Underestimated Demand for the 40th Anniversary Collection

Happy Halloween! If you want to go through the thrill of a harmless nightmare, then when not try to get your hands on one of the above products? I double dare you! The promised restocks by Nintendo on launch day were sold out within seconds again and scalpers are having a pay day. Nintendo has completely underestimated the demand for this 40th Anniversary collection and even admitted in doing so (see GamesRadar), so what exactly went wrong?

Well, special edition hardware pieces around The Legend of Zelda have been problematic in different ways for over a decade now, which has created this weird sine and cosine curve relationship of what Nintendo anticipates and what fans actually want. And I'm not sure they will break out of this cycle any time soon.

It basically started with the Nintendo 3DS, where they overdid things. There were more Zelda-themed editions for the Nintendo 3DS family than actual Zelda games. At first, each of these provided a meaningful upgrade, from a Nintendo 3DS to a Nintendo 3DS XL and then to a New Nintendo 3DS XL. But things got weird and even nonsensical with the "Hyrule Edition" of the New 3DS XL and the "Hylian Shield Edition" of the New 2DS XL. Nintendo did not stop making these Zelda editions, creating a bubble that would burst.

Naturally, the demand became lower and lower, but Nintendo took this "insight" into the Nintendo Switch era. Well, whatever their reasons were, they refused to make another Zelda edition for years, which has caused some confusion and internal conflict amongst the Zelda fans who were anticipating such a thing. You can even find an article about this topic here on this blog, from the time when the Link's Awakening remake was about to be released:

Where is the Nintendo Switch Zelda Edition? (September 2019)

You had to wait a total of six years for a Zelda edition to arrive, which was the one for Tears of the Kingdom in April 2023. I know only of a single Zelda fan out there who has actually been this patient; everyone else already bought a Nintendo Switch. At least the OLED model provided an upgrade of some sorts, but it still didn't sell as much as Nintendo had hoped.

And this shouldn't be a surprise. The target audience for Tears of the Kingdom was players who have enjoyed Breath of the Wild to its fullest and who wanted more of that. And while the game also had a Wii U version, 95% of that player base was on Nintendo Switch already. So, as a result, these Tears of the Kingdom Editions sat on shelves for months. And that's not something Nintendo likes to see, that's for sure.

But things became even worse with their next "Hyrule Edition", which was about as pointless as the first. One year later, for the launch of Echoes of Wisdom, they released a golden Nintendo Switch Lite... Because that's the thing Zelda fans really needed in the final year of the Nintendo Switch. I'm not joking when I say that I can still go to a media store today and potentially find one of these. They have been that unpopular.

And that golden Switch Lite is not even bad, just too little, too late. If this had come out together with Link's Awakening back in 2019, then this would have seen the proper demand. Heck, I probably would have used this as my primary way of playing Switch games for a little while, until Age of Calamity at least.

Now, the best course of action was to release such a special edition earlier for the Nintendo Switch 2. And they did. They made one for the 40th Anniversary, which even could be anticipated by the fans, right before the launch of the remake of one of the most beloved Zelda games, and one of most beloved games of all time. It wasn't entirely ideal, because they also released a new Hyrule Warriors game last year, but it's somewhat understandable that they wanted to wait for Ocarina of Time, especially with how popular this remake has become.

However, this was not the only conclusion Nintendo had here after the Nintendo Switch. They also saw a shrinking demand for Zelda-themed hardware in general and may have adjusted their projections accordingly for their 40th Anniversary collection. If they have produced 500,000 of the Tears of the Kingdom OLEDs back in 2023, then they might have reduced this to 200,000 for the 40th Anniversary Edition. These number are just freely made up, of course, but it's the mindset of "better have a sellout than to overproduce". They don't want to see "Latest Zelda editions collecting dust on store shelves" in the headlines again. 

But if there is too much of a shortage, then the headlines won't be positive either. If you are fan who really wanted the 40th Anniversary Switch 2 for the Ocarina of Time remake, then you might be out of luck. And now you have to make a choice between getting a plain Nintendo Switch 2 or buying from a scalper on ebay. Either way, you lose. Or you wait until the new, big 3D Zelda game gets released in two to three years, because that's likely where the whole cycle repeats itself for a turn.

Nintendo has now learned that there is still a big demand for these Zelda editions, much to their own surprise... So, they might decide to release another one for the next Zelda game and adjust the projections accordingly once more, only then to overproduce again, because they didn't think about all the Zelda fans who have bought such a system for the 40th Anniversary already and are not in need of another.

Funnily enough, with these Zelda editions there is only really one system where Nintendo did it right: the Wii U, their most unsuccessful home console. But you got a Zelda edition in its first year for the first Zelda release – The Wind Waker HD, it was easy enough to find one of these, and it was the only Zelda edition for the Wii U. It wasn't the prettiest, but it was handled in the right way.

That's not going to happen with the Switch 2, because it's potentially going to receive other models in the future – a Nintendo Switch 2 Lite, or a Nintendo Switch 2 OLED model, where each of these could see a Zelda edition of their own at the end. And this may even produce another "Hyrule Edition" nobody asked for, starting the cycle all over again.

