者 (Shūen no Mono) (JP)

Okay this guy. “終焉の者” could be translated as “The One Who Brings The End”, according to @/sunnylaurels. So, in a way, I guess it makes sense for the English translation to just grab “Demise” for the name but also I feel it REALLY takes away from how it’s a Title rather than a name? He’s an ancient being, him existing as a “concept” and having no name adds a lot to his character imo. Anyways, “El Heraldo de la Muerte” would translate as “The herald of death” or “the messenger of death”, which is like really ominous i think - imagine having to fight some guy and everyone on earth calls him the messenger of death. I’d be so scared. Yes I’m very aware Demise means Death i just think it’s silly he just gets called that and that’s it. Also i keep reading it as Denise so really, who’s losing here? Not me. 

As a fun add-on to this, in German his name can be translated to “Death-bringer” (thanks @/aureateart), while in French it’s Avatar du Néant, which would translate to “Avatar of the Void” (thanks @/attllhak)

The Imprisoned (ENG) - El Cautivo (ESP-LA) - El Durmiente (ESP-SP)

“El Cautivo” basically means The Imprisoned, but “El Durmiente” means “The Sleeping One”, which... fits, but also i find it a bit funny, not sure why. Fight the sleepy avocado everyone

Deities + The Surface’s Main Places’ Names

The Goddesses stay the same in these translations too:

Din (ENG, ESP) - ディン (Din) (JP)

Nayru (ENG, ESP) - ネール (Nēru) (JP)

Farore (ENG, ESP) - フロル (Furoru) (JP)

Hylia (ENG, ESP) - ハイリア (Hairia) (JP)

The dragons, for the most part, too. The only one that really changes is Faron, which changes to “Farone” much like in Twilight Princess with the Light Spirit of the same name.

Eldin (ENG, ESP) - オルディン (Orudin) (JP)

Lanayru (ENG, ESP) - ラネール (Ranēru) (JP)

Faron (ENG) - Farone (ESP) -  フィローネ (Firōne) (JP)

Levias (ENG) - Narisha (ESP)

I couldn’t for the life of me find Levias’ name in Japanese, but considering EVERY translation EXCEPT English has him as Narisha? i’m gonna take a wild guess and say it’s ナリシャ (Narisha) or similar. His name Levias is based off the word Leviathan. And Fun fact! Did you know the spaniard Zelda Wiki lists him as being one of the dragons? as in, him being a whale-shaped dragon? yeah.

The Surface (ENG) - Las Tierras Inferiores (ESP)

Las Tierras Inferiores would translate as “The Lower Lands”

Faron Woods (ENG) - Bosque de Farone (ESP)

Eldin Volcano (ENG) - Volcán de Eldin (ESP)

Lanayru Dessert (ENG) - Desierto de Lanayru (ESP)

These ones mean the same for the most part, just with the change of Faron to Farone.

Skyloft / The Sky - Places and Animals

The Sky (ENG) - El Cielo (ESP-LA) - Celéstea (ESP-SP)

“El Cielo” literally means The Sky, while Celéstea would be a play on “Celestial” (From the Heavens/Skies). Fun side note - “El Cielo” also means “Heaven”, so when i was younger everytime i went back to the sky i’d be like “rip Link he’s dead :/”

Skyloft (ENG) - Neburia (ESP-LA) - Altárea (ESP-SP)

Neburia, from what I learned after a 4 am Wikipedia dive, could be based off the word “Nébula”, which can mean “Cloud”. It basically means “Cloud Town”. Altárea, I think??? would be based off the word “Alto” which means “High (Altitude)” so basically, “A Place High Up”? If anyone wants to comment on this i’d appreciate it

The Lumpy Pumpkin (ENG) - La Calabaza Flotante (ESP-LA) - Calabarza’s (ESP-SP)

“La Calabaza Flotante” literally means “The Floating Pumpkin”, while “Calabarza’s” is a really clever play on Calabaza and bar. I’m not sure what the name of the island itself is in english, but in Spanish it’s “Isla Calabaza” (Pumpkin Island) (ESP-LA) and “Calabia” (word play on “Pumpkin Place”) (ESP-SP)

Loftwing (ENG) - Neburí (ESP-LA) - Pelícaro (ESP-SP)

Neburí would also come from Nébula, so it’d translate to something like “Cloudy (thing)”? possibly. Pelícaro seems like a play on the word “Pelícano” which means Pelican.

