tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84008536093806964512024-03-14T00:58:46.141-07:00Medli's MessagesWelcome to Medli's Messages, the amazing video game blog centered around The Legend of Zelda! Expect updates, thoughts on new games, randomness, rants, and more! (NOTE: This blog contains unmarked spoilers.)Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-87599914873545965182017-01-14T16:53:00.000-08:002017-03-08T16:56:56.448-08:00Waiting for Breath of the Wild<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "uictfonttextstylebody"; font-size: 17px;">Sooooo... the Switch presentation yesterday. That was a thing. I ended up watching it with a couple friends on voice chat on Discord. Sadly, voice chat means I didn't get a real chat log of it, but... it doesn't really matter. I was honestly... silent, for all the parts that really mattered to me.</span><br />
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I spent the majority of the presentation making fun of the Switch. Don't get me wrong: I'm SO hyped for this console. And guys... PORTABLE SKYRIM. PORTABLE FREAKING SKYRIM. You have NO IDEA how much I freaking love Skyrim. I've<a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2013/07/aonuma-likes-skyrim.html" target="_blank"> said it before</a> and I'll say it again: Skyrim is easily my favorite non-Zelda game. And with my recent love of Oblivion (CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW GOOD SHIVERING ISLES IS I CAN'T STOP PLAYING IT), Elder Scrolls is probably easily my favorite non-Zelda series. (Past Sierra: "<a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2011/12/skyward-sword-ftw.html" target="_blank">I'VE NEVER PLAYED SKYRIM AND I LIKELY NEVER WILL...</a>") So you can imagine how hyped I am to play it on the Switch. Although I'll miss my... poorly named level 83 High Elf. (Zeruda... a perfect combination of weaboo and fangirl. Lovely.)</div>
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But yeah. I spent a lot of time making fun of the Switch, because they made it really easy. But when freaking Breath of the Wild showed up, I just fell... completely silent. With this dumb, stupid grin on my face.</div>
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I feel so dangerously optimistic about this game. I'm honestly really scared. The problem is, while Breath of the Wild is a full reboot (more or less), I'm being promised so many things that I was promised before and never received. And it's scaring me. But I'm excited at the prospect of those things coming true, too... does that make sense?</div>
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First of all, let me say why I love this game. It's beautiful. It's different. It's... okay, it's basically SKYRIM ZELDA. I literally just went on and on about how much I love Skyrim. AND THIS IS ZELDA WITH A SKYRIM WORLD. I probably can't, you know, murder everyone in town with a fireball when they group up on a Christmas-themed mod-initiated holiday and cause my daughter to run from me in terror while my husband fights my dog and my housecarl cheers them on, but... it's an open world Zelda!!! And it's absolutely GORGEOUS man. And the voice acting is so amazing! And... And Zelda... she seems like she might actually have a personality? Will we get Skyward Sword's type of Zelda, where she has her own tale to tell? Will she even accompany Link on his quest? What about Link? Can he get more emotions (again like Skyward Sword, which was an excellent step in the right direction for storytelling if not so much for other things)? Can Link be more customizable? There are horses and sand walruses and adorable yawning white foxes and Gorons and Zoras and Koroks and FREAKING SHEIKAH and FREAKING GERUDO... and... and...</div>
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GUYS WILL WE GET MEDLI BECAUSE THERE ARE BIRD PEOPLE AND OMG CAN YOU IMAGINE FREAKING MEDLI IN BOTW PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN NINTENDO PLEASE!!!</div>
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Ahem...</div>
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So, yes. I'm freaking hyped as heck. I honestly didn't even realize how hyped I was until I started typing and the caps lock came out.</div>
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I would, however, like to throw out a few points of caution, however. I have a lot of faith in Breath of the Wild, but I do think it's hilarious -- if nothing else -- that Nintendo has promised the things it is promising with BotW before and they did not deliver.</div>
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I spent a lot of time hyping Skyward Sword. In fact, I would venture to say that the MAJORITY of this blog is, in fact, Skyward Sword hype. This blog was in its prime in 2011, the year of SS's release, and most of my posts were just my excitement over how great of a game it was going to be. I was near desperate for SS to be the flagship Zelda game, the game that put a dent in Ocarina of Time's infallible reputation as the groundbreaking, amazing, best-game-of-all-time representative for the series. After all, it was Zelda's 25th anniversary; surely they could make a good game for it?</div>
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Skyward Sword was nothing like it was promised. We were told we would get a non-linear, personal Zelda experience. We were told it would be groundbreaking and unique and unlike anything the Zelda series has done before. But no... it was another Zelda game. Without block puzzles -- except, you know, for the few block puzzles in the game. With a brand new stamina meter, and a brand new Zelda design, and a fantastic open sky world! -- that has virtually nothing in it. With immersive 1 to 1 motion controls! Which, yes, they worked, but... you had no option but to use them, even if for whatever reason, your controls weren't working as expected, or you had a hard time moving the controller around. It was... not what fans had hoped for, and many people wound up disappointed.</div>
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Obviously, we're being promised many of the same things here. Now, I don't really doubt that BotW will deliver on most of what they promised, as far as switching up the formula (pun not intended). Obviously we've been shown the open world, we've been shown the new races and gameplay features... it looks amazing. But I've been burned before. I approached Skyward Sword with so much fangirl loyalty that I was completely blinded and wanted so badly to love it. I... do love it still. I do. I love the story of it, I love love LOVE Zelda and Groose, the cutscenes are gorgeous, and the motion controls, for me personally, made the game so much more fun. But it's not what I thought it was. It has its problems. The sky was barren. The game was linear, with very little to do on the Surface aside from follow the main story progression. There was pointless backtracking. And for the love of nyan why did they switch the item controls from TP? How can I play both games if in one game B uses the item and in the other B cancels it?!?!</div>
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Speaking of Twilight Princess, it's also very much worth mentioning that this is more or less a port. Just like TP, the game was originally made for the previous gen, but it was brought to the next gen console due to numerous delays. For Twilight Princess, that didn't work so well. Most still consider the GameCube version to be the "real version" more or less. Again, I think they've handled it better with this game release. I wasn't around for TP's release, so I can't say much about fan reactions at the time, but it seems like BotW is really taking advantage of the Switch's enhanced power. Not to mention that the fact that the Switch makes it portable is worth it. (Trying not to make comparisons to people who might have said "but the fact that you can play with MOTION CONTROLS makes the Wii version worth it!")</div>