Got the 40th Anniversary Nintendo Switch 2

This has arrived yesterday. Luckily, the console came in one piece and fully functional, where apparently that's not something that you should take for granted. Not only was it difficult enough to pre-order one of these – you also have to go through an additional lottery that's up to the whims of the retailers and delivery guys.

For example, I saw horror stories from people who had preordered from Amazon, where they thought it to be a good idea to ship these limited edition consoles in paper bags to save costs. Naturally, some of these arrive completely demolished, where your only options are to return them or to ask for a discount. It's always amazing how incredibly stupid companies can be. In one case only the box was damaged (see ntower) and the person has received a 78€ discount as compensation. So, they tried to save a couple of cents by not properly packaging a collector's item and lost the hourly wage of one of their overpaid managers as the result.

Also keep in mind that the Switch 2 system sits at the very top of its box's inside. So, in worst cases you end up with a broken screen. That's Nintendo's design flaw, really, but at least they know this and deliver their systems with proper paper cushioning. You also get a nice 40th Anniversary shipping box, at least in Europe:

As someone born in 1986, I totally love the "Since 1986" on the bottom print. Though, this is so nice that I can't just throw it away. They did the same thing for Tears of the Kingdom three years ago (see here) and I still have all those boxes, because I have yet to cut out the good parts and do something with them. 

Now, I would praise Nintendo for the safe delivery and packaging if it weren't for the fact that I have yet to receive my Pro Controller. The post sent it back to Nintendo, because the shipping box got torn open... Not sure whose fault it is, but currently I have to worry if I will get this at all due to the accident.

Well, it would be nice to play the new Ocarina of Time with that controller, but for now I'm just happy that everything went well with my new Switch 2. I was somehow able to install the single screen protector near flawlessly, where it probably was good to have had some practice already, exactly one year ago with my "old" Nintendo Switch 2. (My partner will adopt this one, so she can play Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave.)

The system transfer also went well and without any efforts. I've said this before, but this is a huge improvement over the original Switch, especially when it comes to your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island data. It's one less thing to worry about.

And I also really like how it looks in the flesh... or in the plastic. It's hard to see on the photo, but the front of the dock actually has a glossy finish to it.

The right Joy-con has a pixel art of Zelda from the original The Legend of Zelda on its back. And when you open the dock on the backside, you will find a pixel arts of Link and Zelda holding up their pieces of the Triforce, as well as 16 full Heart Containers. And this is something I admire, because nobody will ever see this except when they change the wires of the dock. It's a completely pointless detail, but it's there anyway. And details like this really run through the entire collection.  

The carrying case is quite pretty as well. But there isn't any new art here, believe it or not, because there is a lot of stuff that they have re-used from around the 30th Anniversary. That map on the backside of the carrying case can be found on a lot of things, e.g. the flyleaves of Hyrule Encyclopedia or the official Zelda Monopoly. So, you've probably seen it before somewhere. Same with the Triforce logo that has the goddess symbols on it.

But it also adds to the list of hidden pixel arts, where there is one on the inside for the cartridge slots:

That's actually even useful. If you slip in the game cards, you won't be able to see what's what without pushing them up a bit. But here you can sort them via the symbols somehow, if that makes any sense. Put your copy of Ocarina of Time under the heart, because you love it so much. Anyway, the hidden details don't stop there:

The cleaning cloth has pixel art on it as well. The cleaning cloth! This is adorable. And it recreates the "IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! TAKE THIS" scene, which is perfect for this item.

And I really like all that attention to detail. Compare this to the carrying case for Tears of the Kingdom, for example, which just came with a basic black cloth, which you can't even tell apart from any other of these cloths that are always bundled with screen protectors. Or its inside was just a basic black. So, all this 40th Anniversary gear got that little something extra, that little something special, and I can only appreciate that.

Now let's hope that my Pro Controller isn't lost, so that I can enjoy the whole collection when Ocarina of Time comes out. Let me know in the comments how it went for you!

Echoes of Wisdom ~ amiibo Ideas

Earlier this month, after twelve years of collecting Nintendo's little NFC-powered plastic figurines, I finally got some display cabinets to give them a proper home, instead of just storing them in a box somewhere. They are installed right on the wall next to our couch, so I have quick access whenever I might need one for a game. It's also nice to look at all the different figurines, but this had me thinking about what other amiibo there could and should have been...

And on top of this list sits Echoes of Wisdom. The latest 2D Zelda game is a bit of an oddball on the topic of amiibo, because it's the only The Legend of Zelda game released on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 that hasn't received its own. Both Link's Awakening and Skyward Sword HD came with one, while Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom got whole collections. And the new Ocarina of Time is also getting two amiibo next year. So, they've only skipped this one title.

But having Princess Zelda from the game with Tri and the Tri Rod together as an amiibo just makes too much sense. This has been a no-brainer since the game's announcement, where I was hoping that the 40th Anniversary might rectify this omission with some new amiibo figures for the whole series. Which doesn't seem to be happening, but the anniversary isn't over yet...