Remlit (ENG) - Lémury (ESP) - Remuri (JP)

Lémury is a play on “Lémur”, probably because of Remlits’ ringed tails. Remuri might be the same play of words. 

Skyloft/The Sky - NPCs

(I might revisit some of these at one point since some of the references they could have flew over my head!) (haha get it? flew? the sky? ok)

Batreaux (ENG) - Mursego (ESP-LA) - Batolo (ESP-SP) - Morusego (JP)

My friend! my buddy! Batreaux is an obvious play with “Bat”, since he kind of resembles one. This is kept in both Spanish names - Batolo seems like a combination of “Bat” and “Bartolo” (a spanish name), and Mursego is based off the spanish for Bat “Murciélago” (as well as being the closest to the Japanese “Morusego”!!). Keeps the “flying animal” theme in all three languages.

Beedle (ENG) - Terry (ESP) - テリー (Terī) (JP)

The man, the myth, the legend. Beedle’s name is similar to “beetle”, the insects he loves in BoTW and SS. Not sure what the deal with “Terry” and similar is. He keeps the “flying animal name” theme with Beedle, sort of, but loses it in every other translation (which, btw, is also Terry or a variant in most languages)

Bertie (ENG) - Arín (ESP-LA) - Alfred (ESP-SP) - Arin (JP)

This poor man. Working all day and all night. Bertie’s supposed to reference a type of sparrot called “lovebird” (the bird part). For Arín, besides being basically the same as Japanese, could reference the word “Cantarín”, which means “singsong” and is used to describe birds that sing a lot. Alfred... no clue.

Cawlin (ENG) - Corvy (ESP) - Ras (JP)

In the same way “Cawlin” references “caw”, which is the sound crows make, “Corvy” references this same bird, called “Cuervo” in Spanish. In french he’s “Orbo”, which if i had to guess also references crows.

Croo (ENG) - Gurriaco (ESP)

“Croo” could reference both the “cooing” of birds and “crow”, like Cawlin above. Gurriaco, if I reach enough, could be referencing “Urraca”, a type of bird in Spanish.

Dodoh (ENG) - Dodo (ESP) - Dodo (JP)

Referencing the extinct bird of the same name in all languages, I guess. 

Dovos (ENG) - Dombo (ESP)

Dovos feels like it’s referencing “Dove”. Dombo gives be “Dumbo” vibes - probably could reference it because he flies? not sure

Eagus (ENG) - Aquilo (ESP) - Igurusu (JP)

Eagus, Aquilo, and Igurusu are referencing Eagles. It’s more obvious in Eagus. The spanish for Eagle is “Águila”, which is just two letters off from Aquilo. 

Fledge (ENG) - Gruyo (ESP) - Sebasun (JP)

Fledge is referencing Fledgling, a young bird. Gruyo comes from “Gruya”, which is Crane in spanish. In french his name’s “Célestin”.

Gaepora (ENG, ESP-LA) - Gaépora (ESP-SP) - ゲポラ (Gepora) (JP)

Pretty much the same. His name is also a combination of the Owl from Ocarina of Time’s name “Kaepora Gaebora” (ENG, ESP) - ケポラ・ゲボラ (Kepora Gebora), probably because he looks a lot like the Sage of Light Rauru and the owl he turns into. One of the few Skyloftians not named after a bird in English, though technically he is if we consider the above?

Gondo (ENG, ESP-LA) - Dorcon (ESP-SP) - Doruko (JP)

Not sure what Gondo might be referencing bird-wise exactly? though i think “Gondo” is similar to “Gonzo” (from Wind Waker), with who I think shares some design aspects. Dorcon in Spain’s Spanish seems to just take from the original Japanese. In French his name’s also “Dorco”!

Goselle (ENG) - Alani (ESP) - Otaka (JP)

I’ll be real, not sure what’s going on with her names in either language. Goselle gives me bird vibes but i’m not sure. Alani reminds me of the spanish “Alaja”, which means Jewel

Greba (ENG) - Ornella (ESP) - Miho (JP)

Ornella reminds me of the word “Hornilla” (mute H), which is basically the hole where the heat comes out of in wooden ovens... but! according to the dictionary it also means “(a) hole where pigeons make their nest” so i guess it’s bird related too!

Gully (ENG) - Gabio (ESP-LA) - Gabi (ESP-SP) - Garu (JP)

Gully most definitely references a seagull. Gabio and Gabi references the same animal, but in spanish obviously - “Gaviota”. 

