Category: Oracle of Ages

No Zelda adventure takes place without a blade in hand, and most allow that primary weapon to be improved upon at least once. Starting with The Legend of Zelda, upgrading Link’s sword has always been one of the most satisfying moments in each game. Whether you’re a completionist or you rely on these upgrades to mitigate the game’s difficulty, ascending a sword’s power always comes with a palpable sense of strength. Which of these blade upgrades is your favorite? Specifically, we’re talking…

The midway point of a milestone year approaches for The Legend of Zelda. With Nintendo’s E3 Direct event in the rearview and Skyward Sword HD less than a month away, fans of the series can start to paint a picture of how this momentous occasion will be celebrated and how that celebration will be remembered. Has Nintendo’s recognition of Zelda’s 35th anniversary been extraordinary, sufficient, or disappointing? In February, Nintendo announced Skyward Sword HD, a remaster of the infamously divisive 2011 Wii title. This rerelease…

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…

For some people, summer has been a long time coming; and for others, it crept up out of nowhere. There’s much to look forward to in the sunny season, but for speedrunning fans, summer marks the coming of Summer Games Done Quick. The event, which features speedrunning bots, live commentary, speedrunning Q&A’s, and raising money for charity, is one of two hosted by Games Done Quick each year. With the show right around the corner starting on July 4th, the…

Starting this Friday, May 7th, a performance-based Spirit Board Event begins in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, featuring spirits with “slick moves and impressive pipes.” Among those included is the Goddess of Wisdom herself, Nayru; specifically her iteration featured within The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, wielding the Harp of Ages. The Oracle games recently celebrated their 20th anniversary this last February, so Nayru’s appearance is a rather nice treat for those fond of the Game Boy Color classics. If…

Here in the US, it’s tax season. Mid-April is the traditional deadline for individual and household returns, and that has me thinking of finances. Since some part of my brain is always on Zelda, those two trains of thought naturally crossed (Spirit) tracks. Actually, my recent completion of Oracle of Ages, with fellow ZD writers Emi and Hannah, planted the seed of this question a couple of months ago: Which Zelda games do the best job balancing the contents of…

Link’s Awakening, originally developed and released in 1993 for the Game Boy, received a lot of love in 2019 with a beautiful remake for the Nintendo Switch. Going from 2D to 3D, the game was transformed and given a beautiful new life, and a renewed interest for those of us who didn’t have the opportunity to play the original. Developed in the same 2D pixel style for the Game Boy Color, the Oracle games are actually quite similar to Link’s…

Whether you love or hate the official Zelda timeline, now that it exists, there is no going back. While fans can certainly choose to disregard it, I decided to embrace it. Both iterations of the timeline, and the books in which they were released, hold a plethora of interesting lore that I agree with. But in some cases, the timeline contains egregious errors. The biggest culprit of making pointless changes to the lore comes from the Zelda Encyclopedia with its…

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons focus on the Oracles Nayru and Din, respectively, leaving one particular goddess/oracle noticeably absent: Farore. Granted, she does appear in each title with the function of giving codes to the player that can unlock perks in one game after the player has cleared the other, making for a journey that feels more like a natural progression rather than a clean slate for Link’s adventuring. Of course, one…