Now, this amiibo of Zelda could unlock another variant of the existing outfits – one that some fans even have been asking about, because it's technically already in the game. It's Zelda's disguise from the beginning, but with the hood down. Also known as "Hoodless Zelda":

There is only a very brief section during the game where you are able to play in this exact outfit and that's in Hyrule Castle after the game's mid point. Which is also where you unlock the ability to wear different outfits in the game, but for some reason this particular option doesn't stay with you. Of course, this should have been available in the game since its launch, without any additional costs, but if we're going with the above artwork for the amiibo figurine, then it will be a very good fit for a reward, because that's exactly what Zelda is wearing.

Realistically, this is all that you should expect for Echoes of Wisdom, but here is a quirky idea. There's another character from the game who would make for a great amiibo and I'm 90% serious about this one: the Stamp Guy.

The amiibo's socket could be one of his stamp stations, which would be a neat detail. It's something they are doing with the Metroid amiibo all the time, except that this wouldn't just be some random piece of rock. It would unlock an alternate color variant of the Stamp Suit, for example one in green, so you could do the whole Stamp Rally in the proper outfit. 

In addition, his own yellow paraglider would make for an excellent fabric in Tears of the Kingdom. That alone adds a lot of charm to the idea. Speaking of, the new Zelda amiibo would unlock a fabric based on the disguise's hood, similar to the Hylian-Hood Fabric from the Rider Link amiibo, but with a different pattern.

Though, it remains to be seen whether they are going to update Tears of the Kingdom for future amiibo after Mineru's Construct. They haven't announced anything for the Ocarina of Time amiibo here, but it would be awesome.

Nintendo Today: Echoes of Wisdom Collectible Cards

The third set of digital collectible cards in Nintendo Today began today: it's for Echoes of Wisdom, the most recent Zelda game. Curiously, the little video series where they let monsters fight against each other in the game has already finished in the meantime. You'd think that this is the perfect companion piece for these cards, but Nintendo had other plans...

They also haven't replaced the Majora's Mask icons on the Nintendo Switch Online app with something else, where they could have brought back those for Echoes of Wisdom. But there likely will be icons for Ocarina of Time in two weeks. And I also expected the same for the collectible cards, where it would have made sense to offer a set based on the new Ocarina of Time while the remake is fresh. But the Echoes of Wisdom set has a total of 25 cards, so it will last until November 17th...

Ideally, they will add the game's soundtrack to Nintendo Music in one of these weeks, but Link's Awakening isn't even on there yet and you would expect this game to appear first. So, just like with Breath of the Wild, this set of cards might not be connected to anything else.

As for the Majora's Mask set, its questions were all easy, as long as you have played the game. They have also focused almost entirely on important characters and entities: you get Link's different transformations, Skull Kid, the Happy Mask Salesman, the four temple bosses, and some more important side characters, like Anju and Kafei. The most obscure entry are the Rosa Sisters, actually. And the only nitpick is that they have messed up the order of the bosses – Twinmold was put between Odolwa and Goht for some reason.

Well, the content of these cards probably relies on what official artworks and sprites there are available. The Nintendo 64 classics have nice artworks for almost all characters, but there isn't really much to work with for the items and alike, except for tiny sprites. The more modern games have larger sprites available, which they can put on these cards, like the Bed from Echoes of Wisdom.

Anyway, Echoes of Wisdom is fantastic and somewhat underrated within the Zelda community. I have replayed the game earlier this year and I can only recommend to catch up on this title if you haven't played it yet.

Nintendo Music: ARMS Added (and Wario Land)

Say about ARMS what you want, but its music is a banger. Though, this is one of the soundtracks where I could have sworn that this was on Nintendo Music since launch, but clearly not. And I'm secretly hoping that the game will get a sequel on Nintendo Switch 2 some day, which makes up for the shortcomings of the first one, e.g. with a fleshed out Grand Prix mode.

They have also added Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 last week, easily one of the best Game Boy soundtracks. And this should have already happened back in July when the game was put into the Game Boy library (see Wario Land Week), but better late than never.

Replaying Majora's Mask via NSO

Back in June I was replaying Ocarina of Time on my Nintendo Switch 2 and already made a mental note that I wanted to do the same with Majora's Mask later this year. However, it was originally my plan to do so after the Ocarina of Time remake came out, so that I can replay the second Nintendo 64 classic with a full understanding of what a potential follow-up remake could offer.

But then Nintendo highlighted Majora's Mask this month with all their 40th Anniversary activities, which made me reconsider. Maybe it's best to play this one last time now, before the Ocarina of Time remake spoils you so hard that this just won't be enjoyable any longer. I was worried that I wouldn't want to play Majora's Mask again without a remake of the same caliber.

Well, and by now we have a pretty good understanding of how the Ocarina of Time remake is going to look in detail, even without having played it myself. And there were some things that I was already longing for.

It starts with the item management. Since you need to put your Ocarina, Hero's Bow, Bombs, Hookshot, Lens of Truth, and all the masks on the C-buttons, you have to constantly go back into the menu to re-assign things. It's almost as bad as with the Game Boy Zelda games. Majora's Mask 3D made things a bit better with its touch screen buttons, but it wasn't ideal either.