Henya (ENG) - Galina (ESP-LA) - Zenona (ESP-SP) - Heena (JP)

Henya references Hens, as does Galina (Hen being “Gallina” in Spanish). Zenona... uh.. not sure where that came from? I’m halfway through this post realizing i’d gladly accept comments from any spanish speaking person who wants to give an input on these things im missing 

Horwell (ENG) - Asteus (ESP) - Hoonelu (JP)

i’ll be real im not sure what Asteus is referencing. Horwell seems to be pretty close to the japanese for the most part though

Jakamar (ENG) - Carpín (ESP) - Geran (JP)

Carpín is most definitely referencing Wood Peckers (“Pájaro Carpintero”/Carpenter Birds)

Karane (ENG) - Grusi (ESP-LA) - Gracielle (ESP-SP) - Kuranu (JP)

Karane seems to be almost the same as in Japanese, while Spanish went crazy and gave her a completely different name, tho at least they’re kinda similar between each other. Also in french her name’s “Grida” (another Gr name!!)

Keet (ENG) - Pío (ESP-LA) - Pitxi (ESP-SP) - Michiru (JP)

Pío is, quite literally, the sound birds make (or the way we’d write that sound in spanish), especially chicks. Pitxi is a mystery to me

Kina (ENG) - Calabel (ESP-LA) - Calabelle (ESP-SP) - Panan (JP)

Calabel/Calabelle is referencing the spanish for Pumpkin, “Calabaza”, giving it a more feminine name-esque ending (like in Anabel/Anabelle)

Kukiel (ENG) - Picalia (ESP-LA) - Cuqui (ESP-SP) - Kuuko (JP)

Cuqui could be referencing that exact same word (often spelled “Kuki”) that just means “cute”. Picalia seems like a play with “pícara” which basically means “gremlin” (google translates it as “sassy” but im not sure if that word fits)

Luv (ENG) - Mandi (ESP-LA) - Amanda (ESP-SP) - Manda (JP)

Mandi and Amanda seem to stay close to the Japanese name, both of them being common spanish names. Luv, like i mentioned in Bertie’s part, would reference “love bird” (the love part)

Mallara (ENG) - Pati (ESP-LA) - Patty (ESP-SP) - Rubia (JP)

I only now realized Mallara is referencing mallard ducks. wow. Pati/Patty are just a common name in Spanish. Lil fun fact related to her Japanese name! Rubia means “blonde” in Spanish

Mia (ENG, ESP-LA) - Miwi (ESP-SP) - Mi (JP)

mia my baby girl. i love her. im yeeting her off Skyloft. seems they all reference meowing in some way

Orielle (ENG) - Corina (ESP) - Kuina (JP)

LISTEN. the other day i was trying to think just WHAT Corina could be referencing. And the only thing that popped into my brain is that “Corina” is the name they gave the bird Tokyo Mew Mew girl in LatinAmerica. It’s literally the only bird related thing i can think of. Also it sounds a bit like “Kuina”. French name is “Kinaé”, similar to Japanese!

Owlan (ENG) - Buhel (ESP) - Aoulu (JP)

Owlan seems to keep the owl theme across all three! Aoulu seems to just be “owl” quite literally, and Buhel is a play on the spanish for Owl (”Búho”)

Parrow (ENG) - Golondro (ESP) - Parou (JP)

Golondro comes from “Golondrina”, a type of bird! I think it’s called “swallow” in english ... so it kinda fits Parrow anyways! Also Parrow seems to be his japanese name too

Peater (ENG) - Panolo (ESP-LA) - Paul (ESP-SP) - Jakusin (JP)

This guy. man. Seems to be “Jackson” in Japanese? But everyone grabbed a P and ran. Panolo seems like a play on “Manolo”, a nickname for people with the name “Manuel” - maybe mixed with the P for “Pájaro”(Bird)? Paul’s just a common name as far as i know.

Peatrice (ENG) - Panalí (ESP-LA) - Paula (ESP-SP) - Jakuriinu (JP)

Peatrice seems to always be named after her dad. “Jackeline” in Japanese i believe, and barely “feminized” names for the rest. Panalí sounds a bit more like “panal”, the spanish for “hive” (as in beehive)

Piper (ENG) - Joana (ESP)

There’s not much to comment here. Joana’s a common name in Spanish

Pumm (ENG) - Vito (ESP-LA) - Ruperto (ESP-SP) - Puukin (JP)

I have NO clue where Vito came from. It sounds like a badly spelled “Victor”. Where did the Pumpkin theme go???? huh?????. Ruperto’s kind of the same? Unless i’m missing some pumpkin related words in spanish, it’s just a common name.

