Got Creating a Champion (Again)

This may seem excessive, but I got myself another copy of Creating a Champion, the huge artbook for Breath of the Wild. I already own the Hero's Edition of the book, but lately I found myself browsing through it quite often, because there were things inside that may have a relevance for the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, like information about the Zonai, dropped concepts, and so on. It's very interesting.

But since it's a collector's item, I tend to be extremely careful with it, so I decided that I should get the normal edition in addition, just so that I can browse it more casually. So, it was mainly out of convenience, but there was another reason:

Its design lines up perfectly with the Goddess Collection – Hyrule Historia, Arts & Artifacts, and Hyrule Encyclopedia. The publisher, Dark Horse, was really smart here to have released such a nice special edition of the book, while at the same time they've made the normal edition look really good next to their other releases, so they might double-dip on fans like me. Well, it works.

They do have the exact same format and size, however. Originally I thought that the Hero's Edition is slightly larger, but that's not the case. I wouldn't have minded a smaller size for the normal version, because with its 424 pages it's quite heavy and the second largest book in the series, only four pages (two sheets) thinner than Arts & Artifacts.

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Tears of the Kingdom were to spawn a fifth book in the same style, but I suppose I don't really need another fancy special edition in that case...

Zelda Encyclopedia: Errors, Oddities and Contradictions

What a book! I've spent the majority of this Saturday's afternoon with sitting on my balcony, skipping through the The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, probably the most extensive work in Dark Horse's Goddess Collection. Much like Arts & Artifacts provided an amazing visual journey through the entire Zelda series prior to Breath of the Wild, it's nice to have this comprehensive collection of information about all the games in the old timelines with Encyclopedia.

I do enjoy having this clean cut created by the 30th Anniversary of Zelda, where everything was coming together once again in these books, before Breath of the Wild created a massive milestone afterwards, essentially starting a new era for Zelda. Well, Breath of the Wild is so expansive, it probably could fill its own book, where there's actually one with Master Works, which will be released in English later this year, also by Dark Horse.

That being said, with a book of this size (328 pages full of information), it is prone to errors. And while it bothers me to have small translation errors here and there, I'm more angered by the fact that the original writers "added their own interpretations and expanded upon the games' stories" seemingly without any supervision. This effectively makes this whole book "non-canon", as thorough as it might have been researched.

Some of these "own interpretations" feel like cheap fan theories, which shouldn't be part of such a book. With Hyrule Historia I was overall fine with what they had established as "facts", but the Encyclopedia went a little bit too far and might even contradict the games at times. I guess, I have to let to sink some of the information in, but here are some larger things of notice:

Oracle of Seasons & Ages in the Timeline

The changed / fixed the timeline placement of Oracles of Seasons & Ages to their own era after Link's Awakening. This is completely fine and it really can go either way. The ending of the Oracle games made it look like they were a prequel to Link's Awakening, where Link sets off in a boat that resembles the one from the intro, where he gets stranded on Koholint. And since Link's Awakening was always said to be a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, Hyrule Historia placed the Oracle games between the two classics.

But, this was always a controversy... Link and Zelda in the Oracle games looks much younger than in A Link to the Past, following the games' main artworks. And when Link and Zelda meet, the dialogues make it sound like they meet for the first time, with Zelda introducing herself. So, this never added up and it's probably a good thing that this was now changed in hindsight.

However, the English version states on page 19 that the hero in the Oracle games is the same one as from A Link to the Past... Which doesn't make any sense at all. Why would they put the games AFTER Link's Awakening, where Link's fate originally always was unknown, if not to make this a story of a new Link? But as far as I know, this is a translation mistake in the English version and the Japanese version states the opposite.

All the timeline diagrams also always put a gap between Link's Awakening and the Oracle games, which symbolizes a jump between different eras, which makes it quite clear that this is supposed to be a new Link and a new Zelda.

Termina Vanished

The Encyclopedia explains that Termina was created by Majora's Mask from the mind of the Skull Kid and that it ceased to exist, after the Hero left... Which doesn't seem to be the case in the game, because we saw the people celebrating, after Link had left. We also saw the Deku Butler mourning for his son in what should have been a part of the Lost Woods... But apparently it was all just another Koholint.

It feels like Nintendo just wanted to shut up the fans asking for another game taking place in Termina, but this kind of kills the mystery surrounding these lands... It does explain, how both Link and the Happy Mask Salesman disappear into thin air at the end of the game. But the thought that you can find your way to Termina through the Lost Woods was always exciting.