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Also, a note about the delays. It only just now hit me exactly how many delays we've had. I wanted to reread my original reaction to the first ever reveal of Zelda Wii U, and I found it in my unpublished E3 2014 post (which I finally <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2014/06/e3-2014-super-smash-bros-zelda-wii-u.html" target="_blank">published</a>, in case you're curious for some reason). I then realized that... we got this trailer in 2014. Three years ago! Not to mention that, as I say in that 2014 post, that trailer was supposed to be unveiled in 2013. My goodness. And Skyward Sword came out in 2011, for goodness's sake. And then, that 2014 trailer tells us it'll be out in 2015. But noooope, it'll have to be 2016! But wait, Nintendo's new console comes out in 2017... guess we'll just wait until then!</div>
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I'm just... I'm scared. I have such, SUCH high hopes for Breath of the Wild. I really really don't want to be disappointed.</div>
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I've been playing Skyrim and Oblivion nonstop these past few weeks (okay, well, I've honestly been downloading mods probably more than I've been playing, but whatever). I've got over 600 hours in Skyrim and 100 in Oblivion, so I LOVE some good open world fantasy games. I really, really pray that Breath of the Wild can capture that same magic, that sense of freedom, that feeling that you're part of a world that's truly ALIVE and you can do whatever you want in it. And I hope they still bring back what I love about Zelda: touching, classic tales and characters, a huge arsenal of unique items, fun and challenging puzzles, and of course memorable dungeon design. The fact that so many races are coming back is a great sign to me -- I just hope they don't screw them up. I also hope they attempt to be at least somewhat lore-friendly with the rest of the series, although I kinda doubt it considering Nintendo's track record.</div>
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And for the love of Hylia, I really honest to goodness hope that the world isn't boring to explore. I'm so scared about that. Skyrim's world is fun to explore because of random encounters throughout it, the beautiful scenery, and the fact that you can find caves, crypts, camps, villages, and tiny stories everywhere. Breath of the Wild has shown a lot of... enemies in the fields. I hope it's not just enemy after enemy, with the occasional award or village or dungeon. I hope the Sheikah caves or whatever you call them don't get repetitive, because if that's the only thing I'm able to find out there and there are like a hundred of them... That sounds like it could get old fast.</div>
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tl;dr I am extremely hyped for Breath of the Wild, but I'm also worried that my faith will be misplaced. All we can do now really is wait and see what Nintendo has in store for us, and hope that they can really pull through with a game that not only meets my expectations, but exceeds them.</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-27293381873440590382016-06-23T00:24:00.001-07:002016-08-22T03:11:41.478-07:00So, Breath of the Wild's Japanese Logo...What the nyan is with this Japanese logo?<div><br></div><div>I mean, okay, I don't live in Japan obviously. I spent a month there but I didn't spend much time in game stores (because I was so busy playing Maimai at the arcades and buying Magic Kaito merchandise COUGH COUGH). But... I'm preeetty sure the few copies of Zelda games I saw there used the English Zelda logo for the "Legend of Zelda" part with a Japanese subtitle. A quick Google search kinda confirms that, with all of the Zelda logos showing Japanese subtitles except for the first few games.<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ALePkLsTMpE/V2uTaXuww1I/AAAAAAAAAn4/8FxEifKc9Pk/s640/blogger-image-2066319109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ALePkLsTMpE/V2uTaXuww1I/AAAAAAAAAn4/8FxEifKc9Pk/s640/blogger-image-2066319109.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(Stolen from Pintrest.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now, of course, most of them have the classic "ゼルダの伝説 (Zeruda no densetsu)" written below so that Japanse people can understand too. But... let's take a look at Breath of the Wild's logo.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z98FCjqaXcI/V2uTbDCYn3I/AAAAAAAAAoA/H1tq4aBA84g/s640/blogger-image-1539235792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z98FCjqaXcI/V2uTbDCYn3I/AAAAAAAAAoA/H1tq4aBA84g/s640/blogger-image-1539235792.jpg"></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I saw the Breath of the Wild logo and I was... immensely confused for a second. I mean, why was there giant Japanese text at the top? Why was the English at the bottom? WHY ARE THE WORDS "THE LEGEND OF ZELDA" SO SMALL?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Of course, once I figured out that the kanji there means LEGEND, I was blown away. They're using the Japanese "Zeruda no densetsu" as the main portion of the logo this time? Look, the English title is so small in comparison, and doesn't even use the typical word layout that we've seen since Ocarina of Time!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif">I mean, I probably only find this interesting because I'm a linguistics major who is currently learning Japanse, haha. But I find it so fascinating that... even in their Japanese logo, Nintendo is really sticking to their promise of "returning to Zelda's roots". Compare it to the original Zelda logo. Isn't it fascinating how they're even going back to that original Japanese dominance? I think it's so cool!</font></div></div>Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-10041079244771045342016-06-14T04:31:00.001-07:002016-06-14T04:33:33.403-07:00E3 in... Dang it, Five Hours?So. Uh. E3 starts in 5 hours.<div><br></div><div>I am... unbearably disappointed this year. Why? Because I grew up. And now I have a stupid job. And that stupid job is requiring me to work every morning on weekdays. And in the evenings as well on Tuesday. I will be working all freaking day... on the day that Zelda Wii U is being unveiled.</div><div><br></div><div>Growing older sucks.</div><div><br></div><div>So here I am, awake at 4 in the morning when I have to work at seven, mourning my inability for the first time since my watching E3 tradition started in 2010 to watch it live. It's funny how I never once considered that I might not actually be able to watch it live some day? I mean, it's summer, shouldn't I be totally free? ...No, no I am not. Means I don't get to play any Splatoon ever either, dangit...</div><div><br></div><div>But yeah. My tradition is screwed. And I'm screwed. One of my favorite parts of E3 was the Skype conversations I would have with my friends online, live as it happened. I have all my Skype conversations from E3 streams in the past saved somewhere on my computer. It's so awesome to look back on them and see my intial reactions. I won't have that this year. Perhaps I can write down my responses live elsewhere? ...But it's no fun when you're not doing it with someone else. :(</div><div><br></div><div>Oh well. But yeah. Figured I'd come on here and share my salt with the internet.</div><div><br></div><div>...Oh. Oh. Wait. This is my first post of 2016? This is my first post in a YEAR? Seriously???? Holy nyan. Well uh... I'd say I'm sorry, but... I don't really care and I kinda doubt there's anyone out there who does so, yeah. This blog is dead. Might come on here again after Zelda Wii U's reveal if I work up the motivation but otherwise, it's pretty dead. The only thing I could blog about these days are Magic Kaito fanfics! ...Because that's all I do. All day. At least when I'm not playing Splatoon. I could blog about Splatoon, but it'd probably just be me complaining about losing my S rank for the thousandth time.</div><div><br></div><div>Well, that's enough of that. じゃあ、また!</div>Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-34408125390338804952015-06-16T08:49:00.001-07:002015-06-16T08:59:12.525-07:00E3 2015 in a half hour!It's tradition. Even after, what, nine months of not posting... I can't break that!<br />
