Tag: guest article

This is a guest article written by Agri of the Zelda Informer Forums. If you’d like to write your own guest article, we encourage you to send us your work here.

The Legend of Zelda is more than just a game. It’s a way of life. Sure, at its surface it’s an adventure fantasy about a guy in a skirt following the archetype hero story. But that’s just one aspect of the multifaceted series. To complete a Zelda game is to take an advanced class in awesomeness. Upon doing so you’ll be ready to roll into any obstacle easily and hack away all problems life tosses in your way. So grab a bottle of refreshing milk and use it to wash down just a few of the sage-like life lessons learned from The Legend of Zelda.

More after the jump!

This is a guest article written by RebeccaHD of the Zelda Informer Forums. If you’d like to write your own guest article, we encourage you to send us your work here.

The

Zelda series has seen many types of “second playthrough” modes: Second Quest from the original Legend of Zelda, Master Quest from the bonus GameCube disc Ocarina of Time + Master Quest as well as the 2011 remake Ocarina of Time 3D, Second Playthrough from The Wind Waker, and Hero Mode from Skyward Sword, as well as in The Wind Waker HD. I am the kind of player that loves replaying games, so I really appreciate Nintendo’s putting the time and effort in to give the curious consumer a little extra on his or her second time through the games. Beyond replaying games, I’m the kind of player that loves challenge, and, in my experience, “second playthrough” modes tend to offer sizable challenge for my tastes.

The latest model to be used in the series is the Hero Mode model. As I stated in the opening paragraph, it’s featured in

Skyward Sword and The Wind Waker HD. Its alterations include the following: all damage taken is doubled (where a ChuChu may deal one fourth a heart’s worth of damage in a regular playthrough of TWWHD, it will deal one half on Hero Mode), hearts cannot be obtained except through the use of potions (exceptions are made in SS: the Heart Medal which makes hearts spawn in the usual places except very rarely, and sitting on stumps regenerates health as well) and, at least with SS, many scenes can be skipped. For many players, these are substantial alterations to the original playthrough that breathe new life into an old game.

Do the Hero Mode changes breathe new life into an old game for you? Read Rebecca’s thoughts and more after the jump!

This is a guest article written by Matti-Pekka Nuorva and edited by Devin O’Neill. If you’d like to submit your own guest article, we encourage you to share it with us here, or email Devin at devin@gamnesia.com

Recently, a large body of Zelda fans have jumped the bandwagon and joined those that have demanded Zelda to be the player character of The Legend of Zelda. The reasons they give for this have included (but have not been limited to) feminism, a different point-of-view, and renewal of the franchise. Yet ZeldaInformer has mostly kept quiet about the opposite opinion, and its arguments have generally been simplified to misogyny and the byword traditionalism. Therefore I give you “Why would we want to play as Zelda?” This is the first of three articles where I will not only illustrate the less-recognized reasons why some of us don’t want to see the fair maiden replacing Link, but also why people demanding a “stronger role” for Zelda have not only have missed a lot in the series they claim to be fans of, they are actively destroying it. I will also do some basic literal analysis on the phenomenon we call The Legend of Zelda, and thus explain why Zelda as a protagonist, or in role of increased importance, would not be a smart idea, to put it in words far more kindly than deserved.

Read more after the jump!

This is a guest article written by Matt Schell and edited by Devin O’Neill. If you’d like to submit your own guest article, we encourage you to share it with us here, or email Devin at devin@gamnesia.com

Fans of The Legend of Zelda love to generate theories about the various characters and stories in order to gain an understanding of the world in which they play. For the majority of these theorists, Vaati’s importance is often neglected and seems to be forgotten in time. This article refreshes Vaati’s role in the timelines and even presents some original theories to reinforce his significance.

Read more after the jump.

The following is a guest article written by Theron of the Zelda Informer forums. If you’d like to write your own guest article, we encourage you to send us your work here.

The Legend of Zelda – take a moment to reflect upon what that title means to you. The very arrangement of those four words means something different to everyone. A mention of the single word “Zelda” alone will surely conjure up images of the heroic protagonist clad in green brandishing a sword. Perhaps it brings out the inner adventurer within us? In such a modern time in the vast history of our own world we are compelled to strive for something more, to charter the unknown and achieve a higher appreciation for what we live for; our hopes, our dreams, our intellectual understanding of the world. The Legend of Zelda gives each individual person the ability to explore a fictitious universe that not only pays homage to the elements that dominate classical fantasy, but gives the individual the chance to be a part of something extraordinary. Though it is virtual in nature and merely a concept brought to life by a graphicsengine, soundtrack and enhanced by wielding a controller, there are plenty of memorable characteristics that remain ingrained in the minds of those who play it.

As a series, The Legend of Zelda has forged its own path to greatness and to impeccable acclaim in the annals of video game history. Critics oftentimes award the titles near perfect scores [As, 10s, etc.] and praise its standing as a long running franchise that has become synonymous with its equally legendary creator and strong fan base. So why is it that there can never be a “perfect” Zelda title in the community that meets the expectations of all?

Head past the jump to keep reading!

This is a guest article written by Tom-Olav Hundstad and edited by Colin McIsaac. If you’d like to submit your own guest article, we encourage you to send us your work here.