Geographical Guesses

Other than the fact that Termina apparently doesn't exist, the book also some controversies about Hyrule and the countries surrounding it.

It treats both Holodrum and Labrynna as some "parallel worlds", while we know that both Zelda and Impa travelled there from Hyrule. Characters from the Oracle games also travel between the two lands, so everything should be connected somehow, but not according to the Encyclopedia...

It doesn't get better with Hytopia, where the book downright states that it lies north of Hyrule, a fact that's coming out of nowhere and has no evidence whatsoever. To make things worse, it formulates the theory that the Northern Hyrule from Zelda II - The Adventure of Link might be, where Hytopia is located, because the people there are so "fashionable". What...?!

At least it acknowledges the fact that the southwest corner of the map from Zelda II is supposed to be the old Hyrule from the first game. But it then tries to make sense out of things by placing the first Hyrule at the foot of Death Mountain from A Link to the Past... I guess, you can see it that way and the Graveyard location does match, but it doesn't explain, how there's suddenly an ocean to the southeast.

So, the book tries to connect similar areas from different eras, where some of these connections are quite questionable. Another example would be Dragon Roost Island, where every fan would have guessed that this is actually Death Mountain from Ocarina of Time. But, no, apparently it's Zora's Fountain, simply because the Zora evolved into the Rito...

If they wanted to theorize about connections like that, they could have used the "Lost Woods" in Oracle of Seasons, where you can find the Master Sword in a Linked Game, as an indication that Holodrum is a neighboring country of Hyrule, instead of deeming it as some parallel world like Lorule.

The Noble Master Four Sword

Apropos Master Sword in the Oracle games... Now, this never made any sense and the Encyclopedia explains it with the Noble Sword receiving the Master Sword's powers. But this doesn't make any sense either, because you never upgrade the Noble Sword, you always get a new sword. And in one case you can even find the Noble or Master Sword on a pedestal in Holodrum's Lost Wood, which is very reminiscent of how you find the Master Sword in A Link to the Past...

At the same time the book states that you can "swap" the Four Sword in Four Swords with the Master Sword by unlocking it in A Link to the Past (page 131)... In reality the Four Sword gains a sword beam akin to the Master Sword, but it doesn't become the Master Sword. The unlockable ability is simply called "Master Sword", but you don't wield the Master Sword in the game. But apparently no one told this the the authors of this book...

Here it would have been correct to say that the Four Sword gained the powers of the Master Sword. The ingame icon for the ability even clearly shows the Four Sword shooting a sword beam, not the Master Sword.

The Dungeon List

The Encyclopedia comes with an extensive "Database" section, where they have a list of "all" the dungeons from all the games. But this one feels rather inconsistent. For starters, they've listed both the Pyramid of Power and the "Mountain Cave" as dungeons in A Link to the Past. Why?

You would think that they are simply being thorough, but it's really an exception. It doesn't list the Maku Path from Oracle of Ages, for example, which at least has a dungeon map screen and is certainly more of a dungeon than some normal caves. How's the "Mountain Cave" any different from other cave complexes in other Zelda games?

In Link's Awakening they list the Southern Face Shrine as a dungeon (that's three rooms), but not the Dream Shrine (that's four rooms). It also doesn't feature the Royal Crypt from The Minish Cap, even though that's an excellent mini-dungeon.

With mini-dungeons it seems to be quite a picky list overall, not featuring the optional ones from the N64 games. It does have the Cave of Ordeals and Cave of Shadows from Twilight Princess, but not the Savage Labyrinth from the Wind Waker, even though those are effectively the same dungeon concepts in the same size.

It lists the "Dark Realm" as a dungeon from Spirit Tracks (it's really not a dungeon, it's just Pac-Man rail tracks), but not the Lost at Sea Station dungeon, which was a huge homage to the Ocean King Temple.

It lists all 32 levels from Tri Force Heroes, plus the Den of Trials, but it doesn't have the Realm of Memories, nor the Hero's Trial from the Four Swords Anniversary Edition. Which leads us to the following point...

Four Swords Anniversary Edition as a Side Note

While the book goes thoroughly through all retail releases of the Zelda series, the enhanced digital-only release of Four Swords for the 25th Anniversary apparently isn't even "canon". It got put on the same page as the BS-X Zelda games, Link's Crossbow Training and the Twilight Princess Picross...

