“Can you retrieve the Pendant of Courage from the East Palace? If you bring it here, I will tell you more of the legend…” This moment with Sahasrahla in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past did more than commission Link to his first dungeon and pendant in the Light World; for me it began a lifetime of searching for and winning courage. It’s a journey I have taken so often that its count rivals the endless replays…
If you’re like me when asked about memorable themes in the Zelda series, one of the first songs to come to your mind is the Great Fairy’s Fountain theme. This theme, heard throughout a variety of titles in The Legend of Zelda, incorporates mesmerizing string and wind instruments that induce feelings of serenity and nostalgia. This cover of “Great Fairy’s Fountain” brings new life to the tune by swapping the traditional instruments with harmonic voices and soothing piano notes. The arranger…
Being the devoted A Link to the Past fan that I am, it was pretty much a certainty that I was going to pick up A Link Between Worlds upon its release. I thought that it would be a nice little homage to my favorite Zelda installment, but what I got went above and beyond any preconceptions that I had going in. Rather than being a title that rested on the laurels of its predecessor, it rose up and became something else all…
Welcome to Randomizer Thoughts, where we dig deep into the world of Legend of Zelda Randomizers. I am Doug Kwiecinski, your host through this journey. With this column, I aim to do three things: Introduce the idea of the various Zelda Randomizers, highlight several notable leagues, and offer tips and strategies for getting started with a randomized game. For the better part of the last year, I have run countless seeds in A Link to the Past Randomizer, while…
Zelda subtitles tend to reference either a key item or character from their game. These make each game easily identifiable, and give potential players a sense of what to expect from them narratively. Some of the best subtitles aren’t just straightforward, but are a nod to a secret revealed late in the game’s story. Others, however, are either entirely nondescript, a bad choice from a marketing perspective, or otherwise misleading. In my opinion the worst subtitles are The Adventure of…
An end-credits sequence without great music is akin to watching a Rocky montage without Eye of the Tiger — it simply doesn’t work. After hours of delving into dungeons and swinging your mighty blade, the end credits are what seal your victory. They’re a pat on the back, congratulating you on a job well done. You probably haven’t given much thought to your favorite piece of end-credits music. But that’s about to change. Simon Loveridge’s power ballad rendition of A Link…
During those stressful, irritating, and rough days, you just want to kick back and relax. For some, relaxation usually means playing a Zelda game or putting on music that gets them in a good mood. In fact, the music heard from the Great Fairy Fountain is perfect for putting a player into a relaxed state of mind. This “jazz hop” piano cover of the Great Fairy Fountain theme from Channy D takes us back to a simpler time and reminds…
The Zelda series exists in a flexible pocket of fantasy that allows it to seamlessly integrate odd personalities, mysticism, technology, and all matter of monsters in-game. The teams behind each title do a great job of blending different elements into a particular game’s setting, so it isn’t often that I come across something in a Zelda game that makes me do a double-take. However, there are a few exceptions when it comes to characters, vehicles, enemies, and secret rooms. Let’s…
We’ve heard plenty of “Gerudo Valley” from Ocarina of Time and “Dragon Roost Island” from The Wind Waker. In fact, the upbeat, percussive song from the ocean-sprawling adventure reigned supreme in our very own Musical March Madness, where sixty-four Zelda songs were pitted against each other to see which was favored by our community the most. However, the number of songs in the Zelda franchise is massive compared to the sixty-four that were being considered. Of course involving every single Zelda…
What Is a Randomizer? Take a moment to log into Twitch and search your favorite Zelda game. Go on, I’ll wait right here for you to come back… Finished? Odds are that within that search, you saw a mix of regular, “vanilla” game playthroughs, as well as several randomizers. Click on one of the randomizers, and if you’re not familiar with how it works, you might find yourself confused. You could happen upon a streamer who has been live for…
