Zelda Dungeon

Curiosity Shop #080: Zelda Dungeon Mailbag

Axle the Beast — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:10:51 +0000

Wow, sorry for the delay on this mailbag. For whatever reason there was a lot of trouble uploading it. Also sorry for the resolution issues. Either way, this time there’s quite a few questions. There’s 15 questions in total, with roughly half being Skyward Sword related and the other half being about other aspects of the series. Enjoy! You can find the video here or click Read More to watch the embedded video.

Questions and timestamps:

(00:09) – Do you think Fi was underdeveloped as a character?
(00:52) – Which of Link’s companions is your favorite?
(01:42) – How do you feel about the Fire and Ice Prophecy games being fake?
(02:17) – Why are the orders of the medallions in Ocarina of Time different from the order you do the dungeons in?
(02:59) – Do you think perhaps the Master Sword and the Picori Blade are the same sword?
(04:01) – Why does Vaati only have a human form in The Minish Cap?
(04:13) – Do you think that they’ll ever make a prequel to Skyward Sword with the Goddesses making the world?
(04:58) – What are your thoughts about The Legend of Zelda being in the new Smash Bros. game?
(05:45) – Do you think they should make a Zelda fighting game?
(06:32) – Why do you think that Skyloft and the City in the Sky are not the same?
(07:53) – Do you think the Temple of Time in Skyward Sword has any relation to the one in Ocarina of Time?
(08:35) – Why is Tingle in Zelda’s room in Skyward Sword?
(08:49) – Do you think Nintendo should have put more villages on the surface in Skyward Sword?
(09:17) – Why do you think the Temple of Time wasn’t in Faron Province when it was in Twilight Princess?
(10:03) – Do you think that the final battleground with Demise could be intentionally similar to the space in which Zelda sends Link back through time in Ocarina of Time?

Be sure to submit your name/username and questions to our contact page, or if that page doesn’t work then email them to mailbag@zeldadungeon.net for next week’s mailbag!

Can you guess the quote on the paper, the sound at the beginning, or any of the music? Do you think Fi was underdeveloped? Is she your favorite partner, or someone else? Are you disappointed about the Fire and Ice Prophecy games? What would you like to see from the Zelda series in the next Smash Bros., and how would you feel about a purely Zelda-themed fighting game? Do you think that Skyloft could be the City in the Sky? How about the various Temples of Time? Tell me in the comments!

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Hymns of Light and Shadows: Goron City

Jesse — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:36:10 +0000

Casper, also known as CSGuitar89, has released his full length Zelda tribute album, Hymns of Light And Shadows several weeks ago. His intentions with this album was to have a full length album that lasted atleast an hour. He successfully met his goal when he finally released it with a full track list of 18 songs ranging from many different Zelda games and even gave the fans a chance to come up with their own title and cover for the album.

Since the release of the album, Casper has been releasing one video a week for each song on the album. Last weeks video was a melodic cover of Outset Island from The Wind Waker and next week’s will be the House Theme from Ocarina of Time. This week however, the featured video is a rather heavy cover of Goron City. Check out the video after the jump to listen to it for yourself.

The Goron City theme like so many other OoT songs was a very simple and catchy tune. While it may take some time to get it out of your head after venturing around inside Goron City, I feel it has been one of the most over looked song when it comes to covers. When I found out it was to be included in the Hymns of Light and Shadow’s album I couldn’t have been more interested to see how it would have turned out. While including some of the original sounds from the OoT version, I feel like this cover did the original justice and would be appreciated by many fans.

If you’re interested in listening to more songs from the album or many other Zelda and Nintendo covers, you can check out CSGuitar89′s Youtube channel. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Source: Casper’s Youtube
Source: Official Website

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Allegories in Architecture II: The Lanayru Sand Sea

Robert — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:46:14 +0000

Centuries ago, the parched oceans of sand blanketing the Lanayru province was home to one of the most expansive and treacherous seas. On its shores flourished an ancient civilization whose knowledge of time, technology, and ephemerality would allow them to play a vital role in the events of Skyward Sword…but there are secrets scattered amongst these illusive waters. In Part I of a special three-chapter installment to Allegories in Architecture, we weigh anchor and set sail for The Lanayru Sand Sea – where even if we don’t find treasure, we are guaranteed discovery.

Grab some citrus, join the crew and make the jump to read more, vrrt!

And here you all thought I just up and disappeared! Rest assured that after a hectic month, I’ve returned with my Lyre tuned and voice box healthy enough to bellow all four parts of the song of the Hero! That being said, I won’t waste any more of your time, so let’s get right to it:

An Ancient Civilization: The Cultural Canon

Sit down, young Tortuses. You’ll need the All Night’s Mask for this one.

Ancient cultures provide the foundation for much of The Legend of Zelda‘s mythology. In The Minish Cap, the Piccori are thought to be no more than an archaic bed time story – but they not only drive the plot of the game (right under the humans noses, too!), they’re also the culture closest to the mysterious . The oldest known Hylian King, Gustaf, was closer yet to this mysterious group of sorcerers. In The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, the Kingdom of Ikana stirs restlessly in its once eternal slumber. Housing what is probably one of the first structures ever built in Termina, Ikana proves to be the bastion of an ancient civilization whose history we can only experience through the tormented souls whose hatred or obligation to duty leaves them lingering in the world of the living. In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Link is able to expound upon the culture of an ancient civilization through the use of Timeshift Stones, which enable him to interact with the Lanayru Mining Robots. What’s more is that we see evidence in the Fire Sanctuary that ancient civilizations were predominantly human (this would be far before the Parella, Gorons, Kikwi etc. appeared, as their depiction in Skyward Sword’s prelude suggests they fought alongside the Goddess during the war preceding the game’s main story):

Those don’t look like robots to me! Unless there was a LD Cactus model…

In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, which occurs sometime after the events of Skyward Sword on Nintendo’s newly established timeline, there is evidence that suggests other human tribes existed before Skyloft returned from its skyward throne:

You say Retcon Error, I say Canon. Tomatoes, Tomatos.

Labrynna may lay far from the influence of Hyrule’s royal family – but that dichotomy is made only after Hyrule has become an established, centuries old kingdom. The mythology in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages states that Nayru descended from a long line of oracles in the land of Labrynna. How far this line stretches back is unknown, as is the founding of Labrynna – so is it possible that this cameo in The Minish Cap is an earlier reincarnation of the Oracle of Ages?

Centuries later, during the events of In Twilight Princess, Link meets a mysterious warrior that we’ve come to know as the Hero’s Shade.

I imagine this is what Dorian Gray feels like when he looks at his portrait.

Rather than comment on Link’s inheritance of the Spirit of the Hero, the Hero’s Shade makes a snappy quip about putting his iconic attire to shame. A distinguishing characteristic of the hero, which consistently appears in generations of Zelda lore, is a green tunic. Would it be so wild, then, to think that the countenance of the Oracle of Ages, whose lineage is close to the Goddess of Wisdom, Nayru, reoccurs in a similar manner?

The appearance of Nayru’s vessel in the Minish Cap, in fact, is strengthened by subtle gestures and complex implications within Skyward Sword, which we will delve into in just a moment.

Allegories in Architecture was created to explore the relationships between architecture and culture, whether in or outside of the game. I started it to explore the gestures towards what is widely left unsaid – but waiting to be discovered. Although there are no medieval Japanese influences in the story and design of the Lanayru Sand Sea – there is a profound amount of information regarding the history of people who once populated it. Part I of this three chapter installment is devoted to exploring this culture – establishing the identity, the purpose, and a small part of the history behind what I can confidently say is the most influential, long lasting and important groups in the entire Legend of Zelda series.

Remember – when it comes to Zelda, not all inconsistencies are fallacies.

They are merely stories that have yet to be put together.

The Lanayru Desert: An Ancient Mission

“The terrain in this area changed dramatically as climate forces rapidly turned it into a desert.” – Fi

Lanayru is an arid province seemingly devoid of life. In many ways, it is just as treacherous as its aquatic counterpart – complete with lethal quick sand, electricity-wielding enemies, bomb growing flowers, and vicious mining robots. Wait.

Mining Robots?

Vicious Mining Robots?!

This guy puts Mogma Mitts to shame.

Alright, maybe vicious isn’t the right word – in fact, even a blunt, rude message like this is drowned out by the adorable sounds of their “zrrpt”‘s and “Kerr-CHUNK”‘s. In the present day, these guys are reduced to almost indistinguishable fossils of their former selves. It isn’t until Link hits a Timeshift Stone that a sustained temporal disruption field warps the surrounding space into a past time state (Fi’s words, not mine). In this past time state, the environment is reverted to its lush and rust-free original form – which, as we now learned from Fi, is hundreds of years old. In this time, the ancient robots are short tempered and hard at work.

I bet they’re judging his nails, too.

The Robots are busy mining raw versions of the aforementioned Timeshift Stones, and have gone so far as to create both a vast conveyor belt system and a mine cart railway for transporting the mined materials. Where they go for refinement, however, is still a great mystery…for now.

Just how serious are the ancient Robots about mining these things?

…pretty serious.

In the middle of the vast Lanayru Desert area lays the Lanayru Mining Facility – a once active factory which acted as a central hub in which mined Timeshift stones were transported from one location in the Lanayru Province to another. Although many would love to believe that the husk of the mining facility’s battleground with Moldera is the Tower of Spirits’ central hub (and no doubt it was included for that heuristic purpose as an homage to 25 years of game development), it serves a much more relevant functional purpose – and that is transportation. In the image below, I’ve superimposed a map of the Lanayru Desert’s central structure over an aerial view of the Lanayru Mining Facility’s Boss Room:

This directional layout is standard fare for Mine Cart and Train departures

Referencing the picture above, the boss room splits off into eight different directions (one of which leads to the Temple of Time). Although the structure in the Lanayru Desert (above the tracks) has five directional vocations on either side, only three of them lead to something relevant (i.e. a power generator, the Temple of Time). This leads me to believe that the surface structure serves as an exoskeleton to a network of underground railways.