Now, in the Ocarina of Time remake both the L- and R-buttons bring up the item quick select, where I suppose that a similar remake for Majora's Mask would use the L-button for switching your masks instead. The first entry let's you remove your current mask, but you should also be able to switch from one mask to any other. In the original it wasn't possible to swap from a transformation mask to a normal mask, without taking it off first, but this would need to be possible to make such a menu comfortable to use.

The Lens of Truth and Ocarina go to the D-pad, just like in the Ocarina of Time remake. And since there are no different boots, there would even be one D-pad slot left (downwards), which they should reserve for the Great Fairy's Sword. So, instead of making the two-handed sword a ZR item, you would switch between the two different swords via a button press. With only one item slot this is for the best, because you wouldn't want that button be blocked by a second sword.

Such a remake would also be a great chance to flesh out the three day cycle in areas outside of Clocktown, e.g. the Romani Ranch. If you successfully aid both Romani and Cremia during the first two days, then Cremia will be completely absent during daytime on the final day. And this may even be intentional, because she's probably on her way to bring Anju's family to the ranch with her carriage.

But that's something a remake could show us: let her travel from Clocktown back to the ranch with a bunch of people on board. You should be able to watch these people take shelter there, instead of magically appearing at 6PM. This was completely fine for a 26 year old Nintendo 64 game, which was developed within a single year, but a remake in today's time could do so much more...

Otherwise I'm curious how they would handle the auto-jumping–or the lack thereof, because Majora's Mask has this odd inconsistency about invisible grounds. There is a hidden pathway at Ikana Graveyard where you just walk off into the abyss, where I wish I could jump manually... The invisible platforms around Snowhead on the other hand let you jump off them automatically, even when you don't see them, oddly enough. But it's how you are able to get to the Lens of Truth in the first place, where I suppose they would change this in a remake into one continuous path with curves.

But enough talk about a remake... I will get back to that topic once I've played and completed the new Ocarina of Time. 

One of the reasons why I started replaying Majora's Mask now were the collectible cards this month in Nintendo Today. And here it's funny how this often coincided. Well, I wasn't rushing, usually just playing a single cycle per evening with some breaks here and there, over the course of the last two weeks. These cycles were also far from optimized, so this wasn't about challenging myself to cram as much into one cycle as possible.

And by doing so I matched the cards with what I was playing that same day a couple of times. I've obtained the remains of Odolwa, Goht and Gyorg when their cards came out on October 7th, 10th and 16th respectively. Kafei's card showed up when I played parts of his quest early in the game, on October 8th. And I got both Zora Link and Fierce Deity Link on the day of their cards. Zora Link came out on October 15th and the Fierce Deity card is live today, where I have finished the game.

But yeah, I was playing a lot more casually and even going for things I haven't seen for quite some time, because they usually don't matter. For example, I've stalked Pamela with the Stone Mask, where you can watch her go to the well... slowly.

Or, I've witnessed the hustle between Sakon and the Curiosity Shop owner when he's trying to sell the stolen Bomb Bag. There is a lot to explore in Termina, which is quite amazing for a Nintendo 64 game.

One thing I never realized until today is that the Deku Stick trick also works in Majora's Mask. You can turn a butterfly into a fairy when it touches the stick's end. It's something that you learn in Ocarina of Time from a Gossip Stone, which came up the other day with the news about the Fairy Thoughts. So, I just randomly gave this a try on the moon, which worked like a charm. And it makes sense that this still works, since the two games share the same basis, but it's just something that never occurred to me in all those years.

The Nintendo Switch Online release also came with a number of caveats, like the slightly smoother 20FPS of the NTSC version. And I'm not sure I have ever experienced the game with active rumble before. It was an option on the Wii U, but I normally turned this off back then and I also haven't mentioned it in my blog post from almost ten years ago... (Which was the last time I had replayed Majora's Mask.)

But Link has essentially the Stone of Agony on him all the time, where it's not only rumbling for the two secret grottoes, but also on spots where treasure chests may appear. That was more irritating than helpful, however.

The true novelty was the rewind feature and this certainly shines in Majora's Mask with its many mini-games. The two Shooting Galleries always have been a pain without gyro aiming, but with rewind this was still easy enough to score a "PERFECT" on "first try". This is an absolute blessing even a remake wouldn't provide.

It's still painful how you have to do the Beaver Race four times in total, where the ten seconds less on the clock for the Piece of Heart certainly don't make any difference for when you can easily undo mistakes. But I generally hate it when mini-games just make you repeat the exact same thing with less time, where Rollgoal in Twilight Princess was the worst offender. 

And that's it... This may have been the last time I have played through the original Majora's Mask, because I'm expecting a remake to appear within the next four to five years and I won't go back from that. Though, I also thought the same about the Nintendo 3DS remakes and here we are. Still, if I want to refresh my memories until then, I will probably go for Majora's Mask 3D instead, where a part of me missed those fishing holes. 

Finally, here is some of my latest RNG:

• Bomber's Code: 21435
• Lottery Numbers: 021, 656 and 848

Ocarina of Time Remake: Steel Yourself Trailer

Nintendo has published a short trailer for Ocarina of Time, which focuses on boss battles and comes with some new footage. This includes a first look at Dark Link, Morpha, Bongo Bongo, a Big Poe and Ganon's Castle.