Pipit (ENG) - Cocu (ESP-LA) - Coocker (ESP-SP) - Kikoa (JP)

This guy. It seems a lot of languages kept the C/K sounds in his name? He’s Kiko in French and Cuco in german (thanks @/aureateart). They seem to reference cuckoo clocks maybe? and the german’s really close to cucco. 

Rupin (ENG) - Rupín (ESP-LA) - Milo (ESP-SP) - Kookin (JP)

Rupin/Rupin are referencing Rupees, since he’s the shopkeeper and the alike. Milo... I... I’m not sure what’s referencing?

Rusta (ENG) - Ganzo (ESP) - Rostaa (JP)

Rusta and Rostaa seem to be referencing Roosters, while Ganzo’s referencing the spanish for Goose! (Ganso)

Scrapper (ENG) - Serbot (ESP) - Sarubo (JP)

Including this lil guy here coz... why not? Serbot seems to be almost the same if not the exact name as Japanese (though Sarubo could just be Server?)

Sparrot (ENG) - Aspir (ESP-LA) - Gorronte (ESP-SP) - Subuha (JP)

Gorronte seems to be a play on “Gorrión” (Sparrow), so, pretty close to English. Aspir..... I’m not sure?

Strich (ENG) - Vestro (ESP) - Osta (JP)

Vestro, like Stritch, references Ostriches, with Ostrich in spanish being “Avestruz”. Seems Japanese references the same animal? and I think french too, since he’s “Latruche” in that language!

Wryna (ENG) - Elenia (ESP-LA) - Alisia (ESP-SP) - Arisu (JP)

Alisia seems to stick to the Japanese name Arisu (Alice), while Elenia went... a different direction. Elenia is a variation of a common spanish name, Elena.

[dreadfutures]

Author Interview

Tagged by @crackinglamb​!

If @victoriousscarf​ or @katiebour​ would like to participate in silly memes, you’re the only people I can think to tag. Or I can remove your tag haha. 

1.     Name: “blue” or “small” or youworeblue or dreadfutures...

2.     Fandoms:  Dragon Age has taken over my life but for several years I was maintaining a big old Zelda: Breath of the Wild fic series. I will come back to it...as soon as I’m done being FURIOUS about the retcons in the new Hyrule Warriors...

3.     Where you post:  AO3 exclusively. My old FF.Net account will NEVER see the light of day again...

4.     Most popular oneshot: That would be my *only* one-shot: The Hope of Fen’Harel.

5.     Most popular multichapter:  By engagement/comments, Dead Pasts, Dread Futures. By hits: my Zelda stuff, by far. My botw fics are not as dark as my DA fic, but Link still deals a lot of death and the sequel deals obliquely with something like assault.  BOTW novelization: When the Wind Whispers.  BOTW sequel fic: Hero of the Wild. 

6.     Actual worst part of writing: maintaining consistent characterization when I’m not in the mood lol

7.     Favorite story you wrote: Fic-wise, It’s Dead Pasts, Dread Futures. Like @crackinglamb​ I reread my fic...like...all the time. 

8.     Story you were nervous to post: Dead Pasts, Dread Futures. It deals so heavily with very personal issues of depression, anxiety, suicidality, responsibility, fear of loss... Although it’s very personal, I’m always afraid of sharing these topics because of i. being reported as being “at-risk” (I’m not, I am medicated and see a therapist every week and this is me coping!) or ii. being accused of not representing these issues well/sensitively. But I was just in a place where I needed to get these things out of my head, and this fic was the avenue, and here we are 120 chapters + several other spin-offs later.

9.     How you choose your titles: Hell if I know. “When the Wind Whispers” was a title I reused from an old NaNoWriMo project. “Hero of the Wild” is...self explanatory. For parts of a series, I’ll usually pull something that’s a call-back to within the series. ”Light in the Dark” is a prequel about Link trying to become the Hero everyone thinks he is, and it’s a call-back title to something he remembers in “When the Wind Whispers.” “Ruined Empires and Dust” and “Dread Wolf and the Champion” and “The Hope of Fen’Harel” all fall into that category... But “Two-Handed,” “Dead Pasts, Dread Futures,” and most of my other fics are just things I picked right as I posted the first chapter lol. TO MY REGRET, MOST OF THE TIME.

