So, I present this piece reluctantly, because I am essentially giving you nothing more than your average, every day internet-rant, something that doesn’t make me use any ability or editorial skills whatsoever. But alas, I simply cannot hold back on a certain topic any longer.

I’ve been around the Zelda community for some time now, hanging around at a number of sites, and working at a bunch them, and over the past five or so years I’ve come to see what a large portion of the fandom is like. It’s a lively group alright, one of the biggest and most robust coalitions of video game supporters out there in the world. There’s tons upon tons of brilliant fan-sites, where thousands, perhaps millions of upbeat Zelda fans come together to take part in numerous activities and discussions regarding the renowned franchise.

And unfortunately, it’s also one of the most ungrateful fandoms you can find for a video game series. Yes, I can say that without getting in any trouble from Scott or James.

Where to begin? Well, it’s probably easiest to start with the most recent entry into the series, Twilight Princess, which, is being continually bashed by many fans, and it’s especially apparent here on ZU. To quote one of the forum members, Kaze-One; “The hate that is being dumped on this game is absolutely retarded.” I apologize if that last word offends anyone, I myself don’t agree with his choice of adjectives, but the statement perfectly exemplifies the situation.

Everyone was hyped for the game to come out, but apparently, quite a few people thought that Twilight Princess was going to be the second coming of Jesus or something, because what we’re seeing is a sickening amount of people genuinely believing that TP is a low quality game. Yes, for those that are wise enough to see through the game’s flaws and overhype and find the numerous positive aspects, believe it or not there are fans that have convinced themselves that Twilight Princess isn’t a good game.

The ‘arguments’ that they come up with to berate TP are rather laughable, because they’re so petty that it appears as if the game needs to be flawless in order to even be considered “decent”. There are outcries about how linear the main story is, and how that’s one of the greatest reasons why the game’s a failure…

…besides the fact that most of the other Zeldas are pretty linear, too. There is always a set path that you have to follow to complete the storyline, at least in the cases of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker etc. You must, must go through Nintendo’s chosen way of beating the game in order to progress anywhere, in all of those games. You can’t choose the order of the campaign events, that’s all there is to it. You can’t go to Snowpeak before the Southern Swamp, because you need the Hero’s Bow to open up the path to the mountains, and you can’t go to Ikana Valley any time you want, because you need to get the Hookshot from the Pirate’s Fortress. And you can’t go to the Desert Colossus before the Shadow Temple or Water Temple, because you need the Lens of Truth and Longshot to get through the Desert Wasteland, and in order to go through those two dungeons, you need to get the items from the Fire Temple and Forest Temple first.

In case you didn’t catch it in the last few sentences, there is some degree of freedom in Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. You can do a few events out of order, but only by completing well over half of the intended mission before it. So, to the fans that use the linear argument, Twilight Princess is apparently a stain upon the series because it doesn’t have that 1% of liberty in what tasks you do when like the other games do. Picking at straws, you say? Yeah, I know, I actually used that exact phrase one time while discussing this topic elsewhere.

So there you go, Twilight Princess’s quality immediately trashed because of the linear campaign. Well, it’s official, 95% of action adventure games (including Resident Evil 4, Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia, Onimusha and so on) all suck!

Of course, we get more ridiculous complaints like how the overworld is so small. Yes, small in comparison to all of four other titles/franchises; Shadow of the Colossus and it’s complete lack of any activity in the world, Grand Theft Auto and it’s mediocre graphics and obnoxious load times, and World of Warcraft and the Elder Scrolls, two series that are made for your PC or powerhouse systems like 360 and PS3. This is completely ignoring that Twilight Princess’s realm barely even has load times, or the sheer beauty that so many of the areas, such as Lake Hylia and Snowpeak, contain.

Basically, what it comes down to is that they have hemorrhages over things like a lack of true sidequests (because those dozens of collectibles, environmental puzzles, minigames, heart pieces and secret grottos don’t exist anyways), a realistic overworld that isn’t one giant, open circle of land, and that dastardly linear campaign, while ignoring all of the positives; a fantastic art style, virtually no load times or lag, perfect controls for two completely different controllers, an increase in the number of creative platforming elements that previous Zeldas lack, the fact that almost all of the bosses have multiple phases, and contain the most substance yet with their variety of attacks and the variety of actions you must perform to defeat them etc.

If you truly believe in your mind that Twilight Princess is a mediocre game, then you have no inkling as to what a mediocre game actually is, simple as that. Go play something like Genji: Dawn of Samurai, or Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, and you’ll see what real mediocrity is for an action/adventure, because it’s certainly not Zelda.

Now, I could sit here and continue focusing solely on TP, but that just wouldn’t be fair. See, the saddest thing about this whole issue is that it’s not just Twilight Princess being underappreciated by the fans…it’s starting to be the entire series that doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Worse off, it’s not just Zelda Universe members being completely anal in this circumstance; it stretches to many other of the big sites in the online Zelda community.

I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of negativity to the core gameplay of the series and a lot of the key elements of each game. One of the first things that come to mind is the common complaint of the franchise’s inability to evolve. Fans believe that the series never changes and continues to use a stale, done-to-the-death formula. Apparently the only kind of evolution to them is something Resident Evil 4-esque, because they’re clueless to the progression Zelda has been making. Go back to the first four Zeldas, where almost all of the gameplay was dungeon-exploring, or even Ocarina of Time to some extent, where for at least half the game your order of events were as followed; straight-quest leading to the dungeon, complete the dungeon, straight-quest leading to the dungeon, complete the dungeon, straight-quest leading to the dungeon, complete the dungeon etc.

Not a lot of meat in that regard for the campaigns, but Majora’s Mask would correct this, and include mandatory sidequests in between the dungeons to break up the repetition. Instead of just going in straight line as far as your mission went and doing the same kind of tasks over and over, you go some much needed variety, like the required trips to Romani Ranch to get Epona and the Garo’s Mask, or the entire Ikana Valley adventure.

Wind Waker really took off with this idea; sometimes with good results, sometimes with bad results. You often had to do a myriad of challenges before going to the next dungeon, or the sequence would at least shift gears from time to time, like in the middle of the game where you go the sunken Hyrule Castle, and then to the Forsaken Fortress for a couple boss fights. As said, though, things didn’t always turn out for the best, as Wind Waker also contained a lot of plain fetch-quests that added little to the experience.

Twilight Princess was just as enthusiastic as the Wind Waker was with the varied gameplay, but it handled it far better. The game provided numerous activities in between dungeon-questing that had some meat and potatoes as far as substance and content went; the Twilight Bug searches, fighting King Bulbin on horseback, sumo wrestling, fighting the Twili Bloat, flying through Zora’s River, the Carriage Escort, bringing Midna to Zelda, the Sacred Woods/Meadow (at least the first time), the entire mission to restore Ilia’s memory, and so on.

Zelda’s campaigns have come from being nothing but [mini]dungeon after [mini] dungeon or moving along in a straight line, to being campaigns that have some of the most diversity and creativity of any game to date. Sure, some of the premises remain the same, like the infamous “Three-pendant, Master Sword, collect other items” background, but the gameplay is certainly changing, and that’s the most important thing. As mentioned before, we’re also seeing an evolution in the dungeons. Years ago, the dungeons put far too much emphasis on keys, making the main mission of them to find the next one and progress forward. Now the dungeons are becoming a lot less one-dimensional; the main goal of the Great Bay Temple was to correctly control the pipe currents to move on; the Stone Tower was all about flipping it around to advance; the Tower of the Gods and Temple of Time revolved around the correct placement of the statues; TP’s Forest Temple required the use of the monkeys, Snowpeak Ruins had you trying to get that right ingredient to heal Yeta etc.

It’s not just about finding the next key to get the next room anymore, the dungeons have evolved beyond that; there are unique foundations behind them. Heck, we can even mention how they’ve become a place for side-content, like the way that Golden Skulltulas, Lost Fairies, Poe Souls, Heart Pieces and numerous treasure chests have been hidden in them. They’re starting to be more than just devices to get the next plot-related object; they’re acquiring aspects that offer you different gameplay.

Even the bosses have evolved, which used to have a small selection of attacks, and battles were just Link using the new item he found in one motion and slashing away. Ever since Majora’s Mask, most bosses have had a variety of offensive maneuvers, ever since the Wind Waker, most bosses have required that you perform various actions before swinging away with your sword, and most recently, Twilight Princess presented multiple, very different phases to nearly every boss.

One of the weakest complaints I’ve seen in a while was at the Hylia not too long ago, in an editorial about how Zelda needs to change. It goes like this; “Eiji Aonuma points to Phantom Hourglass as the next attempt; citing it was the basis for Twilight Princess’ shift and that from the start, it’s been developed ground-up for the DS. Having played it at E3 2006 and at GDC 2007, I have to say the concept is there, but in the end, it’s still the same old Zelda. Instead of pressing A to pick up pots, you tap them with a stylus. Instead of using a stick or pad to move, you point the stylus in a direction. The game, in reality, is reduced to tapping, dragging and pointing if you thinking about it. Simplified controls are what the Zelda creators want, and that’s what we’ll get in Phantom Hourglass. At the end of the day, though, is that really enough?”

Sure, this guy (you should all have figured out who is by now) has actually played Phantom Hourglass, but for how long? A few minutes at the most, and only some bare-bone demos. Not a lot of support for such a bold statement as he makes. We know very little about this game, so none of us should be spouting out that PH is ‘the same old Zelda’ just yet, especially when we’ve already seen new elements like the Chasers, the game’s Central Dungeon, the new sailing gameplay and the Touch-Screen map. PH certainly could be a fairly traditional Zelda, but it’s obviously got some fresh ideas, and that’s a smart way to move along. Drastic change so quickly doesn’t always have happy endings, just look at the way the Final Fantasy fandom views XII, or how mixed the Resident Evil fandom is over RE4.

Other issues that a lot of Zelda fans have are things like how the overworlds aren’t as massive as they could be, like the Elder Scrolls, how the storylines are so ‘crappy’, and how the combat is too easy and too puzzle-like. A lot of these arguments stem from the fact that other games do better than Zelda in these cases, but plenty of fans don’t even stop and think for a moment about what Zelda does better than the rest of those titles, or what quality is already there in the things they’re whining about.

Okay, so the overworlds aren’t the size of yellowstone like they are in Warcraft or Oblivion. Setting aside the fact that those games run on machines of far greater power than any Nintendo system yet, do their huge proportions take away from the sheer beauty and atmosphere that most Zeldas have? No. Do they degrade the almost non-existant load times and well-done draw distance? No. Most importantly, do they take away from the fact that the lands in Zelda still are larger and contain more content than probably 90% of the action-adventure franchise? Hell no.

The storylines may be simple, (excluding Majora’s Mask, which is one of the best that the ), but should that really matter so much for a video game? Well, apparently it does to a lot of fans, that don’t even seem to realize just how awesome Zelda is another category; the cast. I don’t care how fancy or original a plot is if it’s characters aren’t memorable, recognizable, and imaginative, because those are the people that carry the entire story. Zelda has shined in this respect for years, and it continues to out-do the competition. Whether it’s their unique personality, their colorful design, their intriguing background, or their gripping dilemma at hand, the characters in Zelda remain to be create some of the most creative and stand-out casts in any video game. They are what truly matter in any storyline, and very few other franchises out there handle their casts as well as Zelda does.

Still, the qualm that fans have with Zelda’s combat is probably the funniest. The way they make it out, they want the fighting to become more like that of Ninja Gaiden, or God of War. Yes, that’s great, turn the combat into mindless button mashing.