The book is mentioning that this new release has levels based on three past Zelda games, but it doesn't give a name and doesn't mention the Hero's Trial in any form, as if this never existed. It feels like the writers never got to play this version of the game and decided not to bother with it at all. Very disappointing. It would have been nice to read some explanations for both these areas or to at least have their existence acknowledged somehow.

"Minor" Mistakes

While I haven't read everything yet, I've noticed some obvious errors here and there (this list will be updated):

• The timeline page (11) claims that Ganon was part of the story from Four Swords, probably confusing things with Four Swords Adventures. Again, did the authors even play these games? Probably not.
• The Lorule pages (32 and 33) have a caption "Life in Hyrule", despite showing villagers wearing monster masks in Lorule.
• The Item Database lists the "Piece of Power" from Link's Awakening as a "Critical" (= main quest reward) item, while it's just a "Consumable" power-up. Someone probably confused it for the Triforce of Power here.
• ...

Got Zelda Encyclopedia

There it is. Dark Horse's Goddess Collection Trilogy is finally complete and the three books, Hyrule Historia, Arts & Artifacts and Encyclopedia, look very nicely next to each other. Points for consistency! This is also the main reason, why I didn't get the Deluxe Edition, though I liked the normal design better anyway.

But they certainly look nice together in a shelf.

Sadly, Aria Tanner (also known as GlitterBerri) isn't amongst the translators this time. She did a good job with Hyrule Historia and it was always good to know to have an actual fan standing behind the translation.

Anyway, I heard mixed things about the contents already. While the books look very consistent, the contents are not, retconning details from Hyrule Historia's timeline or making up details that sound like but fan theories. Yeah, no...

I will take a look at the book and share some thoughts later on!

Zelda Encyclopedia: Deluxe Edition Announced

A while ago Dark Horse has announced Zelda Encyclopedia for April 2018. Now they also announced a Deluxe Edition for the same book, which makes it look like the original NES game, even including the sheath.

This is pretty cool, but similar to Art & Artifacts I will stay with the normal edition, because it matches the cover of Hyrule Historia so nicely:

This will certainly look best in the shelf.

Source

Got Art & Artifacts

Yesterday I received the new Art & Artifacts ("Hyrule Graphics" in Japan) book published by Dark Horse. As you can see, I didn't go for the Limited Edition, mostly because I wasn't a big fan of the Master Sword design and the standard edition just looks so much better right next to Hyrule Historia, because Dark Horse used the same design for both books. Even the backs match precisely, so they go very nicely together in any shelf:

If Dark Horse also releases Hyrule Encyclopedia in the same style, it will become a nice collection.

The book itself isn't as big of a must-have like Hyrule Historia, but it's still nice a nice addition and with a total of 428 pages almost twice as thick as its green, older brother, where both books complement each other. Other than the official timeline and the Skyward Sword manga, Hyrule Historia was essentially a collection of concept art. Now Art & Artifacts offers a collection of all the official artworks that were released alongside all the games. This includes cover arts, character designs, item images and illustrations. Some bigger illustrations go over two pages and fill them out completely. For Breath of the Wild there's even a foldout triple page to display the large free climbing view from last E3.

There's also a pixel art section at the end, which seems like a nice idea, however, it only covers the first three games. And then there's the big interview section with some of the designers. These interviews and their reveals have been all over the Nintendo news for the last couple of weeks/months, but it's still interesting to read it all for yourself.

Overall this book is a nice way to go through the entire Zelda series again on a visual basis. It's perfect for reflecting over 30 years of the franchise in one evening, especially looking at all the character art brings back quite some memories. It's also nice, if you want to show anyone, how diverse the Zelda series really is. There are so many different art styles and character designs in this book, it's amazing.

2013 – The Year of Rupees

Another year passes by, time's running fast and as Zelda fans we look back to what I dub the "Year of Rupees". It's the year of rupees, because in the two new Zelda games that were released in 2013 - The Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds - Rupees are very important and because this year unleashed a giant attack on the wallets of the Zelda fans. I'm not kidding, when I say that this was the most expansive year to be a Zelda fan and collector. It makes the 25th Anniversary two years ago look fairly moderate.

Actually the year started with the aftershocks of the 25th Anniversary with Hyrule Historia getting its English release. It's the bible for every Zelda fan and it's nice to have it for the timeline section alone. Also, the Symphony to the Goddesses came to Europe with concerts in London, Paris and Berlin. I visited the one in Berlin and it was an unforgetable experience. In North America the 2nd Quest of the concert started shortly after and there were concerts in Australia as well. So, probably many Zelda fans worldwide visited the event and might count this as one of the most exciting days of the year.

