Category: Original Content

Gaming has always been a part of my life, and as I have matured, I’ve picked through games and genres to find what I enjoy the most. Although I haven’t played every Zelda game and I don’t necessarily adore every single one I have played, I love the franchise and I love that style of gaming. A Link to the Past was my first Zelda game, as well as the first video game I ever played, introducing me to the Zelda series…

Chapter Seven: Aftermath “Link, get up.” Link opened his eyes. He found himself lying on his back in the middle of a void. He stood up, noting that the pain he felt when his arm broke was gone and that the arm itself was completely healed. His guard outfit wasn’t stained with dirt and dust, and it didn’t show any signs he was in a fight. He could perfectly see everything he was wearing, almost as if there was light all…

When planning the Inspired By Zelda themed week, the staff here at Zelda Dungeon had a bit of difficulty deciding on a name that would best represent the games that we wanted to showcase. We asked ourselves: what name best describes games that share, in some way, that Zelda DNA? Do we call them Zelda-likes? Zelda doppelgangers? Zelda clones…? That last suggestion was met with swift disapproval by our staff. Something about the term “Zelda clone” did not convey the…

It’s no secret that we are some of the most die hard Legend of Zelda fans you could ever meet. When I was younger, and maybe slightly stupid, I thought “Why the heck aren’t there more games like this?” Little did I know that the series had and would inspire a slew of other games like it inspired me. One of the best things about playing these games is when you can feel how much love the creators have for the…

So, you’ve set out to create your own video game. No simple feat. Your own story, your own characters, so many game mechanics to play with, and your own world in your hands, just waiting to be brought to the screen. That seems a bit like a daunting task. Sometimes, it’s easier to start with what you know, and, as you are reading this, I feel it is safe to say you are at least somewhat familiar with The Legend…

A journey across a beautiful and dangerous land. An evil only you can destroy. A companion that helps you discover and achieve your destiny. As a kid who grew up playing Ocarina of Time for hours on end, the three fore-mentioned components became a road map to many of my favorite games of all time. My interested in action adventure games was sparked by The Legend of Zelda series but it led me to discover several games that took inspiration…

The Legend of Zelda is renowned for its creative puzzles and the sheer variety of mind-bending challenges throughout the entire series. It often feels as though every game has a new puzzle that the player has not seen before. At the same time, there are certain puzzles that feel familiar but offer new challenges, building upon skills mastered earlier in an adventure. As the Zelda series’ continues to lead the charge on puzzle-solving challenges, other games have naturally followed in its footsteps to…

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…

There exist a few special video games that have established a formula and brand so strong that they are now considered their own genre. Classic games like Rogue and Metroid / Castlevania are so unique, and their formulas so instantly recognizable, that any clone, imitator, or inspired / derivative work belongs to the genre defined by those classic games’ success. This is why genres like Roguelikes and Metroidvanias have been accepted into modern gaming vernacular. Does The Legend of Zelda…

Welcome to Zelda Dungeon’s Inspired By Zelda Week! It was my pleasure to kick the proceedings off with a piece I wrote about Blossom Tales, but we decided that wasn’t enough – we wanted to you the (listener? reader? both?) straight to the source of the magic! Joining us this week is Rob Maher, developer, programmer, artist, and general jack-of-all-trades, to talk some Blossom Tales! We talk about future sequels that may or may not involve Shrek, how the Blossom…