Tag: guest article

This is a guest article written by Matti-Pekka Nuorva, known on our community forums as “Roikka,” and edited by Colin McIsaac. If you’d like to submit your own guest article, we encourage you to do so here.

Among the most essential elements of the Legend of Zelda seems to be the past. Almost every game in the franchise has some aspect of the game grounded in the past, some even more so than the present. Events prefiguring those of the game are constantly emphasized more than the storyline they presage. There are some exceptions to this trend, but they are the games like the original Legend of Zelda or the Oracle games (individually, of course), where little happens story-wise, anyway.

As an example, lets take the black cat of the franchise: Majora’s Mask. The story Majora’s Mask is about the game’s ancient namesake, of Skull Kid’s loneliness, and of the two combined turning his kindness into mischief. Then Link comes and wakes the Giants, who go on to stop the moon while Link kicks Majora’s ass. Link’s part in the story of Skull Kid himself, however, is actually quite small. In that story and in each sidequest of the game, Link only serves a small but concluding role.

But what about more traditional Zelda titles? 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 do so here.

Gaming is a medium quite unique to itself, with its own rules and ingredients that set it far apart from other mediums. In some ways, however, it shares elements with these mediums, and this is particularly the case in storytelling.

Storytelling in video games is an art that has only recently begun to step out of its former, much tighter constrictions. The reasons are many—video games have been limited by the technology of their time, not all of them follow or even have an established narrative, and when there is a narrative, it’s not always the focus. Whether it’s good or bad in practice is not what I’ll be discussing today; I will simply look closer at a certain aspect of storytelling that draws from a certain character role: the antagonist. Head past the jump to keep reading.

This is a guest article written by Michael S. and edited by Colin McIsaac. If you’d like to submit your own guest article to Zelda Informer, we encourage you do do so here.

It’s a very odd thing to defend a Zelda game that’s been one of the most widely acclaimed in the series. After all, the more mainstream realistic aesthetic and “gritty” tone made it more palatable to those who disliked the cel-shaded style of its predecessor. Yet perhaps it’s those qualities that cause it to be mildly dismissed by other fans of the franchise. There’s always somebody ready to expound on The Wind Waker’s visual and technical style, but few people have more than a spoonful of praise for Twilight Princess. Perhaps it’s because Wind Waker attracts more libelers and thus needs defending. Maybe it’s because Twilight Princess’ realistic style is seen as “mainstream” and thus boring. But of course, some people just genuinely didn’t like it. It’s important to remember, though, that Twilight Princess has plenty of its own power.

Head past the jump to read more.