Zelda Appreciation Thread


Oh man Links awakening on GB was amazing.

A Link to the Past is probably my favourite. Strangely enough I've never completed OOT. (Much like FF4 and FF5 I've been meaning to get round to it).

I think I shall make that my new game though.
 
A few weeks ago I completed The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the past on my Pandora and more recently I have started to play Twilight Princess on my wii.


This got me thinking about my gaming lineage and I am quite confident that of all the games I have played the Zelda Series as a whole has had the biggest impact on me in terms of sheer enjoyment and emotional connection to the characters in the games.


I cant explain how proud I am to have been raised on such a magical franchise (Thank you so much Shigeru Miyamoto!).

Being part of the generation that experienced one of (if not) the greatest game ever made Ocarina of Time the first time around really humbles me (I still have my original copy :D ).

I can't fully explain exactly why I rate this series so high, but I can attempt to break it down into 3 basic blocks.

  • Story
    Magical, Believable, Classic, Simple (Good versus Evil)
[*]Game Play
  • Great mechanics, puzzles and controls 
[*]Sound Track
  • By Far the most memorable, lovable music of any series

There are lots of great Zelda tracks and I have a few favourites that I like to listen to, but I thought I would leave one here for you to listen to... those that have completed a link to the past hopefully will have an amazing appreciation for this track.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/C6wQC7rNFFs?feature=oembed
Graphics are good enough and for the cell-shading games... they will never get outdated, because the intent is not realism.

Story is too fucking childish and not the reason why I like this series, but I need to give some credit, because the story works. It's not brilliant, but it works.

Gameplay and innovation: This is why I love this series so much. Game after game you have to face puzzles and dungeons and kill bad guys and so on (the gameplay) ... And console after console they explore the new features in such a unique ways (Ocarina of Time's Z-targeting and very creative dungeons, Phantom Hourglass's everything, ...).

Music: The music is not why I like this series, but the music is amazing. It's among the best game musics I know of. The game doesn't need fucking-realistic graphics or fucking soundtrack, but the soundtrack is actually great.

I'm playing Spirit Tracks on the OpenPandora and I'll play Skyward Sword somewhere in the next few months. I already finished and replayed several of the game series.

Did anybody here finished the Majora's Mask Three Day Challenge<http://www.gamefaqs.com/n64/197770-the-legend-of-zelda-majoras-mask/faqs/31495>?
 
I haven't played many zelda games myself. The ones I have played/beaten are Link's awakening DX, Twilight Princess, and I've played a little bit of Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword.
 
"Zelda: Link's Awakening"  was my first... and wow.

It was the very first game that I grew emotionally attached to. First game that brought tears to my eyes...

I've finished it i don't know how many times. I use to know all the secrets off by heart.

I even used the screen skipping technique to access areas you were never meant to... and meticulously hand drew a map of every 'parallel reality' room I managed to access this way.

I was so obsessed with this game (i knew of no other Zelda games at the time - the GB was my only console), that I recreated almost the entire tile set in MS Paint by observation.... with the intent of making my own sequel one day.

Alas, that was eons  ago and I lost them all in a hard-drive crash somewhere along the way.

Infact! .... *goes and digs in the back of the cupbaord* ... OMG! Here it is... this takes me back. Here you go, my 'Skip Map' for Link's Awakening:  ^_^

ZLA_Skip_Map.jpg


... not sure it's of any use to anyone that doesn't still own an original GB... don't think you can do the skipping technique with an emulator.
 
Links Awakening was really awesome too, I lended it from a friend and was sad, that it was one of the games for GameBoy, that I did not own and I had no money at the time,

but I played through it anyway and later on again but never the GBC version.

What skipping technique?
 
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jesus christ FaeMinx, thats rather amazing. I only played through Links Awakening once i think, and I think that was the first zelda game i finishes, so i dont know these "secrets" or exploitable bugs you speak of. And as far as voice acting in Zelda games, I'm rather hoping the next great new Zelda game on the WiiU will use voice acting, but for every character other then Link, I'd say it's time to make that leap, and looking at nintendos some or past voice acting, I have high hopes for voice acting in the game, but I can see how it could make or break the game....sort of like Skyward Sword and motion gaming.
 
