Category: Daily Debate

One of most intriguing aspects of the Zelda series is the developers’ resistance to making direct sequels. While there have been a handful of Zelda sequels, most of the games can stand on their own in terms of art style, game world, and narrative. Even the direct sequels in the Zelda series like Zelda II and Majora’s Mask play remarkably different from their predecessors or take place in exciting new worlds. The resistance to sequels is part of what makes Tears…

On April 15th, Hollywood Reporter announced that Keanu Reeves would be starring as Shadow in the upcoming Sonic 3 film. When you add this to his involved role as your companion in the video game Cyberpunk 2077, it’s pretty clear that he has an interest in the videogame culture and community. This has me wondering if Keanu Reeves could be part of the Zelda movie, or an upcoming game? If so, who would he play? This can go two different ways,…

In the Disney+ TV series Boba Fett, an intimate look into the culture and traditions of the Sand People was given through the eyes of the titular bounty hunter. The story writers reshaped the narrative around a race of nomads thought to be uneducated, uncivilized, and savage based on their presentations in the previous Star Wars movies. However, Boba Fett, after being welcomed into their society (though after a bit of a rocky start), comes to see how these wandering…

Whenever the prospect of a live-action Legend of Zelda movie is brought up, one of the first discussions will likely revolve around who could portray its iconic characters. Throughout the past 20 years, I’ve seen countless fan-castings, from on-the-nose suggestions such as Orlando Bloom as Link to some of the more recent proposals. Seriously, who first suggested John Cena as Tingle? That’s the very definition of inspired casting. Understandably, these fan-castings are largely comprised of big-name actors from the era…

Nintendo’s pride and joy with Tears of the Kingdom is evident. The Ultrahand mechanic is the focal point of many of the game’s physics engine conversations and hilarious fiascos. After putting hundreds of hours into the game, I began to think more critically about my experience with Ultrahand and how it relates to Nintendo’s mission of creating the most sandbox-like Zelda game to date. This discussion requires a small disclaimer. I advocate that once a game gets into a player’s…

One of the most thrilling parts of my favorite Zelda games is the iconic moment where Link retrieves what is known as the “Blade of Evil’s Bane,” or sometimes the “Sword that Seals the Darkness,” or its most common name, the Master Sword. Link has a whole bunch of different weapons in his arsenal in every entry in the series. Sometimes those weapons are even other magical swords, but there is something about a Zelda game that includes the Master…

In my household Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth has taken over our main TV since its release in February. My husband guided my way through the original about 15 years ago and while it won’t replace my love for all things The Legend of Zelda, I respect Final Fantasy VII as a game and as a great example of deep storytelling. Compared to Zelda, it has a way more complicated, intricate plot that takes several twists and turns. Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and crew…

I love solving the shrines. It’s one of my favorite parts of the game, and I’m always so disappointed when I get to a shrine to discover that it’s a blessing and not another puzzle to solve.  I know in theory you’ve already solved a quest or task to reach the shrine, but you can’t have too many puzzles, can you? I was very pleased when I realized Tears of the Kingdom has 32 more shrines than Breath of the…

Motion controls have been a staple of 3D Zelda since the 2006 release of Twilight Princess for the Wii. That game, despite being designed for GameCube without motion controls in-mind, was a hit. Since then, we’ve seen varying levels of motion control implementation across the series’ 3D titles. Skyward Sword extrapolated upon Twilight Princess’ controls, utilizing Wii Motion Plus capabilities in an attempt to simulate one-to-one swordplay. Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora’s Mask 3D used the 3DS’ and 2DS’…

The creative process in video games, films, and television is very complex, and it is always fascinating to see how characters, settings, and story events evolve over the course of development. One of the best tools for exploring the development of a project are “making of” or “art of” reference books. These books often contain concept art from different points in a project’s development along with interviews with key figures involved in the project. Over the past decade, Nintendo has…