10.  Complete works: 1 fic of 13 works. lol. But I have two original fantasy epics complete that I’m  editing and revising and trying to find comps for before I try to publish them. For a very long time, those have been my focus. And also grad school.

11.  Incomplete works: A lot more than 12, even if we’re *just* counting fanfics... There’s a long list of original works that are in various states.

12.  Do you outline?  Only for my original works, but even then the outline only comes after the fugue state/muse-possession storm has left me out to dry.

13.  Coming soon ideas, maybe? Wouldn’t that be nice? I’m debating whether the post-Corypheus arcs of Dead Pasts, Dread Futures will be a separate fic or not. I think I probably will make it a separate fic, if only to make it more accessible to people who don’t want to slog through the really dark shit in Dead Pasts, Dread Futures.

14. Ask me anything: I was talking about this recently with someone: How did you start writing?

I started writing literally in shared google docs, taking turns writing line-by-line with a group of friends I made on the internet. Specifically, a bunch of friends I made on a Maximum Ride role play blog. We started off writing self-insert MaxRide fics, but then we ended up writing like seven different 100k+ length novels on a variety of topics, and they were honestly all so fun and good. It was a really fun mode of writing.

15. Best writing traits: I’ve been told that I have a good grasp on symbolism and write mental health issues very well, which is important to me.

16.  Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: (TW for this link!!!) Halide’s stories. It started as one entry and became a full three part series: Shadowless / Daughter of the Dead / Mother of Monsters.

17.  Spicy Tangential Opinion: I have opinions about horse girl literature versus horse boy literature. Horse Boy literature is about boys being able to have a safe avenue to express their softer emotions. Horse Girl literature is a replacement for Prince Charming Saves Me narratives that girls are fed and is a healthier example of a romantic partnership than most romantic narratives aimed at that age group lmao. I can go off on this.

[gwydionae]

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

(As I literally spent an entire month doing little more with my free time aside from playing this game, I want to get my thoughts out about it. While kind of my own little late and unwanted review, I also just want to ramble about some random things in this game. So here is my one master post of all my BotW thoughts - that way I’m not bombarding everyone with a bunch of things now that I’m back from the tumblr dead. XD

Only very vague spoilers included. ...also this is crazy long. ^_^;; )

Optional Intro:

I have never played a modern open world game outside of Minecraft. They looked like fun, but there was always something that made me go “ehhhh, maybe not...” like the cringy voice acting or the overall look of the game. I was super excited to hear that Zelda would be going back to this, however, since straying from it ever since the very first game. Not that I don’t like the typical Zelda formula - I actually really love it! But Skyward Sword, while it did have its good points, was too linear even for me, so I greatly anticipated them breaking away from that. I tried not to get too hyped, but I couldn’t help it. Luckily, this time the hype was not unwarranted.

End of Game Stats:

Hours Played: 220+ Shrines Found: 120 Korok Seeds Found: 262 Map Completion: 44.58% Side Quests Completed: 69 Main Quests Completed: All Times I’ve Stood Far Above Enemies and Rained Lots of Bombs on Their Heads and Slowly Whittled Down Their Health: too many to count lol

Overall Opinion:

I don’t think I have ever spent so much time playing a game that actually has an end objective! From the minute I got it, I could not put it down. My sleep schedule was ruined within a day, and I have been a living zombie for a month now, all because I kept saying, “I’m just gonna do this one thing, and then I’ll go to sle- OH WAIT WHAT’S THAT??” This game is addicting. There is SO much to see and do, and so many ways to do them. ...not to mention I am a huge wuss and would often run away a lot and waited to do the truly hard stuff until I was a bit OP. XD

That being said, it should come as no surprise that I really, really like this game. A lot. It’s super fun, beautiful, magical, humorous, and engaging. It is still not my favorite game ever nor even my favorite Zelda. But it doesn’t have to be, because what it is is amazing, and I would recommend it to literally anyone, Zelda fan or no. If you haven’t played it and you have the opportunity, take it. Because even just climbing to a tall location and looking around before jumping off and paragliding to a destination far away is one of the best things I have ever done in a video game period. It sounds silly, but it’s true - the scenery is gorgeous, and the climbing and paragliding mechanics are so, so satisfying.

