“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” As a massive collection of artists, each bringing forth a unique talent and voice of their own, Materia Collective has made an irrefutable impact within the genre of video game music. With so much variety across series and platform, and an ever growing discography supporting the name, it is nigh impossible for an avid gamer and music-lover to not find something relatable. For us, the fans of The Legend of Zelda, Materia Collective’s…
Generally, I frown upon Zelda spinoffs. Link’s Crossbow Training? Lame. Hyrule Warriors? Seemed to much like a dumbed-down hack and slash to me when it was announced. Even the Zelda levels in Nintendo Land make me cringe. I find there’s just a certain sanctity to the Zelda series that seems to get weathered away when mixed with another game series’ style, and whenever I play a Zelda title, any Zelda title, I want the “pure” experience. That’s why I’m still…
The Legend of Zelda is quite a long-lived series, an institution of quality that Nintendo has always been able to hang its hat on. Throughout its years of success, the Zelda series has sparked other game companies to build their own brand on exciting fantasy adventure games. The results of these endeavors frequently varied, but The Legend of Zelda has always been the example of which to emulate. In fact, back in 2000, Sony wanted a property to rival the Nintendo 64’s success with Ocarina of…
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…
Think back, if you can, to your first experience with a Zelda game. For me, this was Skyward Sword, around 7 years ago (I’m just a baby, okay?). The freedom of adventure intrigued me, and having a huge open world to explore (bear in mind this was my first experience with a Zelda game) was an incredible feeling. Eventually, though, I bored of not knowing exactly what to do or where to go. This sense of hopelessness was detrimental to…
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…
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 days of 2D, top-down console Zelda games could very well be over. It’s hard to imagine that Nintendo would go back from a sweeping epic such as Breath of the Wild to the more traditional, quainter games that the 2D Zelda titles tend to be. With the Nintendo 3DS’s lifespan nearing the end of its run, it’s not hard to imagine that without a smaller platform to put a game like that on, we might not see a…
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re a pretty big Legend of Zelda fan. You might even be a die hard fan. I know I am; that’s what led me here, just as sure as it probably led you. In addition to everything else I play, I make sure to play at least a couple Zelda’s every year, from new to old, just to remind myself how great this series is and why I fell in love with it. Chances…
The puzzles in the Zelda series are ingeniously designed and crafted, forcing the players to think of creative solutions while using their powers and abilities available to solve the puzzles. Maybe it’s because of how spoiled I’ve been when solving these puzzles that when I come across “puzzles” in other series like in the Tales games, I roll my eyes and really struggle to get through it. What is it about other series, like Zelda, that elevates the puzzles to…