The latter looks massive now—it got a huge upgrade over the original. Can't wait to see it all collapse into a flat plain of rubble. But it looks like they are a lot more concerned about making the outside of buildings fit the inside, which is also true for the Skulltula House in Kakariko for example. They have scaled up Ganon's Castle, so that there is theoretically enough space for all the rooms with the barriers. And this may also mean that the final battle at the end may let you cover much more ground.

Anyway, that Big Poe hunting scene looks positively creepy, certainly a lot more atmospheric than before. I've talked about this topic already, but I really hope that this quest gets overhauled somewhat. But we could already see that the Big Poes now have visible spawn locations, which will be helpful.

Curiously, there seems to be a new indicator for when Link is using magic. His arms is glowing green while he is charging that Fire Arrow. It makes it look like the magic Zonai energy from Tears of the Kingdom, which doesn't mean that it's the same thing, but it's interesting how this now gets portrayed more actively. That Link is able to use magic was meant to be something special in the classic Zelda games, but it became a lost art later in the series.

Ocarina of Time Remake: Nintendo 64 Replica Box

If you live in France, you might want to buy the Ocarina of Time remake from a Micromania store during their midnight launch, because it will come wrapped in a replica of the Nintendo 64 box, the black and gold PAL version. This doesn't seem to be an official Nintendo product and it's not an exact replica, because the front and back will be identical...

But I love this idea. Limited Run Games has done this a couple of times, like for the Turok games. Sadly, I don't have my Nintendo 64 box of Ocarina of Time any longer, only the one for Majora's Mask. The one for Ocarina of Time was sealed with stickers and got damaged when I tried to remove them. Then I just cut out the logo, as well as parts of the backside, and threw away the rest. Unthinkable today, but I was a child at the time and it was just cheap cardboard.

But if Nintendo were to offer something like this in their Nintendo Store, maybe even as a reward for Platinum Points, I would totally get this. Though, I would probably then use it for the Nintendo 64 original to replace the missing box.

Via: Nintendo Life 

Ocarina of Time Remake: Fairy Thoughts Revealed

Another novelty that wasn't shown in yesterday's overview trailer were the so called "Fairy Thoughts". These are glowing scribbles, which you can discover in Hyrule, with the examples seen so far present in some ruins around Hyrule Field. You can check these to learn of secrets.

The preview by Nintendo Life showcases this. There is some stone archway in the southeast corner of the field and it gives you a hint about you can turn butterflies into fairies with a Deku Stick. Now, the exact same hint could be learned from a Gossip Stone near Hyrule Castle, so this seems a bit redundant. But these Fairy Thoughts are much easier to access, maybe as something that's supposed to help new players.

Either way, I hope that both the Fairy Thoughts and Gossip Stones will be marked on your map and the information made accessible there, so you can re-read it easily at any point. And this should be part of the actual ingame map and not just some feature for the Zelda Notes app, please.

Also, it's interesting to see all the design influences from Breath of the Wild here. Not just with the jumping and the UI, but also in the game world with all those ruins found on Hyrule Field. It makes complete sense, though, because the game does take place a decade after the Hyrulean Civil War, so there should be signs of that war all over the country. This remake is a great chance to add some environmental storytelling and they've done a great job from what we've seen so far.

Ocarina of Time Remake: New Item Revealed

The gameplay from Aonuma last month has shown us the items and equipment screens, where it became clear that the remake will eventually come with some new items. Now, with all the previews out there, some of these gaps have been filled. Don't read more if you want to avoid spoilers.

Ocarina of Time Remake: Hall of Fallen Foes Revealed

In the new overview trailer for Ocarina of Time, Nintendo has revealed a semi-new feature in the remake: the Hall of Fallen Foes. This place offers a collection of statues of all the enemies you've defeated, which looks very pretty and detailed.

It's similar to the Nintendo Gallery in The Wind Waker, but there are two key differences. You don't have to take photos of the monsters, where it's enough to defeat them, which makes this much more convenient. In fact, this should fill out automatically while playing the game, with only a few monsters that you can ignore. It may be even too trivial, but if you were to collect these via a new Picto Box item, then this would have added missables to the game. And that's not something you want in any case.

You probably also don't want to grind for this, where it's necessary to defeat a certain number of each enemy to unlock their statues. For bosses, certain mini-bosses, and some special foes that number may simple be "1", but the game could ask you to defeat twenty Peahats for their statues. And this may not necessarily be fun either, though it would let you engage with certain types of enemies a bit more.

The other big difference is that this serves as a new hub for the Boss Challenge. This feature in Ocarina of Time 3D was basically just a menu, accessed via the bed in Link's house. And having this as an actual place makes this look a lot more impressive. It reminds me of the Hall of Gods in Hollow Knight, where it even has the same vibe to it. Maybe this will also bring the Boss Gauntlet back, once you've unlocked all of the bosses.

We don't know yet how and where to find this hall in the game. Kaepora Gaebora is there with you, which makes me think that this is close to the Temple of Time or maybe even inside the Temple of Light. Maybe you have to talk to the owl and it will bring you there. But I would prefer this to be physically connected to the actual game world, for example as a new basement added to the Temple of Time.