Giant Scorpions and their offspring, though, are just a few of the dangers Link faces in the Mine.

The facility itself has been (or was) fortified with numerous technologically advanced defense mechanisms:

Beamos, laser-firing totem poles

Sentrodes, missile and drone launching security bots

Armos, uh…fierce…and animate…sentinels?

Let’s try that last one again.

GAH! AH! IT’S TERRIBLE!

Evidence that the ancient Lanayru Robots constructed this facility lays in more than the regions reoccurring hieroglyphs. In the image above, both the trim crowning the Armos‘ head and antennae like object protruding from the top of its pinwheel bear a striking resemblance to the helmets the Lanayru Robots wear. Similarly, when the Sentrode launches it’s two attack drones at you, you’ll notice a faint but familiar flickering sound – as though somewhere in the area, a metallic bug was flapping it’s delicate, golden wings…

If it looks like a Lanayru creation and sounds like a Lanayru creation, is it a Lanayru creation?

Utilizing missile packing Sentrodes and laser firing Beamos do more than tell us that the cargo (Timeshift Stones) are valuable – they tell us that the Lanayru Mining Robots are trying to keep someone – or something – out. Who, then, represents a threat dangerous enough to merit such an extreme defensive response? Moreover, what kind of directive would need protection of this caliber to ensure its completion?

The answer lies within a man of small stature and authoritative facial hair.

The Lanayru Sand Sea: The Two Cultures of Nayru

“I am the proud skipper of the ship that protects Nayru’s Flame, pwheep!”- Skipper

LD-301N making his debut. Authority emanates from his mustache.

Skipper, the charming captain of the ship protecting Nayru’s Flame, plays a vital role in understanding both the incentives of his ship’s ancient crew and The Legend of Zelda mythology as a whole. During your first conversation with Skipper, he makes it clear that both he and his crew knew what their purpose was – to protect Nayru’s Flame. The Goddess’s influence seems to predate that of Hylia’s, and can be seen all around this portion of the Lanayru Province. Remember that suspicious Hieroglyph I mentioned not too long ago?

The symbol characterizing the first culture of Nayru

At first glance, you’d think that something like this would be hard to miss. Don’t be so hard on yourself. The iterations of Nayru’s Symbol may be pervasive, but they are subtle.

It’s okay. I was looking at his mustache too.

Keep in mind I am not ignoring the already-existing symbol which represents the Goddess herself. Throughout the rest of this article, when I refer to Nayru’s Symbol, I am talking about the symbol which represents the culture loyal to the Goddess – not the symbol that represents the Goddess herself. LD-301N Skipper (Likely, Lanayru Desert 301 Nayru) is special in that he is much more self-aware, or sentient, than the other Lanayru Robots. This is also a characteristic which makes LD-002G Scervo (Lanayru Desert 002 Ghirahim) the perfect antihero for Skipper – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves quite yet.

When he brings you to Skipper’s Retreat, which we now know is a favorite nesting place for Furnixes, he says:

“I can’t wander far from the boat, so I’ll just stay here, vrrm.”

At first, one might point to this Linebeck-esque comment as indicator that the captain is a coward – fearing confrontation with an old enemy and letting the burden fall on someone else’s shoulders. The man may be small, but he has a big heart – and an even larger processor:

“This is easily as scary as I thought it would be, vrrm…But if you think about it, they should all be dead brrzrrt! The only reason I’m up and about like this is because of that timeshift stone on the boat, phoo-weep!”

The Skipper knows his mission is bound by time – in fact, it’s likely that the entire point of mining Timeshift Stones was to protect the ship and its crew from death, as even bolts and wires are susceptible to the rust and decay of age. The entire Lanayru mining operation centered around protecting Nayru’s Flame – an existence of servitude which, to some, was not an ideal way to spend a lifetime.

Needless to say, not all admired the Goddesses great plan.

“All we have are these gigantic, rock cutting mining claws!”

For those who refused to service the goddess, secession from the divine tribe was the only choice – yet, the possibility of escaping the ephemeral grasp of life was all too appealing to leave behind with it. Using the knowledge bestowed upon the Tribe closest to Nayru, these separatists built their own machines…and received backing from a greater evil.

You’ll recall that, upon entering the Lanayru Desert area and encountering the mining robots for the first time, Fi stated that the robots were hundreds of years old. Activating time stones only returns the area which they affect into a past time state – and only things that existed within that era of the past will be animated or affected. This explains why Link is able to travel freely through affected areas without turning into a pile of bones or rubble. By now, you’ve probably seen where I’m going with this:

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he just won’t let go of the 80s.

The Unique Bokoblin variation which wields electric batons and futuristic (for its time) helmets stand in stark contrast to their primitive viking-helmet wearing present day forms. Zelda has a trend of making ancient cultures sophisticated – often more so than their modern successors – and in the case of the tribe closest to Nayru, is no different. Given that the only culture with the ability to produce technological structures was the tribe closest to Nayru, which flourished at least hundreds of years prior to the seas geological transformation into a desert, and given that the Sand Ship Technoblins are only animated by activating a timeshift stone, it’d be sound to assume that the rogue separatists of this ancient culture were outfitting the Demon King’s forces, and using them to pursue their own motives.

It’s likely that both groups were blinded by superiority complexes. Ghirahim* was likely pursuing his own motives while feigning empathy for the rogue group’s cause. On the other hand, the rogue group was likely so open to cooperation to make capturing Nayru’s Flame an easier task, at which point they’d toss aside their loyal ties. This operation was spearheaded by a new line of Robots, one in particular, their tenacious captain LD-002G Scervo – built for the purpose of serving the mutual hatred of the divine shared by the Ghirahim and the rogue tribe.

*At this point, sketching a coherent timeline of events given what I’ve told you is probably difficult. I’m asking you, at this point, to trust me that it will all make sense soon. Keep reading and you’ll likely find your answer

In case my theory is losing some ground by part of speculation, allow me to point out some consistencies between the pirates, the ancient robots, and Nayru while highlighting differences between the culture that remained loyal to the Goddess Nayru and the culture that refused to be of divine servitude:

the symbol of the dissenting culture

Finally, after 2,134 words, It’s time to reveal some cultural influences from outside of the game that help to immerse the world in symbolism. Earlier I showed you a picture of the symbol belonging to the Goddess Nayru. Following the theme of ancient cultural heuristics, the designers gave the Pirates their own unique and meaningful emblem, which can be seen in the picture above.

Deciphering an Ankh inside of a dungeon whose primary themes are eternal life and enlightenment is a pretty simple task – but unless you’re well versed in Art History (which I am most certainly not and owe this section of my article to a lovely friend whom I will call Beckira), this one might just slide under the radar – but not today.

Pictured above are three symbols – the Symbol of the goddess Nayru, a variation of a Triskelion (also known as a Triskele or Triple Spiral), and a Solar Cross. In Celtic Paganism, the Triskelion represented the interlinked relationship between the land, the ocean, and the sky. The Sun Cross – one of the oldest cultural symbols in the world, used by cultures on more than three continents – was an archaic variation of the Triskelion. The Solar Cross of the pirates can be considered a notion towards “the old ways” or “the way things were” – which would suggest a disdain for the new Nayru-centric culture and romanticize aspects of isolation and self reliability. Alternatively, the symbol could also represent the Sun – while their cultural alternatives are represented by a symbol which carries a semblance of wings, or flight – and moreover, the sky. In any case, the Pirates symbol seems to be a variation of the original cultural icon which represents a change in views. There are a few other architectural notions toward Nordic mythology which I will save for the follow up next week.

How, then, do we know that this was built by the members of the same culture? Architectural consistencies within the Pirate’s Hideout clue us in to the identity of the creators. Let’s take a look:

Pedestals for Timeshift Stones in the hideaway are almost completely identical to pedestals found in the Lanayru Mine

Crates are exactly identical to one’s in the Lanayru Mine and Desert, but with different faces

The Sand Ship, built in the Ship Yard, carries similar wave-themed borders and shares designs similar to that found on all Timeshift Pedestals

It seems clear that architects with the same advanced knowledge utilized their ability to construct unique mechanical structures which would correlate to their individual ideologies.

At this point, we know that there was once a single culture which, at some given time in history, fractured into at least two groups. We know that the group which refused servitude to Nayru was pursuing their own motives with the help of Ghirahim’s dark forces, and that somewhere down the line, LD-002G Scervo remained loyal to his post and never left the Sand Ship he worked so hard to capture. With his crew dead, it was his tenacity and devotion to duty that kept him alive for centuries.

There are two remaining questions – who built the robots, and where are they now?

Dragons can build robots, right…?

Think again! Although our bearded, winged, Zekrom-y friend may be called “master” by the Lanayru Mining Robots, his position is one closer to Liason, or put more appropriately, protector. Surely had Nayru and the Thunder Dragon made appearances at the advent of the ancient civilization’s development, their symbol would be that of the Goddess Nayru. So, then, with their own symbol, it is likely that Nayru and the Thunder Dragon descended upon the verdant province after they were well developed, possibly in response to a lingering evil.

Also take into consideration that most of the Lanayru Mining Robots’ creations are built to human proportions. With the Skipper built solely for the purpose of protecting Nayru’s Flame, what is the purpose of the highly decorated hall which precedes the Temple of Time?

The Great Hall

More over, Why would the Beetle be so perfectly fitted for a wrist, an anatomical feature which the Mining Robots lack? The answer is simple:

They were human.

Conclusions: The Ancient Humans

The Lanayru Mining Robots were built and programmed for the purpose of serving their masters, these ancient humans, who were for quite some time loyal to the Goddess Nayru. By the time a new threat arose from the hatred of Demise, the Gods of old had long since prepared for the reign of Hylia and her chosen hero.

an image from a tale passed on by generations of oral tradition. Is that a Lanayru Robot I see?

The beautiful introductory cinematic for Skyward Sword depicts the Goddess, Hylia, standing amongst the long standing tribes of the surface – including the Kikwi, Mogmas, Gorons, Parella, and, most importantly, the ancient robots. The introduction also states that Hylia joined forces with the land dwellers and fought the evil forces, sealing them away. This concludes that the Lanayru Mining Robots were, at the very least, working with Hylia in the battle against evil.