It is not a perfect game, but it doesn’t have to be. The positive elements far and away make up for the negatives.

Criticisms:

Frame Rate Drops - I am not one to really care much about this sort of thing, but, yeah, it’s there. Most of the time there were no issues, but in some places it was consistently pretty low, like the Korok Forest. The only time it was an actual issue for me, though, was in Lockup - I was fighting a Moblin in a tight corner when suddenly the game completely freezes for about two seconds. I swear my heart skipped a beat! LOL Luckily that was the only time it actually was bothersome in all my 220+ hours of playing. Still deserves to be mentioned, though.

Voice Acting - (Note: I am extremely picky about voices, no matter the language - you have been warned!) I cannot WAIT to play this game in Japanese, because I am 100% sure I will enjoy the cutscenes more. It’s not that everyone in English is terrible, but man are some of the voices not good... Decent - Urbosa, Revali, Riju Bad - Mipha, Daruk, Yunobo Worst - Impa Best - Sidon Most Inconsistent - Zelda Urbosa, Riju, and Revali hammed it up a bit at times, but at least they didn’t sound flat, so I give them kudos for that. On top of that, I liked how their voices sounded, so bonus! Daruk and Yunobo, however, were both pretty flat, though at least the sound of Daruk’s fit. Mipha, on the other hand, was trying to act, but it really sounded like she was reaching pitch-wise (like in her final cut scene near the end of the game). On top of that, her accent kept coming and going randomly - if you can’t do it all the time, don’t do it at all. Impa, however, was far and away the worst offender, to the point I wanted to turn the sound off when she opened her mouth. For one, again, it was flat. But on top of that, she had the “younger woman trying to sound like an old lady” voice going on that grates on me like you wouldn’t believe. Some people can pull it off - she can’t. And, again, the coming and going accent. Sidon was the opposite, and the lone true bright point for me. I wish we had heard more of him as I liked his voice, he kept the accent in all his lines, and he sounded enthusiastic in his delivery. I heard him shortly after Impa, so it was quite the whiplash for me, lol. Now for Zelda... there are some points in which I really like her voice, but then there are other times I think she ruins the scene with a flat read. The 17th memory, for instance, is great - she does a wonderful job with it, and I honestly can watch that one many, many times over. The 16th, however, she completely ruins for me. She just does not sound as emotional as she should given the circumstances, and it really takes me out of it. She usually does a good job with the accent, but like Mipha and Impa, occasionally she slips out of it. Overall I am not displeased with her, though. I do wish we would have gotten more of 17th memory Zelda and none of 16th. As for the overall use of voice acting, I am glad it was limited. I, personally, do not care for voice acting in games as I usually find it to be more of a detriment than an enjoyable experience. If done well, yeah, I would have liked a little more - having the voiced characters always speak, for example. But since I was not thrilled with it, I couldn’t be happier that it was limited, and I don’t think my stance on this will change until companies are willing to pay a bit more to have quality work instead of going cheap and not paying it it’s due attention. (Although Link should never speak, in my opinion, and I seriously hope this never changes!)

Story/Characters - They weren’t bad so much as disappointing and underwhelming. Only one character got truly fleshed out, so it was hard to get attached to anyone. I think they did a good job of having a focused story despite the open world design of the game, but the problem was that there just wasn’t much story to be told, and the ending left me with a feeling of, “...that’s it?” Not the way you want to end such an otherwise great experience. I enjoyed what we did get, but I just wanted so much more! I guess this is the trade off for not wanting something as linear as Skyward Sword. SS had amazing characters and a great story while being a chore sometimes gameplay-wise. BotW, on the other hand, is always a delight to play and feels so free and magical, but the characters and story left me wanting more, like I was only getting a small glimpse of the large picture. In a game, I suppose I will take “fun to play, underwhelming story” to “good story, chore to play”, but it would be nice if in future Zeldas I could have my cake and eat it too, lol.