Anyway, the second big extra feature of the Nintendo 3DS version was the added Master Quest mode. And that they still haven't shown this yet makes me believe that it won't be included in the remake. Unless they want to keep this as a surprise for beating the game this time...

It shouldn't be taken for granted in any case, because the original on the GameCube was just very much a ROM hack by nature and came with a lot of quirks that probably can't be copied by the remake. And the remake is already doing a good number of changes to the dungeons itself. But they could have developed their own new Master Mode, where they may release it at a later point to keep the hype going.

Ocarina of Time Remake: Overview Trailer + Previews

We're getting closer to the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 remake for Ocarina of Time, which is going to happen in three weeks time, on November 5th. And today they have released an overview trailer, which mainly just shows more footage, but also introduces us to one of the remake's new features: the Hall of Fallen Foes. More on that later.

In addition, the preview embargo has been lifted, where Nintendo has invited the bigger media outlets and Youtube stars to playtest the game. They were allowed to play the Kokiri Forest and part of the Deku Tree insides, Hyrule Field and Castle Town, and finally the entirety of the Forest Temple. So, there is a ton of new footage here, also revealing some additional things, like one of the new items. The preview by Zeltik was pretty nice, so maybe watch this one.

As always, I will discuss some individual topics in separate posts. I won't go into every detail, because I'm going to save those for my play journal next month.

Open World Zelda & Transformations

New Zelda games usually experiment with new ideas. Whether that's the ability to manipulate objects in both space and time in Tears of the Kingdom, or summoning monsters in Echoes of Wisdom – Nintendo and their partners like to come up with something new for each title (with a few exceptions). And that's both fantastic and admirable. However, there have been Zelda games with ideas so good that it's a shame that they might never come back. One of these games is Majora's Mask, which both had the repeated three-day-cycle and its transformations masks going for it. And it could be very interesting to see the latter return in a modern Zelda game.

The formula is simple enough: take an open wold experience, like in Breath of the Wild, and combine it with the ability to transform into other species from Majora's Mask. It doesn't have to be via masks, where you could have some other artifact that is causing these transformation, but the idea remains the same. This should still include a Goron and a Zora, but swaps the Deku for a Rito, because these have been more prominent lately and they will give you more freedom. And freedom is what's this is all about.

However, it's a freedom that needs to be earned. Unlike in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, where you're given all essential abilities right at the beginning of the game, it should be your goal to unlock these transformations one after another. And with each one you will be able to explore parts of world that previously were inaccessible to you.

You can still obtain these transformations in any order, but each one will bring unique advantages that might make your journey easier. For example, the Zora's water powers allows you to cool down lava for easier traversal around a volcano, which then may lead to the finding the Goron transformation. But you can still do it without.

Weapons will also be handled differently. In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Link used weapons from all the different tribes to emulate their combat styles somewhat. In this hypothetical game, however, Link may rely mainly on his Master Sword, which is going to transform alongside him. So, when Link turns into a Goron, it becomes the "Master Hammer", or when Link turns in to a Zora, it becomes the "Master Spear". Maybe the game's story is even about transforming into heroes from other timelines or dimensions, heroes who aren't a Hylian boy for a change.

You can also power up the Master Sword with elemental magic, which by default will be light, but can become fire, water, or wind respectively. And don't worry, the Master Sword won't break in this game. However, secondary items, like bombs and arrows, are still depletable and can be all used as a Hylian. But each of Link's transformation specializes in different types, where they can add more punch to them.

This concept has been on my mind for several years now, where the current "Majora's Mask Month" feels like the right timing to finally discuss it in more detail. Plus, I have recently played through Donkey Kong Bananza, which actually features a part of these ideas, just not in a Zelda game. Now, let's take a look at the individual transformations:

 

Goron Link

As a Goron, Link will be able to roll around the world, but his strength also let's you freely dig through the ground, similar to Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Bananza. This will make you the "Hero of the Earth", who is able to explore vast cave system that were entirely hidden underground.

Goron Link wields a large hammer as his weapon, but he is also versatile in using all kinds of explosives to maximize his destructive power. In addition, he can withstand high temperatures for a longer period of time and explore areas covered in lava or magma, but he has trouble dealing with water or mud, where he just sinks.

 

Zora Link

As a Zora, Link can swim gracefully at high speeds, but he can also freely explore underwater, making you the "Hero of the Ocean". The game world will have a large marine section, similar to The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, or the Ocean Realm in Spirit Tracks, where at first you will have to travel it by boat or fly across it as a Rito. Once Link has obtained the ability to transform a Zora, he can also now dive into the ocean, where an underwater Zora civilization will await him, as well as sunken ruins.

Zora Links wields a spear, but he can also greatly enhance the effects of Splash Fruits, which allows the creation of larger bodies of water wherever needed. He can easily take out fires, but is weak to electricity and ice.

 

Rito Link

As a Rito, Link can freely fly through the air and effortlessly reach the top of even the highest mountains. The game world will feature a set of sky islands, similar to Tears of the Kingdom, which can only be accessed as the "Hero of the Sky".

Rito Links wields a swift dagger, but he's also an expert archer, who is able to shoot multiple arrows at once and also infuse them with different elements. When he's in the sky, he can freely shoot in all directions around him, as time freezes to assist with aiming. His warm feathers give him a greater resistance to cold, be he is very vulnerable to fire.