Look, those two titles mentioned above are terriffic, and the battles found in them are often exciting, but they require no originality, and in the end, it’s one of the most simplistic kinds of gameplay around in gaming today. That change is not for the better, because it’s removing all of the ingenuity found in combat like Zelda’s, or something like Okami’s. It may be easy, but that’s not to say that Nintendo couldn’t make things a little more difficult with the coming of a newer way of playing Zelda, and it’s still a higher quality way of combat than just drumming on the buttons. That thoughtless battling may be stimulating from time to time, and may be the only way to add serious challenge to Zelda’s brawls, but that’s not a good reason to turn some of the most inventive combat in any video game into a common beat-em-up.

Could it use improvement, or some new factors to shake things up? Oh yes, but we’re seeing that, and we’ve been seeing that for a few years now. We’ve seen the Hidden Skills in Twilight Princess, more sword-fights like with Ganondorf and the Gerudo Warriors, exciting combat that keeps up moving around and doing multiple actions such as with Barinade, Odolwa, Gohdan, Blizzeta, Argorok, multiple forms of combat for one enemy in the cases of Majora and Stallord and many others. It all goes back to the evolution of Zelda, which is definitely occuring, especially in the fighting. It’s not extreme change, but that’s not what Zelda needs, and as time goes on, we’ll see more useful additions.

Let me make something clear- I’m not trying to force all of you to like what’s in Zelda. If the elements that form its gameplay are something you simply don’t enjoy, then there’s nothing I can do to change your opinion. However, if you consider yourself a fan of the series, and you’re the kind of person I’ve been ranting about this whole time; someone who is feeling so negative towards the series because of a few dislikes or things that Zelda doesn’t have, then I ask you to take all of what I’ve said to heart. This franchise is one that continually (I emphasize that) gives us games that are filled to the brim with extra content, have some of the most unique kingdoms and casts of characters, contain the meatiest dungeons ever seen, have nearly perfect controls and very few technical issues, presents us with an incredible amount of variety in the gameplay, and puts us in some of the most imaginative battles of any video game to date. How many other series do all of this? Not many.

Zelda’s not perfect, and it does deserve criticism, but at the same time it also deserves a significant amount of praise, the latter of which is rather rare amongst the fandom these days. Thankfully, not every single follower is like the ones I’ve talked about, however there are more than enough of the fans I’ve targeted to justify this piece. There’s no reason to stop being critical, though the cynicism needs to end. The fans need to quit this obsession of hating on the games for what they aren’t, and start appreciating them for all that they are.*

*- JordAnime, former staff member of the Hylia, gets credit for the idea behind that sentence

(Disclaimer: Look, I don’t want a million people crying to me that I’m stereotyping them; if you’re not one of those fans with the outlook on the series that I just ranted about, then my article in no way applies to you. I’m sorry that you read all of that, because I hate rants just as much as you do, remember how I said that at the beginning?)

In July, I asked these questions to three of the top Timeline Theorists on ZU, in hopes that I could create an article based on what they wrote and allow people to understand what their deal was. I initially asked silver arrow, Lionharted, and Master of ALttP, since LOZ Historian was on hiatus. I wrote and article (after much procrastination) and submitted for approval from the three I asked.

Then LOZ Historian came back and messed everything up. He asked for the questions to answer, to which I supplied, hoping to get a little more for the article. What he sent back was too overwhelming for me to comprehend, let alone try to break apart and fit into my article. Therefore, I scrapped the idea and formulated a new approach.

I decided the best approach would to be just post the questions I asked them, along with the exact answers they gave me. This way, I don’t have the hassle of trying to extract the best parts of their words and you get the full benefit of what they were trying to say.

So, without further ado, here are the Q&A sessions I had with these people.

When did you start playing Zelda?

silver arrow: At age two with LOZ for the NES.
Lionharted: At the release of Ocarina of Time, since, until that point, I hadn’t had a Gameboy or Nintendo console.
Master of ALttP: When I was three or four. I had a SNES, and one of the first games I had for it was A Link to the Past. Although I wasn’t as good at it as I am now, I still loved the game. It had such a magical world in it for me to explore, with knights and monsters all over it. There was so much mystery to this world that I wanted to explore it all, and to this day I am still finding more to explore.
LOZ Historian: My first Zelda game believe it or not was LA. At the time I did not know what Zelda was when I received the first handheld Gameboy model that came with LA. I was about five or six when I started playing Zelda. ALttP was the second Zelda game I ever played. The back-story of ALttP intrigued me with curiosity. In fact the whole atmosphere of ALttP is what the game became so epic for not only it’s game play, but it’s storyline. The game was flourishing with history and myths of the divine Triforce and the ancient race of the Hylian that once flourished in the rich land of Hyrule.

It was not until OoT came around when I was curious and concerned about future chronology of the series.

What made you decide to start debating the Timeline so much?

silver arrow: I wanted to know the timeline. I found out there was no official one and decided to make it my job to make the best one.
Lionharted: Pure boredom. The summer does wonderful things.

No, in all seriousness, I saw a lot of crazy theories, and I wanted to see if it was actually possible to come up with something that makes sense. In a lot of ways, it was, but, in a lot of ways, the workings of the series will always be a mystery to me.
Master of ALttP: I became fascinated by the history of Hyrule back when I could read the manual for ALttP. It spoke of a realm hidden from sight, where the sky shone gold and not blue. I read of a mystical force, which made of mortal dreams come true. I read of knights and wise men and wars, all of which fascinated me. It was like reading an ancient document. Later, when I got Ocarina of Time (about a year or two after it came out, I was always out of things back then) and finally reached the end, Ganondorf spoke of exterminating the descendents of the Sages, Zelda, and Link. I remembered the “ancient documents” that I had read, and they too spoke of sages and heroes. I realized that these games were connected, OoT and ALttP, and as the years passed I wanted to find the order in which these legends occur.
LOZ Historian: Heh. “You” would like to know… lol. It all dawned on me that I was fed up with Zelda not having any chronology. Such a popular franchise of games that have no order makes the game seem less “epic” in a since. Many people that don’t care about storyline in the Zelda Series would argue that game play only matters and/or chronology lessens the originality and flexibility of each game’s new atmosphere as it comes out. I strongly frown on that opinion because they are not true Zelda fans if they don’t somewhat appreciate all aspects of the game itself. Whether it is not appealing to there eye or not does not make it less of a better game then the next released title. Their no need to bash timeline threads and theories if you have no intrest in the field. I say to those shallow people, “If the shoe don’t fit, don’t where it.” Aside from the fact of making the Zelda saga more epic with chronology, I find my passion in debating the timeline to actually discover the true timeline, like many others desperately do. The only problem is, is that everyone does not view history in the concept of inductive reasoning. I try to enforce the ideas to others that to make a good solid timeline you must observe these most important things:

1. Any in-game textual references that appeal towards hinting connection towards other LoZ’s is what I call reliable hard core facts.

2. The placement and state of the Triforce in that particular ending of a LoZ . If one game has the Triforce in a state of it being whole, then the other LoZ’s that shows the Triforce as a whole at the ending is the game that comes chronologically after it in some cases.

3. Any important items that appear in one game and continue to show up in a uniformly in a certain sum of games usually present evidence of certain LoZ’s coming before or after another LoZ, backed up with other evidence that does not contradict each other. Swords are a big help and shield crests even more so.

4. Observe the history of Hyrule from looking at the BIG picture. Study the nature and being of people throughout different ages in which LoZ’s occur. You will see that as each LoZ’s precedes the race of the original Hylian of Hyrule turns out to be spoken of in past tense in ALttP. “Clue to ages of Hyrule where different natives inhabited the land throughout history.” Also observe important places and see if they hint existence in other LoZ’s through texts and Map references. Although I highly do not take geology as a good way to proving a timeline unless it has been proven by many other methods of approach.

* Most importantly don’t observe minuscule things that don’t appear to be that important or it becomes terrible assumption after assumption in the long run. The timeline will never be discovered if you have to involve every “realistic” perspective on the overall matter. Nintendo is constantly trying to make Zelda more realistic in a personal perspective but it is never as precise as others take it to be. This always confuses people in debates and leads other adrift from what they were originally trying to make a point on.

Also don’t always trust what Nintendo officials say. What Myamoto has said about Zelda’s chronology is irrelevant to Zelda today. With more and more LoZ’s coming out under the supervision of Anouma, the series will end up connecting overall. Anouma has claimed that he cares deeply for the storyline and has an official timeline underway as each LoZ progresses in the future. Otherwise, why would he be frequently making LoZ’s that fill in gaps between two LoZ’s and making sequels (PH) after LoZ’s that are grouped in a definite timeline like this: OoT – (MM) – TP – WW.

The last rule (displayed like this: *) is something that Split Timeline Theorist do all the time. They claim mathematical theorems of time travel that work the same way universally once traveled through. Their outlook on the whole perspective is “un-realistic” in the since that it’s too realistic in terms of preciseness. First off it is very confusing because you get so rapped up in trying to make since of things that were never intended to be explained in the game itself because it IS just a game. If there is one thing I remember correctly, is that time traveling methods differ universally once traveled through in comparison among OoT, MM, and OoA. So how can they claim what happens during time traveling when first off, there is no proven way it works, and second, when there is no same consistent method of its use in LoZ’s that involve timeline traveling. That is what I am always dieing to here a Split Timeline Theorist tell me. Rather a self-proclaim rocket-scientist, that knows the works of math above the comprehension of regular man, tell me how there theory is just.

So with there too literal look upon things, I find it that it is too mechanical for the Zelda Saga to take a stands for. Many of them argue that it gives the saga more flexibility and opportunity to branch off with different games, not relating all together. Whether they find it easier to place LoZ’s in places they don’t see it fitting to the eye, or just find it easier and more organized, they are wrong . When I look at a Split Timeline, I look at it as an easy way out for them to not go into depths I and others do to prove plausible points that all the LoZ’s co exist in the same and only one universe. If Nintendo took that official outlook on chronology of the overall timeline they would end up having there hands full in the future, eventually having one big mess than what they have now trying to fix the timeline today.

This is why I hate the Split Timeline theory. It blinds the easier/feasible, more understandable inductive reasoning on the whole layout of the storyline chronology. I also feel it will demise my dreams of the game becoming less epic in the since that LoZ will not refer to past famous Heroes in their storylines from an age long ago and so forth. Plus not adding more realistic myth and lore for the storyline producers to put in LoZ’s referring to other off end legends that give insight to older LoZ titles of the past.

The Linear Timeline however, how time works in the real world, is a more easily understood concept that History CAN be tracked within each of the LoZ’s to make chronicle order WITH stability towards it and little assumption IF you use my methods of inductive reasoning. In fact, here is one of my famous lines for all you theorist out there that have heard me say this too many times: “Your facts must always outweigh your assumptions.” lol.

Hopefully people will now understand my personal reasons and technical reasons for striving to enforce the Linear Timeline and my hateful resentment towards the principals the Split Timeline Theorist uphold.

My mission here is for the ZU site to adopt my timeline theory as their official one to put on the site. Until it’s acceptance is at majority level. I hope to propose an article myself with other expert theorist on the site to strengthen our cause. It seems now and days Master of ALttP, LionHarted, silver arrow, HeroOfTime5 and ZeldaGamer21 have enforced my will since I have been gone. I could not be more appreciative than I am now.

