Category: A Link Between Worlds

Believe it or not, but The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds turns ten today. Feel old yet? I know I do. The year A Link Between Worlds came out is the year I took my first steps into Hyrule, as I played through countless Zelda games from February all the way through December. By the time it came out, I’d gone from Zelda noob to… a pretty well-seasoned player. I even played A Link to the Past in…

Games with a loose continuity like the Zelda series tend to be held together by common themes and characters rather than a continuous narrative. Elements like the Triforce, Link, Zelda, Gorons, and Zora, as well as common gameplay elements create a familiarity between games that are otherwise disconnected. One of these elements is anthropomorphic trees. Now, trees with human-like qualities aren’t original to The Legend of Zelda. They can be found in classic fantasy novels like The Lord of the Rings…

With Halloween right around the corner, Zelda fans will no doubt have a beautiful bounty of expertly crafted Zelda character cosplays to marvel at. I myself have put together some not-so-expertly crafted Zelda costumes to wear for Halloween over the years. But for the busy and craft-impaired, buying a Zelda costume is a much easier option. The only problem is, while Nintendo may license the most famous Zelda characters’ likeness for third party costume companies to recreate, more obscure character…

When it comes to classic video game ghosties, Boos and Poes are top tier. But does King Boo sit on the throne as the more iconic of the two? Or will the Poe Sisters strike a pose in the winner’s circle? The two are similar in many ways, but how do they stack up when it comes to their roles in each series, their sheer style, and their cultural impact? Series Significance Boos seem to occupy a more significant role…

During my first play through of Tears of the Kingdom, I took a headfirst dive into the chasm by Kakariko Village, just expecting to fall into a small underground area of some sort. Boy was I wrong. I was absolutely flabbergasted that an entire mirror of Hyrule was lurking beneath the surface. Discovering that was an insane moment of gaming I’ll never forget! As I spent hours in this hellish underworld, tackling freaky bosses and activating Light Roots, I couldn’t…

When I finished the Wind Temple in Tears of the Kingdom, I was enthralled by the fact that a piece of Zelda lore was making a return in this newest entry to the series: Sages. I loved the addition of making the new Champions Sages in this game. It felt like a callback to some of my favorite titles like Ocarina of Time and A Link Between Worlds. I especially loved how the majority of them had a unique and…

We recently covered RTL Nieuws’ interview with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, in which the developers commented on the return of classic Zelda gameplay for future installments in the series. But that’s not all the duo discussed during their sit-down with interviewer Bastiaan Vroegop; Aonuma and Fujibayashi also addressed questions about last’s year’s successful open-world game Elden Ring (2022) and the way they approach inspiration when working on Zelda titles….

In a shocking revelation, composer of many Zelda projects, Ryo Nagamatsu, has left Nintendo for new horizons. Nagamatsu’s departure comes after 17 years with Nintendo, where he worked on titles such as Tri Force Heroes, A Link Between Worlds, Link’s Awakening (2019), Mario Kart 8, and Splatoon 2 and 3. Leaving on good terms, Nagamatsu expressed on Twitter that he aims to “work a little wider and more directly” for those who need his help and to “help the industry.”  …

I think most Breath of the Wild speed runners would agree that the open world system in that game is perfection. If they want to risk it within the first minutes of the game, they can have Link face off with Calamity Ganon in nothing but his underwear and a few tree branches (and miraculously beat the game against all odds). Being able to go straight to the final boss in this game was a fascinating concept for me when…

One of the most interesting innovations in the Zelda series is how players acquire the items they use throughout a game. For years, the method of acquiring items remained relatively unchanged in Zelda games. Players acquired items at the midpoints of dungeons, often after solving a puzzle or defeating an enemy. This item would then help the player progress through the rest of the dungeon. In 2013, Nintendo made a huge tweak to the Zelda formula in A Link Between…