While in 2012 it was totally silent around Zelda, we didn't have to wait long in 2013 to get our first Zelda announcement. Already in Januar Mr. Aonuma presented the first images of The Wind Waker HD, which would be released later this year.

In April we then got our first on the new handheld Zelda game, which was later titled A Link Between Worlds at E3. As I expected last year, they handled the newest Zelda handheld installment similar to Spirit Tracks: show the game in Spring, big presentation at E3 and then release the game before the end of the year. Nintendo likes to keep their games close to the chest lately. But it also turned out to be much more traditional than expected, while the 3D got utilized in a topdown view, the game also returned entirely to the world of A Link to the Past.

To bridge the time until the new release, we got to enjoy some old Zelda games again. Oracle of Ages & Seasons were re-released for their first time on the 3DS Virtual Console after 12 years and there are probably quite some people out there, who actually got to play these game for their first. I personally used this occasion not only to replay these games, but to compile the first thorough Ring Guide for the games, because it was about time that someone did this. I only played two Hero starter gamers though and I plan to replay the Linked Games in 2014 and also collect all 64 rings again for the first time since playing the original games on the GBC!

After the adventures in Holodrum and Labrynna gamers returned to the Great Sea in September/October, but this time in HD. With the Wii U Nintendo decided to take similar paths with Zelda as on the 3DS. They remade/updated an older Zelda and bundled it with special black hardware decorated with golden ornaments from the game. This time with The Wind Waker HD and the black Wii U Gamepad, which nicely matches the black 3DS from two years ago. The game alone probably wouldn't have lured all too many Zelda fans in, since it lacks any new features, but with the bundle one or the other Zelda fan might have bought a Wii U this year. I'm actually one of them. Though I haven't used my Wii U all too much after finishing The Wind Waker HD, however, next year looks quite promising for the Wii U. And if you're still interested in the "limited" bundle, you can still get it pretty much everywhere, which is a little sad.

Harder to get might be the Limited Edition of the The Wind Waker HD, which came with a special Ganondorf figurine. Since Nintendo doesn't bundle physical games anymore (the Wii U bundle only has a download code), the whole thing was a pure collectible item for people, who want the game with disc, box and cover together with something special.

The game itself did a great job to streamline the original The Wind Waker experience. It's all faster and more fluid, mostly thanks to the new Swift Sail. Another new addition are the selfies for the Pictobox and the Miiverse integration via Tingle Bottles, which led to a new and fun way to communicate with other Zelda players. The HD graphics are beautiful, though it doesn't feel as fresh as Ocarina of Time 3D did. Also, you only need to pay for three Triforce Charts this time, so Rupees aren't actually as important in the game as they used to be.

But Rupees are very important in the new game, A Link Between Worlds, which got released at the end of November for the Nintendo 3DS. While it features some new ideas like renting items, it's overall a back-to-the-roots Zelda experience close to A Link to the Past. It's open, non-linear, heavy on exploration, fast paced and lots of fun to (re)play. I like to call it the best Zelda game since Majora's Mask. As a fan of the classic Zelda games, A Link Between Worlds is the answer to all my prayers. Many years I have talked about the issues of linear and slow Zelda gameplay of the recent installments in the series, but A Link Between Worlds is finally a Zelda game that does everything right. Or at least most of it. This makes me really happy and this also marks the year 2013 as the return of classic Zelda.

It's still the "Year of Rupees" though. While Ravio takes all your money ingame, Nintendo and Prima Games aimed to empty your wallets in real life. As if the Wii U bundle wasn't enough, Nintendo also bundled A Link Between Worlds with a 3DS XL. And it's not half as good as the 3DS bundle for Ocarina of Time 3D was (which actually had the game in physical form, an AC adapter and other accessories), but still more expansive. Also, Nintendo released a small treasure chest with sounds to store 3DS cartridges (in case you actually got the game as a cartridge and not as a mere download), which depending on where you live could be quite hard to get. In Germany it was only available in Club Nintendo and sold out after less than 7 minutes.

Another treasure chest got released by Prima Games with the "Zelda Box", literally the heaviest Zelda collectible yet. It contains six of their collecter's edition hardcover guide books, one of them new (Ocarina of Time 3D) and one of them expended (Skyward Sword). They also released new hardcover guide books for The Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds, the latter not included in the Zelda box.