It’s during this period between the beginning of the war with Demise and the birth of Link that the Nayru-centric culture split in two. This would give reason for the Lanayru Mining Robots to fortify their facilities, as they have now exposed themselves as servants to the Goddess or, at the very least, the guardians of humanity. This time period saw the rise of LD-002G Scervo, under which his alpha-numeric tag was more likely than not chosen to reflect his persuasion and sympathy for Ghirahim’s motives. One must remember, though – that fabric cut from the same cloth may look different, but will always feel the same. Scervo likely stayed alive on his ship to uphold his duties, whether due to a small binary anomaly or self-awareness. He was the only member of his crew left, and even after the Technoblins died, Scervo sailed the arid seas with his divine bounty.

you can’t help but admire the tenacity he’s displayed in staying alive all those years

The Triforce, an ultimate power which gave its holder the means to make any desire a reality, held such might that the old ones placed it in the care of the Goddess.

The legacy of Nayru’s influence, this long standing culture of wisdom and virtue, The Goddess’s loyal servants, were also passed onto Hylia to combat this augmenting evil and twisted desire for power. Anticipating conflict and the absence spurred by their new sacred duty, Timeshift operations were left in the hands of Lanayru, a protective liaison of Nayru who was already a well established regional figurehead.

What does this spell, then, for the rest of the Zelda franchise? What can this substextual story tell us about other canonical games, and, furthermore, does it even fit into the Zelda mold?

To fully understand the effect of these events and the influence this culture has had on the Zelda universe, we have to look far into the future, in a land over which Hyrule’s Shadow is cast…

Check Back Next Week for a featured follow up!
Tune in the week of February 19th to read Part II!
Questions? Corrections? Requests? Leave your feedback in the comments section and I’ll respond in the follow up! Let me know what you think of Allegories in Architecture, whether you think it’s headed in the right or wrong direction, and what you might like to see next! Thanks for reading ; )

Skyward Sword Club Nintendo Testimonial Video Trailer

Mases — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:28:24 +0000

We’re nearly three months past the release of the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Nintendo is still pushing to get those lingering sales from purchasers. They recently put out a trailer that is filled with Club Nintendo testimonials from fans that have played the game. The trailer includes five testimonials, all from teenagers ranging from age 13-18. Three girls and two guys were included in the every so generic praises of Skyward Sword. I suppose it is something to keep pushing out to those lingering consumers who still might buy the game, but not the best marketing in my opinion. Go ahead and make the jump to check out the trailer yourself.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

SpiritHoods Using Zelda Imagery in Products

Mases — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:00:06 +0000

The folks over at SpiritHoods seems to be big Legend of Zelda fans. In some of their new products, their is an ode to the Legend of Zelda in the form of a triforce crest. Interestingly enough there doesn’t seem to be any mention of Nintendo or the Legend of Zelda on their products or anywhere at their website. It is rather strange indeed and I’m not quite sure of the legality behind this type of thing. The Triforce is a registered trademark of Nintendo, but I’m not sure if that particular crest design is trademarked. Either way it is cool and strangely enough, a Zelda fanatic might actually purchase one of these SpiritHoods because of it. Go ahead and make the jump to see some larger images.

Source: SpiritHoods via GoNintendo

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Handmade Hyrule Shield Belt Buckle

Shaun — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:22:08 +0000

I always find it the most fun to write about some Zelda related item that someone’s actually made, whether it be a piece of art, a replica of an in-game item, so on and so forth. Today’s feature is no exception. If you’ve been on Reddit lately, browsing through r/zelda, you may have seen a handmade Hyrule Shield Belt Buckle. You were also probably quite impressed, and for those of you that were, I’m right there with you. Reddit user, herpasiphalaids (Known as AllyCatBlu, on Deviantart) made the buckle and it’s very cool! In my opinion, I think it’s a great buckle and was very impressed with the steps detailed in the post on Reddit seen in the comments. You can check out the link to the Reddit post here, the post on Deviantart here, or make the jump for a picture!

Fan made Zelda related creations that are crafted using metal work seem to be few and far between these days, so it’s amazing to see work such as this. Although some parts of the buckle are a little lopsided, you can’t blame the creator. I can bet that it’s pretty hard to get precision cuts involving metal work, especially if one lacks the most professional tools for the job. In this situation, I’m not sure of what tools were used, but in all, the design seems great and it’s obvious that a lot of hard work went into this belt buckle.

According to the post, the creator described what they did to make the buckle, but there isn’t too much detail. They said that they drew the pattern for the buckle, then cut the two sheets (copper and nickel) by hand. Then, they soldered the pieces, beat them into shape, and finished it off with a good polish. Sounds like good work to me!

But what do you think? Do you like the design? If you’re experienced in metal work or have worked on similar projects, how’d it go for you? Leave us a comment and let us know!

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Music Box #7: Bolero of Fire Dubstep

Brett — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:49:29 +0000

This week’s Music Box is coming to you from ZMiX, the producer name of Youtube’s Sparda716.

In my time searching the Internet for Zelda covers and remixes, I’ve heard a lot of Zelda Dubstep remixes. A LOT. I guess the two just go hand in hand; but this remix surprised me. It definitely sets itself apart from the other dubstep remixes I’ve heard – check it out after the jump!

I’m really glad I came across this remix. With the big Zelda remix tracks all over the Internet these days, it seems most of them are all remixing the same few songs. Now of course I don’t mind hearing all of those different versions, but it’s nice hearing something totally new like this. I like the synth line and it has some pretty creative and cool sounding solos in there.

What did you guys think of this? Do you know any remixes of less common songs that we might not have heard before? Let us know in the comments!

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Skyloft Theme on Guitar

Ally — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:37:19 +0000

Having been in a musical mood today, it made me wonder, “Who doesn’t like listening to the music from Skyward Sword?” I stumbled across this video earlier and figured that I’m not the only person who would enjoy it. TheDelRe on YouTube is an amazing guitarist. He’s done several different songs from video games on the guitar, and many of them are from the Zelda games that we’ve come to know and love over the years. He’s done Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess medleys, for example. This video in particular is his cover of Skyloft’s theme song from Skyward Sword, and it’s really good, to say the least. At least it is in my opinion. Make the jump and listen to it so you can decide for yourself.

Doesn’t TheDelRe rock? What do you think of the cover? Are there any songs that you think he should do? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: YouTube

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

KUSI News Video about Dennis Conner has Zelda Background Music

Knowlee — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:47:11 +0000

KUSI News had a video that they posted up where they were talking about Dennis Conner, an American yachtsman. Now this may seem to be one of those posts where one wonders, “Why the heck is this posted up on here? This has nothing to do with Zelda!” True, at first glance it doesn’t, but if one focuses intently on the background music playing in the video you can hear music from the Legend of Zelda playing.

Take the jump to see, or in this case, hear for yourself.

(The music itself starts 37 seconds in.)

I think that it is pretty awesome that they would use Zelda music in a video such as this. Perhaps Dennis Conner is a Zelda fan? Of that, I’m not sure. Another thing I noticed that is shown in the film is that it’s the 25th anniversary of his win in the 1987 American’s Cup. Not only is it’s his but it’s also Zelda’s 25th anniversary as well. I wonder if that’s the reason behind the Zelda music. Once again, I shall say that I’m not sure of that either.

So what do you guys think? Is it neat that even in things that are completely unrelated to Zelda that they decide to have a reference to it? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!

Also, thanks to Slant2277 for telling us about this!

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Zelda Dungeon Milestone Week

Mases — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:01:21 +0000

Within the last week here at Zelda Dungeon several site milestones have been reached. Over at the Zelda Dungeon Forums we recently hit the 400,000 post milestone, at our Facebook Page, we just surpassed the 20,000 Likes mark, and just two days ago we reached the 1,300 article mark over at the Zelda Dungeon Wiki. Quite an active week indeed and that is all thanks to the fans of Zelda Dungeon. Fan involvement and interaction is truly what drives us forward whenever we are looking for new ventures here at the site. For a further look at site numbers, go ahead and make the jump.

All these numbers are based as of February 6th, 2012. You can help increase these numbers by registering, following, subscribing, liking, or posting at the various links below.

YouTube – 33,159 Subscribers (31,830 Subscribers Counting Recent Prune)
Facebook – 20,691 People Like Us
Twitter – 3,223 Followers
Twitch.TV – 477 Followers
Wiki – 1,315 Articles, (1,563 Additional Wanted Pages)
Forums – 402,469 Posts, 1,298 Active Members (Online in last 30 Days)

The Zelda Dungeon Wiki in particular has grown at rather exceptional rates and remains our cornerstone project in the year 2012. Just 12 days ago here at Zelda Dungeon I made a news post announcing that we had reached 1200 posts, and now we are ahead of the 1300 mark and continuing to grow. If you aren’t a member already, I highly encourage you to create an account and help us edit the Wiki. There are so many pages that needed to be made, and if you are having trouble finding one in particular, check out our Wanted Pages.

It took 12 days to reach the 1300 article mark, but let’s see if we can break that record as we surge towards 1400 articles. Thanks to all who have been editing the wiki and helping us at all the areas of Zelda Dungeon listed above.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Online Novel

Mases — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:42:57 +0000

Zelda fanatic Stephonika Kaye has been working on a Twilight Princess Novel for quite some time now. This isn’t your regular fan-fiction, but instead this a full blown 48-chapter novel that is a realistic adaptation of Twilight Princess. There are no original characters, major story changes, or any of the usual things you see in Zelda fan-fiction. The one significant change is that while in most of the Zelda series Link is not given a voice, Link does talk in this novel and has quite a personality. Shown below is the authors mission statement that she gave on her sites index page.

When I began writing Twilight Princess, it was for the intent to share it with fans like just myself. This novel adaptation goes out to every fan, every hero, and every companion and princess who laughed, cried, and bled alongside Link. It is my honour to share this piece of fiction with all of you. This is by a fan for fans. Keep sharing the love you have of Zelda, and the legend will continue passing down generation to generation.