The 40th Anniversary & Nintendo Switch Online

Majora's Mask might be the first of various Legend of Zelda titles that are going to be highlighted throughout the 40th Anniversary via Nintendo's different online offerings. This could even be tied directly to those collectible cards in Nintendo Today, where for each new set they might have something else for that game in the various Nintendo Switch Online offerings, like user icons, or soundtracks.

This is supported by the fact that the current Majora's Mask user icons and collectible cards are available for the exact same time frame, until October 23rd. Afterwards they will likely switch to a different Zelda game for both, and this could ultimately fill a number of gaps. And here it's interesting to look at what's still missing.

These titles are still absent from the current NSO game libraries:

• Ocarina of Time - Master Quest (N64)
• Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
• Twilight Princess (GCN) 

These titles are on NSO, but have yet to receive user icons:

• Oracle of Ages & Seasons (GBC)
• A Link to the Past & Four Swords (GBA)
• The Wind Waker (GCN)
• The Minish Cap (GBA) 

These soundtracks are still missing in Nintendo Music:

• Link's Awakening (DX and Remake)
• Majora's Mask 3D
• Oracle of Ages & Seasons*
• A Link to the Past & Four Swords*
• The Wind Waker HD
• Four Swords Adventures 
• The Minish Cap*
• Twilight Princess
• Twilight Princess HD
• Spirit Tracks
• Tri Force Heroes
• Echoes of Wisdom

As for the soundtracks marked with an asterisk: here the situation with the music rights remains unclear. While Nintendo has the scenario rights for all the Capcom Zelda games, which allows them to re-release and potentially even remake these games as they please, the music rights are a different topic, especially in Japan. There has yet to be an instance where they have used the music elsewhere, e.g. in Super Smash Bros. or at the Symphony of the Goddesses. So, keep that in mind.

Not everything here is going to be covered anyway, but there is a good chance that we might see some of it. The collectible card sets vary in size, so there might be some filler here and there. After Majora's Mask they could for one of the NES classics, for example, which already have been thoroughly featured, but they can just bring back the user icons for the time being (and maybe add some more).

Afterwards they will likely feature the Ocarina of Time remake with cards and icons based on that. They may even release its full soundtrack on Nintendo Music, even though they usually wait very long after these "special releases", which feature some selected tracks from a newly released game. We have yet to get the full soundtrack for Metroid Prime 4, for example... But there is already a special release for the Ocarina of Time remake, with only the title theme.

Anyway, what most Zelda fans are waiting for is Twilight Princess. And there is a decent chance that they will add the game to the GameCube library while they are at it, alongside its original soundtrack on Nintendo Music. But I wouldn't hold my breath here... Nintendo knows that the fans are waiting for this, where they don't want it to collide with the Ocarina of Time remake. So, it is more likely something for 2027.

Since they have announced there to be more than 300 collectible cards, this campaign will last long into the 41st anniversary up until July 2027, so we could be getting Twilight Princess in May or so...

Another game that could receive such a full package is Four Swords Adventures, where this would be the first time Nintendo ever re-releases it. But this will require that they can emulate the Game Boy Advance connectivity within the GameCube library, which is not a feature so far. Alternatively, they could be making a special version of Four Swords Adventures for the 40th Anniversary. How about "Forty Swords Adventures", where up to 40 players can go on an adventure together? That would be such a silly Nintendo thing to do.

Some games won't be featured on the Nintendo Switch (2) at all, but still could get at least a soundtrack release, like Spirit Tracks or Tri Force Heroes. And with certain games it might be the other way around, like the aforementioned Capcom titles. In any case, it's going to be interesting to learn how this continues on October 24th.

Nintendo Music: Majora's Mask Added

And here it is. The Majora's Mask streak continues. After the collectible cards for Nintendo Today and the user icons for Nintendo Switch Online, we also got the game's soundtrack on Nintendo Music today. They are truly highlighting the second Nintendo 64 classic, before the launch of the Ocarina of Time remake, which is going to make everyone and their mother ask for a Majora's Mask remake afterwards.

This release is based on the official soundtrack that was released in Japan and North America, but you might notice that it's one track short, 111 in total instead of 112. It's missing one of the two "Event Failed" melodies, which play when you screw up certain mini-games or missions. This may just be an oversight, though not a tragic one.

In any case, they should keep this going with the 40th Anniversary. We still don't even have Link's Awakening on the app yet. And Twilight Princess is now the only 3D Zelda game that's absent both on the Nintendo Switch 2 and in Nintendo Music, but I'm sure that this will change in the next couple of months. You will know it's happening when the Twilight Princess collectible cards are coming.

Nintendo Switch Online: Majora's Mask Icons

It's Majora's Mask Month. Okay, I just made that up, but the collectible cards in Nintendo Today weren't the only news related to the Nintendo 64 classic. The Nintendo Switch Online service is now featuring the game for its rewards and missions, replacing Pilotwings 64 a few days early. You can earn 50 Platinum Points by playing the game once and spend 100 Platinum Points on ten different icons.