If you add all of this together, Hyrule Historia, tickets for Symphony of the Goddesses, two special hardware bundles, the Wind Waker HD Limited Edition, the Zelda box, other guide books and collectibles, then that's more than 800€/$ spent throughout the entire year on Zelda alone. This is ridiculous, it even makes the 25th Anniversary look cheap. Needless to say that there are probably many Zelda fans, who missed one thing or another, because they simply couldn't effort it.

However, the big storm should be over now. With the exception of the 2DS there's a limited Zelda edition of every current Nintendo hardware out there and considering how badly the current Wii U bundle sells, they probably won't make another Zelda themed bundle for the Wii U. The Zelda Box from Prima Games should be an one time thing (they made make a second box in the future though, starting with the A Link Between Worlds guide). And the Symphony of the Goddesses is on pause next year, so things should go back to normal, where Zelda things are rare and never too expansive and where the wallets of Zelda fans have a chance to regenerate.

And it's nice to see Zelda getting so much stuff and attention without any special occasion like the anniversary.

Timeline Placement of A Link to the Past 2

I'm not much of a timeline guy, but as a huge fan of Link's Awakening this is an interesting question.

After A Link to the Past Link goes on his journey, where the Oracle of Ages & Seasons stuff happens. At the end of the Oracles he goes out at sea, where Link's Awakening takes place. At the end of Link's Awakening we see Link lost at sea - and we never learned if he made it back to Hyrule alive or not! Link's Awakening basically ended on a cliffhanger that never got resolved in TWO DECADES. Maybe twenty years after the release of Link's Awakening we'll learn what happened to him. Hyrula Historia only added a little teaser at this part:

He set sail on another voyage, and his further whereabouts are unknown.

The book states he set sail on another voyage, instead of just saying he was lost at sea! This is a connection point, an open point for a new Zelda game to fit in. Maybe Aonuma already knew that they were doing an A Link to the Past sequel at the time, so he rephrased the part accordingly.

The game could also explain, how Ganon finally came back to life!

What doesn't fit, is the original artwork of A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, where Link clearly was older, while in the 3DS game he looks and sounds like a kid. However, they already screwed this up with the Oracles, where they portrayed him as a kid as well.

Got Hyrule Historia

duh-duh-duh-dumm *plays Zelda Get Item melody*

Mhh, my whole appartment smells like something freshly printed. The English version of Hyrule Historia was released yesterday and thanks to Amazon I already got my copy today. I bought the normal version, not the limited one, because I don't see why should pay twice as much just for different outer appearances. I also really like the green cover. Here are pictures:

I already had the chance to browse through the Japanese version and thanks to GlitterBerri, who also made the official translation, the important parts were already translated into English. However, this is the real deal. Every detail was translated, every mark on every concept art. And some of the stuff is very interesting.

For example originally there was going to be a "medal shop" in Skyloft's Bazaar, which made me curious. As you might know, I already dealt with the idea of additional medals. It seems like the idea of a medal shop was integrated into Beedle's Air Shop. But he only sells two medals, while the others are gotten from Goddess Cubes. So maybe they planned more medals at some point?

Some other interesting details:
- It appears that they originally planned a two player mode for Link's Awakening. There's a sketch of a special golem boss that resembles Ramrock, Gohdan and Mazaal and is fought by two Links. He's at the center of an abyss and one player has to throw the other player onto the head. There's a stake on the head that has to be pushed in with the Hammer, an item that is not in the game. Maybe this sketch was meant for A Link to the Past?
- For the Oracle games there was going to be a Magic Paintbrush as one of the central items making use of the GameBoy Color's colors.
- They originally planned a Shadow Sage in Spirit Tracks. Maybe the Dark Realm was going to be a fully developed realm earlier in development?

Hyrule Historia NA Release

I'm SO getting this!

Source: NintendoEverything

Ganondorf in Oracle of Ages and Seasons

The Hyrule Historia is full of interesting artwork, History of Hyrule now released an entire collection of the art found in the book. You can find the collection on ZeldaEurope.

One image that immediatly catched my eye was a Ganondorf concept art made for the Oracle games:

It is so interesting, because Ganondorf doesn't appear in the Oracles, only a brainless Ganon. This raises various question. Was it something that was originally planned for the third game? Or did they plan a more extensive linking story? Was Ganondorf going to be the main antagonist instead of Twinrova? There was probably a text next to it explaining the concept art, but I couldn't find any translations.