Dungeons/Bosses - Trying not to spoil too much, it’s not that I didn’t like playing them, it’s their designs. They are all designed to look similar. The dungeons are unique and fun from a solving them perspective, but from a visual perspective, I do miss the old “every dungeon has a different theme” from past Zelda titles. I can, however, see why they chose this route for the dungeons, so while it’s disappointing, I have a hard time knocking them for it. I DO have to point out a huge issue I did have, though - THOSE MAPS ARE NOT HELPFUL. Seriously, oh my gosh, I have never tried to use a more infuriating map! It never turned the way I wanted it to, and I could rarely see what I actually wanted to see. These, for me, were simply awful. I hated everything about them, and groaned every time one popped up on my screen signaling that my map would be mostly useless from that point until I was done with the area. The bosses, on the other hand, are a different story. There is no reason they all have to look and act so similar. True, they all have their own gimmick, but I still used basically the same fighting style for all of them. And why the near identical designs? Why not something more interesting? The outside of the dungeons are all interesting to look at, so why not make the big boss at the end reflect that instead? I can see what they were going for, but in this case I feel it doesn’t justify the end result. After boss designs like Stallord and Koloktos, it was very disappointing.

Music - I am going to start off by saying that I do NOT dislike the music - in fact I feel it suits this game very well. I can’t, however, talk about this game’s music without comparing it to previous Zelda games, and there is where it falls short. Whereas previous titles were filled with memorable tracks, BotW is not. It does have some enjoyable tunes here and there, but overall I didn’t really pay any attention to it and never came away with it stuck in my head. Does that work with this style of game which is all about getting sucked into the environment? Yes, absolutely! But if I wanted to listen to some Zelda music on its own, this game’s soundtrack would be one of the last ones I would choose. So what this comes down to is if I were to give the game a score, I would not knock it for the music as I feel it is quite fitting. But if I were giving the MUSIC a score, it wouldn’t be as high as past Zeldas. Underwhelming tracks - Nearly any city/town, the shrine battle music, the dungeons, the more atmospheric tracks with little actual music (in the fields, Temple of Time, in the cold, etc) Tracks I love - Molduga’s theme, the dragons, riding a horse at night, normal battles, just outside Hyrule Castle, memory 17 (I need this track, you hear me!!)

Praise:

Scenery - This game is so pretty, you guys. The designers did an amazing job laying everything out just perfectly, so there is nearly always an awesome view to be had. Pictures do more justice than words.

Character Design - Everyone looks so unique! Even the random NPCs have personality and quirks worked directly into their design, and honestly there are so many outfits I would love to cosplay from this game. XD Some of the characters do suffer from the “Wind Waker large head, gorilla arms, stumpy legs effect”, lol, but I can forgive everyone minus the Gerudo children on this one as most that fall prey to it are not human and do not have to stick as close to normal human anatomy. Still all very colorful and whimsical, and I adore the different styles of Zora! And all of Link’s armor? Pfft, oh man, it’s great. Some of it is hilarious, other stuff is really cool, and a few items are just plain weird. But they all look unique and interesting with a lot of thought put into them, and I always loved finding new stuff. ...I do have to say, though, that I laugh at the guy in the Japanese Zelda interview who said he was having trouble making the green hat/tunic outfit look cool and that’s why it’s not prominent in the game when there are outfits like the Firebreaker (below) or the Radiant gear. I mean, really now?? LOL

Color - Speaking of color, this really does deserve it’s own bullet point! Just... wow. I am so used to seeing games that are dull and gritty and grey and brown, but this one... this one makes me so happy, you guys. They get every color imaginable in here, and they make them all work together in harmony to not only create gorgeous visuals, but landscapes that truly do feel like they have life. “Breath of the Wild” is such an appropriate title, my goodness.

Gameplay - This game is super fun to play!! And this is coming from someone who is terrible at games and died a lot. XD I am far from the most creative individual to play this game - never used my balloons once.. I should go back and try that on more things, lol - but still it was obvious just how many different solutions there were to things, like puzzles or how to take out a large group of enemies. And the physics! I didn’t think this was something I would really care about, but wow! Doing literally anything feels satisfying as the end result is what you would expect it to be - chopping down a tree, rolling a rock down a cliff, watching the wind take a bomb to exactly the spot you thought it would land, etc.

Wildlife - SO MUCH AND SO DIVERSE. Ok, yeah, like, over a dozen different types of mushrooms, but every kind is different. So many birds, bugs, fish, horses, deer, moose, RHINOS, BEARS! Flowers, trees, grass, bushes, vegetables! This world is full, you guys, so full! But never overly so - there are patches with not really anything of note. But it’s never a bad thing. Every quiet patch is like a brief pause, letting you get all the more excited when something does appear. Perfect balance of a lot of things in some places and not so much in others.