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I know I've been gone. But at least I'm here now for the most important gaming event of the year, am I right? There are indeed reasons -- pretty good reasons -- behind why I haven't posted, not the least of which is the... surprising and somewhat difficult-to-admit fact that I'm just not that interested in Zelda anymore.</div>
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There. I said it. I'm not really a Zelda super-fan anymore... :/</div>
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...But enough of that. I started writing a post talking about all that about a week ago, so maybe I'll work up the courage to post it soon. Maybe. Either way, we've got E3 to look forward to!</div>
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I'm honestly not that excited about it this year. They delayed Zelda Wii U, if you haven't heard, so that we won't be hearing anything about that in the upcoming presentation. Thus, the chances of anything Zelda-related are exceedingly slim. And there's really not much else I care about at all.</div>
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The only other game I can pray for at this point is a Kid Icarus installment, but that's EXTREMELY unlikely. Probably even less likely than a new Zelda game being announced.</div>
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Nonetheless, I'm here to watch, because, like I said, it's tradition. Even running on four hours of sleep couldn't keep me away. (No good excuse for that, really, unless you count Magic Kaito fanfics and trying to beat my Rhythm Thief scores... Those are practically my life now. XD But this is at 9 AM, to be fair, which is the latest I remember their presentation being since I started this tradition in 2010, so I don't think I have much of a right to complain.)</div>
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So here's hoping Nintendo will surprise me. Maybe they'll announce a game I never knew I wanted! We'll just have to see! And if all else fails, at least I got to enjoy this fabulous Super Mario Galaxy music before the show begins. ;)</div>
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(And maybe Sega will announce a Rhythm Thief sequel! They don't have their own booth apparently, but maybe it'll be announced with Nintendo? ...COME ON SEGA, YOU CAN DO IT! I WANT IT SO BADLY!)</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-43400066528829936252014-09-29T22:09:00.002-07:002014-09-29T23:47:57.627-07:00My First Hyrule Warriors Experience - Button Mashing, Fountain Smashing, and Lana ThrashingHey there. Bet you weren't expecting to hear from me.<br />
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It's been a hectic past couple of months, and this is simply the result of a loss of interest in blogging that has been plaguing me since the end of 2011. I'll still keep Medli's Messages up and running, but it's certainly not going to be as frequent as it could be, and I'm not even bothering to post once per month anymore. I've got too much to worry about. (Such as the fact that I learned there are other fandoms besides Zelda that have really amazing fanfictions...)<br />
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Regardless, if there's anything that could bring me back to blogging... It's the release of a new Zelda title!<br />
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Or, erm, a Zelda spin-off title. Hyrule Warriors makes itself abundantly clear from the very beginning that this is not your typical Zelda game. Or, perhaps I should say that it really doesn't make it clear. It doesn't make anything clear. It throws you into this unfamiliar menu with unfamiliar controls before you start an unfamiliar game with no explanation whatsoever. The first thing it asks you is, "Warriors or Zelda?" which could really mean absolutely anything. I chose Zelda, but it took me forever to figure out HOW to choose Zelda, since they wouldn't let you select and option with the analog stick and instead forced you to use the D-pad. Also, it told me about a bunch of updates, such as adding "Challenge Mode". Excuse me, Koei Tecmo, but I just GOT this game. I don't care about what you added. You're probably not even going to let me play it right off the bat, and I certainly wouldn't want to START my Hyrule Warriors experience with a challenge. Just getting to the title screen was challenge enough.<br />
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And it doesn't stop there. I only had 15 minutes to play this game after picking it up; I had an event at school that I had to be at in the morning, so I really was just sneaking in as much time as I could. As a result, I didn't bother exploring the menu screen, where I would have found helpful things like a "controls" menu in the Settings area, which would have informed me of the Guard button that I didn't realize existed until I was six levels into the Legend Mode, or a "Tutorial", which I actually still haven't even looked at, because I'm totally a pro at this game now. I was taught by a lovely teacher called "trial and error".<br />
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So I booted up Legend Mode, started the first level, and let the events unfold.<br />
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The first thing I noted was the intro. I actually had already seen the intro a few weeks prior to the game's release. I actually started writing a blog post about it, but it developed into a 2000 word analysis and criticism of the Zelda fandom as a whole that I think would have had many fanboys angry at me so I never published it. It's... ehhh. I actually was pretty bewildered by its low quality when I first saw it. The beginning of that unpublished post, BEFORE I started complaining about Zelda fanboys, was a rant about how awful it was. It just... it made me laugh with its terribleness. I really could write a separate post about it. Maybe some day I will. I mean, really... Why is Impa staring out of Zelda's window while she's sleeping? Why is she even sleeping during the day time? Why is the very first thing out of Zelda's mouth "I keep having the same nightmare over and over again" and Impa immediately assumes, "Oh, it's obviously a prophecy, even though you probably haven't even told me what the dream's about yet!" There's no preamble. There's no build up. It's just, "I just woke up, but we need to look for the Hero!"<br />
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Though I must commend them for actually bothering to look for the Hero instead of letting him come to them as he always does. Points for being proactive!<br />
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Also, the guards imply that Link isn't supposed to have that sword that he leaves with, or that he isn't supposed to help out on the battlefield. Um, why, exactly? Is it because he's a trainee, I guess? Considering how many Bokoblins I inadvertently managed to take out in my furious button mashing on the first stage compared to how many Hyrulean Soldiers I caught just standing there doing nothing, I'd say Link is DEFINITELY worthy of fighting alongside the regular soldiers. And really, are they going to complain about having a helping hand?<br />
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Anyway. I was going to talk about the actual gameplay. I was expecting an explanation, a tutorial, a manual, ANYTHING -- but when I hit "Start Battle" it literally meant "Start Battle." I received no tips. No convenient NPC characters popped out to tell me that moving the analog stick makes you move forward or B is to attack or Y is your special attack. I was thrown in, head first, with no idea what was going on. I did what any experienced gamer would do in this situation and started mashing buttons, which quickly allowed me to figure out some of the button uses. Eventually, a fairy showed up and DID start helping me, but I was on my own at the beginning.<br />