But I like it. He looks more wicked than his other versions in Ocarina of Time, the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, which definitely fits the theme of the Oracle games. Sadly this storyline was dropped, it would have been very interesting.

End of 25th Anniversary

This is it. The 25th Anniversary ends today. If you haven't downloaded the Four Swords Anniversary Edition, this is your last chance to get the game (for free). It's still unknown, whether the game will be available for purchase after or removed from the eShop alltogether. But it's likely that they will sell the game later because of "popular demand".

Well, the 25th Anniversary delivered without any doubt the greatest year, the Zelda franchise has seen. Ocarina of Time 3D, the Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Skyward Sword were released during the time span of the anniversary and to celebrate Nintendo offered many different events and merchandise. Here's again the overview from my 2011 article:

• Robin and Zelda Williams commercials for Ocarina of Time 3D,
  Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Skyward Sword
• Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack CD for all early registrations
• Link's Awakening DX as the first GameBoy Color Virtual Console game
• a special remake of Four Swords dedicated to the anniversary available for FREE
• a Zelda Flipnote contest
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony orchestras spawning the Symphony of the Goddesses tour
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony CD bundled with all first edition copies of Skyward Sword
• Golden Wiimote bundled with the Limited Edition of Skyward Sword
• special Zelda stage in Super Mario 3D Land
• three 25th Anniversary Zelda eShop cards
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Nintendo 3DS Limited Edition Bundle
• Golden Nunchuk (only Japanese Club Nintendo so far)
• Hyrule Historia Artbook (only Japan so far) revealing the official Zelda timeline
• other merchandise like t-shirts and posters

Nintendo really has put A LOT of effort into the 25th Anniversary of Zelda. A lot more than what they did for Mario and Metroid hasn't seen any celebration yet. My personal favorites have to be the Four Swords Anniversary Edition and the Hyrule Historia book. Both offered things I've been waiting to get for YEARS. An accessible Four Swords and the official timeline. Finally I can enjoy all of Four Swords whenever I want without being dependent on a second player, I'm really happy about the singleplayer and the new levels are great. And I never was someone, who enjoyed all the timeline debates, so I welcome the official one, which might not be flawless, but is still pretty good.

The Zelda themed hardware is also nice, though I had my troubles with the 3DS, as you all know. And there are some things, where I still didn't have the chance to enjoy them, like the Zelda orchestra. I still hope that the Symphony of the Goddess tour comes to Germany and to a city nearby, I would definitely go there then. And I still couldn't get any of these Zelda eShop cards, it seems they are only available at GameStop and I don't have one nearby. Maybe next time I go to Berlin, but I don't have any plans yet. And because of the Zelda eShop cards I don't want to buy any normal ones, which is why I have yet to enjoy Link's Awakening DX (or any other GameBoy game) on my 3DS.

And there isn't really anything Nintendo could have done more to celebrate the anniversary. I was only disappointed, that here in Germany the Club Nintendo didn't offer any interesting Zelda merchandise, except for the Golden Link and Epona statue, which nobody can effort, and a Link towel. Yes, a towel. I still have tons of bonus stars and I was hoping that for the anniversary Nintendo would offer some nice prices. But there weren't any, I'm still sitting on my Club Nintendo stars. And there was quite some good merchandise made by Nintendo (like posters, pens, small ocarinas), but they didn't offer any of it for the Club Nintendo, which is a shame. And of course they could have released more downloadable Zelda games. Like the Oracle games or the Game & Watch Zelda. But focusing on Four Swords and Link's Awakening instead was probably the smarter choice, one free game to lure them in and another one for purchase. Link's Awakening DX was (and probably still is) the best selling eShop game. And it's good that they saved games like the Oracles for later to fill the empty void we're heading through until the release of the next Zelda game.

Well, you can't say it enough, this was probably the most exciting year for a Zelda fan ever. We got nice games, great merchandise, cool music and a constent wave of Zelda related news. And the above list shows only the official efforts done by Nintendo. Zelda fans all over the world celebrated in their own way and done their bit to the anniversary, there's tons of great art to consume, funny videos, epic artworks, nice cosplays and many more. It was a great year to be a Zelda fan. And it's doubtful that there will be another big year like this until the golden anniversary in 2036. Nintendo didn't celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Zelda and that was the year when Twilight Princess came out. Only few people recognized the 20th Anniversary of Zelda, I personally didn't even think about that at the time. But celebrating an anniversary seems like a big deal in the video game industry at the moment. Mario 25 years, Zelda 25 years and now Street Fighter 25 years, Mega Man 25 years, Epic Games 20 years. Everybody celebrates. So, it's hard to tell, whether this trend will continue and Nintendo will celebrate the 30th or 40th Anniversary or not. Or if it's really just the silver/golden quarter century anniversaries that get celebrated. It's also a question of marketing. On an old system like the Wii Skyward Sword needed every boost, which is probably the reason, why Nintendo did so many things to get attention on Zelda.

