Audrey Drake: Why The Legend of Zelda Endures

Audrey Drake is one of the editors over at IGN and she’s also a huge Zelda fan. She’s written so many Zelda pieces over the last few months and her latest one is entitled, Why Zelda Endures. In this article Audrey highlights five reasons why the Legend of Zelda series has been able to endure the test of time. She talks about how the series has a strong foundation, very few direct sequels, always stays fresh, and just offers some damn good games. She also talks about how the series has been live on, largely due to it having a A Tale That Spans the Ages. Here is what Audrey had to say.

One of the most brilliant (and at times confusing) things about the Zelda storyline is that it leaves itself open for infinite sequels without having to stretch. Rather than the developers having to continually contrive a new reason for the same hero to be needed over and over again, Zelda’s various creators set-up a timeless tale that is told across centuries, and a plotline that is truly eternal. With the unbreakable spirit of the hero, Link, being reborn ad infinitum – and great evil always waiting to arise – it’s a story that easily justifies its repetition, with each new installment only strengthening the overall lore.

Skyward Sword expands upon this idea greatly, explaining even further the reasons behind Link and Zelda’s never-ending fight to save Hyrule. The fact that the very storyline allows the franchise to reinvent itself time and time again helps keep it new and interesting, and makes for a long, full history that each entry adds to, chapter by chapter, and Link by Link.

Despite all the good things that Audrey had to say, many critics in recent times have felt that the Legend of Zelda series has started to lag behind. While so many loved Skyward Sword, even those same critics have stated that Nintendo has fallen behind the curve in many aspects of the video game. Some critics have even stated that the series is in big need of more drastic changes to fix the stigma of being the same game and story over and over.

Truth of the matter is, it really doesn’t matter entirely. Fans still love the series and regardless of your opinion on the changes over the years, gamers are continually soaking up each new adventure. Recent Zelda games such as Phantom Hourglass and Twilight Princess are both two of the highest praised titles, as well as the highest selling games for their consoles. More recently, Skyward Sword has gotten rave reviews across much of the spectrum and is the fastest selling Zelda game to date. The Legend of Zelda has been around for over 25 years and there certainly is no immediate end in sight.

On a side note, in the latest Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast over at IGN, Zelda Dungeon got a quick shout-out. If you jump ahead to the 37 Minute Mark of their podcast, you can hear the mention. To quote Audrey, “Zelda Dungeon, awesome people there who know what’s up.” This was in reference to our posting of the Skyward Sword Prank the IGN folks played on Audrey. If you haven’t seen it… this is what they did a few weeks before Skyward Sword came out. IGN was anticipating the arrival of their press copy of Skyward Sword and they did this to Audrey…

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