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It was... kind of nice, actually. Zelda games don't usually let you figure things out for yourself nowadays.<br />
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I did some exploring in the pause screen and found the combo list, but... I didn't know how to read it, what with all the seemingly random arrows, and I just saw "B" and "Y" and a bunch of arrows, so every single one of my attacks was BYBYBYBYBYBYBY. And occasionally X once I figured out what that did, and eventually A to dodge because Volga was kicking my butt before I knew how to avoid him.<br />
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I began feeling more confident in my abilities after this. I still got buttons mixed up a lot (I always, always, ALWAYS pressed the item button to try and Focus Spirit) but I felt like I was finally carving my way through the forces of evil. There was only one really big annoying mishap. Zelda told me to go to the Fairy Fountain, so I followed her to where it supposedly was located. There was a cracked wall there, so, of course, my Zelda dungeon explorer instincts honed from years of experience kicked in and I instinctively threw bombs at it. The rock easily broke, and I wandered inside the newly opened Fairy Fountain.<br />
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And I stood there and waited. Finally, Zelda appeared in the doorway. She didn't enter. Confused, I wandered back out next to her.<br />
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She finally sighs and says, "Oh no! The path to the Fairy Fountain is blocked! If only we had bombs..."<br />
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A message popped up on the screen with a new mission: "Open the path to the Fairy Fountain!"<br />
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I was, of course, very confused at this point, since I had clearly already opened the fountain a full minute ago. I started running around in circles, wondering if I'd broken the game, before finally, FINALLY, a message popped up saying, "You opened the path to the Fairy Fountain!"<br />
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Seriously, game? I did that like an hour ago!<br />
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So THEN I hurried inside the fountain and stood on the obviously important glowing circle on the ground. Zelda STILL doesn't move. Groaning in frustration, I ran in circles again, before she finally says, "Quickly, follow me!" despite the fact that I'm already IN the fountain, way ahead of her, and have been IN the fountain for literally three minutes at this point. And then she says, "Now, stand on the Magic Circle!" and I desperately want to point out that I HAVE BEEN STANDING ON THE STUPID CIRCLE THE WHOLE TIME AND CAN'T WE JUST GET THIS OVER WITH?<br />
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Zelda expert instincts cause me simultaneous amusement and frustration in this game, apparently.<br />
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This isn't the first time the game practically punishes the player for working ahead. In fact, it was far more literal when something similar happened to my sister and myself while playing co-op. I suppose we're TOO good of a team, because while playing the Lake Hylia level, myself as Sheik and her as Midna, we overtook all of the enemies' keeps long before we were supposed to. What was meant to happen was that shortly after Ruto entered the Water Temple, she would get captured, and we would be instructed to capture the two southern keeps so that the water levels could be lowered. Unfortuantely, we captured those keeps, as well as every single other keep and enemy outpost accessible in the entire stage, long before Ruto finished her dialogue. This evidently confused the game and caused nothing to happen for a good four minutes with us merely running around like idiots on an empty stage before we realized something was seriously wrong. I actually looked up a walkthrough before figuring out that we'd messed something up and we were forced to reset.<br />
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Anyway, enough about that for the moment. What do I think of the game as a whole?<br />
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Well, I have not yet finished the game. I have had very little time these past few days (probably because I do stupid things like writing this blog post while I have, let's say, a Spanish essay to write), so I'm still on the... um... level after you get the Master Sword. Heck if I remember what it was called. Temple of the Something or Other, probably. I still haven't unlocked any extra characters in Adventure Mode, either, though I have played a little bit of Adventure Mode.<br />
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The game is fun. Especially when you play it with a friend. The story is pretty decent, too, once you get past the awful intro. Perhaps it's a bit repetitive, but it's certainly enjoyable. I finally figured out how to use combos and got a basic understanding of the how the Bazaar worked after my first two levels. And I learned that a guard button existed. Would've been nice to know.<br />
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I've played only on Normal difficulty so far. I only died twice, both times to Volga because apparently when he powers up you're not SUPPOSED to attack him, and you should listen when your allies are screaming at you to leave him alone and head to the Fairy Fountain instead. Oh well.<br />
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My favorite character so far is by far Fi. Her BBBY combo is so, so awesome for clearing enemies -- my favorite move in the game! I loved it the moment I accidentally used it. I also love the combo you get by constantly pounding B. She gracefully spins through hordes of enemies, knocking them down effortlessly. It's immensely satisfying. Link and Impa aren't bad, but I don't particularly like Midna. Sheik's okay, though I'm not very good playing as her, haha.<br />
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I tried very hard to like Lana, since she's absolutely adorable, but I just can't. Her Deku Spear is alright, but I hate using her Spell Tome. Hate it. When my sister and I did co-op, her as Link, me as Lana, she got to 1000 KO's before I hit 500, and this is considering the fact that I was using the stage's recommended element and she was not. I just can't get the hang of her moveset... except that one combo where you jump on a box and roll over a bunch of enemies. That's so much fun.<br />
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Speaking of Lana, she was the first character I played as in a Legend Mode co-op session with my sister. We were at the Temple of the Sacred Sword. The required character was Link, but I was complaining that I didn't particularly want to play as him, so my sister offered to take Player 1 and I took up Player 2, who could select whatever character they wanted. Lana's Spell Tome was recommended, and I hadn't played as her for a while, so I thought, "Why not? I'll give it a shot."<br />
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As we started the battle, though, the screen proclaimed, "Lana is searching for a statue!" I thought, I am? My sister laughed at it too... until she suddenly pointed out that if I was Lana, what would happen? Was I supposed to carry out the CPU's actions? Or...<br />
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Or was there another Lana?<br />
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The latter proved to be true. There really was a computer-controlled other Lana running around. So I naturally had to swear to take her down and prove I was the one true ultimate Lana. (That didn't go well, since I already explained that I'm absolutely horrendous at playing as her.)<br />