Weapons System - Ok, so, maybe I’m an outlier on this, but ultimately I think the whole weapon breaking thing really works. At first I was not thrilled with it as you are given very little inventory space, and I don’t like passing up on cool looking things. But once I realized this could be upgraded, I changed my mind. Would I like to be able to keep all the cooling looking stuff and use them forever, or at least longer? Yeah, but I feel like that might actually take away from the experience. This game is about thinking situations through and using what you have however you want. With your weapons limited, it forces you to think more instead of just, say, spamming the Master Sword on everything. And the fact that you are given the opportunity to upgrade the inventory slots if you want to made me eager to explore more areas to do just that. This game is all about exploration and the experience; I think ultimately this system works to really further that objective.

Puzzles - WOW! The puzzle lover in me was very pleased! All but maybe three times out of 120 shrines and 4 dungeons did I get irritated because of what felt like poor puzzle design. The rest were all fantastic - even if they have a DLC pack where all it does is add more shrines, I’m in, lol. I loved finding these things because I loved solving them. I am a puzzle person at heart, so this made me very, very happy.

Animation - OH MY GOSH, ok, I know everyone knows about cold Link and when he cooks, but did you know that if you stand still after you run out of stamina he eventually does two little fist pumps and grunts like, “Ok! Now I’m ready - let’s go.” when it’s full again? Or how he will wave to people? Or his face when a Great Fairy is trying to kiss him? Or how if you stand still late at night for too long he will start doing the head nod thing where he’s trying to keep himself awake? Or how his body gradually flushes red when he’s chilly, even when simply equipping frost gear, and goes back to normal when he’s comfortable? Or when he eats? Or is hot? Or literally anything??? Because it’s great. I love it. The characters - especially Link - are all very expressive in this game thanks to the great animation.

Miscellaneous:

Favorite Creature: The dragons - I would stand in awe every time one was in the area, just taking in the music and how pretty and cool they were.

Favorite Character: Prince Sidon - I’m pretty sure every fangirl loves him, but, like, he’s so nice and friendly and seems genuinely cool?? lol Easily liked him the best.

Favorite Armor: The one you get when completing all the shrines, lol.

Best Throwback Music Usage: THE ORIGINAL DEATH MOUNTAIN THEME FOR DEATH MOUNTAIN HECK YEAH

Favorite Random Detail: They give an explanation for why Link is so quiet, and it’s a great one. Previous to finding this bit, I was a little torn on Link’s presentation in the cutscenes. I thought he was a bit bland, especially considering how animated he is in game. This changed my opinion completely.

Favorite Sign: “Rest Yer Bones” XD (also I’m pretty sure one says “poops”...)

Part That Made Me Laugh the Most: Risa in the Gerudo “Voe and You” class - I was not always completely cool with how they characterized some of the Gerudo, but my gosh, sitting in on that class and going through all the dialogue options was WORTH IT. XD

Things I Need to Do (More):

Ride a horse (I RARELY did this - I preferred running and climbing everywhere)

Customize a horse

Try to ride literally anything because you’d be shocked at what is ridable

LEARN TO FREAKING PARRY

Experiment more with food - once you know the best recipes, you stop trying new things

Actually use Stasis...

...not to mention Korok leaves

Completely translate the Shiekah and Hylian languages - I can read most every Hylian sign now, but I forgot to write down my Shiekah translations...

Try to translate Gerudo/Yiga (that... might be harder, lol)

Take more screenshots because did I mention how awesome it is that the Switch can do that??

Conclusion:

I’m sure there are things I meant to cover here that I forgot about as there really is just SO MUCH to this game, but this is quite long enough, and kudos if you bothered reading this long already, lol. But I really do love this game, and I had a ton of fun with it. Truth be told, it is not my favorite Zelda game, but it is ONE of my favorites, and honestly it deserves the praise it’s been getting. Is it perfect? No. Would I personally give it a 10/10? No. But do I think the people who are scoring it as such are completely wrong? No - a lot of things I personally had issues with, I know other people did not, and while I do like the general Zelda formula, I can appreciate that others are happy to see it gone. I do hope they fix up some things for future games - better voice acting, more interesting dungeons/bosses, etc - but more in the vein of Breath of the Wild would be fine by me. Because Nintendo created a world I could truly get lost in, and I would gladly lose another month of my life to a next installment, lol.

Thank you, Nintendo. I love this game. <3 And I’m glad so many others are loving it too!