I personally have not read the entirety of the novel as it is quite lengthy, but I did glance through several chapters. The amount of detail in there is astonishing and it is such an excellent retelling of a great game. I think all that’s missing is some extensive fan artwork to go along with the various scenes, but that’s just my personal taste. It’s certainly worth your time to check it out, especially if you are into fan material. Currently 34 of the 48 chapters are online and available to read, with new chapters seemingly coming every couple of weeks. Shown below is one last note about the novel.

This is a REALISTIC adaptation of the game. No hearts to collect, no impossibly vast inventory at all times, and no retries, and rarely a treasure chest in sight. Some elements of the game have been deleted or altered, and some new events have been added for realism. You will find much of the game’s true dialogue in the game, but just like the events, some dialogue has been deleted or altered, and some created entirely by the author. The biggest change/addition to the novel from the game is the voice of Link. Though silent in nearly every game, in this novel he has an opinion, too.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

BustedTees Song of Storms Shirt

Mases — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:31:30 +0000

Over at Busted Tees, a brand new Legend of Zelda t-shirt is now up for sale. This one is simply entitled Song of Storms and you can see it pictured to the left. As you can see, it has the notes from the song of storms, along with the phrase Make it Rain. Selling at the price-point of $20, I think this is an alright t-shirt, but not something I’ll be shelling over the money for. These types of shirts are extremely common and if you’ve been following along at the website the last several weeks, we’ve been featuring tons of these. I’ve purchased a handful of Zelda shirts lately and this is probably one I’ll pass up on.

Edit: It appears that this isn’t a new shirt at all. It just got re-featured on the front page of Busted Tees. This was a news tip sent and when I saw it on the front page at Busted Tees, I thought it was new. Sorry folks!

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask Character Models are Different

Knowlee — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:19:48 +0000

It is widely known that during Nintendo’s development of Majora’s Mask in order to save time during the development process and get the game out a lot earlier, they used Ocarina of Time’s game engine and character models. That became the reason why there were a lot of characters from Ocarina of Time found in Majora’s Mask. Although the same characters were used in both games some of them possess very obvious differences if you were to compare the two.

Please take the jump to see two of the examples.

(Ocarina of Time on left, Majora’s Mask on right)

Obviously the first example shall be Link. Some differences between the character models are that unlike Ocarina of Time Link, Majora’s Mask Link possess much more shadow detail in his tunic and his hair is slightly lighter and isn’t as big in the front. Also another thing to notice is that compared to OoT Link, MM Link has a belt to hold his scabbard and sword in place.

(Ocarina of Time on left, Majora’s Mask on right)

Another example is that of the Goron. One thing to notice is the lighter skin tone that the Majora’s Mask Goron has. He also has pinker lips than the Ocarina of Time one and has a much rounder, full face.

This is quite interesting. I wonder what other characters that are found in both games have differences between them. It almost makes me want to go and play both games and compare some of the characters just to see what those differences are. What do you guys think? Is this pretty interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

Source: Nintendo Everything

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Mas’ Zelda Collection 021 – Zelda II: Adventure of Link Figurine

Mases — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:33:59 +0000

In this Zelda Collection video I take a look at a figurine dating all the way back to 1989. This is an officially licensed Link figurine from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It’s rather simplistic and Link surely does have a rather unique look. His face in particular is quite strange with his gazing eyes.

This figurine was part of a set of 12, including 9 Super Mario figurines and 2 Punch-Out figurines. It looks like the Legend of Zelda series got the short end of the stick having only 1 of the 12 released figurines. While it is a tad bit rare, you will still see this item on occasion on ebay. Since it isn’t available all the time, the price ranges vary, going for as low as $20 and as high as $60. Go ahead and make the jump to check out the collection video.

Rarity: Somewhat Rare
Price: $20-$60 (Unopened)

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Figurine over at the Zelda Dungeon Wiki.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Does The Legend of Zelda Series Need a Reboot?

Mases — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:30:30 +0000

According to Mike Damiani over at Game Trailers, yes, the Zelda series needs to be rebooted and now is the best time to do so. Skyward Sword was the distant prequel to the series and wrapped up many past questions we had about the storyline. More recently the Hyrule Historia book completely wrapped up the entire Legend of Zelda series into a somewhat coherent timeline. We’ve been hit with an assault of Zelda storyline information consecutively and the whole series really seems to fit together now. So where can they go from here? Is it really time to shakeup the series even more? Perhaps a complete story reboot? Maybe even handing off the Zelda series to a 2nd party? Jump inside to hear Mike’s thoughts and my response.

Series producer Eiji Aonuma said he plans to make even more radical changes for the next Zelda. You know what? We’ve seen this song and dance before. I’m sorry, but it’s time somebody else got a crack at Zelda. Even Shigeru Miyamoto subtly hinted at the possibility when he said he wouldn’t be opposed to Texas based Retro Studios trying their hand at the legendary franchise. And lord knows how many times this rumor has surfaced in recent years. Retro has proven several times now that they not only fully understand what makes a certain series so unique and successful, but they have the imagination and talent to take such a series into new directions without losing the essence of that franchise. I think they’ve earned the right to revitalize the Zelda series, and they’re probably better equipped for WiiU development now more than ever if you consider their recent talent poaching.

Mike bases his argument around the fact that Nintendo has sort of done a complete 180 degree turn on the Zelda Timeline. They were so tight-lipped about it before and gave specific reasons for not wanting to go into great detail over it. Then all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, Nintendo released the full Legend of Zelda Timeline to the public in the recent Hyrule Historia book. Whatever happened to not wanting to release it as it would limit their creative minds from a story perspective?

Perhaps this truly is a turn for the Zelda series and a shift is ready to take place. I still think Eiji Aonuma will be significantly involved moving forward with the series, but perhaps it is time for some new faces. Maybe Retro Studios does take on the next Zelda title. Maybe it is a complete reboot that is little to do with the games in the Zelda series as we know it. It certainly is a possibility and I agree with Mike that it isn’t just baseless speculation. Nintendo seems to have hinted towards this with their recent statement and actions.

I suppose the one area where I disagree with Mike in is the actual need to fully reboot the series. I think we can get some fresh faces on board and give it to a new studio to work on. However, I don’t think it is necessary to completely dislodge it from the Zelda storyline as we know it. With an adventure game like Zelda, they can piece together a storyline however the want to. They can easily set it to take place 1000′s of years after the events of Adventure of Link, Four Swords Adventures, or Spirit Tracks… the three games at the end of the three timeline splits. They can just set it so far ahead in time, that the relevancy as to how it relates to the previous games is not there. The game could truly be stand alone. However, I think even then it can have its benefits.

I think placing it so far ahead in time from the rest of the series will allow it to virtually do whatever it wants. Almost nothing is off the table from the potential limitations of the storyline, technology, or characters. However, what they can include is references to the past. Perhaps it does take place 1000′s of years after Spirit Tracks or one of the other games. Maybe the adventure Link is on leads him to discover the ruins of a prior location, or to recover the artifacts of a lost item. This all could be new material to the new game, but carries the reference to a game of the past.

The point I’d make is that change is certainly good, but I don’t think we need to just push aside the past. From a story perspective, just make a stand alone Zelda game that takes place so far in the future, but then include the smallest of connections to the past. It doesn’t even need to be a fundamental part of the game, but I think the fans would completely love that, and it wouldn’t cause new fans to shy away. There is a balance that could be reached and I think it is certainly possible without the need for a complete reboot.

Be sure to head on over to Game Trailers to check out Mike’s full article. Afterwards, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments below. Do you think the Zelda series needs a reboot? Should a 2nd party handle the upcoming games for the 3DS and WiiU? Do you think more drastic changes should be made? Let’s hear your thoughts.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

New Zelda Metal Keychain for Pre-Order

Mases — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:52:53 +0000

This set includes six items from the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Four of them are pictured in the image to the left, including the Shield, Bow & Arrow, Boots, and Slingshot. Considering there was no ‘boot’ item in Skyward Sword, I’m really questioning their decision making here. The other two items in the set haven’t been revealed yet, but they will be shortly. Similar sets were released earlier for both Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. However, those are now extremely rare collectibles that are selling for much higher prices than they originally sold for.

We can learn from this trend and pre-order these metal keychains while they are still in stock. The whole set of six will be selling for $28.90 and they are set to ship in May of 2012. If you hold off on buying them and these actually sell out, well, I can already foresee people purchasing these for several hundred dollars years from now on ebay. Head on over to NCSX to pre-order yours today.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Minish Cap Comic

Ally — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:47:28 +0000

Oh, how hard we Zelda fans work in order to obtain a powerful sword for Link. It would be a shame if something were to happen to it after you put all that time and effort into it. I bet you’ve never even wondered what it would be like if the sword you love so much didn’t turn out to be what you thought it was. Well, the time has come when you can find out. Brawl in the Family has posted a wonderfully blue comic depicting Minish Cap on Dorkly. It shows when Melari forges the Picori blade together once again and events afterward, and hopefully you’ll get a chuckle out of it. If you care to read at the comic, take a look at the picture after the jump.

I’m not sure about you, but I’m very glad that Nintendo hasn’t done this to us. After all the work to forge the Picori blade again, just to find out that it’s as useless as a butter knife when you grow back to normal size… It would be a very good thing that Link doesn’t have a voice actor. Even if this did happen, it would be hard to think little of Melari for it. It wasn’t a lie when he said, “It’ll maintain its shape forever.” Overall, the comic got a smile out of me, even if Ezlo does look a little bit creepy in the second to last picture. In the meantime, all we can do is be thankful that the sword we get for Link lives up to its expectations.

How do you like the comic? What else could Nintendo do (but thankfully doesn’t) to make our lives more difficult? What do they already do in Zelda games that annoys you? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Source: Dorkly

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Skyward Sword Review by Axle the Beast

Axle the Beast — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:43:31 +0000

Skyward Sword, the latest and allegedly greatest game of the long-running Zelda series. It’s been 25 years since the original Legend of Zelda came out and started one of gaming’s most crucial and popular series, and Nintendo intended to cap that anniversary with one of the most ambitious projects in Nintendo’s history. But how good is it really?

