Category: A Link to the Past

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,…

Playing Zelda is always an immersive experience. But while the sights and sounds may whisk us away to far off lands, one sense that isn’t as easily stimulated is smell. Obviously most places in Zelda would have a smell, but it’s not something I really think about when I play. I imagine most of the dungeons and temples would just smell kind of musty. But every now and then, I come across a location that screams out to be sniffed….

The Zelda franchise has always been about quality over quantity. While other Nintendo mainline series release new games every year or two, Zelda fans typically have to wait much, much longer. Sometimes, over half a decade between releases. As we approach Breath of the Wild’s four year anniversary, we’ve had to fill the void in creative ways. Side games like Hyrule Warriors and Cadence of Hyrule brought us both fun and lore. But, sometimes, gamers have to look outside of the franchise in order to get…

The Paper Mario franchise is one that is immediately recognizable for its art style and approachable incorporation of RPG elements. While this format has changed in some way with nearly every entry in the series, it always follows a sort of turn-based battle and party system. Interestingly though, The Legend of Zelda, despite its many RPG elements, has never been given the full RPG treatment. Thanks to this ambitious fan game though, one can get a taste of what such…

Hello and welcome to another installment of Randomizer Thoughts! Where we unravel the mysteries and complexities of Zelda randomizers and discuss what’s new in the world of randomizers. This week, we’re doing an expose on shortcuts to shorten your trips as you scour for items! We also have the match-up for the Link to the Past Randomizer league final, an interview with two different randomizer streamers, and a Majora’s Mask Randomizer seed to try out! If you’re new to Randomizer…

It’s hard these days to come up with a new idea for a video game. It’s even harder to come up with unique gameplay mechanics. In late 2013, determined game designer Alex Preston embraced both these facts when he began a Kickstarter for Hyper Light Drifter under his own producer name as Heart Machine. It was an ambitious project intended to pay homage to video games of the 8-bit and 16-bit era. From the early stages of its development, Preston has stated that Hyper…

The Zelda franchise is one that has truly stood the test of time. Various aspects from gameplay to story are still riveting and successful after thirty-five years of invigorating gameplay and fond memories. Music is another one of these aspects, with Koji Kondo having ingrained steady and strong roots as far as how Zelda games sound. Not only has his many contributions kept up with the spirit of the series no matter the incarnation, evoking within us a sense of…

In Hyrule the Triforce is a double-edged sword: endowed with the power to grant any wish, at times it has been the land’s saving grace, as well as its downfall. It has been theorized that the Triforce is blind to the morality of a wish, allowing evil people like Ganon to wish for control of the world, but this fact always seemed odd to me; especially after it was implied that the Triforce is sentient. At the end of A…

In the pantheon of creators at Nintendo, you’ll easily spot certain names: Shigeru Miyamoto, Gunpei Yokoi, Masahiro Sakurai. But those more public figures shine with the help of a deep bench of artists and developers working just behind them. One such figure is Takaya Imamura, an artist and designer who began working at the Big N in 1989. Now, after 32 years, Imamura-san has announced via a heartfelt post to his Japanese Facebook page that January 20th 2021 would be…

Hello and welcome to another installment of Randomizer Thoughts! Where we unravel the mysteries and complexities of Zelda randomizers and discuss what’s new in the world of randomizers. This week, we’re talking about the biggest tool in any competitive Randomizer runners toolkit, Trackers! We also have the final four competitors for the Link to the Past Randomizer Invitational for you and a new race seed to try out! If you’re new to Randomizer Thoughts, check out our FAQ for a…