What sources do you use to prove your theories (besides the games)?

silver arrow: Manuals and logic.
Lionharted: Mostly the games, and the game manuals. I don’t like developer quotes, Zelda.com summaries, and so on, since they’re subject to change. True “canon” doesn’t change.
Master of ALttP: Lozzie, you know this! I’ll usually think outside the box, and even once on the box itself! Things such as developer statements aren’t worth a Rupee to me, so I don’t go by them at all. Developers will often change their minds on how they see their work. Now, unless they do have some valid points, then I’ll go by them. However, besides in-game text, I’ll go by the state of the Triforce, such as whether or not it’s whole and where the pieces are. I’ll also refer to the artwork, or art styles, of the games. They are far more useful than many may think, which is why I’ve been mocked for using them. By using the similar art styles of certain games, I can place them together so that the appearance of our heroes in green will be logical, and you won’t have ALttP-style going to TWW-style, and then into TP-style. It’s all very logical, and people need to learn to accept this. I’ll also take a look at the relics of Hyrule, or as you all call them, items. These are the mystical trinkets inside chests all over Hyrule that I was fascinated by when I was younger, and as we look at the games, they will have very similar items. These would be our Canes, Rods, and Pegasus Boots. Since technology advances over time, these similar tools must be grouped together to show that steady progression.
LOZ Historian: The sources I use our mainly derived from in-game textual references I get from Zelda Legends. I cannot say I use anything else but I do trust Anouma in directing the official timeline close to what I have in mind. I will have a thread explaining my reasoning once I catch up on other things before I directly show my face in the ZU forums again.

I will say that I do not look at Wikepedia as a good Zelda resource for researching correct info about Zelda history. Some of its resources do not match up with anything officially stated in the games or even referred in the game.

Sorry I do not use other resources in my theories. Comparing unrelated topics pertaining “believed” relevance to a Zelda theory is irrelevant and is too literal for LoZ usually. I believe anything else not pertaining to Zelda in its true blue form is minuscule facts that do not prove or disprove anything the person is trying to make a point in.

Do you really think the men in charge actually have a “true timeline”?

silver arrow: No. I believe they are making a timeline involving the OOT story and do not include the others. (but it’s fun to try to include them)
Lionharted: I think that the men in charge are trying to create a timeline with all future games–those from OoT onward. I’m not sure how they tie the older games into the series.
Master of ALttP: Absolutely not! I mean, I do practically worship Miyamoto for creating Hyrule and Aonuma for his intricate dungeons in Majora’s Mask, but I don’t think they have an exact idea of the placement of the games. In that controversial interview between a magazine (I think it was one…), Miyamoto, and Aonuma, Miyamoto said the timeline was even confusing to them. So, I don’t think they have an exact idea of how the games go, but they’re filling in the gaps very nicely! I really can’t wait for Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass, because who knows what they’ll explain for us!
LOZ Historian: Of course! They are working on one. Why do you people think Anouma has taken the role of producing the Zelda games? He’s making sure that the timeline starts to unfold correctly so the series has guideline references to refer to past LoZ’s! Why else would he state that TP was after OoT and then claim Zelda DS, (called at that time before named PH) a FS related LoZ. Thus later state it was a sequel to WW. The game developers our not only giving clues to unraveling the timeline in the overall saga by stating past LoZ in them but by involving game play factors shown in other past LoZ. For example. Look at how Link will have to collect Force Gems to complete a dugeon in PH. Where else has such important artifacts played significant roles other than the FS titled LoZ’s! And what about the Crystal switches, huh! See what I mean? They where used in the AlttP title and FS titles.

There is a definite timeline order that goes like this for shure:

OoT – (MM) – TP – WW – PH

Then you have the other little series believed in these common orders:

TMC – FS – FSA

ALttP – (LA) – OoS/OoA – (LA) – LoZ – AoL
Note: I officially believe Nintendo had LA an intended sequel to ALttP…

Many people believe that the FS titles do not apply to the overall timeline or that it comes all before OoT or intertwines within the definite Timeline stated above. They are wrong. I believe that putting them in either place disrupts the timeline and I don’t feel wrong in putting it after PH based on what I said earlier. The same for ALttP, LA, OoS/OoA, LoZ , AoL. I feel that Anouma took control of supervising the whole creation of FSA in order to make a plausible connection to ALttP, just like he may do with PH to the TMC back story. I have no doubts in my reasoning nor do my fellow expert theorist that have made theorems to back it up as well with in-game reference facts.

I sincerely believe that the timeline is going to be made in a linear track and Anouma will indeed be the one to complete such a much needed aspect towards the series overall. I will have a thread on such observations later when I have time to explain them more clearly.

What is the worst argument you had with someone over the timeline?

silver arrow: Worst as in deepest, or stupid? The deepest were my past arguments with LOZ H, while the stupidest are against people who don’t listen to proof.
Lionharted: Whether or not Ocarina details the events of the “Seal War” myth in the manual to A Link to the Past.
Master of ALttP: Well, here on ZU, it was between me, LionHarted, and about three guys who supported me. It was on the placement of the Imprisoning War, which I had a hunch couldn’t be Ocarina of Time. Of course, I did some research, got a translation, and did more research, and I started debating. However, LionHarted had far too many parallels between OoT and the Seal War (the Japanese name of the Imprisoning War) so he eventually persuaded me to side with him. However, call me crazy, but I think there may in fact be two Wars of Sealing, as I call them. One being OoT, and the other between FSA and ALttP.

Now, if you’re talking about the worst one ever, well… Quite recently, we’ve had someone from the GameFAQs board come to ZU and he started criticizing our timeline ideas, calling us primitive or something of the sort. So, I went over there to do some debating. Heh, you may not believe me on this one, but everybody over at GameFAQs believes in a dual timeline that splits at the end events of OoT. So, it’s basically just me and LexLionHart (LionHarted’s GameFAQs name) trying to dig ourselves out of the hole that we (okay, I) dug ourselves. Hopefully, this hole won’t end up being our grave.
LOZ Historian: Ha, ha, ha… Many of times in the old rookie days of theorizing, silver arrow and vacumgod were always at my throat and defeated me when my beliefs were quite different back then. In fact I have to thank vacumgod for some of the insight I took in after having two major attempted set up theory threads to back up my two different timelines in the past. I was devastated after my second major defeat that all my timeline supportive threads had not enough backbone to be overall accepted by other theorist at ZU. It was not until then that I changed my methods and started working with fellow friends in a joint effort to help spread support of a timeline. How ironic that two of my fierce competitors of the past have become my friends and allies!

But yes I have had some gruesome debates… In more radical times I had attempted to disprove the Split Timeline Theory altogether three times! And then it was always lord of shadow there to stare me down and test me. In each and every one of those threads I came to a stalemate with him. I never quite understood why he fought for a theory he even admitted he did not care about supporting then. I probably could never defeat him because I involved too much literal technicalities to disprove it. Which is now a big no go on my methods of expert theorizing today. I now know how to defeat that theory and that is to convert Split Timeline Theorist to Linear Timeline theorist by satisfying there over thought views on things by admitting the timeline splits but comes back into a joint paradox loop in the midst of time travel. And little mathematics are involved let alone minuscule matters to disprove the true duel timeline theory. I believe it was silver arrow and my Paradox Loop Timeline Theory we originally created, yes.

Speaking of that blasted theory, the most infamous, ruthless Split Timeline Theorist I can think of crossing is Wielder of the Sword. Absolutely a fierce competitor indeed. I never, and I mean NEVER came across a more radical hardcore Split Timeline Theorist holding strong here at ZU, ever! (Maybe he should join those guys over at Game FAQ’s with his buddies. lol.) I have to say he almost nearly tired me out and/or defeated me on default because I got tired of fighting him alone along time ago. (Thanks guys for never helping me. Yes, “YOU” dummies, the other great theorist out there that support my timeline.) That was an ugly crossing.

I believe I got in a hard-core fight with some other two guys that kept claiming there was no timeline at all, period. I remember that thread as if it were yesterday. I hate it when someone denounces such things. Their just plain ignorant and don’t really care about these matters that people like me appreciate. Quite frankly, I think they were wanting to here people rant with rage on the subject. Well congratulations. You may have made me look like an @ss but I’m still standing tall with three ZU awards. I big laugh on you, whoever “you two” idiots were…

What part of the timeline are you, and many, absolutely certain of being the most truthful?

silver arrow:OOT-MM-TP-TWW-PH
TMC-FS-FSA
ALTTP-LA-OOS-OOA
LOZ-AOL
These orders are without a doubt true. It’s connecting them that is the problem.
Lionharted: Besides the Ocarina-Wind Waker bloc, most of us are fairly certain that Four Swords Adventures comes not long before A Link to the Past.
Master of ALttP: Well, we actually know more of the timeline than many may think. In my research of the Triforce and other aspects of the games, I found that we know the exact placement of many games in relation to a few others. It was only a simple matter of putting these clusters in the right order, which the folks over at GameFAQs see as wrong because of their split in the timeline. But, as for the are I know to be the most truthful, it’d be the very beginning. This goes OoT, MM, TP, TWW, and PH. We know all that is fact, pretty much just because of how the games all relate to each other.
LOZ Historian: This is a question I already answered because I was getting excited earlier. This is the definite area of the timeline accepted by many others that make a timeline theory:

OoT – (MM) – TP – WW – PH

But I am so sure of my timeline that silver arrow and myself thought out is VERY solid. Look at Lion Harted’s and Master of ALttP’s numerous threads in the effort to support our common timeline belief with “steel” framework. I mean seriously! I know I briefly went through them all up to date but they have done a good job defending it. In fact The Paradox Loop part in my timeline was actually over thought and explained on to literal terms that weren’t necessary to back up by Lion Harted I thought when I read some of his agreements. However it’s basically how I envisioned writing some of my work if it was not for my busy summer I would have, but oh well.

Well what the hell am I too do? Jump up and down and say “Yay! The timeline is discovered!” No because that makes me look to prideful and big headed. In fact for all those that called me a timeline bigot or assumed I was some conceded jerk that thinks he’s write all the time, I am not. I have learned a lot form others and have implied change in my own methods of theorizing up to what I have become here at ZU now. Actually here’s a hint of humility I have for reader’s digest for you cocky people that bad talked me in the community here at ZU in the past. I work with a team of theorist that you will see work in a team joint effort undera code named group. In fact we are all passionate in working together to prove our timeline here. And take no more credit than under our own name. Sure I was the originator of the idea but I would not be mentioning it now or I would be considered being part of some colt here on ZU. So watch out! When I get back on my feet here at ZU I will be affiliated with my fellow theorists once were organized and ready to defend our site from Zelda Legends, Game FAQ and other site’s that oppose our popular beliefs.

What timeline do you currently preach?

silver arrow: The one in my sig (I made the timeline, LOZ H made the loop, which he did an excelent job thinking out)
Lionharted: A single-timeline theory, that says that all games follow the same path, starting with Ocarina. This includes Majora’s Mask.
Master of ALttP: Single linear timeline. I don’t see it possible that time could just split off in two because of small paradoxes that Nintendo failed to explain at the end of Ocarina of Time. I’m sure this will all be explained in Twilight Princess very well.
LOZ Historian:

What Timeline. The same timeline that has been advertised in my signature forever! Sheesh! It was until people ended up wanting to post that theory, that silver arrow and myself made, in their signatures like us. We started getting more and more support as we debated our points over and over again proving our timeline to be superior in others timeline threads. Some converted to our beliefs and some decided to give up, or be stubborn and not debate, or just rant on.

I claim that this is silver arrow and my timeline in both forms:

The original Linear Layout for Linear Timeline Theorist to follow:

OoT–(MM)–TP–WW–PH–TMC–FS–FSA–(Seal War)–ALttP–LA–OoS/OoA–LoZ -AoL

And the Paradox Loop Timeline Theory made by me to debate against Split Timeline Theorist!:

………………../ OoT
……………..OoT…..TP–WW–PH–TMC–FS–FSA–(Seal War)–ALttP–LA–OoS/OoA–LoZ–AoL
……………….._MM

The Paradox Loop Timeline Theory will be dubbed not under my creation but by the group of expert theorist, who I feel our the best, under our code name. In our team joint effort we hope to continue our theories to support our timeline from different angles until the site’s Webmaster chooses our timeline as the site’s official timeline.