This review might be a little overdue, now that I think about it. See, when I sat down to write this week’s article, I went over my list of article ideas, and when I saw “Skyward Sword Review” I thought “Aww, but that would be so boring!” Really though, it’s about time I wrote one. I’ve already talked quite a bit about Skyward Sword on the forums, in videos, and in my series of comparative articles about Skyward Sword and the Zelda series before it. Even though I’ve discussed the game a lot already, I’ve yet to compile all of my thoughts together until now, with this full review of the game. If you’ve read my thoughts about the game before, don’t worry; this will be a bit different.

Visuals

Oddly enough, for a game that innovates with brand new motion controls and tells a story that’s a prequel to 25 years of Zelda games, the single most controversial and polarizing part of Skyward Sword seems to be the graphics. From the visual style to the art direction and even to the actual graphical quality, it seems many Zelda fans and critics alike cannot come to an agreement about Skyward Sword’s visuals, and this is a debate that began when the artstyle was first shown to the world, and has continued even now to discussing the game’s graphical quality. I can’t settle that debate, but I can offer my take on it.

Beginning with the visual style, I’m sure most of you have seen how the game looks by now. Skyward Sword’s combination of a serious look and a stylized, cartoony one was something I’d predicted before the game was actually announced. Regardless of personal feelings about the style, from an objective standpoint it’s a pretty good fit for the series. You have a whimsical adventure series, so you create a style with a lot of bright colors and imagination to fit the whimsy and fantasticism, while applying a grounded and serious element to the visuals so that the seriousness of the adventure is still portrayed, while also bringing the setting and story to a believable level. Skyward Sword is particularly benefited by this because of its focus on the combat; the realistic and serious aspects of the artstyle suit the combat-heavy game quite well without detracting from the bright colors and other fun aspects of the game’s look. If I were to sum up what Skyward Sword looks like, I’d call it a colorful Japanese anime.

One thing I didn’t expect in the artstyle was the impressionist aspect. I expected a degree of stylization and unrealistic proportions from all the character designs and the world in general, but Skyward Sword took this in an intriguing direction with how they dealt with the colors and the draw distance; a game cannot “draw” an infinite amount of objects during gameplay, and many games come up with ways around this. In Skyward Sword, the objects in the distance simplify and blur, causing the environment to resemble an impressionist painting. This coloring style is also somewhat present in the actual textures of the 3D models, and it lends the game a very striking, cohesive look that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I could say the same for the art direction of the game as a whole. From the artstyle to the colors to the area and character designs, the game is just great to look at. The creature and character designs are creative and enjoyable, and there are many times in the game where you just want to see new sights; it is a game that excels at giving you visual feasts, with awesome new things constantly showing up as you advance. For me personally, from the design standpoint, Skyward Sword is the most beautiful of all the Zelda games.

But how good are the graphics themselves? Well, despite all praise, Skyward Sword is a Wii game. While we may be looking at the best graphics of the Zelda series, they are certainly not the best graphics of this console generation and they aren’t necessarily the Wii’s best either. Regardless, at no point are the graphics of Skyward Sword bad. The art direction and style work well to cover up technical problems, allowing the game to look visually appealing at virtually all times. I’ve heard complaints about the graphics from people, but honestly none of the complaints I’ve heard have ever resonated with my gameplay experience in the slightest, with the lone exception of Fi’s singing animation, which looks terrible but is literally my sole complaint with the visuals of the game.

If you’re someone who’s bothered by light graphical imperfections, then Skyward Sword could potentially be an irritating game for you. If you’re willing to look past those faults, then you ought to have no problems with the visuals. Skyward Sword is not a technically impressive game, but what it lacks in technology, talented artists have creatively compensated for. It’s one of the coolest-looking games this generation. 10/10

Audio

While not controversial, the music of Skyward Sword is something that’s also had quite a bit of buzz ever since Nintendo announced that the game would contain orchestrated tracks. Unlike some people had thought, however, Skyward Sword is not a fully-orchestrated game, and this is actually something I’m happy about.

Skyward Sword’s music is definitely a little different than we’re used to from a Zelda game. For the most part, gone are the simple catchy tunes, and instead we have more complicated and lengthier tracks. Skyward Sword’s music has some more complexity than Zelda fans are used to, something more along the lines of what you’d hear in a JRPG. There are definitely some familiar Zelda conventions in the soundtrack, but there are plenty of times where you’re going to listen to the music and feel at least a little surprised that this is a Zelda game you’re listening to. This complexity has made some regard the soundtrack as less memorable or catchy, which is a natural product of adding more elements and layers to it, but I don’t think this does anything to diminish its quality (and I personally still find all the tracks to be quite memorable). No other Zelda game has music that so often and so quickly pulls me into the area or moment and makes me feel the intended emotion. This is one of the greatest soundtracks of the Zelda series, ever. It is most certainly my personal favorite.

The orchestration is excellent when it is used. Not all of the music is orchestrated, and plenty isn’t, but when its used it’s always appropriate. I’m happy that the game did not go all-out with this, because regardless of the increased quality it brings, orchestration always carries a change in style, and it’s not a style that would have fit every moment of this game. I’m glad Nintendo chose to be selective about this and it’s impacted the soundtrack perfectly.

Another element to the music worth noting is the dynamic soundtrack. Ever since The Wind Waker, it’s been pretty common for Zelda games to have a few songs that actively change during gameplay (mainly battle themes), and this was used most in Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword takes this a step further, and contains many variations of the same song. Changes occur when you enter battle with a nearby enemy, or when you’re almost dead, but they also occur as you go from room to room in a dungeon or activate special devices. At its best, the soundtrack allows the game to evolve with the gameplay in a dynamic way that allows the emotion of the moment to be captured perfectly, and at its worst it only forces the player to choose from a few unique versions to decide their personal favorite of the song. The implementation of this element is seamless, so whether you like it or not is going to be entirely dependent on your opinion of the concept of a dynamic soundtrack itself.

There’s very little to complain about with the rest of the game’s audio. Like most Zelda games, the sound-effect side of the audio is handled very, very well, with appropriate sounds for the right moments and no irritating, grating effects. The Zelda tradition of characters forgoing the spoken word in favor of grunts and other noises has returned, and has been taken a step further. Nintendo has given the characters more sounds than ever before to utter while you read their dialogue, allowing the scenes to feel a bit more realistic as the characters make sounds that you might actually hear during a conversation. At this point the only thing missing is full voice-acting itself. Unfortunately, just like in Twilight Princess, the absence of the voice-acting feels very strange since the characters’ mouths move as though they are speaking, and this creates a bit of a disconnect between the visuals and the audio. If Nintendo would avoid doing this, the absence of voice-acting would not bother me, but in this case it is an issue, especially because Fi behaves exactly like Midna from Twilight Princess, in that she fully speaks but says no discernible, intelligible words.

It’s irritating to play a game where everyone looks like they’re talking but no one does, except for that one person. This disconnect is distracting, but otherwise the audio of the game is flawless. Regarding personal style, some may like the music or dislike it, but from the perspective of quality alone, it’s some of the best of the series and has produced many of my new favorite tracks. Thoroughly enjoyable soundtrack and the rest of the audio is good as always. 10/10

Story

The first half of this review was a lot of the same, because I feel that both the visuals and the audio of Skyward Sword are virtually perfect. This second half, consisting of the story and the gameplay, is just as consistent, because I think that both should have been perfect.

On paper, the story of Skyward Sword does not differ much from previous Zelda games. It’s a pretty straightforward heroic journey, with Link venturing out from his home to discover his destiny and rescue Zelda from a great evil. You can cut and paste that into pretty much any Zelda game review and it’ll work. Thing about Skyward Sword is it differs in a lot of minor ways that might not be immediately apparent.

I’ve talked about it before, but Skyward Sword’s storyline is a lot more active and involving than is the norm for the Zelda series. There is a constant sense of events transpiring, of the story and events moving regardless of you moving with them. This impression is the result of a few things. There’s a constant sense of urgency to your mission, whether it’s because Zelda’s in danger or because of some other looming threat. The world is also directly impacted by the other characters. Events transpire constantly away from Link’s eyes, and many of the other characters are doing things behind the scenes that can effect the main plot or just minor elements of the world. You get a constant sense that things are happening, that the world around you is organic and real. The gameplay itself might be partially responsible for this feeling as well, since the game definitely excels at prodding you forward through the areas and story and rewarding you for it. While they’re really only minor changes, these light alterations to the standard formula of Zelda storytelling are very beneficial to the game.

Another way the story differs from previous Zelda games is the writing and characters. Zelda games always have a charming cast of characters, ranging from the whacky to the cool. Skyward Sword is no exception, and for me at least boasts some of the best characters of the whole series. Each character — even Link and Zelda, who are often fairly basic in terms of personality — shows a lot of different dimensions and traits and it’s very compelling to see how these characters react to their surrounding and interact with each other. Character development throughout the game is generally handled very well, with many characters going through compelling changes throughout the game. This is especially true of the major characters… Link, who matures throughout the game, Zelda, who’s role in the events is slowly revealed, Groose, your incredibly rude but pure-hearted rival, and even Ghirahim, the mysterious villain pursuing Zelda who reveals different elements of his personality as the game goes on.

The characters rely greatly on the enhanced writing. This is some of the best writing of the series. All the dialogue is very believable and well-written. More so than any other Zelda game I’ve played, I feel like I’m taking part in fully believable and realistic conversations. I didn’t even notice this consciously at first, and it took me some time to realize why I was enjoying just the basic character interactions so much, but this level of care and detail in the writing goes a very, very long way towards making the characters believable and entertaining. At all the right times it allows the characters to be endearing, emotional, frightening, and funny (and on that note, this is easily the funniest Zelda game I have ever played). The storytelling quality extends past the writing and into the presentation itself; this game covers a wide variety of tones throughout, with silly and humorous moments, highly emotional and heartfelt character interactions, and truly dark and terrifying scenes. The game is funny and cheerful, but can be surprisingly dark at times, and the presentation throughout, as a combination of the story, sound, and visuals, is fantastic.

