Ubisoft's Cancelled Zelda Spin-Off

According to Insider-Gaming.com, Ubisoft Milan, the Italian team behind the two Mario + Rabbids games, had ambitious plan for a Zelda spin-off, code-named "Goliath". At first this game was supposed to have its own protagonist, but this later evolved into a playable Ganondorf, at the request of Nintendo.

After the launch of Sparks of Hope in October 2022, they have worked on a pitch over the winter, and then they had until the end of 2023 to develop a prototype. But this prototype ultimately got rejected by Nintendo and their collaboration cooled down afterwards, which led to the unfortunate disbanding of the development team.

This story reminds me of the various spin-off ideas that Retro Studio pitched to Nintendo over the years, like the Sheik game, or Heroes of Hyrule. And I'm sure Nintendo had their reasons to dismiss all of them, where I'm personally happy with how protective they have been with the IP for the past 30 years.

Of all the third party collaborations around Zelda, the partnership with Capcom still remains the best. It has produced four mainline Zelda titles, three of which are considered to be very good entries. Some of the developers from the dissolved Flagship team even still work on Zelda today, first and foremost Hidemaro Fujibayashi.

And even though Koei Tecmo means shady business, the Hyrule Warriors games have been fantastic, where this probably will continue to be a series of its own. The odd one out is Cadence of Hyrule, where Nintendo allowed a small indie studio, Brace Yourself Games, to work on the IP, but this has turned out pretty good as well.

Sadly, we don't really know any specifics about this prototype. A Ganondorf game sounds awesome on paper and can be found on many fan wish lists, but the same goes for a Sheik game. And that turned out to be Wii Sports swordplay against wolves, making Link's Crossbow Training look sophisticated in comparison.

It doesn't mean we won't ever get a game where you primarily play as Ganondorf – Nintendo is clearly interested in the idea. It probably just won't be made by Ubisoft... And I'm okay with that.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Haul

Got the "Dagdan Collection" of Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave this Friday, eight days after the game's launch. And this wasn't some lucky, late find, or me buying from some scalper (which I would avoid). Instead, I had actually preordered this from the official Nintendo Store, where they notified me on the release day that they were facing technical difficulties, resulting in a delay of the order. They also gave me a 10€ discount for my next order, which was nice enough, but I doubt that I would have been content with that if this was Ocarina of Time or Metroid Ravenous.

Luckily, I was in no hurry to play this game (I haven't even started Three Houses yet), so I'm mainly getting this for my collection. And for this purpose this is a decent enough addition. It's similar to the Divine Edition that was released for Fire Emblem Engage three years ago in both size and offerings. The box is somewhat longer, but it also feels a tad cheaper / less sturdy, even though they have raised the prices quite a bit from last time.

And if I remember correctly, 2023 was truly the last time we got special editions like this, with Fire Emblem Engage and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It almost felt like Nintendo was done with these type of collector's items, but supposedly they just didn't release any games with the right "prestige" in the meantime. Though, it makes you wonder why they are skipping Ocarina of Time in this list, but with all the limited Zelda hardware coming next month, they probably didn't want to overdo it. You have to be fortunate in more than one way to pre-order these things...

But I have always liked collecting the different steelbooks and artbooks during the Nintendo Switch era. They are the main selling point for me, as well as getting the games with a clean cover for the normal cartridge case, without the huge age rating that you normally get in Germany. And this is all in here, as well as a collection of character cards (similar to the one that came with Engage) and a poster:

So, you get the obligatory Smash Bros. avatar character in both genders, the leaders of the different houses (if I'm not mistaken), as well as Sothis and the Goddess Fortuna. The map looks a bit dull, where I probably wouldn't want to put this on my wall. And it has the same issue as all the collectible maps (e.g. the ones for Zelda that came with the Prima guides): they have folds, and it's not so easy to smoothen this out. But it can't be helped with that size, unless they are selling these as actual posters that are rolled.

The artbook has a total of 152 pages and features mainly character designs for all the different factions. But there are some impressive illustrations of environments as well, which are probably the highlight.

In addition, I've got these little magnets for 500 Platinum Points from the Nintendo Store. There is one for each of the four main houses, where you can put them on your fridge after completing each route in the game (and only then). The above photo also shows the backside of the steelbook, which you can use as a size reference. So, these magnets are quite small.

Got the Mineru's Construct amiibo

This arrived on Thursday and has now completed the collection of amiibo for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And with Mineru's Construct they have saved the best for last, because it's the largest and most impressive figurine in the set. It's not the heaviest, though, where this still goes to Yunobo.

