Tag: Editorial

Welcome to the eighth installment of Piece of Heart, where we look at The Legend of Zelda series through the eyes of a literary professor and examine how its literary elements enhance the gaming experience. This week’s lesson is titled “It’s All Politics”. While I don’t think that any Zelda game was created as an analogy for a real-world political situation, it does usually surround war and the dangers of a power-hungry government. This lesson argues that no piece of…

In most Legend of Zelda games, it’s given that Zelda is a princess and therefore a member of the ruling family. However, the rest of her lineage is rarely spoken of and almost never has a profound impact on the course of Link’s adventure. Sometimes Zelda has a brother, or the King makes an appearance, but usually the government just gets brushed under the rug. What if the monarchy had more of a hand in the direction of the games?…

Welcome to the seventh installment of Piece of Heart, where we look at The Legend of Zelda series through the eyes of a literary professor and examine how its literary elements enhance the gaming experience. This week’s lesson is titled “If She Comes Up… It’s Baptism”. Basically, being submerged in water can represent a character’s rebirth. The Wind Waker in its entirety comes immediately to mind, leading into the lands that emerge to make up new Hyrule in Spirit Tracks….

Throughout the Zelda franchise’s history, Nintendo has found ways to port and update Zelda titles as new console have been brought to the market. However, not until recently have there been full-on revisions to particular installments. Since 2011, the Zelda series has seen three remakes; one on a home console, the other two on handheld. I’m going to analyze just how each of these titles have changed in comparison to their original versions and see how their releases might have…

A Link Between Worlds was nigh on universally acclaimed upon its release. Critics praised the game for its focus on gameplay, its well designed dungeons, and the cavalcade of nostalgic references to its predecessor, A Link to the Past. In this article, I look at aspects of A Link Between Worlds that I found unique to the game, be it good or bad.

Welcome to the sixth installment of Piece of Heart, where we look at The Legend of Zelda series through the eyes of a literary professor and examine how its literary elements enhance the gaming experience. This week’s lesson is titled “Hanseldee and Greteldum” so we’ll scour the Zelda series in search of parallels to fairy tales (oddly enough I found none alluding to Hansel and Gretel, nor Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, so I changed the title rather than be…

I remember playing Wario Ware on the Wii and loving the Animal Crossing fishing challenge because it required minimal strategy, was quick, and my catch offered instant gratification when displayed. Contrary to this fast paced mini-game, fishing in The Legend of Zelda actually requires some skill and a level of patience, so it isn’t a surprise that I never really took to fishing in Zelda. Fishing appears in five Zelda titles now with its implementation in Majora’s Mask 3D, which…

The triforce is an incredibly simple icon, just three triangles; it can be scribbled anywhere and it isn’t really associated with anything but The Legend of Zelda. Despite the symbol’s ability to creep its way into an astonishing amount of media outlets, does it do a good job of inciting interest in the series? Even popular phrases like “I am Error” and “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone” are fairly popular, but are they effective as slogans? From a business standpoint,…

Welcome to the fifth installment of Piece of Heart, where we look at The Legend of Zelda series through the eyes of a literary professor and examine how its literary elements enhance the gaming experience. This weeks lesson is titled “Marked for Greatness” and we’ll be analyzing how distinctive markings, scars, deformities, and other oddities stand as indicators of a character’s importance. One of the most obvious indicators would be the appearance of the triforce on a character’s hand, but…

Link, the hero, goes through many different changes as he is reincarnated throughout the ages. He’s been a child, a teen, and an adult. Hell, he’s even been a stalfos at one point. Link is also known for taking many different forms through his travels, from a wolf to a Goron. Seeing all the transformations, I started to wonder if it hurts when he transforms into something non-Hylian…