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And then something interesting happened. Lana, as the story required, started uncharacteristically ordering people around, and Zelda commented that she didn't sound like herself. My sister and I joked that it was me, that the real Lana was merely impersonating me!<br />
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And then it turned out that there really WAS an imposter Lana.<br />
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No, seriously. That's how the stage's plot went. A fake Lana was running around the stage.<br />
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There were three Lanas. THREE.<br />
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So when Lana said, "That's not me! That person is a fake!" I had to scream out, "Oh no! They're on to me! I have to hide!"<br />
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Instead of hiding, though, I ended up hurrying over to my sister, who was already fighting the imposter Lana, and proceeded to crush her under my box of doom, the only combo I actually know how to control with Lana. I insisted on dealing the final blow, a request which my sister easily ignored due to how much I loved sniping her KO's just as she was using a Special Attack on them.<br />
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So. That was entertaining.<br />
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If you have read this entire post, I congratulate you. I'm not sure how you managed it, but you're probably some kind of Legendary Hero of Reading yourself. I'm not so certain this post is even readable, but I sure as heck am not proofreading it to find out. After all, mentioning that Spanish essay earlier wasn't exactly a joke...<br />
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I've exhausted my immediate reserve of fun Hyrule Warriors stories, though I'm sure I'll create new ones in the coming weeks. Or maybe I'll have Smash Bros. tales instead. Either way, you might be hearing from me again soon. (Or maybe I'll publish that E3 post that I wrote forever ago. It's there. The Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros. sections are complete. It's just the Zelda Wii U part I have trouble with, because I originally wrote it under the incorrect assumption that the main character in the trailer was not Link. Curse you, Aonuma...)<br />
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I hope you all go out and buy Hyrule Warriors. It's definitely fun. Not as good as a full Zelda game, but certainly an experience that you don't want to miss.<br />
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Have a wonderful day/night! See you next time, whenever that may be!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-82119588016604128792014-07-02T02:53:00.000-07:002014-07-02T02:55:22.346-07:00Smash-Fest Experience!Okay, I know I still need to write an E3 post. I have one that's about halfway done, but... I've been considering breaking it up into parts for Zelda Wii U, Hyrule Warriors, and Super Smash Bros., because there's so much to talk about for all of them! But we'll see.<br>
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<div>What I want to talk about right now is Smash-Fest! I am extremely lucky that there was a Best Buy in my state that I was able to go to in order to play Smash Bros. before its release! It certainly wasn't nearby, but it was close enough that I was willing to take the time. It was definitely worth it, too. So I just wanted to kind of talk about my experience for a bit.</div>
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I went with my sister and a good friend of mine. The event started at 4, but we arrived at 2:45 or so... and I was stunned to see that there was already a huge line of people extending all the way around the side of the building. So, of course, we had to sit in the hot summer sun and regret the fact that we didn't bring umbrellas and chairs like some of the smarter people in the line. Regardless, the waiting wasn't too bad. We waited for 4 to come by starting a 20-round Mario Party DS game. (I won, by the way. Serves them right. I was in last place until round 5 or so, when I won a Battle mini-game, got a TON of coins, and bought three different Star Pipes from the shop and used them to go to the star three times to get ahead. XD)</div>
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We even ended up kind of talking to the guy in line behind us. He asked what we were playing and we told him. He ended up watching us and kind of laughing about everything that happened in the game. It was pretty fun!</div>
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Finally, at long last, at 4 pm, we were allowed in the air-conditioned store. Luckily, despite behind around the side of the building, we actually were among the first group to enter the store. ...But that's not saying much. We had another three hours of waiting ahead of us still. That's right. Three. Four hours total including the time we spent outside. That's how many people came to this Smash Bros. event. The line extended way ahead of us. The store associates weaved the line in between all the shelves of merchandise, so we couldn't even see the back of Smash Bros. monitor for at least the first hour. The TV itself was facing the wall, so we had to be something like third in line to actually watch the battles.</div>
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Eventually, after the fabulous Princess Peach won our Mario Party game, <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">my sister left to check out the monitor and see what was going on. I then </span>asked the guy behind us if he wanted to play Spirit Tracks with my friend and I, and one of the guys right in front of us yelled, "Did someone say Spirit Tracks?" and held up the case to the game, which he had brought with him. So we invited him to play with us as well! Unfortunately, apparently everyone forgot to charge their DS or 3DS except for me, so our battles didn't last as long as they could have, but they did get us through 45 minutes or so. My friend won the first round, but I won all the others. (She and I have a lot of experience playing multiplayer Spirit Tracks... we used to play it every week at Pokémon League, so we're both pretty good. The other two guys had never even played it before, so you can't blame them for losing.)</div>
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Halfway through our battles, my sister returned and told us, "There's a rumor going around that a woman is passing around the 3DS version of the game." One of the guys playing with us joked that that's the kind of rumor he'd spread just to make everyone excited for nothing.</div>
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However, it was kind of good news that their DS systems died pretty soon, because we were actually approaching the woman with the 3DS! She had two of them that were connected to her belt and were playing Smash Bros. Excited, we all pushed ahead to get a chance to play it.</div>
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Me and the first guy that was behind us in line were up against each other... but we got confused with the Smash Run and regular modes and realized that Smash Run wasn't multiplayer in the demo. So I told him we should just do Smash Run separately because you couldn't do that on the Wii U version that we'd eventually be trying.</div>
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So we did, and I chose Zelda. Smash Run, if somehow you haven't seen it yet, is like Kirby's Air Ride, a game for the GameCube that my sister and I played to death as kids. You collect power-ups that boost things like Defense, Jump, and so on while running around an enormous stage and fighting enemies from various franchises. Roturrets suck. I'm just gonna say that.</div>