However, as I said, the story is an element of the game that I felt should have been perfect, not something that actually was. As I’ve stated above, the story had quite a lot going for it, but there are still areas where it unfortunately fell short. To begin with, there is one character who’s development is handled terribly, and that is Fi. Among all the well-developed characters in the game, Fi’s character development is virtually nonexistent, as she never actually goes through any changes within the story. Only at the end are the changes revealed, and it ends up being incredibly ungraceful and startling.

Then there’s something that is more of a legacy issue with the series as a whole, but is worth reiterating: There is a lack of detail in Skyward Sword’s storyline, and especially in the continuity between it and other games. There are going to be lots of times in Skyward Sword where it feels like there should have been more explained, with missing answers and generally overly simplistic areas of the plot, and this is especially bad in areas where Skyward Sword connects to the other games. You’d think that the prequel of the series, which intentionally addresses familiar elements, would make a little effort to explain itself, but it never does. Things like the dragons, Gaepora, the Goddesses, and the Sheikah tribe, are left completely unexplained.

These are missed opportunities. This is a running problem with Skyward Sword, and as I will discuss, it extends to the gameplay as well. It’s hard for me to fault Skyward Sword for it, considering how good the story really is (it’s easily one of the best of the series), but these are problems the game really should have addressed; coming so close to being perfect makes the flaws more apparent and grating than ever. Leaving mysteries is all well and good, but if the player is left wondering about large portions of the plot without any good reason or benefit, then you have a problem. Most will find Skyward Sword’s storyline plenty enjoyable, as did I, because it is excellent, but despite improvements, it does not manage to overcome running problems with Zelda storylines in general. A great story, but definitely missing something. 9/10

Gameplay

And finally we have the gameplay. As I said, it’s hard for me to fault Skyward Sword for its mistakes given how good it is… and this statement is most true when discussing the gameplay. Simply put, Skyward Sword’s basic gameplay is the best of any Zelda game I’ve ever played and is among the best of games in general. Just playing the game is incredibly fun. Running around, fighting, solving puzzles, traveling, doing dungeons, and even minigames, is all made into an incredibly fun experience.

Skyward Sword is a master at gameplay execution. The motion controls that we heard so much about are put to excellent use in Skyward Sword. I’ve heard a number of complaints about these controls and mixed opinions about their responsiveness, but I never once experienced any problems. I know I’m not the only one who had no issue either. I can admit that Nintendo didn’t do the best job of making all the tricks to the controls known, and if you aren’t particularly great at figuring out the nuances of a game, you may struggle with the controls. But make no mistake; the controls, when put to use as they were intended, are flawless. Take some time to practice with them and appreciate how they work, and you will probably enjoy them a lot.

I can apply much of the same praise to the dungeons, bosses, minigames, and areas. Dungeons break convention for the series a bit, in that they are shorter but highly detailed and well-designed areas, that culminate in some of the funnest boss fights of the series. They serve as top of the line climaxes to sections of the game, because the land areas themselves are designed with 2D Zelda design sensibilities in mind; the overworld and the dungeons are now fairly hard to distinguish between, and the only difference is that the dungeons are much, much more awesome. The game also has a decent level of challenge that I believe strikes the proper balance needed to satisfy most gamers, casual and hardcore alike. The minigames and other unique gameplay sections are just as well-designed, with things like the Silent Realm being incredibly fun.

Additional content is also highly entertaining. Bottles, shields, and other equipment are stored within a limited inventory space (that can be upgraded), which for the first time in a while for a Zelda game, creates a need for planning and forethought. The feeling of adventure is enhanced when you have to think about what gear you’re going to bring with you, and how you’re going to handle the challenging situations along the way. The upgrade system goes along with this. There are also many sidequests, much in the style of Majora’s Mask where you help people with their problems, and these are welcome additions to the game. Collectibles are also strewn about, allowing you to easily get rupees, upgrades, and material for making better items. It’s one of the deepest Zelda gameplay experiences ever, and while some late-game areas feel more like padding and filler, there’s still fun to be had in them, and thankfully they’re not numerous nor long.

So the execution of the controls and how the game itself plays is nearly perfect. The issues come in when you bring up the game design, and it’s ironic that the game is so incredibly fun to play but seems to have so many problems present.

First off is the missed opportunities. Like I said before, that term applies very strongly to the game, and truthfully most of its problems can be considered missed opportunities. It might seem odd to fault a game for something it could have done, but it becomes a legitimate criticism to the game’s quality when it feels like it should have been there. Skyward Sword has countless small things that feel like they are missing to me. I could go on at length about them but I’ll focus on the big ones…

Skyward Sword combines the overworld ideas of The Wind Waker with A Link to the Past, in that the Sky region above is an open and freely traversable area that is explored with your bird instead of a boat. The land below is dangerous and filled with enemies and puzzles and has a lot of content density — more stuff in smaller areas — much like A Link to the Past. However, it inherits overworld problems from both The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. My primary gripe with the overworld of The Wind Waker was how little there was to do on individual islands. I felt like there were no bulky, interesting land areas. Skyward Sword has these on the surface, but in the Sky the problem is compounded. I do not mind having the islands be small when there are other large areas to traverse, but the problem here is more a case of how little there is overall. Skyward Sword improves the sailing complaints by making the Sky smaller and your bird much faster, but the fact is that very few of the islands have anything worthwhile on them. When you first start the game and visit areas like Pumpkin Landing and Bamboo Island, you may get a sense that there’s lots to do in the Sky, but as time goes on you realize that most of what you’re going to do in the Sky is running back to town. Aside from the Goddess Cube sidequest — where you must strike a cube on the surface to activate a Goddess Chest in the sky — the vast majority of islands have nothing to offer at all.

It’s odd because it feels like both overworlds could have learned from each other. The land below has tons of content, with things all over the place (both mandatory and optional), packed into areas in such a way that it never feels cramped but there’s always something to do. However, the land itself is horribly linear. Describing it as a dungeon is extremely appropriate because you’re going to go through the game in a very strict order. There are no branching paths, there are no optional areas below. Every area will be visited as part of the game, and if you keep your eye out, you will probably spot virtually all of the optional items and treasures along the way. This is an issue Twilight Princess had. I can understand the appeal of linearity, and it has its place, even within the Zelda series, but when your entire game is linear and it’s an adventure game, you have a problem. “Adventure” and “straight line” are not good words to hear together, and as a result, Skyward Sword’s detached itself from what I — and I assume most — love about the rest of the series. Skyward Sword feels fresh compared to most Zelda games, but in some areas, like this, it actually begins to feel like it may not even belong in the Zelda series. Both overworlds should have learned from each other. The lack of freedom on the surface feels weird considering how easily they could have fixed it, and it would have been much improved if they had. And the Sky needed more density and content.

Another unusual issue with the game is weirdly a product of how amazing it can be. The first half of the game is masterfully executed in almost all ways. Amazing regions to go through, great story where things are constantly happening, and most importantly, great ideas and great execution. Up until the conclusion of the Lanayru Mining Facility (the game’s third dungeon; there are seven total), the game is pretty much the best Zelda game I’ve ever played barring a few flaws. There are new things to see in every area; no part of the game feels the same. Creative new ideas are employed in every new area, and all the dungeons feel like totally fresh experiences that are similar yet different from those of other Zelda games in all the right ways.

Unfortunately, that all changes after the third dungeon. The storyline dials down, and while it’s still impressive at parts, it’s less consistently active. The gameplay begins to rely on its own previous tricks, and the new areas you do visit feel smaller, more linear, and completely derived from the original area from the same region. And finally, the dungeons and gameplay as a whole feel more like what you’d see in other Zelda games. The Ancient Cistern is an excellent example, for it drops most new ideas and in almost every way it feels like any other Zelda dungeon. While it had amazing atmosphere and concepts, it’s the worst dungeon of the game for me. The following dungeons also feel like those of previous Zelda games, and while of course they are still good, it feels really awkward and disappointing after the first half.

I like how the second half of the game adds several things to the gameplay, like the Silent Realms and the Harp, but while the Silent Realms are perfect, the Harp has many areas in which it could improve. In some areas it is the best Zelda intstrument, but in others it is the worst. I enjoyed being able to play it freely, but it could have allowed you to replay the specific songs and just in general could have been used far more; it feels like nothing more than a key.

The game’s swimming is also ridiculously underused, to the point where it practically shouldn’t be in the game at all, which is disappointing for a mechanic that’s so fun. The exact same applies to the upgrade system, which is incredibly useful and fun (as I’ve said), but still lacks enough depth that it feels disappointing. There should have been more upgrades, and more options.

Fi, your helper character for the game, also has problems. I liked Fi a lot, and she’s my new favorite helper of the series (I especially love how many information options she has and how she can “scan” enemies again), but there are weirdly obnoxious design flaws with her, particularly regarding compulsory information that you cannot skip, and this is a design mistake that should have easily been avoided. The same problem is present in how the game deals with the text. Most games give you full control of the dialogue, allowing you to make an entire text box appear immediately or just skip though it rapidly, but Skyward Sword doesn’t allow that. The game’s second difficulty, Hero Mode, also suffers from problems. This mode is begun by reloading a completed save file, but if you complete Hero Mode you can’t do the same thing to restart Hero Mode, and that is a baffling design mistake. Hero Mode also cannot be selected from the beginning, so it functions purely as a second quest. This is an archaic design idea that needs to be changed to be selectable from the beginning; some of us who want a challenge do not want to be forced to play through the game normally — allowing us to practice at it — before taking on its hardest setting. This should be a choice given to the player.

So all in all, Skyward Sword is a game that lost steam. It excels in so many areas, but because of that, the parts that were not given as much attention feel particularly bad and it makes the game feel uneven and unpolished. It’s hard to fault this game for everything considering how much fun I had with it, but design flaws are still design flaws. Skyward Sword could have easily been a lot funner had more work been put into these elements, but it is still one of the most pure, fun experiences in recent memory. 8.5/10

The verdict?