On to 25 more great years...

2011 – The Year of Zelda

The year is coming to an end and there's no overstatement in saying that this year was the year of Zelda. While celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the franchise we were blessed with many new things. Alone three new Zelda titles were released this year:

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

There's no doubt that Skyward Sword was the biggest of these releases. Five years in the making, revolutionary controls, great gameplay enhancements and fun environments make this one of the best Zelda games and a fresh experience. It certainly wasn't perfect though, issues like bad fetch quests, linear game design and mediocre dungeons make it obvious that Zelda still isn't fully back on track. But it's a great game nonetheless and probably the pinnacle of the Wii experience.

The other two games weren't exactly new, but enhanced ports or "remakes". Ocarina of Time 3D made the old N64 classic feel much more contemporary, it looks great and plays nice and smoothly. It's the perfect way of reexperiencing Ocarina of Time, however, the lack of any new content was disappointing. The Four Swords Anniversary Edition on the other hand was my personal highlight this year, finally after eight years I get to play Four Swords whenever I want and the game offered one of the biggest challenges of the entire Zelda series - the Hero's Trial.

Next to these new games some Zelda games got a re-release on the 3DS Virtual Console:

• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
• The Legend of Zelda (3DS Ambassador Program)
• Zelda II - The Adventure of Link (3DS Ambassador Program)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (3DS Ambassador Program)

So far only one of these game is available to everyone, the other three were part of the 3DS Ambassador Program and are only available to you if you were stupid enough to buy a 3DS early (you've learned your lesson). But they'll most likely will be sold on the eShop sooner or later, for example The Legend of Zelda is already available in Japan. Well, the point is that this year was very strong release-wise. Only 2003 and 2007 have been as strong and only in Europe.

But that's not all of it, it wouldn't be the biggest Zelda year ever if it only was for the games. Nintendo celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Zelda and they celebrated it big time with different merchandise, special releases and events. Let's take a look at all their efforts:

• Robin and Zelda Williams commercials for Ocarina of Time 3D,
  Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Skyward Sword
• Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack CD for all early registrations
• Link's Awakening DX as the first GameBoy Color Virtual Console game
• a special remake of Four Swords dedicated to the anniversary available for FREE
• a Zelda Flipnote contest
• the Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony orchestras around the world
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony CD bundled with all
  first edition copies of Skyward Sword
• Golden Wiimote bundled with the Limited Edition of Skyward Sword
• special Zelda stage in Super Mario 3D Land
• three 25th Anniversary Zelda eShop cards
• Limited 25th Anniversary Zelda Nintendo 3DS Edition Bundle
• Golden Nunchuk (only Japanese Club Nintendo so far)
• Hyrule Historia Artbook (only Japan so far)
• the revelation of the official Zelda timeline
• other merchandise like t-shirts and posters

Just compare this to the 25th Anniversary of Mario or Metroid. Mario got red colored hardware, the Flipnote contest and a disc re-release of an old SNES game. That's it. Metroid basically got nothing so far. Nintendo really put all their efforts into celebrating the 25th Anniversary and that felt great. Zelda got a lot of attention this year and saw many great additions to the franchise. Some of it was awaited for many, many years. Finally singleplayer for Four Swords, finally orchestrated Zelda music, finally the official timeline! What a year!

Of course most of it was done for marketing reasons, to built the hype. And I'm not happy with some of their stunts, for example adding preorder bonuses to Ocarina of Time 3D and denying a special Zelda 3DS bundle at first, so that Zelda fans would go for the game (and maybe a 3DS) early, and then releasing a 3DS Zelda bundle half a year later anyway. This is something that somehow ruined the Anniversary for me and I'm still pissed about it. Luckily I could sell my red 3DS for a good price, but I still lost quite some money and I probably won't ever buy a Nintendo system earlier than really necessary again. I've lost some of my trust in Nintendo due to this action.