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At one point during my Smash Run, I actually found a Cucco, but it looked like its A Link to the Past sprite, which makes me think that the 3DS version might use that kind of Cucco instead of the Ocarina of Time one shown in Wii U screenshots. Either that or Smash Run is special. Anyway, I accidentally hit it, and immediately a swarm of them appeared and killed me. I was screaming the whole time, "I HIT A CUCCO! OH NO! I'M DEAD!"</div>
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After collecting the power-ups, which I received woefully few of, we entered a regular Smash battle with the abilities we'd gained. I think the types of battles you do vary; for example, my sister got a Stamina battle at one point. But I didn't notice if there was anything different about this particular one. It took place on the Reset Bomb Forest stage, and I failed miserably. I think... Zelda's either been powered down, or maybe it's something about the 3DS that just made it hard for me to play. Or maybe I'm just not as good as I thought I was, haha! Either way, I lost. I didn't get a chance to see my score -- I passed it off as soon as the match was over. But I was at least third or fourth, because two of the CPUs -- both Pikachu, by the way -- got into a Sudden Death. I think the other CPU was Fox.</div>
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For the record, all of Zelda's moves seemed the same, except her Down-B. That's now a Phantom. And uh, I never used it. Partially because I forgot about it (I'm so used to never transforming into Sheik!) and partially because in the Practice Stage that I waited in momentarily while initially trying to battle that other guy, I didn't like it very much. It seemed slow and had a delay before you could take it out again. It didn't even appear to do that much damage. Maybe I'll figure out some use for it when I have the chance to get my hands on the real game and experiment a bit, but for now, I didn't like it much.</div>
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After this, it was another long period of waiting. We talked with the guys in front of us about a variety of topics -- Zelda games (especially The Wind Waker), StarFox games (which actually convinced me to buy StarFox 64 3D a few weeks later), Portal (and how much I suck at it), and even Doctor Who (although I have never seen that show so I contributed very little to that conversation). It was quite fun, and before we knew it, we were close to the Wii U. And to our surprise, what did we find there?</div>
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Another sales associate with a 3DS! We got the chance to play the 3DS Super Smash Bros. for a SECOND time! This particular version ONLY allowed Smash Run and multiplayer was not available, so I was forced to do it for the second time. This time around, I chose to use a new character. Rosalina, who I'd been wanting to try for quite a while, wasn't there in the 3DS version, so I went with the Wii Fit Trainer.</div>
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Again, it was just basic Smash Run. I fought a whole lot of Koffings, which frustratingly did a ton of damage when I didn't kill them in time. But I just did better in general, and when time was up for collecting our power ups, we entered a battle where we all started at 300% damage on the Animal Island stage from Animal Crossing. And please, extended 300% damage battles are my <i>specialty</i>. The CPUs didn't stand a chance. Despite having never played as the Wii Fit Trainer before, I spammed the heck out of my Smash Attacks and won the battle.</div>
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Now it was time for the main event, the thing we'd waited in line for four hours to see. The Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. 4!</div>
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Rosalina WAS on the roster of the Wii U version, so I played as her. I don't remember who my friends chose. I believe my sister was Mega Man, but I don't know who my friend was. But I do know that the fourth guy who played with us, some slightly younger kid that we did not know, was Sonic.</div>
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I convinced everyone to fight on the Skyloft course, and the battle began to a wonderful electric guitar cover of Ballad of the Goddess. I don't remember much of it, except that I never really figured out how to control Luma, haha. It wasn't really hard; I just didn't have experience with it. I kept getting confused as how to throw Luma and then bring him back. It's B to throw, but I kept hitting side B instead for whatever reason.</div>
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And that's what threw me off. Much to my shock, myself and Sonic got into a Sudden Death at the end, even though I felt like I'd done absolutely nothing throughout the battle since I didn't understand Rosalina at all. And I got it into my head that I'd be super creative and kill Sonic with Luma. So I tried my hardest to throw him, but I couldn't figure it out, kept hitting the wrong buttons, and eventually... I threw him in the air and Sonic took me out while I was stunned.</div>
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Oh well. Can't win everything, huh? At least I won once with Wii Fit Trainer! And second's not too bad...</div>
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We also got free stuff from the event! They gave everyone coupons and stickers, and then you were allowed to choose one other object. There were Bravely Default AR cards (I wish they had been Kid Icarus: Uprising instead), Mario Kart 8 flags, and some other small knick-knacks. I took a Super Smash Bros. pin and my sister grabbed some Kirby erasers. Pretty neat!</div>
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I really loved the new Smash Bros. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Smash Run, unfortunately; something about it just doesn't really appeal to me. I loved Air Ride and Subspace Emissary, but... I just had a lot of trouble with it for some reason. Enemies were hard to hit, platforms were hard to reach, and I was very lost. I came across some kind of bonus room at one point when I was Wii Fit Trainer, too, but I think I died there... Anyway. Maybe I'm just not used to the new physics and everything in the game, though, so I won't be too quick to judge it.</div>
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The other thing that really threw me off that I forgot to mention sooner is that the shield and the grab are now on different buttons. I've always used the L-trigger for both of these actions; I've just gotten used to it for some reason. As a result, I was very confused in my first battle as Zelda when my character kept making the grabbing motion instead of dodging. You may even contribute this confusion to part of the reason I lost that battle so badly. It took me at least halfway through to realize that they'd put the shield on the R-trigger, and grab was L. I was completely unused to it, so I had a lot of trouble dodging. Even after figuring it out, I would instinctively hit the L-trigger to dodge. This was slightly better on the Wii U, because there were both the L trigger and the ZL. One was grab, and the other was shield. That wasn't as hard to figure out, though I did frequently forget which was which still. But at least I didn't have to use the right side anymore; both actions could be found on the left.</div>
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Regardless, I am immensely happy that I had the privilege to attend this event. I'm very excited for the new Smash Bros., and I can't wait to play it on my own time and get more used to the new mechanics!</div>
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I'll see you in my next post, which will hopefully be about E3! Stay tuned and have a great night!</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-55958013362207298252014-06-12T23:57:00.000-07:002017-01-14T00:01:24.981-08:00E3 2014 - Super Smash Bros., Zelda Wii U, Hyrule Warriors, and more!<i>January 14th, 2016: This post was written back in 2014 in response to E3 at the time. However, I never ended up publishing it simply because I never finished the Hyrule Warriors section of the post. With the new Breath of the Wild trailer from the Nintendo Switch presentation, I wanted to revist what I thought about the original trailer, which led me back to this post. I figured that despite the title not matching the content of the post, I might as well publish this, since it has some fun reactions to Palutena and BotW's first reveals. Everything below is exactly as it was written back then; I didn't bother editing anything.</i><br />