And as far as voice acting in Zelda games, I'm rather hoping the next great new Zelda game on the WiiU will use voice acting, but for every character other then Link, I'd say it's time to make that leap, and looking at nintendos some or past voice acting, I have high hopes for voice acting in the game, but I can see how it could make or break the game....sort of like Skyward Sword and motion gaming.
I like him silent.

He acts while everybody else is just talking.

People talk too much anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OStUbjcc5do?feature=oembed
 
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I love the Zelda series, it probably is my favourite series of video games.

My first game was Link's Awakening on the original GameBoy, an amazing world to get lost in, challenging dungeons, quite a few secrets and (what was surprising to me back then) a gripping story.

Later I got an N64 for Christmas (cue "Nintendo SIXTY FOUUUUUR" video) and lend Ocarina of Time over a weekend. Holy shit, the graphics, the beginning, the gameplay, the story, it was amazing and I was gripped. I never bought the game, but I did a 100% playthrough on a friend's cartridge (took me several weeks IIRC, the current fastest time for this is just below 5 hours...). The graphics have not aged well, but the level design and overall atmosphere of the game is still amazing today.

I later got Majora's Mask and loved it, too. Many people don't like the time constraints, but I love it. It was the first (known to me) game to have NPCs with actual schedules, jobs and somewhat of a virtual life. Also so many little details and secrets are hidden in this game.

Also played all of the GB, GBC and GBA Zeldas, and B-Zar is right, they don't get mentioned often enough. Great games all around (each with an individual twist).

I have started playing Wind Waker and love it as well, the cell shade look ages much better and the story and gameplay is great. Not a big fan of the sailing, but the score and rest of the game make more than up for it.

I never owned a more recent console than my N64, so I have not tried the latest additions to the series.

However I don't like how they have gotten more and more linear and patronizing (remember when you had to actually search for bomb-able walls, now each is covered with cracks so they might as well open it right from the start).

Having played the very first Zelda on my Pandora (get Zelda classic and try it out for yourself, there even is a getting started guide somewhere on this forum), I have to say I love how it just drops it in this open world with little guidance and lets your figure stuff out by yourself. No handholding, no patronizing, it's an actual _adventure_ and you feel so much more as a hero since you actually have to do stuff. There are actual secrets there, you may enter any dungeon at any time, the world is dangerous (you will die much more often than in later Zeldas). Sure it's cruel and frustrating, but it's a prime example of expressing something and generating feelings/atmosphere without much story.

I would love to see it remade with some up-to-date graphics and maybe a tiny bit more guidance.

It's a different game compared to the rest of the series (and it's not the best one in my eyes), but it's very interesting from a game development point of view.

Oh also, you guys should watch a speedrun of a Zelda game some time. Ocarina of Time just recently got finished in under 20 minutes (with major glitches of course, there are annotated versions around which help understand what is going on, it's pretty crazy). If you have a little more time, go watch Cosmo play, destroy and explain Wind Waker, it's pretty interesting.

TL;DR: Zelda rocks! Now we just need some Metroid, Warioland, FinalFantasy, etc. appreciation threads ;)
 
I like him silent. He acts while everybody else is just talking. People talk too much anyway.
 i meant every other char/NPC in game being voice acted, Link still being silent, but even if not, Kid Icarus is a prime example that Nintendo knows how to pick voice actors for the role
 
Is it ok to like Zelda enough for my first game to be a NES clone?

LoP.png


It may be too big a project for me in the end but it has provided good motivation.

I'm working on sound now.
 
It's always funny how people stress their brains with the timeline of Zelda, while the designers never really cared for it. ^^

The hero and his princess get reborn on a regular basis, end of story. :p
 
to be fair I really like the timeline and I love the little clues that "link" the games together which when you find it are reminded of an older zelda game you played and it makes you smile :D
 
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