When it comes to the Legend of Zelda series, there are a lot of things we can look at that have been constant throughout the series from either the very first game or from those that followed soon after. However, some aspects are not as set in stone as others, and may vary greatly from game to game. Case in point, mini-bosses.

Think back to what you might consider a classic mini-boss in the series. I’m sure you can think of a few, and I bet they typically share the same characteristics: the mini-boss is a unique enemy that is tougher than regular enemies, and more often than not, it will yield a reward—usually the dungeon’s designated item—upon defeat. We can see this “tradition” perhaps most clearly with Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, two games in which mini-bosses are almost mandatory. It is an interesting notion, however—where did the mini-boss originate, and why?

In a sense, it could be said that mini-bosses originally started out as just being tougher enemies, or boss-like enemies that didn’t yield the same rewards as bosses did. An example would be Rebonack from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, who appeared in one dungeon as a boss but then later in another dungeon as two mini-bosses. Since then, their purpose seems to have been changed and molded in different ways with every passing title, and that then begs the question; what is a mini-boss’ purpose?

Head past the jump to keep reading!

This is a guest article written by Emilio Burgos with minor edits made by Colin McIsaac. If you’d like to submit your very own guest article, we encourage you to share it with us here.

You turn on your console and insert The Wind Waker’s disc. The title screen appears. You go on for a new game and the first thing you’re told is, “this is but one of the legends of which people speak.” Then you watch strips of what appear to be fragments of an old tapestry, telling the story of the High—but now forgotten—Kingdom of Hyrule. 

This sequence, which should be familiar to all of us Zelda fans, contains in a few screenshots the essence of the heroic cycle, as well as a few observations on the anthropological function of myths and tales in daily life. This short article aims to discuss the most important sections of the prologue in order to show The Wind Waker’s connection to the basic pattern of all heroic narratives. In other words, to discuss why it is actually one of the many tales that people talk about.

To read the rest of Emilio’s contrast between The Legend of Zelda and the heroic tales of yore, head past the jump!

This is a guest article written by Mike (surname withheld at author’s request). “The Hauntology of The Legend of Zelda” is the unanimous winner of our guest article contest, so give Mike a warm round of applause and be sure to read his brilliant examination of hauntology and its presence in the Legend of Zelda series.

Hauntology is the philosophy of ghosts. Initially a concept created by French philosopher Jacques Derrida to describe the lingering traces of Marxist ideology upon society, the term has since branched out to apply to various artistic movements of all mediums. Modern hauntological art typically refers to electronic music which utilizes vintage and eerily nostalgic thematic effects reminiscent of library music from former decades. In this sense, the hauntological style plays upon an enigmatic form of fragmented and anachronistic memory, in a dreamlike and often subtly dreadful manner. Remnants of the past are re-applied to the present; the past exists within the present, constantly haunting humanity. 

One of the most striking and interactive uses of the hauntological style is in regards to video games, whereby hauntology affects not only the artistic vision, but also the psychological implications of the gaming process. Perhaps the most notably recent examples of majorly commercial hauntological video games have been Fallout and BioShock. Both games take place in retro-futuristic worlds, where the aesthetics and ideas of former decades clash with modern science and technologies in a dystopian manner. Throughout the games, the specters of the past haunt the player through the form of old audio recordings, seemingly dated ideological references, and distant yet all too familiar aesthetics. Without reading into back-stories or fan-theories, these games throw off the players perception of time, leaving them wondering whether or not such aesthetics, ideas, and other content is more significant than initially believed to be. 

To the trained eye however, these two games are quite obviously hauntological, whether intended or not. Because the chilling art deco style of BioShock and the Cold War dread of Fallout are so intrinsically linked to our own realities, it is easy to distinguish the hauntological aspects of the games, at least when compared to more fictitious games. One of the most striking examples of hauntology applied to fantasy based gaming is with regards to The Legend of Zelda series. The series’ narrative always focuses on legends of the past; tales of a young hero who defeats evil are passed down each generation. The fact that the legends are constantly repeated is itself hauntological, but moreover, it is because all the ideas, people, and entities of these legends continue to linger and exist in ways that continually impact the present. Of course the effects the legends have vary accordingly with each individual Zelda game, but the point is that past events continually haunt in a cyclical manner, even to the point where the protagonist is impacted. 

Head past the jump to keep reading.

This is a guest article written by Abraham Blain and edited by Colin McIsaac. “What’s in a Wish?” is one of two runner-ups in Zelda Informer’s guest article contest.

You know what’s fun? Reading theories on the internet delving into the hidden meanings of your favorite video games. I’m sure many of you have read articles talking about the risks of power in Twilight Princess, the importance of faith and the cycle of life in Majora’s Mask, and path of growing up to adulthood in Ocarina of Time. Every Zelda game has a story to tell and a hidden moral lying just beneath the surface. But have you ever wondered if the series in its whole had a lesson for us? What if the Zelda games were connected not just by its characters, lore, and gameplay, but by a central theme underlying every aspect of our beloved series? I’m here to tell you that yes, there is something tying it all together.

The Legend of Zelda revolves around, with some variations, a Hero, a Maiden, and a Manifestation of Evil. This completes the all-important Triforce, which, once formed, can be used to grant the wish of the one who completes it. Each of the three characters represent a specific piece of the Triforce—Courage, Wisdom, and Power, respectively. 

To keep reading about how the three elements of the Triforce apply to both internally and externally in the Zelda series, head past the jump.