Our timeline is but a highly updated version of the site’s current one and I extremely anticipate a way to have our timeline be the site’s newly updated one for the site. Only I see it worthy of such a height if it is supported by the majority of ZU theorist that have studied Master of ALttP, Lion Harted, and my work.

So, Lozzie… how about getting me an audience in the future and here us out when were good and ready?If you could change one thing about the games that would make the timeline easier to comprehend, what would it be and why?

silver arrow: Ganon would have been fully ressurected in the oracles and not destroyed. This would close the gap between the oracles and LOZ.
Lionharted: I would make the story arcs more distinct. For example, I would place the Four Swords saga in its own “timeline,” so-to-speak, to avoid confusion among gamers. But I’m not exactly in charge of that, am I?
Master of ALttP: There’d be giant text at the end of Ocarina of Time that states the timeline does not split, and A Link to the Past would say that Ocarina of Time is not the Seal War. Then I’d throw something into The Minish Cap that would contradict GameFAQs’ placement of it before Ocarina of Time. That’d solve all our problems. I’ve got everything else explained rather well.
LOZ Historian: I would never change the games themselves. However, if I could whack Miyamoto up side the head so he could care about the storyline and timeline of the Zelda series as much as Anouma expresses, that’s a different story! Lol! But no, seriously now. Nintendo needs to be is more neat and organized with the Zelda series. They should not have Capcom (Flagship) or any other producers make Zelda games unless they are highly supervised by Anouma and under his supervision. And what I mean by being more neat with the Zelda storylines is that all’s the story writers’ need to do is quote things relating directly to past LoZ’s. Giving name’s to Hyrule’s legendary heroes is a good idea and a game can give reference to them to hint what age we are playing in in Hyrule’s calendar. Very simple stuff like that would greatly help. But that’s the damn mystery of it all is what make’s this worth fighting for in my eyes.

What “trump cards” can you play at any time to prove a timeline theory wrong?

silver arrow: Simple things like the triforce’s location and whether Ganon should be alive or not. Most experienced theorists have similar timelines however and these things do not exist.
Lionharted: Proof?
Master of ALttP: Well, it really depends on the theory you’re debating against. Many “trump cards” are just simple little facts and quotes that are very easy to overlook. One of my personal favorites is the quote at the end of A Link to the Past, which states, “And the Master Sword sleeps again… Forever!” This means that no game having the Master Sword involved in the actual plot can take place after ALttP. However, because the Master Sword is just a bonus in Oracles and isn’t inherent to the plot in any way, the Oracle games can take place afterwards.
LOZ Historian: Well let’s see… That’s a long list now that I think about it but if you look back at my key points you should look at in Hyrule’s History before making a Zelda timeline I think you may get the idea of how I judge other people’s work.

But here is the main “trump cards” to prove a timeline theory wrong:

1.If you have little support behind the reasoning of your timeline, it’s not strong and the debate on it will result in les than 10 – 15 posts with me.

2.If you insist that ALttP comes before WW and after OoT you’re completely in the dark and you’ll make Master of ALttP roll in his grave when he dies. ALttP does not come right after OoT. I have had numerous extensive threads in the past to prove that it was before WW, but realized it was absolutely not so after researching more. That was before I had my head on straight.

3.I hate it when people put TMC before OoT and claim the Light Force is a part of the Triforce. OoT make a perfectly clear reference that the Triforce laid undisturbed in the Sacred Realm since creation. It was not until Ganondorf came along and obtained it for the first time and the Triforce was in the world of Hyrule. And further more the back-story of TMC refers to a foreboding evil that swept the lands but refers to no known cause of that particular evil in the world. Ganon is always the suspect, but according to the recent interviews about PH, it was stated that in PH, Ganon would not appear in this title but his influence above in the Great Sea world, left over an evil essences… which explains the unknown cause of evil threatening Hyrule during the TMC back story. I know that Anouma’s statement very well about how (TMC) FS was the oldest LoZ, but he may have men’t in the new Hyrule at the time he had his timeline plan drawn out possibly.

4.Proof that ALttP comes after WW and gives reference of Ancient Hyrule. ALttP makes reference in the game about how their was a specific age called “The Age of the Hylians” Mentioned by the old woman at Sharshala’s house. She specifically speaks of how these Hylians created magical artifacts, the Master Sword, one of them. This is indeed the same sword of Evil’s bane and it appears in possibly the same Hyrule, but reborn. ALttP also refers to race of Hylians in past tense and have long gone and died out. Rather it seems they are nothing more than myth and legend while spoken of briefly in ALttP, giving proof that they disappeared in large numbers long ago. During the Great Flood I presume. (Yet a look upon Hyrule’s Age’s and history of it’s people…)

5.Saying that the LoZ is the first LoZ is wrong. You are an idiot for saying that if you cross me. It was the first LoZ,, but it coming before OoT is just dumb and is a noob mistake. I hardly see such stupidity any more though but old fan boys out there seize to amaze me sometimes.

6.If you believe the Oracle LoZ’s are connected to OoT closely you are wrong. The Triforce was controlled and concealed under care of the Royal Family then and the only time in Hyrule’s History where the Triforce ever got in the Castle in the first place was after ALttP when Link brought the Triforce back to Hyrule with him. And also the mentioning of the King of Hyrule using the Triforce to govern the land in the back-story of the LoZ and AoL proves to come after ALttP when there was a King governing Hyrule. Those games come closely knitted together based on the strict placement and state of the Triforce in Royal Family’s care.

7.And my personal and most favorite weapon I love to use on those dog gone Split Timeline Theorist… The Paradox Loop Timeline Theory!!!

Unfortunately, the Majora’s Mask Manga doesn’t quite reach those heights.

First things first- it does start out well. Instead of just jumping in and showing Link riding Epona through the woods near Termina, it has a lengthy chapter that explains more about what Link’s been doing after Ocarina of Time, where he comes to meet an old friend at a Training Ground. After that it finally goes in the direction where the game went, when he meets the Skullkid, gets turned into a Deku, and all that.

Things continue on well enough, with a fun visit to Clock Town, and an enjoyable chapter about his quest in the Southern Swamp. However, after that, things start to go down a completely different avenue.

It’s very apparent what the problem is; it’s trying to tell too much. The adventures that Link goes on in Majora’s Mask are rather in depth, and provide a lot of content, and yet the Manga attempts to put all of these events into seventeen page chapters. Seriously, that’s all that’s given to each part. Well, okay, the stories for Snowhead and the Great Bay are given one chapter each, Ikana gets about three pages. That’s right; Link doesn’t go through Ikana Valley, the Ikana Castle, or the Stone tower, it just skips right ahead to the middle of his battle with Twinmold. There’s too much in this story for only nine chapters to hold.

This lack of attention to the search for the Four Giants may be because of such added occurrences like the one from the beginning of the story, or that there’s an entire chapter devoted to the relationship of Anju and Kafei, and how they dealt with the Skull Kid. True, that’s definitely one of the greatest side-quests to ever be found in a Zelda game, and though it’s done well enough in the Manga, if it’s taking using up space that could’ve been used for longer, better action sequences or more focus on Link’s travels, it’s not a good thing.

Despite all this, Majora’s Mask does have some good in it, especially in the artwork department. The story inside may be mediocre, but it’s a joy to look at, that’s for sure. It’s not a surprise, though, seeing as how it was made by the very talented artists that gave us Ocarina of Time. In fact, it might actually be even better than the Ocarina of Time’s imagery.

Similar to the Manga before it, Majora’s Mask brings a chapter-long episode after the story is concluded. This extra saga is a completely new and original tale that shows how the demonic mask was created. Though it’s not cannon, and is purely fan fiction, it’s a very intriguing myth. But it may not be for everyone, as it’s basically a very long conversation between a lone wanderer and a terrible beast. “All talk, no action” is the perfect way to describe it.

Unlike in the video game, where there was a very common feeling of dread and severity while Link fought as an adult, the Manga doesn’t make everything seem so doom and gloom. Though Hyrule is still suffering under Ganondorf’s tyranny, it’s done in a way so that we only see moderate amounts of it, and that some areas still have some life to them. It’s somewhat of a big change from what was seen in the original story, but in the end it turns out to be a good choice on the part of the creators. This way, the reader doesn’t feel like the tale is grim 24/7.

Also, another major difference seen in the Manga adaptation is Shiek’s role in the story. In the game, he only showed up when Link would first discover a new dungeon, give a deep, mysterious speech and teach him a song before bolting. Here, Shiek is actually working with Ganondorf, but only to learn of his plans and try to protect Link. Furthermore, he appears much more often, and in other scenes than just greeting the Hero of Time. Sometimes you’ll see him speaking with Ganondorf, other times you’ll see him tracking Link throughout his travels, and towards the end, he ends up fighting alongside Link as they make their way through the Desert Wasteland.

Now, this may lead you to think that because of this, there’s more attention put towards the battles with the bosses. Unfortunately, the Adult Chapters features a few poor enemy encounters. Some, like the fights with Phantom Ganon, Volvagia and Twinrova feel rushed and lack a lot of action. Then there are a couple, notably with Morpha, that are just plain short. Morpha probably doesn’t appear for six panels. Luckily, it’s not all bad; there are enough sequences to give you a good dose of exciting combat. Most extraordinary of these brawls are the battles with Ganondorf, and the duel between Link and Dark Link. There’s some outstanding sword fighting to be found there.

In terms of the storyline, it’s mostly what was found in the game, with a few additions here and there to up the drama a bit. For example, during Link’s return to Death Mountain, he squares off with Volvagia on two separate occasions, but that’s hardly the highlight of the section. Instead, there’s a flashback to Link’s childhood that tells a short story about him buying a baby dragon from a store that kept him cooped up in a cage. The little creature doesn’t instantly take a liking to the Hylian boy, though he soon starts to follow him and Navi. After saving Link from a gang of Stalchilds, the dragon and Link become good friends. The creature turns out to be Volvagia, corrupted by Ganondorf, and now an older, matured Link must kill his former pal.

Then there’s an interesting chapter about the Hero of Time visiting Lon Lon Ranch once again, which helps to break up the action from central plot (just as it was done in the Child Chapters). While there, Link does things a bit differently from the game; instead of just racing Ingo for ownership of Epona, he competes alongside Malon in a melee with Gerudo warriors, and has to cut the source of power that Twinrova is using to possess Ingo. It’s a rather fun little event that has one of the more exciting scuffles.

Still, as weird as it is, it’s nothing that completely drags the comic down. Besides that goof, the rest of the story progresses well, and we get to see just as much character interaction as there was in the Child Chapters. If anything, the Adult Chapters has even more development for Link, and the way Shiek evolves is quite interesting. And just like the first part of Ocarina of Time, you may just want to read this comic simply because of how beautiful the artwork is. Everything is drawn very well, keeping the Zelda feel to it but keeping a distinct Manga image. You’ll notice this particularly in characters like Link, Zelda and Malon, whose grown-up forms are truly striking.

When it comes down to it, the Adult Chapters is a great Manga to read, whether you’re a hardcore Zelda fan or not. While it bears an unexpected flaw in the storyline, and has a couple of weak action scenes, it’s still a very quality comic. Truth be told, the Ocarina of Time Manga as a whole is a very quality comic. Whether you’re a pure Zelda fan, or a casual Zelda fan, check it out; it’s that good.

Ocarina of Time is split into the Child Chapters, and the Adult Chapters just as the game was. Like other Mangas for the series, it keeps most of the storyline from the game intact, while adding or removing a few things and editing a couple sequences. Overall, it does a fantastic job of this, almost everything you remember from playing as Young Link will appear in the panels.