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Here I am, as promised! I expect that you're here because you either clicked on this page by accident, thought you stumbled upon something useful, or you are interested in hearing my opinion! If you are in one of the first two groups, you are sorely mistaken, and you might as well leave now. (But... but you can stay if you want! That'd be awesome!)<br />
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So, as you know from my <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2014/06/im-really-darn-tired-but-im-here-for-e3.html" target="_blank">earlier post</a>, I was very, very hyped up for E3. I was expecting great things from Nintendo. Great things! The best since E3 2011, I proudly proclaimed! But did they deliver?<br />
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Short answer: not really. I was kind of disappointed.<br />
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BUT... I highly suggest you still read the long answer. Because my gosh, this WAS one of the better E3 years, in my opinion. Not as good as 2011. But I think second place suits it well out of the E3 years I've bothered to watch (which are 2010 to present). So it's not bad at all, but I was definitely over-hyped.<br />
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Let's start with Smash Bros.! I was strongly hoping for some cool new villain reveals... like, maybe a Zelda villain reveal? Ganondorf hasn't been announced, so all we have are Sheik, Zelda, Toon Link, and Link. And that's kind of like only two characters if you really think about it. (Even if none of them really play the same...) I really would have loved to see something new for everyone's favorite franchise.<br />
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Alas, it was not to be... BUT WE GOT PALUTENA WOOOOO! ...Yes. I was so happy when Palutena showed up. To give you an idea, here's how Skype was just after Reggie said they were wrapping up their digital event (with only a few minor typo corrections -- such as changing "It" to "Pit" -- and removals of irrelevant comments):<br />
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[9:41:34 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: We still didn't get all the info I wanted. ;(</div>
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[9:41:45 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: I wanted new Smash Bros. characters</div>
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[9:41:56 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Real characters that aren't a freaking Mii</div>
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[9:42:16 AM] <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">♑</span>odd300<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">♑</span>: One
more little teaser........</div>
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[9:42:20 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Metroid or StarFox</div>
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[9:42:24 AM] <span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">♑</span>odd300<span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">♑</span>: Nopeee</div>
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*Palutena appears on screen*<br />
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[9:42:27 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: PALUTENA</div>
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[9:42:29 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: PALUTENA</div>
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[9:42:34 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: YES PLEASE!</div>
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[9:42:37 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: YES YES YES!</div>
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[9:42:41 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: YEAH!</div>
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[9:42:45 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: PALUTENA!</div>
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[9:42:55 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: PLEASE PALUTENA I LOVE YOU</div>
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[9:43:12 AM] <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">♑</span>odd300<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">♑</span>: Pit, you suck.</div>
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[9:43:14 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: OMG PIT AND LINK FIGHTING AND PALUTENA</div>
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[9:43:22 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS</div>
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[9:43:43 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: YESSSSSS</div>
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[9:43:47 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: SH</div>
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[9:43:53 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Sh?</div>
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[9:44:10 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: YOUR FACE SUCKS</div>
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[9:44:26 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Auto-reticle. XD</div>
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[9:44:40 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Dude Mega Laser is my thing bro</div>
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[9:45:04 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Dark Pit?</div>
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[9:45:08 AM] <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">♑</span>odd300<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">♑</span>: Well then.</div>
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[9:45:10 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Lol okay</div>
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[9:46:28 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>f Time: I'm so happy</div>
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[9:46:34 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: I'm sooooo happy I love Palutenaaaaaa</div>
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<br />
Yeah. Heroine of Time (with the odd symbols) is obviously me.<br />
<br />
I was hoping for Palutena to appear in Super Smash Bros. after all of this time! I'm not surprised in the slightest -- I thought we had pretty good chances, especially considering the very realistic supposed leak of her as a character back in January, and the other small indications, like the Pseudo-Palutena trophy, or the removal of Palutena from Pit's final smash. Also, Pac Man and Miis are characters, but I don't care. Aside from Zelda characters, I just wanted Palutena, and I got Palutena. I'm content as far as Smash Bros. goes.<br />
<br />
I still would have liked more, though... the figurines were cool, but I wanted some info about what they're planning on doing specially for the Wii U version. The 3DS has... Smash Run? Is that what it's called? And that's an exclusive to that console. But the Wii U, so far, has not really been announced to have anything.<br />
<br />
I also watched the whole Smash Invitational. I was rooting for Wii Fit Trainer but she didn't win. D: Ah, well, Zero Suit Samus won, and I was kind of cheering for her, too, but I liked the guy playing Kirby more than the guy playing Samus...<br />
<br />
