Category: A Link Between Worlds

Have you ever had the suspicion that someone has been watching you? Well, Link certainly has. This fun little animation by Jake Doubleyoo investigates the economic complexity that the Hero of Hyrule experiences during the events of A Link Between Worlds. Fortunately for the adventurous lad, he has eyes in the back of his head and quickly catches on that all is not right. But will Link manage to thwart his pursuer’s malicious designs? Probably not. Rupees need to get…

As of the current state of the Zelda series, Hyrule is a land trapped in repetition. Villains such as Ganon or Vaati routinely return from beyond the grave and wreak havoc on the populace. The only bulwark against imminent destruction comes in the form of a singular chosen hero. This lone warrior must bear the burden of saving all that is good in the land from encroaching evil. That being said, it does seem rather odd that the people of…

The Zora stand out as one of the more prominent races in the Zelda series, second only to the Hylians, and arguably in equal position to that of the Gorons. When mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is likely to be Princess Ruto from Ocarina of Time, or the Champion Mipha from Breath of the Wild. Both NPC’s are prominent figures from their time, forming part of their own royal family and cementing the fact that their species…

For a series with the breadth and longevity of The Legend of Zelda, it’s surprising that more than half of the titles released during its life share a single antagonist. Ganon (misspelled “Gannon”) was the primary villain in the series’ debut, and a majority of the games since have featured him, or the threat of his influence, as the primary source of evil. Even games which contain other antagonists often make them the underlings or puppets of Ganon. Some of these secondary…

The introduction of Lorule in A Link Between Worlds spurred tons of debate within the Zelda theorizing community back in 2013 and onward. For me it was an exciting timeframe, at a point where people were signaling the end of theorizing because of Hyrule Historia, there was finally some signs that there was still life for the hobby. Some of the theories from back then were resolved, others are ongoing that I see people still adding to occasionally; one such…

Since Ocarina of Time, Nintendo has generally divided the Zelda series into two halves: 3D home console games and 2D top-down games for their handheld consoles. With Nintendo merging their home and handheld consoles into one package with the Switch, the future of top-down Zelda games has been unclear. On the one hand, we did receive Link’s Awakening for the Switch in September 2019, but the last new 2D game was Tri Force Heroes in October 2015, over five years ago. On home consoles…

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past turns 30 this year. In spite of being one of the most celebrated games in the Zelda franchise, the game has never been remade; perhaps this is in part because it is one of the highest rated games of all time. Nintendo did provide fans with a nostalgic return to the Hyrule of the Downfall Timeline when they released The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. While some do like the 3DS…

Another week, another Legend of Zelda game specific Q&A! This week, we asked our community on Discord and Facebook to ask us anything they wanted to about one of the most overlooked games in the franchise: A Link Between Worlds! Cody Davies of Zelda Universe joins the gang this week to tackle topics like our thoughts on the rental system, was the map too similar to A Link to the Past, who was our favorite Sage, what did we think…

Traversing dungeons and collecting new items are some of the staples in the Zelda franchise. Items such as the boomerang, the bow, and bombs became regulars in the series as ways to both solve puzzles and combat enemies, and the variety of items in each game has helped keep the series fresh.  As the series progressed into 3D, however, several items needed to be reworked thanks to 360-degree movement. Bows needed to be aimed in more than just the cardinal directions,…

If you had to put the Zelda series into a genre, I think most people would call them adventure games. Some others would say action RPG. Yet another group might argue Zelda is a genre of its own, and deserves an eponymous category like “Metroidvania”. However you like to sort them, all of these game styles ask the player to spend time in game menus. I’d argue that complex RPGs are played in their menus as much as their action…