The other thing about the flow of events that works very well is that the story isn’t just about Link going from dungeon to dungeon. In the middle of his travels for the Spiritual Stones, he spends a deal of time interacting with other people in several different locations of Hyrule. This includes incidents familiar to the game such as his trip to Lon Lon Ranch, and meetings with Kaepora Gaebora, as well as some new happenings that include Link’s extensive visit to Hyrule Castle Town alongside Zelda. It really helps make the reader feel like they’re reading about Ocarina of Time, because they’ll recognize a lot of these moments from the game. They also add some variety to the story, thus keeping it from becoming the same thing over and over. And based on how likeable all the characters are, chances say that you’ll enjoy the scenes simply to see the cast at work.

Now, it is true that the focus on these scenes probably made the adventures on Death Mountain and in Zora’s Domain feel a bit short, but it’s not a serious hindrance at all. What is disappointing, on the other hand, is how brief some of the battles are. Being six chapters long, the Child Manga contains only four or five fights, and two that you think would be rather important, those being the encounters with King Dodongo and Barinade, come out feeling rushed. They barely appear for a couple pages, and there’s not as much fighting in them as there is Link and the others with him just trying to survive the attacks. Still, they’re worth reading purely because of how hilarious they are; you’ll never forget the some of the hysterical facial expressions the characters show.

The one for the Child Chapters is the longest, spanning two chapters. It depicts a story about the young Kokiri preparing for an important festival that they celebrate with the fairies and the Deku Tree. While making props for their theater-production, Link’s mask is stolen by someone who’s run off into the Lost Woods, and in order to prove his bravery to Mido, he chases after the thief. Soon Saria follows behind, and eventually Mido and his pals do the same, but before long they find themselves in trouble with the villainous Bagu Tree (a tree corrupted by an evil bug) and the monsters of the forest.

It’s an extremely enjoyable little story that brings out the very best of the relationships between Link, Mido, and Saria, probably the most interesting characters of Link’s childhood. We’re also introduced to someone who was ignored in the main plot, that being the Skull Kid, and he ends up playing a major role throughout the events, much bigger than anything found in the game.

Rating- 4 out of 5 Hearts

Back a few years ago, Zelda Universe was the only site on the web to receive what might be one of the most amusing video game comics out there- “Hyrularity”. Drawn by MissKari and written by Eric “Veedeo”, it was a comedy strip based off the Zelda series, which had Link on an ‘epic quest’ for milk. Along with his Rito-pal Lindy, Link traveled to find the dairy product, all the while meeting new, goofy characters and getting himself into crazy, but hilarious situations. The story’s separated into six chapters, each of which only contain around five to six pages. Regardless of the short-length, Hyrularity’s a gem among fan-comics.The art style’s very cartoon-like, and that fits for a comedy-driven plot. What’s even better is that visuals are obviously inspired from the art of the Wind Waker, which, at the time the comic was being made, was the new Zelda game on the block and was growing in popularity. It was a very good choice, because the result is an art-style that fits the story perfectly. Wind Waker, with its cartoonish cel-shaded graphics, felt less serious than other titles like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, so its imagery is simply ideal for Hyrularity, which was made for gags.And the gags are pretty good. The comic knows its audience; Zelda fans, and video game enthusiasts. Because of this, someone with little to no knowledge of the series probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much, but those that have played the games over the years, and know the basics of the video game world will definitely get a chuckle out of the jokes. Anyone who’s been on the web often or has followed Nintendo will understand the meaning of the stubborn fanboys that make fun of Link for looking like a kid, and not like Adult Link, or when an annoying Fairy nearly drives Link insane.

One of the best parts of the humor are the cameos that are thrown into the story. For example, there’s an image that has Link drawn like Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, and a Nintendo executive eventually comes in to try and censor a battle scene with the ESRB Mature rating logo. Like the rest of the comedy for the story, these cameos come from the Zelda series and the rest of gaming world. Luckily, they don’t go beyond anything a normal Nintendo fan wouldn’t know about, so most readers will understand the gag that’s based around them.Hyrularity was a big hit with the site, and it still remains to be read by new visitors every day. The number of views for each chapter is in the thousands, which is pretty amazing, considering that it was produced over three years ago. Back then, when it was new and fresh, Hyrularity had its own set of avatars that could be used by any registered member on the message board. They mostly consisted of pictures of the characters, and at that, mostly head shots of Link. A lot of users put them up as their icon, truly showing just how much the Zelda Universe members appreciated the comic.

Sadly, the story was never finished, as MissKari and Veedeo apparently did not have the time to continue it. It’s rather unfortunate, too, because of just how well it was received from the fans that visited the site. And that shouldn’t be surprising, as this is a comic that shows that its creators put a lot of effort into it. The art is very colorful and well-drawn, and the writing for it is very funny, especially for whom it’s trying to appeal to. This certainly wasn’t a slapdash job, not in the least.Making people laugh isn’t as easy as everyone thinks. At least, creating solid comedy isn’t as easy as everyone thinks. And yet, Hyrularity comes out as a comic with a lot of variety in its humor, thus making a story that should be enjoyed by any Zelda fan. It’s one of the few fan-creations out there that really has amazing quality.

Like all of the Legend of Zelda Manga or comics, the story keeps the main plot from the game; Agahnim is up to no good and kidnaps Zelda, Link has to find the Master Sword and Sacred Pendants and free the Wise Maidens to save her, and then stop Ganon from sending Hyrule into darkness. It ends up becoming very much like most of the Zelda titles, where for most of the story Link is journeying across Hyrule to save someone or find some new item. There’s no doubt that this feels a very simple for a story at times, but because of the common appearances from characters other than Link, there’s a lot of plot-progression and character development throughout it.

The plot’s pretty simple, but it works

When the story begins, we already see a problem that would come up very often in the entire comic; goofy character artwork. The first moment that we see Link, he looks as if he’s nine years old, when we already know that he’s somewhere in his teens. Then when he puts on the famous green cap, which in this comic looks like a really bad bed-hat, he looks even worse. What more could go wrong?

Well, the problem is that, even though Isinomori shows some really beautiful artworks at times, his characters often sport the bugged-out anime eyes and anime expressions. Now, I love anime, but it’s overdone in this comic, especially at inopportune times. I’d say that for more than half of the story, Link’s eyes are bulging and he’s got some freaked-out look on his face. Pretty much whenever he gets hit in a fight, he takes it like it’s some silly Saturday morning cartoon. I can understand that a Zelda story is supposed to have humor in it, but after the first chapter or two, you’ll really get sick of seeing the hero act as if his entire adventure’s a joke.

Link is goofy to the point of aggravating

One thing that also works for the cast is their dialogue. While it’s nothing noteworthy and in the end sounds like the script from a generic fantasy adventure, it sounds right, considering that the comic is like a generic fantasy adventure. The characters’ personalities and roles in the story go hand in hand with what they say.

Another thing that makes the story good, and what makes it worthy of being read, are the fights. In every single chapter, there is at least one action scene. For the most part, they’re pretty fun, with lots of conflict in them. Like all of the Zelda comics, the battles are brief, but I actually think that works well for them, because then they don’t drag out and get boring or repetitive. Long scuffles can be good, but when the movement and attacks become the same thing over and over, it just isn’t enjoyable to read.

You can count on this comic to provide a lot of fun fights

A lot of enemies from the game make an appearance

Why other things in the book are so detailed and look so great, and Ganon doesn’t, makes no sense to me. This was our main enemy, the biggest threat in the story, and he has no detail or special visuals about him. I mean, I don’t hate Pig-Ganon, I love the look he had in the actual A Link to the Past game, and I adore the official art of him from the Oracle titles, but in here, there’s nothing eye-pleasing about him.

It may surprise you, after seeing the rating I gave this comic, and all the negative criticism that I’ve written, that I really enjoyed reading it. When I first started visiting ZU three years ago, it was one of the first things I looked at on the site, and I loved it. A year or so ago, I read through it again, and I loved it. Then when I read it a week ago to prepare for writing this review, I loved every minute of it yet again. It’s a fun, exciting adventure based off one of the best games in the Zelda series.

It certainly doesn’t have the quality of other Zelda comics, and I do indeed prefer its Manga counterpart- “Triforce of the Gods”, but I liked this one, and if you can ignore a couple plot holes and sometimes goofy artwork, then you should as well.

In the end, it’s an enjoyable read, for sure

Here we have ZU’s version of the Roundtable transcript. I say “ZU’s version” because I went through and “prettified” it all myself, rather than posting a chatlog, and leaving it be. For the sake of simplicity, All the participants, and their websites are listed first, and then from there, it is only shown by their name. There’s a handy Table of Contents on this for easier viewing.

Here’s the list of participants, in order of appearance, less the friendly neighborhood Question Asker Guy:

GoddessRinoa: Absolutely. For me, it’s more about meeting people and building relationships. I love the ZIers with all my heart. If we were all in one city, we’d be inseperable best friends. Getting to know all of these people I’ve met in the last six years has really had an impact on my life.

Jack: Personally, working on TDC has made me a bit more competent with the hidden minutiae of the internet (HTML, PHP, the like) which I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Great resume stuffers!

JC: Building a Zelda site has definately opened my eyes to new things. I’ve learned many new tasks, and it has definately re-shaped my life. It forced me to become a more mature, smarter, and technically-able person. This was something I’ve always wanted to do since I saw my very first Zelda sites which were Ganon’s tower, Zelda Legends, Zelda Universe, and the Original ZHQ.

Scott: I find being a webmaster to be very ‘enriching’… it certainly doesn’t help my wallet, much. Most of the things for “enrichment” are purely technical… I knew basically nothing about all the web coding things before. And there is the community aspect, with managint the forums, and keeping the moderators and the community at large happy. It is quite an experience. Often stressful, too, but I like it.

Lord of Shadow: What motivates me to do what I do? I’ve thought on this question before, and it’s a relatively difficult one, but in the end, I think that I do it for the community. I love seeing people reactions when they read my articles and enjoy them. I love it when people get to know me because they visit my site regularly. I love interacting with other fans and spreading everything Zelda, in other words. And I love attention, heh.

Link of Hyrule: Making a Zelda site has both given me skills (learning coding, managing content etc). Learning such abilities will I am sure help me in future life. However I would have to say that these things come second fiddle to the friendships and contacts I have made, this as many webbiesw will agree is the most rewarding part of working on Zelda website.

Lysia: What motivates me? The fans. I spend a lot of time on my site posting fan works, and their excitement at seeing their work online is what gives me motivation. Especially for those fans who wouldn’t know how to make a website of their own.

MNGoldenEagle: I never thought I would end up creating a Zelda community, but I’ve never regretted it. It’s given me a chance to meet some incredible, fun people, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. I just wish I knew some of the other webmasters here better!

Nathan: It has been very enriching indeed. I have gained many friends and learned a lot about myself. I have been doing the Zelda site thing for 7 years, and in that time I have come to love the community and engross myself further into the zelda series then I thought I ever would.

The Real Link: Its been fun covering all of the areas of the Nintendo Universe including Zelda and keeping it real playing and supporting Nintendo. I also enjoy writing the content and helping other Nintendo fans. I have also made many friends through this including the staff who I really have come to appreciate for all of their help and friendship.

Archaic Sage: Working on a Zelda site has enriched me in many ways. It’s led me to open up a passion for talking about Zelda, in more ways than I’d've imagined before entering the online world. It’s also allowed me to learn how to code in HTML, from early on I’ve been a firm believer of knowing HTML, which was thankfully installed in me from many places, Lysia being one of them. Websites are now a part of who I am, and I’m happy to be a member of them. The fans are what makes my site. The community that I’m a member of I feel that I’m here to serve, in the only ways that I know how.