Curiously, this was put under the 40th Anniversary banner, which may suggest that they will keep doing this for other Zelda games in the next months. The ones that didn't get any icons yet are Oracle of Ages & Seasons (GBC), A Link to the Past & Four Swords (GBA), The Minish Cap (GBA), and The Wind Waker (GCN), so mainly the Capcom titles. But they could also make more icons for the existing games, especially those that only got five so far.

In any case, Nintendo wants you to play Majora's Mask this month. And it's without a doubt the best Zelda game for the Halloween season, but you might also want to play this one last time before the Ocarina of Time remake gets released next month. Why? Well, the remake could make it very hard to return to these Nintendo 64 classics, once you've experienced its smoothness and modern visuals. Originally, my plan was to replay Majora's Mask afterwards, so I can take notes about what can and should be done with a similar remake by the same team, but I'm afraid that the new Ocarina of Time will spoil me so much that this won't be much fun.

Also, they should add Majora's Mask to Nintendo Music while they are at it... (Update: they actually will! The soundtrack is going to be included on October 9th.)

And I'm really expecting them to close some gaps here during the remainder of the 40th Anniversary, which includes making Four Swords Adventures and Twilight Princess playable at a later date.

Nintendo Today: Majora's Mask Collectible Cards (and more)

The Breath of the Wild set of digital collectible cards in the Nintendo Today app has been completed, and they've started with a second set, this time for Majora's Mask, with a card for Skull Kid to boot. The first set had 25 cards in total, where the new one now has 20, so the third set will start on October 24th.

Anyway, collecting these cards has been going quite well for me so far, despite the technical difficulties from Nintendo's end. It truly became a small ritual to open the Nintendo Today app every single day, where I have yet to miss a single card or medal. The questions are trivial for the most part, though there is the occasional one that is a bit more tricky than the rest. For example, there was a card for the Salmon Meunière, weirdly enough, and it was asking you about the ingredients... Well, you could make an educated guess here, but I double-checked nevertheless.

There also have been some issues... The question for the Bokoblin Mask had two correct answers, technically, but only one of them was counting. So, Nintendo rolled out an apology, promising that the people who have picked the alleged wrong answer will get compensated and have this fixed in the future. Ironically, this had caused even worse troubles afterwards. When you wanted to get the next card, it showed you this apology and you had to confirm this in order to proceed. But depending on your operating system and settings the OK-button was potentially obscured by your navigation bar, so you couldn't hit it.

This also happened to me, where I didn't even see the OK-button at first, thinking that they are simply skipping the card collecting for the day. But then I asked around on some Nintendo fansite and was told that you should be able to dismiss it, reported the problem in the app, and eventually found a solution: turn on gesture navigation on Android, which hides the usual navigation bar at the bottom. Then I was finally able to hit "OK" and move on.

Three days later Nintendo had to apologize again... for their apology. You can't make this up. At least they have learned and made this a separate message in the app. It remains unclear how they will deal with the people who have been blocked by this issue, where there isn't really a simple and fair solution here.

Nevertheless, Nintendo is getting what they wanted out of me: I'm using their Nintendo Today app on a daily basis now. And I'm starting to like it. The animated artworks for Zelda are very beautiful and are actually the true highlight here, not the collectible cards. The cards are just an incentive not to forget to open the thing. I also really enjoy reading or viewing the daily posts.

Like, they have this ongoing series for Echoes of Wisdom, where they let two monsters battle it out and you can place your mental bets beforehand. And even though I have played this game quite a lot, it's never exactly clear who might win, so they've made some good picks. It's fun to watch and some excellent advertisement for what's one of the most underrated Zelda games out there.

Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush

After completing the main game of Donkey Kong Bananza, I couldn't resist to also get the DLC expansion, even though I had my reservations about it. And while my first impression wasn't a good one, I slowly grew to like what's effectively a whole new game within the game.

DK Island & Emerald Rush adds exactly what the name implies: you get DK Island as a new layer, which serves as a home for the new Emerald Rush mode. And this mode really turns everything on its head. Read more to find out more...

Donkey Kong Bananza: Emerald Rush Event Rotation

Well, I have been quite outspoken about the limited-time events for the Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC expansion, since they were first announced a year ago. They even made me hesitate whether I wanted to buy this (excellent) game and its DLC in the first place. I still did and haven't regretted it, but I was only able to participate in the final event, the "Bananza Antics".

These twelve events are an important part of the DLC, not only because you can obtain 24 exclusive statues, but also because they are removing the rogue-like nature of the game mode, so that all the skills and perks have fixed locations. This lets you go for certain strategies after learning all the important spots and mapping a path, which can make this a lot of fun.

So, today came the good news that these events get put on a monthly rotation, starting today. Even better, they now will run for the whole month, instead of a single week, so from now on there is always one event for you to play at any given time. This also gives you a lot more time to clear each one individually, so you can do them at your own pace.

Update: the events are now synced to the internal clock of your Nintendo Switch 2, instead to some server, meaning that you can access each one whenever you want by changing the date. Just be careful with games that somehow rely on the system's clock and might be punish you for it.

You can also now purchase the disc from the Super Mario collaboration at any time, in case you've missed that one, and you can even repeat that event on March 10th, the "Mar10 Day".