The ending of Link’s Awakening is one that can leave an emotional impact on anybody who has traversed Koholint Island. Of course, then there’s also the secret ending that can be unlocked by surviving the game and never running out of hearts. This ending is almost the exact same, except for a shot of a seagull flying away and then an image of Marin appearing in the clouds. In a recent video over on YouTube, animator Benek shared a comedic…
Dice are the junk food of the tabletop world. I will always, always have an insatiable hunger for more. It doesn’t matter if I already have 10 sets of dice for a particular character. Sometimes they roll bad, or you’re just not vibing with a particular set. And, sometimes, you just need to treat yourself to something ludicrously pretty. Enter the fantastic dice-smiths at URWizards, an Etsy shop dedicated to some the most jaw-dropping die sets you’ve ever seen. Now,…
If you’re living outside the Americas, there’s a high probability that you’ve never heard of mariachi music. Originating in Mexico, mariachi is a popular folk style of music that is high-energy and rich, and it just makes you want to dance. No joke, Darunia would totally get down to this genre of music. As a child of the southwestern United States, mariachi music was everywhere for me. Weddings, funerals, high school graduations, you name it. If there was a cause for…
Although Breath of the Wild is one of the Zelda games that incorporates a lot of technology, the setting still feels more akin to the Middle Ages than current industrial eras of today. The Sheikah technology in Breath of the Wild has a distinct look that adds to the fantasy setting without detracting from it. It takes inspiration from modern times in reality through things like tablets, while still giving it an ancient feel. The developers made it clear that…
The ability to instantly travel from one place to another is one that I think we all wish we had at one point in time. In many video games, this is made possible through warp pipes, portals shot from guns, and even musical tunes played by magical ocarinas. Ocarina of Time wasn’t the first or last game to utilize a warp function; however, it may have one of the most iconic methods of doing so. Musician and YouTuber Ro Panuganti recently…
The landscape of Breath of the Wild is undoubtedly one of the highest highs in that game. The sprawling nature of Hyrule, the way that there always seems to be something new around the next mountain, and the number of little details truly make it one of the finest iterations of the great kingdom. The folks over at When Geeks Craft did something pretty amazing by making a breathtaking custom-made map of Breath of the Wild‘s Hyrule. They’ve created maps…
Back in the 1990’s, after Nintendo decided not to partner with electronic giant Philips to create a CD add-on for the Super NES, some interesting negotiations took place. Nintendo agreed that Philips could use Nintendo characters in third-party games developed for the Philips CD-i format, and by 1993, The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon, developed by Animation Magic, released in North America. These action-adventure games featured characters from The Legend of Zelda with very little funding and input from…
“Song of Healing” has always occupied a strange place in Zelda’s music catalog. One of the key songs from Majora’s Mask, “Song of Healing” can be a simultaneously relaxing and haunting tune. In the game, Link uses the song to ease the troubled spirits of Darmani III of the Gorons, and Mikau of the Zora. The action of playing the song frees the troubled spirits and leaves Link with the Goron and Zora mask respectively. The song’s association with death…
Lay back and search the starry skies of Termina with this lo-fi remix of the Astral Observatory theme, the latest work from Nicolas Jorgensen. It’s so chill, it’ll have you crying Moon Tears as you dream of another world — no Bomber’s password required. Careful listeners will notice that halfway through the remix, Jorgensen interweaves “Zelda’s Lullaby” into this classic song from Majora’s Mask. Its subtle inclusion hits the ear and heart with equal delight. Jogensen explains that “…having [it]…
There is always talk about the linearity of Zelda games. What’s less talked about, though, is the linearity of individual dungeons. But this may very well make or break one’s enjoyment of a temple or dungeon, and for good reason. Linearity can make a dungeon simpler and give it more forward momentum, while nonlinearity can up the difficulty and encourage greater exploration or backtracking. YouTube’s Monster Maze analyzed this aspect of Zelda dungeon design in a recent video, and discussed…