TSA: I’ve learned what it takes to run a community. It’s a lot harder than I thought. You get to see a lot of wonderful things as a webmaster, you get a chance to create pretty good content and stuff for fans. However, you learn you can’t please everyone, and you get a glimpse into the dark side of some people, perhaps even yourself. But, you get involved in something, it’s pretty awesome. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Captain Cornflake: Even though VGRC isn’t a Zelda site, I’d just like to add in my two cents. It’s been a fun project. It’s not exactly the most popular place out there, but we all enjoy the frequent compliments we get, and attention (as small as it may be) from publishers and high traffic places like Digg. Makes us feel like something has been accomplished.

Lord of Shadow: As I said, it’s the community that motivates me. I’ve been a member of the overall Zelda community for years now, and I have seen sites from the view of fan, reader, staff, and webmaster. When I was younger, I practically idolized these big important webmasters. Knowing that now, I am in that position, and that there are younger fans out there that look at me in the same way… it is a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Scott: I didn’t start ZU, so I can’t say I feel special for creating some big community, I just joined it one day out of boredom, mostly… bit it was certainly cool (for me) to go from being a random member to being the webmaster of one of the largest Zelda sites out there… I’m not some prodigy when it comes to Zelda; TSA & l-o-s have that market cornered, I’m not all that good when it comes to coding and graphics. I’m just a guy, who does stuff. Moral of the story, anybody can do it, if they really want.

The Real Link: I have also loved leaning all that I have about webdesign. Its been great and I really hope to continue learning and keeping the other Nintendo fans informed.

JC: When it comes to the Zelda Community, you don’t need to be a important webmaster. Zelda is a world where you can be your own self. The Zelda Community is a place where you can freely build a website that reflects your expressions of the Zelda series. The Zelda Community is a land of opprotunity. Done.

I think that it probably has something to do with the ages we begin to play the Zelda games. My first Zelda game was Link’s Awakening, for the old colorless brick that was the original Gameboy. Even now, merely hearing the name or the music from an old GB game that I’ve played and replayed is enough to unleash quite an impressive flood of nostalgia.

Nostalgia. Now there’s an interesting feeling, and one I’ve always enjoyed. I think that it is quite close to the feeling that the Zelda games have always inspired in me, though it is not it exactly. When I first played through the Wind Waker, almost two years ago now, the first few hours of the game was pure bliss. That was before the flaws began to make themselves apparent, though that is another issue entirely. I did notice that those hours of “bliss”, when the game felt radiated pure Zelda, felt very similar to a nostalgia trip. Perhaps the coveted Zelda feeling is merely intense nostalgia… But no, that can’t be.

I got Link’s Awakening when I was young. I don’t remember the exact age, but I couldn’t have been older then six. An impressionable age, something most of these Zelda fans I’ve met were at when they were introduced to the series.

It was the first game of it’s type that I had ever played. In fact, nothing I had played prior had been even remotely like it (and very few things since, heh). The wonderful feeling of exploring, the feeling that I was a young swordsman trapped on a mystical island, pervaded the entire gameplay experience. And there was no doubt that the world I had stumbled into – a strange place where giant eggs crowned mountains, where songs held magic and the music was wonderful, where elven heroes vanquished Nightmares with their plethora of interesting tools – was mystical, and mysteriousness.

This sense of youthful, innocent exploration, of being a hero that traveled through unknown lands and beheld strange sights and sounds, is the cause of the love that it’s fans hold for the Zelda series. There are few things in this world that can compare to that feeling, a feeling that the Zelda series can invoke in even it’s older followers.

Were you to ask me what the absolute best moments of my life are, I would probably start with the usual stuff – Christmas mornings, family trips, wonderful friends – but I would very quickly take an unusual turn. I would mention the absolute awe I felt when I first beheld the beautiful fields of Hyrule when I first saw Ocarina of Time, or the bittersweet ending of Link’s Awakening, or the sense of wonder and adventure I felt as I played through A Link to the Past.

The ending of Ocarina of Time, when it is just you, the monster, in a ring of fire on a floating island above a lake of lava, fighting for the fate of yourself, the princess, and the world, is still one of the greatest moments in video games, I feel. The sense of mystery, the almost ethereal sense of a dreamlike reality within the misty confines of Koholint Island, in Link’s Awakening, is still the best atmosphere I have ever seen in any game, movie, or story.

Who wasn’t stunned when, in A Link to the Past, they trudged through Hyrule, collected the Pendants of Virtue, and defeated Agahnim… only to be drawn into the Dark World, and appear on top of the Pyramid of Power, with the blood-red sunset in the distance? It was predictable, but still stunning.

For those of you who do not yet grasp the power of these experiences within the world of Zelda, let me give you an example: I own every Zelda game, have spent hundreds of hours playing the series, even more time writing about or discussing it. I’ve probably written a couple thousand pages on the series over the course of the last three years, at the very least. My writing skills, which I now hope to use in a job sometime in my future, saw most of their development within a Zelda role-playing forum. I have Zelda posters on my walls, and am a huge fan of the Zelda series. I have dedicated almost my entire life to the video game industry, in some way or another.

And I believe that a large part of the blame lies on four games – just four -that exhibited that Zelda feeling. They surely don’t deserve the blame, exclusively, but they get a lot of it nonetheless.

“Only four games?” That might be what some of you are thinking, and sadly, it is true. Perhaps it is due to me growing up, but I have found that the Zelda series is losing that magic.

A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, and Ocarina of Time possess it in abundance. It is no coincidence that they are my three favorite games. I never felt it at all in the two NES games, probably because by the time I played them they were very aged, and did not match modern standards at all. I know from talking to others that they possessed it for some, however, and it saddens me to have missed it.

Majora’s Mask lacked it, but it possessed something different, something very unique – but that’s the subject for another article.

The Oracles, despite being great games in all categories, lacked it. They lacked the intangible quality, whatever it may be, that makes Zelda games feel like Zelda. I don’t know whether to blame this lack on the fact that it was developed by Capcom rather then EAD, or on the fact that the series is losing it’s touch. I tend to think it’s a combination of both, really.

The two Four Swords games were such radical departures from the series that it was impossible for them to have this feeling, I thought. I was right.

That leaves the Wind Waker, and future incarnations of the series. As I have mentioned… I felt it in the Wind Waker. Oh yes, I most certainly did. The first few hours of that game? Pure bliss. It felt like LA, or LttP, or OoT all over again. I was ready to declare it the greatest thing since – no, greater than sliced bread. But, somehow the game lost hold of it, and the rest of the game was more normal. I am still saddened by what might have been.

As for the Minish Cap, the upcoming GBA incarnation, and the new GC game… well. I have been avoiding too many spoilers for the Minish Cap, since it detracts from the sense of exploring the unknown, but I am holding out hope. The same goes for the new GC game.

Ah, but sitting back and holding out hope can be quite boring. Fans always have their own ideas of where a series should go, and what makes their favorite games good. I am certainly no exception, and for the Zelda series, I would go to great lengths to think of new ideas.

The Magic, the Wonder, the Future – of Zelda

How many of you enjoyed playing through the vast Hyrule field, from Ocarina of Time? I know I did. I know that I had never before seen a large 3D plain, complete with hills, roads, fences, a complete day night system, and a beautiful cycle for the sun. It was a wonderful thing to find in a game, a feeling of scope, of a large world. I have yet to find another game that accomplishes that so well.

Yet in retrospect, even when clouded by the rose-tinted glass of nostalgia and the game’s illusion of a vast realm, the game’s world was incredibly small. There was a single forest, a single desert, a single castle, a single ranch, a single village, a single mountain, a single lake, and a single hidden lagoon. That should not be. All but one of the Zelda games have been the same, really.

It would be quite nice if, in this upcoming GC game, they included a larger world. Remember the Adventure of Link? The game’s scope, though limited by the NES hardware and the way they had the overworld work, was large. There were many towns, many forests, and many places to go. I want to see that again, only without the limits of the NES or the other aspects of AoL.

I want them to recreate the sort of overworlds they had in the old 2D games, in 3D. In a Link to the Past or Link’s Awakening, every screen was different. Rather then a large, repetitive field or ocean, they should have a varied overworld, filled with valleys, rocks, stands of trees, roads, the odd hermit or two, a house here, a tent and campfire there. They need an overworld that seems alive, one filled with activity. In the 2D games, every screen had enemies or something to do. Due in large part to that, the overworlds seemed active, alive, like they were part of a living breathing world.

But that wouldn’t work as well in 3D… the constant fighting might get annoying. They would have to do something different. Maybe make travelers, or bands of enemies, or just make more interesting and varied sights. A brook and waterfall there, someone’s tree-house there, a band of moblins around their campfire there…

There is another major hindrance to the feeling of a living, breathing overworld… well-defined areas. In all Zelda games, and as far as I know, all games period, you always know that you’re in a specific area. You’re in that town. That forest. That desert. They would have rock walls or walls of trees or buildings blocking ways. There are always clearly defined entry-points for areas.

I would like to do away with that entirely. I should hope that most of you have played the Wind Waker. If you have, you will have noticed that such boundaries did not exist. You can take the boat, and arrive at any island from any direction; it’s all part of one vast world. But it was still hindered by the fact that they are islands, and therefore have another sort of separation.

On a land-based game, it would be different. Instead of going through a little pathway through some cliff and ending up in another area… the overworld, the forests, the lakes and rivers and towns… everything should intermingle. Set boundaries should be done away with completely. You should be able to enter into the outskirts of a town from the forest that grows right up to it, or from the field, or from any direction, rather then sticking to two or three set entrances.

Of course, boundaries are necessary to keep players from going into areas they should not yet be in. The developers would have to find creative ways to enforce invisible, intangible boundaries. I’m sure they could, they’ve proven themselves in the past.

An important thing would be forests… in most games, forests are basically just paths you can’t walk out of, and the trees that lines the edges. Why is that? It’s quite ridiculous, really. It hinders the feeling of actually being within a forest. There should be trees spread through a wide area, and you can walk between and around the individual trees. It should be more like a shadowed, cluttered “field” then the forests we currently have. And there’s no reason why forests shouldn’t have the same sort of ravines, valleys and everything else that I want in the main overworld.

I want to travel through a gorge, fight a small band of roving moblins, find a cave with a hermit in it (a la LoZ or LttP), then climb out of the gorge to be greeted by a beautiful sunset, rising over the vast world, with a forest and a town there. No big cliffs or boundaries blocking my view.

And you’ve all seen a little bit of the new horse-back fighting system, or at least I should hope so. No details yet, but I would think that such a vast world would accommodate horse-back travel and fighting perfectly.

And annoying as it may have been, there is no doubt that the sailing in the Wind Waker started out fun, and had vast potential. I want a land-based game, for the most part, but… There is no reason why we couldn’t have multiple continents, or a big ocean off to the side, or a game taking place on a string of large islands, like a combination of Link’s Awakening and the Wind Waker.

The sailing was marred by many things. Most importantly, it was boring once the novelty wore off. The ocean is a cool place, but it is… monotonous. They would need to mix it up some. Give you larger or multiple boats, turn the treasure hunting into a more complex and engaging system. Allow you to upgrade your ship, and even have enemy ships, full-size large ships which you can board and fight it’s crew hand-to-hand.

In The Wind Waker, I had the most fun sailing when the waves were big, and you felt like a small child, lost in a vast, angry ocean – exactly what you, or more precisely, Link, was. They should replicate that more often, giving full storms, waves, lightening, what have you.

With that sort of stuff, they would be taking an important step towards undoing the monotony of the Wind Waker’s sailing.