Like the Guardian amiibo for Breath of the Wild, it comes with the gimmick that you can bend its arms and change them for all sorts of poses. Though, they are much sturdier and have all these plastic segments to them, so I'm hesitating with creative experiments. Anyway, here are some photos of how the things looks next to the previous amiibo:

 

Sage of Spirit Fabric

The Sage of Spirit Fabric is one that glows in the dark, but it's super subtle, because it's only for the third eye and quite small. But it's a nice, little detail, and overall I found this to be one of the best-looking paragliders, especially if you want something with a Zonai theme.

Well, this won't have any use for me now, unless I decide to replay the game. But I enjoy the ritual of returning to the game for new fabrics, where I wouldn't mind if the two upcoming Ocarina of Time amiibo will be supported as well. But this would require a new update for the game.

Evolution of Jumping in the Zelda Series

Arguably one of the biggest gameplay changes in the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake is that you no longer will jump automatically, but instead do it manually with a dedicated button. It's an interesting development, because the automatic jumping was part of the many revolutionary things the original did for 3D gaming, amongst the Z-targeting. You didn't have to worry about timing your jumps, because Link would always do it perfectly. This system remained a staple in the 3D games up until Breath of the Wild, which re-introduced a jump button.

The added level of detail might be part of the reason why they did it for the remake, because you don't necessarily get the same sharp edges to jump off. And it will be interesting to see how this plays out. You get some control back and you can now also climb faster with the added jumps, while parts of the environment also became more jump-friendly, like the small stream near the entrance to Hyrule Field from the forest. There may even be new challenges where you have to time your jumps correctly.

Anyway, with this change in mind, it's fascinating to look back at each game in the series and see how it implemented jumping. When you need to jump over a gap, there have been three different ways for you to do so: with a button, with an item (the Roc's Feather or Cape), or automatically. There are also games where you simply are unable to jump over gaps, so you will need other items to cross them, like the Hookshot. Here is how it's done in every Zelda game: 

• The Legend of Zelda: -
• The Adventure of Link: button
• A Link to the Past: -
• Link's Awakening: item
• Ocarina of Time: auto
• Majora's Mask: auto
• Oracle of Ages & Seasons: item
• The Wind Waker: auto
• Four Swords: item
• Four Swords Adventures: item
• The Minish Cap: item
• Twilight Princess: auto
• Phantom Hourglass: auto
• Spirit Tracks: auto
• Skyward Sword: auto
• A Link Between Worlds: -
• Tri Force Heroes: -
• Breath of the Wild: button
• Tears of the Kingdom: button
• Echoes of Wisdom: button

In the original The Legend of Zelda it wasn't possible to jump in any way or form. You needed the Stepladder to cross gaps and rivers. And while many consider Zelda II - The Adventure of Link to be the black sheep, it did jumping with a button in the Zelda series before it was cool. It was a natural part of its side scrolling action, where you even had special sword techniques to go along with your jumps. The Downthrust eventually became an important inspiration for the very satisfying pogo-technique in the Hollow Knight games.

A Link to the Past was effectively the game to introduce auto-jumping in some form, but it was only there to leap down off a ledge to the lower level. This continued to be a thing in all top-down Zelda games going forward.

Link's Awakening then brought back side-scrolling sections and even added Goombas along with them, inviting you to jump on them. But since the Game Boy only had two buttons, they had to come up with a different solution: you would jump with an item, the Roc's Feather. This item can be assigned to either A or B, instead of your sword, shield, or other things. And this item or its stronger version, the Roc's Cape, returned in all Zelda games on the Game Boy line, as well as in Four Swords Adventures.

As already mentioned, Ocarina of Time then came up with automatic jumping whenever you walk off a ledge – not just to drop down, but also to cross gaps. You could jump from one side of the Zora River to the other... if you picked the right spot. And in all 3D Zelda games from Majora's Mask to Skyward Sword this system was implemented again.

Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks also featured this automatic crossing of gaps for the first time in a top-down scenario, with their touchscreen controls. You would just draw over the gap and Link would automatically leap across, even when there is ground below.

The two Nintendo 3DS titles, A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes, on the other hand went back to no jumping at all. Instead, they featured items that would lift you up, like the Tornado, Sand and Water Rods. But that doesn't really count.

Finally, Breath of the Wild completely revolutionized the Zelda series from the ground up with its free-climbing nature, where it became necessary for you to manually jump again. It's also there to initiate paragliding, which became an important part of the new 3D Zelda gameplay. And now this manual jump finds its way back into the classics with Ocarina of Time.

Ironically, in its early stages of development, Ocarina of Time used to still have a jump button. But they had removed it in favor of the auto-jumping to streamline the gameplay and shift the focus on other elements (see Iwata Asks). It's funny how things sometimes go... or in this case, how they jump.

New LEGO: Ocarina of Time Link & Epona

Here is something from last Tuesday's Zelda Direct that I have yet to discuss: they have briefly announced a third The Legend of Zelda LEGO set – one for Link & Epona from Ocarina of Time. Unlike the other two sets, this is more of a small statue, which you can put on display, similar to all those LEGO flower bouquets or the Game Boy.