Well, for myself I celebrated the anniversary by replaying pretty much all Zelda games, which was a nice and refreshing experience. I also finally got to 100%ly complete all Zelda games before starting Skyward Sword, a longtime goal of mine. So, that was basically my 25th Anniversary, I used the year to play a lot of Zelda (it's also my 25th year of age by the way, I'm as old as the franchise, I like that). And I will definitely always remember this year.

As a conclusion I can only say that this was without a doubt the greatest Zelda year ever. The only downside is that we probably won't get another year like that in the next 25 years until the 50th Anniversary. This amount of new Zelda games, merchandise and events in one year is pretty much unsurpassable. So, I hope you all enjoyed 2011, I sure did.

Happy new year!

Hyrule Historia Artbook Reveals Zelda Timeline

I guess you've all heard about the Hyrule Historia Artbook by now. It seems like the 25th Anniversary celebration never stops. Well, this artbook contains not only tons of nice (concept) art for all the games, it seems it also reveals the timeline! Yes, you've heard me right. For the 25th Anniversary Nintendo actually releases a timeline! Some people wished for that, but no one would have thought that Nintendo actually does that. All they ever did was talking about their super secret document that nobody is supposed to see. I guess they changed their mind (that or this is not the official timeline). The artbook will be released this Friday in Japan. There are currently no plans for this book to appear in the West.

I always wanted to post my own timeline here on Hyrule Blog. But I really hate the discussions and it seems like making your own timeline isn't necessary anymore. I like the idea of having an official timeline. Now if somebody says things like "it's still a linear timeline" or "The Minish Cap takes places after Spirit Tracks", you can say to his face "that's wrong!!" - and I love that.

Well, here it is (courtesy of Glitterberry):

The A Link to the Past split is caused by "Link failing". That's interesting and really weird. If Link failing is an option, it should be available for every game. So, each game should create a split with a hypothetical alternate reality where Link failed. Skyward Sword should create a new timeline, where everything got eradicated by Demise. It feels weird, so far the only game where Link's failure really gets hammered into your head is Zelda II - RETURN OF GANON. But I guess the third branch also was created by all the time travelling and I'm eager to read the full explanation.

However, generally I like the idea of having three splits. Usually you would cram all 2D games right into the child timeline after Twilight Princess creating one long branch. But giving the 2D games their own branch makes it look neater.

It also follows the symbolism of the series, where each branch of the timeline basically represents a piece of the Triforce. The Adult Timeline with The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, where Zelda has been an important character, represents the Triforce of Wisdom. The Child Timeline on the other hand represents the Triforce of Courage, where Link goes on his own, scary adventure with Majora's Mask, while Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures are also quite dark games. And the new branch of the timeline displays Ganon's rise to power, which is perfect for the Triforce of Power.

But I don't like the placement of the Four Swords games. Four Swords Adventures was basically the direct sequel to Four Swords, at least the intro makes you believe that. Well, on the other hand Aonuma once made a statement that Four Swords came before Ocarina of Time, which is probably the reason why the timeline puts the game there, but obviously it's contradicting with the intro of FSA. Also, I'd say that FSA really fits more into the story of the 2D games, especially since it shows how Ganon got the Trident. For me FSA was the Imprisoning War. You get the dark clouds covering Hyrule, Ganon is building an army inside the Dark Realm and the Knights of Hyrule are disappearing. It's all there and it feels much more war-like than Ocarina of Time, the only difference is that the Master Sword wasn't involved here. Instead they used the Four Sword to ban Ganon. However, the GameBoy Advance version of A Link to the Past basically backed this up, there you find the broken Four Sword inside the Pyramid. It's like Ganon broke from the seal and cursed the Four Sword, so that no one could ever use it against him. Also, in the child timeline they protected the Sacred Realm from ever being invaded by Ganondorf. But FSA deals with the Dark World in its entirety. So, if FS and FSA would take place before A Link to the Past, the timeline would be near perfect in my eyes. But I can live with that.


UPDATE: It appears that Aonuma was one of the editors of this book and that the timeline is indeed credible. I also did some "research" about FSA. The game was originally intended to be the Imprisoning War, which is why there are so many similarities, but then they simplified the storyline (see here), which is why the game was placed where it's now. It's sad actually, the game would have been awesome as the Imprisoning War. And yeah, Four Swords is not necessarily the direct prequel. So, well, I'm good with the timeline.


Source: Kotaku & Glitterberri