And I mentioned storms, did I not? Why limit the world to what I’ve described? Give it a weather system, and an important one! We’ve seen things like rain, snow, and storms in games before, and they’ve even affected gameplay… but we’ve never seen anything like that in a 3D adventure game.

And why stop with weather systems? It would be very hard work for the developers, but I think a seasonal system could work as well. If a game has weather, a day/night cycle, and such a vast world, different seasons are the natural progression. The Lost Woods are always cool, even beautiful, places in the Zelda games… but imagine seeing them in autumn, when their leaves turn to fantastic different colors, or winter, when the leaves fall and leave you standing in a hibernating forest.

For those of you who have yet to understand, I think I know how to halt and reverse the steady drop in the “Zelda magic” that I spoke of earlier in this article. The essence of Zelda, as I see it, lies not in it’s story, not in it’s characters or art style, but in it’s sense of exploration. And how do you help a feeling of exploration grow? Why, you feed it, of course. Feed it with nooks and crannies, caves, variation, change, characters, places to explore and things to see. Many developers, I think, have some slight grasp of this… but they don’t know how to go about it correctly. Endless sidequests or things to collect are not the way. You need to through variations, new and interesting things, new sights to see and people to meet. You need a vast world, one like the one I have described.

Of course, cool places and dungeon themes help a great deal. We’ve had dungeons based on sunlight, on water flow, on lava, on forests, on water. We’ve had floating islands, clouds, the bellies of fish, and the hollow interior of enormous eggs. But there is far more. Even to reuse some of these ideas in a 3D game would be fantastic.

I can honestly say that the Ikana Tower Temple, from Majora’s Mask, is the coolest place I have ever, ever, seen. Normal, commonly themed places are cool, but again, variation is the way to go. Even what seems like a slight new twist to the same theme can make a huge difference. Look at the Forest Temple from OoT and then the Woodfall Temple from MM. They’re both forest themed, but with a few slight changes, they are completely different experiences. Any common theme, with a few minor adjustments, or a combination of them, can lead to something amazing or new.

But I’m forgetting something of importance, aren’t I? The story, perhaps? Now I’m not going to lay out some exact story that I want – that would just be a waste of time. I’m always rather annoyed, in a mild sort of way, when someone tries to pass some glorified fan fiction as what they want for a story in future Zelda games. But there are some important things. The most important of which, and something that ties in with the Zelda feeling that I have described, is this: in all the Zelda games, even those where he is an “adult”, Link is still young. Young, innocent, untested. I mentioned how, even for the oldest fans, that sense of exploration, of seeing new things for the first time, is a way of feeling like an innocent young kid again. Link and his circumstances are integral to that, as is the overall atmosphere of the game.

If you make Link a battle-hardened warrior or something, and stick him in a violent or gory game… well, you’ll lose that sense, and the essence of Zelda will go with it. That would destroy the Zelda series, totally and completely. It is the absolute worst thing that could happen to it. Link always has been and must always be an untested, innocent teenager or child.

On a different note, how many of you truly appreciated the possibilities and complexity of MM’s bomber’s notebook thing, combined with the 3-day time cycle? Not many, I am willing to bet. It took me awhile to truly grasp it, and I highly doubt there are many people who put as much thought into the Zelda series as I do. Whether that’s complimentary to me… well, I’m proud of it at least, heh.

But yes. A system like that allowed for truly structured lives for it’s characters. They all had schedules, events, dangers and loves. The continuous repeating 3-day cycle allowed you to deeply delve into the complex (for a video game) lives of any and every character in the game. That is… unparalleled, really. No other game can compete with that, in the living breathing world aspect. I am really rather disappointed that nobody else in the video game industry has taken this under-appreciated and – dare I say it? – revolutionary idea and done something with it. Well, with so many other wonderful, complex ideas in one game, what’s wrong with one more? So yes, I would like to see this, or some variations of it, in a Zelda game again. I think that, of all the ideas I have seen since the midway cycle of the N64’s lifetime, it has by far the most potential. I do not understand why nobody else really grasps this.

In conclusion… many people think that gaming has grown stale, that most innovations are done with, that revolutions and new ideas are impossible, used up… but they are wrong. There is a wealth of untapped potential for a game like Zelda. Limitless, and not even the sky can contain it.

The father of the Zelda series, Shigeru Miyamoto, and the heir to the throne of the Zelda series, Eiji Aonuma, have both been stressing to answer this question to the public. To quote Miyamoto himself when he was asked the question:

“This is actually more a question about how we want to portray the Zelda world rather than whether we want to make a game that is targeted towards adults or kids”

Eiji Aonuma has also been quoted several times stating the exact same thing. Link as a small kid sees the world as a colorful place, while the older incarnation of him has a more serious and realistic look at Hyrule. Of course this makes sense, but I choose to believe that other factors may have played a more important factor in the dramatic change.

Nintendo are behind. They are far too much behind Sony in the race than the ever imagined they would be. We all saw it coming around the time of the Nintendo 64, when the Playstation invaded Ordinary Joe’s household, and outsold the N64 by many, many millions of units. With the GameCube, Nintendo hoped to change this. By releasing quality games such as Super Mario Sunshine, Pikmin, Super Smash Bros: Melee and of course The Wind Waker, they honestly did believe that it would change, too. But Nintendo failed to realize that the gaming market has changed. These types of games have become niche games, only appropriatly loved and appreciated by a specific niche of gamers, known as Nintendo fans.

Since this afterall is a Zelda site, I will lay my main focus on The Wind Waker. It was without any piece of doubt a fantastic game. But above all, it was a fantastic game for Zelda fans. The very special style did not appeal to the mass audience at all, and therefore it did not sell GameCubes in a large quantity such as Ocarina of Time did with the Nintendo 64. And exactly because of this style change, and this overall image that Nintendo created for themselves with mainly the 1st party games they released, they failed to sell enough consoles, and once again fell far to much behind Sony once more. You’ve all heard the cliche before, but history repeats itself once more.

But the problems didn’t end there for Nintendo. With the lack of games with an appeal to the mass audience, they started losing 3rd party support from other game developers. Obviously this was never a good thing, and they are now running around in a very bad circle. They need games which can appeal to the average gamer, and what he wants. And what does he want? We all know that; awesome graphics, fantastic effects which he can talk about with his pals in school. Not something that looks like it is taken straight out of a certain Cartoon Network show, which will make his friends question his sexuality if he brings up in a public discussion.

And Nintendo have finally realized it. Finally. I am not saying I am happy with this because I like the state the videogame market is currently in, because I don’t. I am saying this because it is essential that Nintendo start targeting the mass if they want to keep the numbers in their financial reports in green, or black, or blue for that matter, as long as we avoid that colour of the devil. Now that they have realized it, they are starting to do something about it. But where to start, that must have been the question the bosses up in the big room asked themselves, as they leaned back in their big fancy Leather-chairs, and took a sip of bran.. eh, Coke.

Then some smart guy realized it. “Hey, I know, lets do something about that franchise that saved us from going out of business when we did the same mistake with the Nintendo 64. You know, the one they changed into a childrens game now. I think it was called Zenda or something!”. And the rest agreed of course, and truth be told, it was a good idea. Zelda is the franchise with the most potential to become a big hit among the mass audience they’ve got, and now they are doing something about it.

So to draw my conclusions, I firmly believe that no matter what Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma states in the public, the Zelda franchise and their (or at least Miyamoto’s) vision of what it truly represents, fell victim of Nintendo’s current problems in the market. For better, or for worse, that is up to each and every one of us to decide. But let’s just hope that our beloved franchise carries as much power with it as we, and the Nintendo Excecutives believe, for if it does, it very well might save Nintendo from becoming the ultimate loser of an entire generation of the gaming era, once more.

Let me begin with an illustration. I’m actually going to refer back to this illustration in later articles, so you might want to pay attention. As you might have guessed, I enjoy history, among other things. History is by nature based on texts produced by people of the past. Duh. But the people who produced those texts generally only talk about things that are important to them. As a result, we don’t get to know about so many aspects of those periods of history; history is like a dark room, with small lights fading in and out at different parts of the room. Naturally, we focus on those areas of light.

Take the example of Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America). Typically, we begin a study of the archaeology and history of Mesoamerica by looking at such native cultures as the Olmecs, the Zapotecs, the Maya, and the Aztecs. But not long after the Spanish take over, we say hardly a word about the lives of, say, the Tlaxcalans, even though these and other native cultures far outnumbered the Spanish. “Uh, Trahald, I wasn’t coming here for a history lesson,” you say. Never fear, I do have a point to this. You see, the world of gaming is certainly huge-it recently even eclipsed Hollywood. But when we go on to the Internet or pick up magazines to read reviews of games, we should remember that the views of the reviewers are in reality only one perspective on games, within that wider world I just mentioned. They are the perspectives of the elites, the critics. Certainly, the perspective varies among the critics, just as it does concerning other media like books and movies. But more often than not, there is a general agreement across the field in what makes a particular game good or bad. In the case of Zelda, the reviews came out in favor of the cel-shading look. Anyone browsing the gaming sites on the internet after the release of The Wind Waker might get the impression that the celda-haters had been silenced once and for all, and that if any still existed, they were fools. It’s like the Spanish-you might get the impression in a survey of Mesoamerican history that when the Spanish arrived, everyone else faded into the background and didn’t matter anymore. So let’s see what gamers are saying out there in that wider world beyond the land of the elites . . .

The Voice of the Minority

True, Celda did sell a lot of copies. It could hardly be said to be unpopular. But that’s actually rather misleading, as we will see at the end. But first, I’d like to give voice to those who still don’t like the artistic style. For those of you who think that the new cel-shaded look is critically acclaimed as being better than the old look by all, take a look at this GameSpy grudge, and maybe even the accompanying thread in the grudge forum. It’s very typical. The gaming “elites,” or in this case the GameSpy staff of Fargo and shaithis, come out in favor of it. They recognize the artistic vision of Miyamoto (apparently Aonuma’s vision in reality, as we found out from this interview). And yet despite what the gaming “elites” believe, many gamers don’t agree with them, as the poll and the thread in the grudge forum reveal. Now, bear in mind that the poll is not scientific. If it was, it would be called a “survey.” Of the 28,904 people who voted, who knows how many have even played it, for instance. And please keep in mind that I am not attacking the look of the game, but rather defending people who are still of the opinion that they don’t like the look. I’m simply trying to reiterate what I said before the game came out-that some people would not like the new look, and that they are on equal footing with those who like the new look. One of the posters said:

“Personally… I really dislike the new link [ . .] That isn’t to say that everyone should adhere to my opinion and that anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, it’s because i personally don’t like it. Anyone trying to say that absolutely everyone should like the new link because it’s new and artistic should probably look ‘opinion’ up in the dictionary.”

So there we have it. Everyone is entitled to their artistic opinions.

Beyond Geekdom

The dislike of the graphics is probably much more extensive outside the Internet community. I’ve had the chance to witness many people’s reactions to the game. If you’re reading this, chances are very likely that you’re a geek. But as I’ve been trying to emphasize, there’s a wider world out there, for the world of gaming is far bigger than geekdom. I’m talking about casual gamers. I’m talking about people who play games, perhaps even a lot, but people who don’t read about them in print or on the Internet. Back when The Wind Waker had come out, I had several people over at my house to play a series of strategy games on the tabletop and the PC. While a few of them were playing one of the games, I decided to amuse myself with The Wind Waker. One of my friends glanced at the screen as I was playing the Wind’s Requiem, and he was shocked to seethe graphics-he apparently didn’t know the new Zelda game was cel-shaded. He thought the graphics were horrible. “Oh yeah, they put a lot of effort into that,” he said sarcastically. I tried to come to Nintendo’s defense: “Well wait now,. actually they did that on purpose; it really involves a more complex technology than is possible for earlier versions.” His response was no less sarcastic than his first remarks: “Oh, yeah. I can tell. I mean, look at the face. It’s so round and 3-D. And that water-it’s so detailed. It really looks like water.” Another friend, though not so harsh, commented that he agreed that it was rather strange how the face and the sea were so basic. (Zelda fan, what do you say to that? That they should look past the graphics, and see the beauty of the gameplay? As I’ve said time and time again, it isn’t that simple. But I digress.) Obviously, based on their surprise, they hadn’t kept up with the news. They were mainstream gamers. Neither of them own a GameCube. And their views on Wind Waker are not uncommon. True, some mainstream gamers on their first encounter have loved it, marveling at the graphics. But many others have reacted in a negative fashion. And then there are the Nintendophiles I’ve talked to, who have said that they really didn’t prefer the graphics, but simply enjoyed the game in spite of the graphics.