It's interesting that they have chosen this particular pose, because Link raising his sword while he sits on Epona is first and foremost reminding you of Twilight Princess, because that's the Zelda game that did it first. However, an original artwork for Ocarina of Time exists with a similar pose:

So, it was likely based on that, while also going more into the direction of that famous Twilight Princess moment on Eldin Bridge. But I suppose that they have preferred Ocarina of Time here for various reasons. It's the Zelda game that introduced Epona, it's getting a remake for the 40th Anniversary, and it's probably a better match for all that plastic, visually.

Still, it would be nice if the LEGO sets were to show more variety in the future when it comes to the representation of the Zelda series. If they are just going for Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild, because these are the two most popular Zelda game, it's going to get boring eventually.

All Zelda Games on Nintendo Switch 2

Image Source

For the 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo has shared the above infographic. This simply shows you what Zelda games you will be able to play if you own a Nintendo Switch 2 (with an expanded Nintendo Switch Online subscription, of course). And it reminds me of a similar list I had compiled ten years ago for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

They have also shown this in the Zelda Direct on Tuesday. And while it's a pretty way of communicating what's available, this infographic is triggering some Zelda fans so hard that it feels like Nintendo is intentionally trolling them. While it's certainly impressive that you can play 15 out of the 21 mainline titles in some form, the focus quickly shifts from what's there to what's missing, first and foremost Twilight Princess. And it certainly leaves a big gap there, no doubt about that.

Twilight Princess is right now the only 3D Zelda game you are unable to play on Nintendo Switch 2. It's also one of three GameCube titles that haven't become available yet on Nintendo Switch Online, the other two being Ocarina of Time - Master Quest and Four Swords Adventures.

Though, Master Quest should probably be just added to the Nintendo 64 library, since it always was just an N64 ROM running in an emulator. And with the Ocarina of Time remake coming, this won't be happening anytime soon, maybe even never.

The latest remake might also be the reason why they haven't added Twilight Princess to NSO this week, and instead went with Star Fox Adventures. They do not want to distract from Ocarina of Time right now with any other Zelda game, especially one so similar. For the same reason you shouldn't hold your breath for ports of The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD any longer. I feel like this ship has finally left the harbor with the Ocarina of Time remake, where now we've went from remastering all the 3D Zelda games to full-on remaking them.

Well, it would throw a big bone to all the Nintendo Switch owners out there, who aren't even able to play The Wind Waker via NSO. But would Twilight Princess fans really be content with getting a rehashed remaster after seeing how pretty a Zelda game can look like? I think not. And I'm sure one day we'll be getting a Twilight Princess remake in the same quality – or even better looking, because this won't be happening on the Nintendo Switch 2. Maybe on the Switch 3.

Right now the best you can hope for is Twilight Princess on NSO, but Nintendo might wait a little longer with that, even skipping the game's twentieth anniversary on November 19th. If we were going by order, then Four Swords Adventures would also be next, but for this game Nintendo will have to solve the issue of emulating the Game Boy Advance connectivity. They haven't done it for The Wind Waker, so things aren't looking great right now. Alternatively, they might opt for a special re-release of the title, just like what they have done with Four Swords for the 25th Anniversary. That is certainly an option.

Of course, the list is also still missing the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS games. And libraries for those might be added to Nintendo Switch Online in the future, but the touch screen functionalities will prove to be a challenge. While the Nintendo Switch 2 has a touchscreen, you can only use it in handheld mode and it won't give you the same accessibility as the original dual screen systems, where the touch screen also often was used for additional buttons, e.g. quickly swapping items in A Link Between Worlds or using the emoticons in Tri Force Heroes.

The best chance for some of these games to return might be remakes, but there are more than enough Zelda games waiting in line to be remade already. So, we may not see any of these on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Update: They could also offer a peripheral where you attach the Joy-Cons and insert the screen of the Switch 2 vertically. This would emulate the overall setup of the dual screen systems, though be it much larger and heavier.

Age of Calamity - Definitive Edition: Save Data Bonus Weapons

Similar to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, you can also receive bonus weapons in Age of Calamity's upcoming Definitive Edition whenever it detects save data of related games on your system.

As in the Nintendo Switch version, you can get the "Training Sword" for when you have save data for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild present. So, that's actually not new and you may even have this already. But they have also added a bonus for Age of Imprisonment, where you will get an "Ancient Sword", which is the Soldier's Broadsword from that game.

Having this weapon in Age of Calamity feels a bit odd, like something that shouldn't belong in this era at all. It's also funny how Age of Imprisonment gets a save data bonus via Age of Calamity, where this now goes back and forth.