Skyward Sword is my new personal favorite of the series. I have to give it that status considering how much I love the world and the characters, and how much fun I had with the game throughout. That said, it isn’t the best game the series has to offer. I can’t give it credit for that when so many other Zelda games have far less flaws. As I’ve said, as a video game, Skyward Sword is great but not perfect, but as a Zelda game it suffers ever so slightly more for defying the importance of polish and freedom in the series. Skyward Sword does not surpass the level of perfection of previous titles in the series, but it does mark an improvement over problems present in previous titles. Where it inherits flaws from its predecessors, it does manage to improve them, so I think an expansion on Skyward Sword’s design is definitely in order for the next major console release in the series.

Skyward Sword is definitely not perfect, so if it’s not the kind of thing you particularly enjoy, it won’t be your favorite Zelda game and plenty of parts are going to annoy you. But if you do like the ideas and style it presents, you are going to have endless fun. I wholeheartedly recommend this game and want everyone to play it, and I encourage Nintendo to expand on and improve its ideas to hopefully create a game that can surpass the series’ N64 entries.

9.5/10 as a Zelda game.
9.8/10 as a video game.

Legend of Zelda Poetry: Link the Lazy Bugger

Destiny — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:16:52 +0000

Youtube user Futurised has uploaded a video featuring some lovely Zelda poetry, with an interesting take on what Link really does. As the title suggests, it tells the tale of a certain Hero in Green, who is unusually lazy for being a hero. The real story of Link and his adventures turns out to be rather a lack of adventures. It’s very creative, and of course everything rhymes. It’s very well done and worth checking out so make sure to take the jump and see it!

I thought this poetry was very creative and funny. The narrator did a really good job, and his voice suited the poem. Hyrule is brought to an end all because Link just couldn’t get out of bed. It’s a bit of a tragic story, but not everything can have a happy ending, besides it makes it unique.

So what did you think? Like the poetry? Tell us in the comments!

Source: Futurised’s Youtube Channel

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Zelda Themed Case for 3DS and DS added to Club Nintendo

Shaun — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:14:34 +0000

Club Nintendo has a pretty good reputation for releasing quality rewards for its members and the newest additions to the rewards catalog are nothing short of pure awesomeness. Over at Club Nintendo, they’ve added a new set of gamecard cases for 3DS and DS games, priced at 250 coins each, with one of these designs being Zelda related. The design overall is great, featuring some art from games such as Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, and even the original Legend of Zelda. The cases hold a total of 18 DS and 3DS games. If you’re interested, you can hit up the link to the page on Club Nintendo here, or make the jump to check out some photos!

I really like that Nintendo used a combination of multiple generations of The Legend of Zelda in the case, featuring a variety of different items from the games. All in all, I think that the case is well designed. However, as great as the case may be, I think I’m going to pass up on these. Mostly because I don’t have enough coins to spend, but I also have a case for my DS already and I’ve never really been a fan of the cases like these. In spite of this, from what I’ve seen, they seem like great cases for holding your games if you don’t already have some way to hold them.

But what do you think? Do you like the design? Anything you would add or take away from the cases art? If you’ve owned or still own a case like this; do they work well? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Source: Club Nintendo VIA Zelda Universe
Some photos from Zelda Universe

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Wind Waker For The iPad?

Jesse — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:17:31 +0000

Our great friends at Zelda Universe have come across an unusual find. A game is in development for portable Apple devices and may seem a bit too familiar to Zelda fans. While the game is not related to the Zelda franchise in anyway, it does share some common ground with a few games from the series. The all touch controls, cartoon style graphics, heart containers, and top down view of a young boy with a sword definitely brings Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks to mind.

The title of this Wind Waker look alike is Oceanhorn and aside from it borrowing a few aspects from the Zelda series, it looks like it would be a fantastic game for those who own an Ipad. Jump inside to read more and a watch some short gameplay footage.

We are developing a “story engine” at the moment. We can add NPCs and have them say proper things at the right phase of the quest. The game is going to be story based, but very similar to old action RPGs. Actually, I would like to use this chance to name one of my favourites: Seiken Densetsu (FFA / Mystic Quest) for Gameboy! That game is a perfect example of how to give you a giant quest with simple ingredients!

Oceanhorn is coming to iPhone and iPad some time in 2012!

While many games have borrowew ideas and certain gameplay mechanics from the Zelda series, some such as Darksiders, Kingdom Hearts, and a few others have actually been successful in gathering their own fan base and having several sequels. If Oceanhorn ends up getting some positive reviews and is as good as it looks, than I’m sure I’ll be getting my own copy for my when it’s available. Looks like we’ll just have to wait until summer to find out if it will be a great stand alone game or fall in line with all the other Zelda clones. So what are your thoughts on this Zelda clone being put on the Itunes market?

Source: Oceanhorn Official Site Via Kotaku

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Twilight Princess Goalie Helmet

Ally — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:40:04 +0000

As many times as I say it, this is one truth that never changes. There are people out there with awesome ideas. Honestly, the more Zelda fan material I see floating around, the more it inspires me to do something creative with my not-so-interesting life. One of these days, I’m sure it will happen. Eventually, anyways. In the meantime, viewing the property of other people can keep me entertained. OutcastFalcon over on Reddit has an awesome customized hockey helmet that he was inclined to share with the Zelda-loving portion of the world. It’s based on Twilight Princess, and it is by far the coolest headgear I have ever seen. If you’re interested in seeing pictures of the goalie’s helmet, take a look at the pictures after the jump.

What do you think? This helmet actually left me thinking, “Like a boss.” It can’t be put into any better term. There’s no way I wouldn’t support someone with such awesome headgear. The Hylian crest and the quote on the back of it are the best parts, in my opinion. The crest is as cool looking as always, and the quote on the back seems like it is meaningful to the owner of the helmet. The design was sketched out by OutcastFalcon himself and was painted by Sylvie Marsolais, whose website you can find here. He plays for the Tulsa, Oklahoma Oilers in the CHL, and I wish the best of luck to him and his amazing helmet.

Do you like it? What’s your favorite part? Is there anything you would add or change about the design? Post a comment and let us know.

Source: Imgur

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Hymns of Light and Shadows – Outset Island

Jesse — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:04:17 +0000

I’m back again with another new release from Casper, also known as CSGuitar89. He released his full length Zelda tribute album, Hymns of Light And Shadows several weeks ago. His intentions with this album was to have a full length album that lasted atleast an hour. He successfully met his goal when he finally released it with a full track list of 18 songs ranging from many different Zelda games and even gave the fans a chance to come up with their own title and cover for the album.

Since the release of the album, Casper has been releasing one video a week for each song on the album. Last weeks video was a relaxing version of Aryll’s Theme and next week’s will be a very heavy version of Goron City. This week however, the featured video is a melodic cover of Outset Island. Check out the video after the jump to listen to it for yourself.

All of the tracks on the album sound amazing, but this one is definitely one of my favorite Zelda covers I have heard. I find it to be a calm melodic song to just relax and enjoy. Hearing the Kokiri Forest theme in the middle of the song just makes it even better by bringing memories of OoT with it. Let me know your thoughts on the song though. Which has been your favorite so far?

Source: Casper’s Youtube
Source: Official Website

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

The Hero of Hyrule – Episode 4 (3D Animation)

Mases — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:36:09 +0000

The fourth episode of the Hero of Hyrule is now available and this one shows off Ganon and his minions jamming to the Death Mountain theme. If you ever wanted to see a Legend of Zelda Guitar Hero, then this is the closest thing to it. I’ve really enjoyed the Hero of Hyrule series up until now, but I personally think this is the weakest of the episodes thus far. It’s still alright though and probably worth checking out. You can watch all four of the episodes in the series after the jump.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Make Your Own Medicine of Magic

Djinn — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:45:22 +0000

The folks at The Insatiable Geek have recently posted their very own recipe for the medicine of magic from Legend of Zelda. The recipe includes various alcohols and flavors which create a green mix drink that very closely resembles the well known green potion from the series. However absolutely no chu jelly is required nor will it replenish anyone’s magical capacity. With these instructions, and maybe if you are old enough to legally purchase and drink alcoholic beverages, you too can mix up your own green potion for any occasion. Jump inside to see the recipe for yourself.

Link’s Medicine of Magic (Green Potion)

2 Liters Sprite
1 Liter Green Apple Soda
1 C. Vodka
1/2 C. Green Apple Liqueur
1/4 C. Lychee Liqueur
Combine and enjoy!

Yes, these measurements are correct. It’s a party drink for your nerd buddies. This has a nice apple flavor (but not too strong), and the lychee adds a nice touch of exotic. Keep in mind we used a 5 liter boiling flask for this monster. So start breaking open pots and bring your rupees to the witch’s hut… or hit up the liquor store, whatever.

This was an interesting idea, and their picture of the drink in a large potion bottle was a nice touch as well. I have never been a fan of apple flavor, I might have to try substituting lime in there somewhere if possible. I would have to get myself one of those large potion bottles no matter what. Or at least one that resembles a bottle from one of the later games. Looking over their site some, I have noticed that they have actually made quite a few drinks from various shows and games before. I might have to try some of those later on as well.

So what do you think? Did you like the mix? Are you going to try making this yourself? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: The Insatiable Geek

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Live Tonight: Twilight Princess Finale! Update: Finished!

Trevor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:30:39 +0000

…and we’re done for the night, thanks for watching!
The end is in sight for Twilight Princess. Tonight I’ll be making my way through the labyrinth that is City in the Sky, tackling the Twilight Palace, and wrapping up tonight with a stab to Ganondorf’s chest. Do join me when the action starts around 8pm ET, over at our Twitch.tv Page! Embedded video below, but if you want to chat, you need to click through to our channel.

