Category: Editorials

The Legend of Zelda series offers many different musical styles, with soundtracks ripe with potential for covers, remixes, and re-imaginings. In the video game music (VGM) scene, one can find all styles of music represented, from soothing orchestral covers, to chill lo-fi, to heart-pumping metal. The VGM scene is filled with collaborations among musicians that result in some truly unique takes on everyone’s favorite tracks from across the gaming landscape. In 2023, VGMCon, a video game music convention in Minneapolis,…

Happy release of Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department! For anyone in the center of the Taylor Swift-Zelda fandom Venn diagram, this editorial is for you. Swift is arguably the world’s most popular superstar, donning the cover of Time magazine as Person of the Year. Her long list of musical accolades has solidified her legacy, including her recent triumph of being the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammy’s four times. Her record-breaking Eras…

The year is 2024. Video games are pushing graphical and technological boundaries, constantly broadening our perspective on what the medium is capable of. New hardware and AI technology open the door for new possibilities as we creep ever closer to games that are indistinguishable from real life. Amidst this sea of innovation, a new Game Boy game was released. No, I didn’t say a Game Boy-inspired game, but a real, bona fide Game Boy game. Developed by Pie For Breakfast…

The first set of DLC for Breath of the Wild, dubbed The Master Trials, was made available just three months after the game’s release on the 30th June 2017. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi stated that The Master Trials was created for “core gamers and people who wanted an extra gameplay-based challenge.” To that end, the DLC introduced several new features that increased the challenge of the base game, including Master Mode and the Trial of the Sword, and new features that…

The internet loves a good hot take. All year round, whether you frequent Facebook, Reddit, Bluesky, or the website formerly known as Twitter, users are always ready to share their most controversial or contrarian opinions on just about any given topic. If an unpopular opinion would likely prompt an angry mob to point a dozen swords at your face or chain you in the center of crowded coliseum, you know that your average netizen will swiftly and smugly share it…

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion for gamers. If you grew up playing games as a kid, there’s a certain connection you’ll always have to the titles and consoles of your youth. It’s not just the memories of the specific games, but also the specific sounds and tactile feelings from the console, the controller, and other aspects of the hardware. Maybe it’s the distinct click when inserting the cartridge, the experience of pushing the power button or switch, the feel of…

Four Swords Adventures is, in a word, bizarre (in the best of ways). Each underrated Zelda game has its own set of anomalies that make it stand out from the rest of the series and Four Swords Adventures is no exception. Its increasing inaccessibility to players only adds to this mystique — and most emulations can’t replicate the experience of playing it on a fuzzy, old TV, clutching a chunky GameCube controller or Game Boy Advance. Four Swords Adventures’ eccentricities…

The Legend of Zelda’s 25th Anniversary in 2011 was an exciting time to be a Zelda fan. If you were fully aware of all the great things Nintendo had on offer from 2011 to 2012, this period in Zelda history is probably a strongly nostalgic time for you. I was in my mid-teens, and was primarily focused on Skyward Sword. I was also completely obsessed with the 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD that came with the newest series title, even though…

Welcome back to another edition of “Storytelling Through Sound,” a series of editorials dedicated to the analysis of the main themes from every Zelda game. In honor of Four Swords Week, we’ll be taking a look at this game’s version of the Lake Hylia theme and the way that it plays into nostalgia to hit you right in the feels. One of my favorite parts of playing a Zelda game is being unexpectedly hit with something familiar from the past, whether it be a…

The Legend of Zelda fans were feasting in 2011. With the series celebrating its 25th anniversary that year, Nintendo pulled out all the stops to make sure every corner of the fanbase was well fed on Zelda goodness. Ocarina of Time 3D — a remake long desired by fans — released that June, Skyward Sword — the first home console Zelda game in five years — released that November, Hyrule Historia — and the official Zelda timeline with it —…