Of course, it’s certainly worth pointing out that the main problem really isn’t the use of the cel-shading, but the artistic style. My friends at the gaming party thought that Link’s head looked weird and simple-that’s a stylistic issue. And ultimately, it’s the anime style that’s the offender. But I’ll save that for later.

Facing Forward

Wind Waker was a good game. Personally, I (usually) really enjoyed the graphics, even if I wouldn’t have designed them the same way in every instance. But just because I generally liked them doesn’t mean that everyone else should like them. More importantly, however, Nintendo really shouldn’t continue the trend into the next game. Yes, The Wind Waker did attract a lot of sales. But the problem was that it sold mostly only to people with a GameCube, people in the know. If it caught the eyes of the public with realistic graphics, or with an artistic style that wasn’t so odd and simplistic in so many places, it may well have sold to that wider world out there. And not only that, the many people who played the game in spite of the graphics can now enjoy the game much more fully. So if I was in charge of Nintendo, I’d change Wind Waker 2, both for profit and for the sake of the quality of the experience for the gamer.

Questions? Comments? Bitter invectives? Drop me a line at articles@zeldauniverse.net.

The Nature of Adaptations

Books. Movies. Video Games. Board Games. Card Games. Comics. Cartoons. Music. Drawing. Painting. Sculpture. Theme Parks. All of these are obviously very different kinds of entertainment. When a fan writes a short story about Link, or when an “official” Zelda comic is made, what happens to the story as it makes the transition between two widely different formats? It changes. It changes drastically. Why does it change? Because each form of media appeals to the user in a different way. Each form of media has its own rules about how to maintain the attention of its audience. A book or a comic might make great use out of showing the reader what the characters are thinking, but that doesn’t work so well in movies. As a very extreme example, what about theme parks? How does Six Flags adapt originally comic characters as Batman and Superman into thrill rides? The rules for having a reader enjoy a comic are different from having a rider enjoy a roller coaster.

So, the telling of the story must adapt to the rules of the new form. However, when the telling of the story changes, it is inevitable that the story itself must change. In the milder form of story change, there is simply a shift in emphasis. More drastically, new elements to the story may be added or left out, or story elements may outright contradict the original story in the original format.

(Yes, I realize that what I’m saying here is quite basic and should be rather intuitive. If you’re telling me, “Well, duh,” that’s fine. But for one thing, I see so many people that don’t really apply these concepts. And perhaps more importantly, it’s important to lay out the groundwork before I start to look at specific adaptations of the Zelda universe.)

Allow me to use some illustrations of adaptations outside the Zelda universe before I venture into the world of Zelda adaptations in coming weeks . . .

From Book to Movie

One of the more familiar adaptations is the adaptation from a book to a movie. Certainly one of the biggest recent such adaptation is that of Lord of the Rings. Anyone who has read the books and watched the movies could create a rather large list of contradictions between the films and the books. The movie is an example of an “official” adaptation. That is to say, the filmmakers have the rights to create and publicize a movie based on the characters and events found in the Lord of the Rings. If I were to make a movie based on the books, it wouldn’t be official, but rather a fan-created work. Yet my work would be on exactly equal footing with Peter Jackson’s version when it comes to understanding aspects of Middle Earth. For you see, if you wish to learn something about Middle Earth, you would look directly at Tolkien’s work. If you judged the books based on the movie, you might think that Saruman genetically engineered his super orcs and had them actually come out of pods, that Aragorn wasn’t entirely true to Arwen and flirted with Eowyn, that Faramir evily plotted to take the Ring from Frodo, or that Saruman was behind the avalanche at Caradhras. The books would show us that none of these things are true. When you’re converting a book to a film, the first thing that has to happen is streamlining. You can’t linger around to gaze at the countryside (except in older films) or include every scene written in the book. You must also string together the plot in a tighter fashion to make things connect more obviously, so that the audience’s interest is maintained. In the books, Aragorn’s motivation is mostly to win Arwen as a bride, but it is hardly obvious. Most of it is in Appendix A. It is well hidden, and only surfaces every now and then. In the movie, we are constantly reminded of the fact. It is also interesting that Peter Jackson tends to “up” the intensity of a given scene in the book when bringing it to the big screen. For instance, the drama of Gandalf’s transformation of Theoden is heightened by having Theoden “possessed” as it were by a far away Saruman. In any case, it should be clear that stark connections between plot points or characters are emphasized so much more in not only movies but also most other visual forms of communication, including comics. Since movies are so much shorter and rely so heavily on visual storytelling, they cannot afford to have the basic frame of the plot rest on subtleties and seemingly disjointed characters or bits of plot. Movies (and comics!) can certainly be deep and filled with subtle touches, but the overall arc of the flim cannot rely on that, or the audience will become lost and disinterested.

What can we learn about Zelda from the adaptation of Lord of the Rings? First, adaptations-even “official” ones-tell us absolutely nothing about the original source. Second, changes are good and necessary to make the story interesting to the audience in the new format. By way of contrast, the Harry Potter films are more generally regarded as weaker films because they follow the books far more closely (for the record, lest I receive hate mail, I did enjoy the Harry Potter films).

Beyond the Game

The Zelda games maintain the gamers’ interest because you are in control of the gameworld. It is the degree of interactivity that ties together the whole story. You are Link, and you want to save Hyrule by slaying enemies, solving puzzles, and helping other characters. The nature of the game means that bringing Zelda to the world of prose and poetry or even comics is very, very difficult to do. I would assume that most people want their fanfic to be as accurate to the games as possible. Some of you are aware that you need to change the tale to fit the new medium. Most of you have probably done it without really stopping to think about the major contradictions between your work and the original source. If that’s the case, please understand that I’m not condemming your work. Rather, I would argue that these contradications are essential to good adaptations.

However, if I had to make a broad critique of the accuracy of the brunt of fanfic, I would say that they tend to be accurate to the games superficially, but not not very accurate at all on the deeper level. Adapting the pre-Ocarina of Time games is by far the easiest thing to do, but nearly everyone tends to focus on adapting the characters and plots of Ocarina of Time. I may or may not expound on this further at a later point, but for now I leave you with this thought: if you want to make a more accurate adaptation of Ocarina of Time or its successors, try to imitate Samurai Jack. Obviously, the show is superficially very, very different, not the least of which that it occurs in a futuristic world. But I’m talking on the dramatic level, the deeper level. Jack’s personality. Battles. Puzzle-solving in ancient temples. Questing for artifacts. An epic struggle between good and evil. Time and the loss it brings. Of the episodes I’ve seen, a good number of them are perfect examples of what a good Zelda cartoon should look like on the deeper level. And yet ironically, most Zelda adaptations seem to miss nearly all of that. It’s true that fanfic is ideally suited to probe areas of the Zelda world hardly explored by the games, or not explored at all. It’s true that fanfics shouldn’t belabor every dungeon room or every Skulltula. But you’d think that at least the spirit of the games would be preserved in the adaptation. Really, just about the only similarities between the games and most fanfics are the names of the characters, creatures, and items.

Conclusion

There are really two points I’m trying to get across here, and will be focusing on as I analyze specific adaptations of Zelda. First, when you take a look at the “official” adaptations of Zelda, don’t take them into consideration at all when trying to understand the gameworld better. They’re no more valid than a fanfic written by you or I. That doesn’t mean they’re not interesting or fun to read, just that everything they say is either an interpretation or a direct contradiction to the pre-existing story. Second, don’t fret too much about making changes in the adaptation. But if you can, try to capture the feeling of the games in some small way.

The Issue

Obviously something has affected me enought to break the monopoly Trahald has had over the article section for the past few months, and without saying anything further I think both you and me understand that this must be something I react to and feel strongly about. Like I said I have been communicating to many a Zelda fans ever since the release of The Wind Waker, and it has occured to me that there seems to be a diverson between Zelda fans. Aparantly there are two kinds of Zelda fans nowadays. The first group consists of those who love Ocarina of Time more than anything else in the world, and they are still furious about the cel-shaded look seen in The Wind Waker. It won’t take much of a brain to realize who the second group are, namely those who prefer the newest installment to the series over Ocarina of Time.

It is nothing new to see those morons who have decided to see The Wind Waker as a childish game without even playing it, and with their opinion sorely based on the new colouful, and beautiful cel-shaded graphics. What is more concerning is the new group of Zelda fans that seems to represent the opposite of those who hate The Wind Waker — Yes, the aparantly have decided that The Wind Waker is infact the “true Zelda”, while Ocarina of Time is nothing but over-rated. I especially noticed this after IGN named Ocarina of Time “Second Best Video Game Ever”, only beaten by Super Mario Bros, while The Wind Waker did not even reach the list.

Ocarina of Time: Still a Great Game

Yes, you heard me. Do not get me wrong, I simply loved The Wind Waker, and I also felt that the choice of style fit the series perfectly. It really made the world of Zelda more of a fantasy world, and a world you could dive into when you want to escape from reality. But, to me the experience offered by The Wind Waker simply did not match the one I got from playing Ocarina of Time, and you can read my full review of the game to find out why, because I will re-write the review here. What I want to put my finger on now, is that after the release of The Wind Waker, not one or two, but many Zelda fans are all of a sudden putting down Ocarina of Time by stating that it is infact a mere over-rated game, and that it does not match up to the excellency of The Wind Waker.

Of course The Wind Waker is a better game. It was released more than half a decade after Ocarina of Time, and anything else would have been a huge disappointment. But lets not forget, The Wind Waker uses so much of the elements that was first introducing to the 3D gaming world by Ocarina of Time. Take the Z-Targeting battle system for instance. Up until Ocarina of Time nothing even remotely similar had been seen, and now all this time after the introduction of this excellent addition to the gameplay was introduced, the newest and most revolutionizing game of todays uses basicly the exact same targeting system, with a few minor improvements implented. It is called evolution.

This but one out of many revolutionising elements introduced by Ocarina of Time, later to be re-used and perfectionized by The Wind Waker.

Conclusion, and Solution?

We are all Zelda fans, and that is what we must never forget. Even though each and everyone of us has a different vision of what is the perfect Zelda game, and what is not, there is no need to put down the games which happen to be loved more by someone else.

In my opinion the new group of The Wind Waker Fan-Boys as I like to call them, are just as bad as those who hate The Wind Waker simply because of its cel-shaded look. Like I already stated; I love The Wind Waker, and it is in my opinion the best game released on any of the current consoles. But the fact of the matter is that no matter how great this game is, there is no need to attack the older classics like Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask and A Link to the Past, simply because someone favour them over the newest game. This also apply the other way around, there is no need to say that The Wind Waker is a bad game based of the fact that it looks different that for instance Majora’s Mask, because it is a great game, and saying something else only proves a lack of the ability to see things from an objective point of view.

We are all Zelda fans, and we should always stand tall together against all of those who love to put down our beloved characters which includes Link, Ganondorf and Zelda. That we must never forget …