Be sure to follow us on Twitch.tv to be immediately alerted when we go live

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Fan-Made Zelda Merchandise

Christina — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:07:55 +0000

The Legend of Zelda series has been around for 25 years, and over those years it has gained a respectable following of fans. For a series so popular, it’s no surprise that those same fans are eager to show their passion and love by making some of the most unique Zelda items out there, ranging from t-shirts to their own games. Today, we found two items that looked pretty interesting and seemed to have a lot of work put into them. One of them is a set of custom Hylian Shield cufflinks that are available for purchase on Etsy. The other is an N64 controller painted with a Zelda theme. This does not appear to be for sale anywhere. Make the jump to see more pictures and to learn more about each of these items.

As stated, these cufflinks are available to purchase on Etsy for the price of $17 plus shipping. All pieces are made to order and are finished with a protective glaze to prevent scratching. The general size is relative to a penny but may differ due to each one being custom made. This item ships 5-7 days after payment has been received.

Awhile back we posted about a fan made, gold painted nunchuck and today we have another painted controller, but this time it shows us significant people and places mostly from Ocarina of Time. It has Link playing his Ocarina, Sheik playing his (or her) harp, Navi and her famous words, “Hey Listen”, Tingle and his balloon, Hyrule Castle, and many other features. Unfortunately, I believe this is a one of a kind controller and any fans out there that might want one will have to make their own.

I really like the cufflinks and I think it was a clever idea. However, I don’t wear many things that require cufflinks so they aren’t that useful to me. On the other hand, the controller is really cool. I have no artistic ability so I think whoever painted that did an awesome job. They put so much detail into it, even down to most of the buttons having little Triforces on them. It is interesting to see the different things fans do to show their love for the series.

Do you like the two items? Would you buy and wear the cufflinks? Do you wish that the controller was for sale? What items have you made to show your love of Zelda? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Etsy and Imgur

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

Fan Made NES Cartridge HDD

Djinn — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:55:47 +0000

Our friends at nesprojects have posted an interesting article that gives step by step instructions on how to take a gold NES Legend of Zelda cartridge and make a portable external hard drive out of it. Included are pics for each step and even lists what parts you would require. The entire article is actually a re-posting of an older one from de-frag a few years earlier. Fortunately the modification does not require any soldering at all. The only requirements are some careful cutting and reassembling. With just a few steps anyone can have their very own custom Legend of Zelda external HDD to show off. Jump inside to check out a few pics for yourself.

The first thing that you need to do, is get a NES cartridge. If you dont have one, used video game stores usually still have a few. I had two copies of Zelda, so I chose to use that one.

Next, you need a laptop drive of some sort. I started this with an OLD ~1000 RPM laptop drive. I swear I could piss bits faster than this thing could read/write. BUT it worked.

And then you need to get a hold of a USB/drive converter appropriate to the drive you are using. I got mine from geeks.com. It came with this steel black enclosure that my old drive didnt even fit in, which is why I did this.

Lastly, source a bit to open the cartridge. Its an 8mm nintendo bit. I got mine from playasia.com. From there, you need to pull the three screws in the back. Sometimes, there is only two, or there might be four. It all depends on the cartridge you use. If you pick the right cartridge, you wont even need the bit.

You can view the complete instructions here

This looks pretty cool. There are a lot of various fan made mods of original NES items all over the internet but I love seeing things like this. I even have one of these cartridges lying around, I might just try this myself. It looks simple enough. The entire project consists of essentially placing a laptop HDD into the small NES cartridge and then having everything fit together well. Although I would definitely have to use something newer than the one they used. I’m sure just a few minutes of looking over Tiger Direct I could find plenty of things that could work in it’s place.

So what do you think? Did you like the mod? Are you going to try this yourself in the future? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: de-frag

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

Zelda Cosplay, Piano Cover, and Bagpipes

Mases — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:59:48 +0000

YouTuber ridia84 is a musician and a pretty hardcore Zelda fan. In the image you see to the left, you can see her playing a piano cover of the classic Legend of Zelda overworld theme, while in a Link costume. I’m not sure what the best part about this particular cover is. The actual song, the costume, navi that is flying around, or the out of place smile she gives to the camera at the 15-second mark. Either way, it’s pretty good cover and you should make the jump to check it out. Furthermore, I’ve also included a couple of her other videos, one of which consists of her playing the Ballad of the Goddess on some bagpipes and other musical instruments. It’s all good stuff and one of the better sets of covers I’ve seen online.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Featured Fanart: Zelda Poker Cards

Xinnamin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:36:34 +0000

This week our featured fanart is “Zelda Poker Card Set” by deviantART artist Nelde.

It’s always fun to see what kind of things fans can make with a fandom they love, and this deck of Zelda Poker Cards is really well made. All the suites have been parodied into Triforces, Heartpieces, Swords, and Rupees, and even a Skull Kid joker. An elaborate Ace of Triforces and a Triforce themed card back complete the set. What’s better, the artist is getting these cards ready for print for some time in the near future! You can check Nelde’s Zelda Poker Cards gallery to see all the individual cards, and you can make the jump to see a compilation image of all the cards.

Also, for all you artists and art enthusiasts out there, be sure to check out the ZD deviantART group, ZD’s open fanart gallery.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Club Nintendo Sending Out Replacement Skyward Sword Poster

Christina — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:54:20 +0000

Last year, Club Nintendo started offering the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary poster set for 400 coins as part of their rewards program. Unfortunately, they have now become unavailable, at least for the near future. However, fans that ordered them right away received a surprise in their email yesterday. It turns out that Nintendo noticed a minor flaw on the Skyward Sword poster that was shipped out, and now they want to replace it. Any Club Nintendo member who order the posters should expect to receive a new, flawless one sometime in February. Make the jump to see a picture of where the flaw is and the email that was sent out.

“Dear Club Nintendo Member,

As you may have noticed, 1 of the posters in the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Poster Set that we sent to you contained a minor flaw. On The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword poster, there is a design flaw on the outline of the loft wing, to the right of the sword.

We apologize for the mistake and will be shipping a replacement poster to you the first week of February. You can expect to receive a confirmation email when the package is shipped.

Again, we apologize for this error and we hope that you enjoy your new poster.

Thanks again for your membership and loyalty.

Sincerely,

Club Nintendo”

Did any of you notice the flaw before getting the email? Do you think it’s a big enough flaw to justify sending out replacements? Will you be one of the fans getting the new poster? Tell us in the comments.

Source: GoNintendo

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Pandora’s Box of Zelda T-Shirts

Mases — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:44:03 +0000

Over at Much Needed Merch, you can purchase some of the most random Legend of Zelda shirts you can think of, all for fairly reasonable prices. The randomness includes a Clocktown Astronomy Club shirt, a ‘Keep Calm and Save Hyrule’ shirt, as well as a Team Groose shirt that you see to the left. While some of these might seem silly, there really are some gems in there. It’s not just t-shirts… you can also find Legend of Zelda costumes, backpacks, hoodies, bikinis, and even couples underwear sets. There really is everything you’d want in terms of fan-created merchandise. Head on over to Much Needed Merch to check it out.

While I’m a huge Zelda merchandise collector, this is probably something I’m going to pass on. Fan-made merchandise is becoming incredibly common these days, and it sort of distorts the purpose of a collection. If I started collecting all the fan-made goodies, I’d never stop collecting, as there is a seemingly endless supply of random Zelda shirts and other goodies out there. New stuff is popping up on a daily basis and it just isn’t something I’m interested in. On the flip side, I try to get my hands on as much licensed material as I can. So while I might occasionally pickup a fan made piece of merchandise, it’s not something I actively seek.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Music Box #6: Crane11′s Zelda DnB

Brett — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:30:22 +0000

This week’s Music box comes from SoundCloud user Crane11, who did a crazy Drum and Bass remix of the original Legend of Zelda.

This kind of thing has been done a lot before and I’ve heard many attempts, but this is definitely my favorite by far. It has a more old-school Drum and Bass feel, which I personally really prefer over a lot of the other remixes out there – and according to his comment on the track saying he made it in 1999, so rightly so!

As always, check it out after the jump.

So, any of you guys recognize this one? The drums on this track sound awesome in my opinion, they really accent that classic melody we all know and love. The different styles of drum and, change just often enough for me to not get tired of them but still let me enjoy them fully. Maybe I’m just a sucker for that old Zelda theme, but I’ve never gotten bored of it yet.

What did you guys think of this one? If you liked the track, it’s up for download and make sure to check out more of Crane11 on his SoundCloud page.

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Wind Waker Introduction Art Project

Shaun — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:38:16 +0000

I definitely have a soft spot when it comes to anything Wind Waker, and I have to say that this piece of artwork is incredibly impressive. On Reddit, user Link546511 has posted some artwork they created for a project in their art class. The project itself is an entire booklet of the introduction of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, including pictures from the game and matching paper! The effort put into this book looks amazing and I would definitely make one if I had the skill set. Anyways, hit up the Reddit post here, or make the jump to check out some photos of the booklet!

I think the thing I love most about The Legend Of Zelda, other than the amazing games, is the fan material and projects that people make relating to the series. To me, it’s the community that I really enjoy looking at when I view this series as a whole. Anyways, just look at those photos! This book looks amazing, considering it was only made for a class art project! I think my favorite part of this booklet is the way pictures and text are put onto each page, and that they didn’t just put the picture on top and the text on the bottom. Overall, I think the booklet is really well made and I would definitely try to get my hands on one if there was more than one made.

But what do you all think? Anything you would have added? What do you really like about this booklet? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Source: Reddit

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba

Legend of Zelda: The Lost Oracle Fan-Made Trailer

Mases — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:09:59 +0000

Back in in 2007, Phantom Hourglass was released and it was a direct sequel to the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. While that was a sweet adaptation to the Nintendo DS, Canadian animator Joel Furtado wants to see Nintendo make an HD sequel to Wind Waker. Obviously this is a long shot and just a fan-made dream at this point, but this didn’t stop Joel from making his own fan-made trailer titled: The Lost Oracle. It doesn’t have that final polish, but geez does this fan-made trailer look incredible. What are you waiting for? Make the jump and check it out for yourself!

~~~Recent Content Updates~~~

~~~Recent Wiki Articles~~~

Deku Baba