Anyway. How about we move on to Zelda Wii U?<br />
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Now, I wanted a trailer. A full trailer. Something gorgeous. I was expecting something mind-blowing, something beautiful... something I could rewatch a thousand times over and enjoy it every time, spot something new every time. Like the Skyward Sword trailers, or even the Hyrule Warriors trailers.<br />
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The Zelda Wii U presentation started off beautifully. They showed us a still image of the background -- and my breath almost left me. It was... so, so, SO incredible.<br />
<br />
My first thought was immediately Skyrim. Skyrim has the large, swooping open fantasy world. The hut behind Link (or whoever that is -- we'll get to that) definitely gave me a Skyrim feel, as well as the mountains behind him. For anyone who plays Skyrim, they know JUST how often mountains get in your way. This is what I wanted. This is exactly what EVERYONE wanted! An open-world Zelda game! As long as they don't sacrifice story for this... this could be the best Zelda yet!<br />
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And then the actual footage they had planned began playing... and I think everyone had a rather similar reaction to me. But I'll let my Skype conversation give you an idea of everything once again:<br />
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[9:22:06 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: :D</div>
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[9:22:15 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>f Time: What</div>
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[9:22:19 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Why is there a robot</div>
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[9:22:34 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: OKAY WHO IS THAT</div>
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[9:22:41 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>f Time: IS HE WEARING BLUE</div>
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[9:22:44 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: WHY</div>
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[9:22:45 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: WHAT</div>
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[9:22:51 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>f Time: HE LOOKS LIKE A GIRL</div>
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[9:23:10 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic";">◎</span>f Time: He looks like older TWW Link in his freaking pajamas</div>
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[9:23:28 AM] Her<span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>ine <span style="font-family: "ms gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">◎</span>f Time: Dangit that was nothing Nintendo. XD</div>
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Yes, these comments could pretty much sum up the entirety of the reactions of the Zelda fandom.</div>
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I'll address each comment separately. The robot was really, really strange. We haven't seen very many things like it in The Legend of Zelda. I don't necessarily mind adding in some giant robots or anything, but it was still kind of surprising. And then... the character on the horse showed up. Of course, up until now, we were expecting our typical green-garbed hero... but instead he pulls back the cloak to reveal a head completely devoid of a hat, with hair much longer than Link's normally is (except in the Ocarina of Time manga -- that's actually EXACTLY what it looked like from behind in the Ocarina of Time manga), and wearing completely unfamiliar clothes. And Link... he looked different, too! He was wielding some kind of peculiar bow as well. It looked like the Hero's Bow, but then it did some... weird mechanical thing that caused an explosion. And his clothes were BLUE. As I pointed out, he strongly resembled The Wind Waker Link and his clothes, and, upon reviewing the footage, I think I'm reminded of Skyward Sword Link's outfit as well. Never mind that, all in all he looked NOTHING like our favorite hero. It was very odd.</div>
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Let me also point out that that horse does NOT look like Epona up close. I've rewatched this footage several times and I'm relatively sure that's not Epona.</div>
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I'm all open to change, of course. I do consider myself somewhat traditional, but hey, if Nintendo wants to try something new, I'll probably buy it anyway if it has Zelda on the cover. But I'm looking for a Zelda experience when I buy a Zelda game. And allowing you to play as customized characters... doesn't sound very Zelda.</div>
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Then again, neither does an open-world anymore, but oh my goodness am I excited to see where that goes!</div>
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Also they didn't give me a good picture of Link to put as my header on my blog or use for a signature/avatar on Zelda Dungeon, dangit. I don't even know if that's Link. I can't use his/her picture anywhere.</div>
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And this "trailer"'s biggest flaw is that it's so short. Shame on you, Nintendo. You supposedly had this ready last year. You could have shown us more! It was majorly disappointing.</div>
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Next... Hyrule Warriors!</div>
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Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-51642443641745773072014-06-10T08:40:00.000-07:002014-06-10T08:45:46.581-07:00I'm really darn tired, but I'm here for E3!Okay, so, remember how <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-always-have-e3-in-x-amount-of-time.html" target="_blank">last time</a>, I only got five hours of sleep the night before E3? No? Good, because if you say you do, you're probably a liar. Well, today I beat my record and only gave myself four.<br />
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And it was because of Skyrim again. I just wasn't tired until 4 AM. Even then I wasn't really tired...<br />
<br />
Anyway, it's 8:31 PT right now, and E3 starts at nine. I've got a half hour to try and wake myself up. I'm going to try and watch it on the <a href="http://e3.nintendo.com/" target="_blank">official website</a>, but it seems like the official website NEVER works properly, so we'll see how it goes. I'm going to have some backups just in case!<br />
<br />
I think I should be more excited, but right now I'm more concerned with kicking myself for thinking staying up late was a good idea. Dangit. I don't even have an excuse for feeling tired this time. It's 8 AM. At least it's not 6 like last year.<br />
<br />
Well, it's time to see the latest Hyrule Warriors trailer -- hopefully with some new story images --, some new Smash Bros. info -- likely with some new characters -- and of course Zelda Wii U.<br />
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I'm hoping that we'll get something shocking and innovative. Or at least fanservice. That'd be cool. Give us something that looks like the 2012 tech demo and most people will be happy. Except those losers who will claim that's unoriginal or something...<br />
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Like, what if we see Majora Mask 3D? I don't even think anyone will care at this point, haha.<br />
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I'll be back here later to cover it all, folks, including any surprise news that Nintendo might have in store for us that I find interesting. I have a strong feeling this will be a great E3. The last two haven't been as exciting for me, but E3 2011 was the BEST. With a bit of luck, that same childlike excitement that overtook me for Skyward Sword's pre-release days will come back again for Zelda Wii U, and maybe I'll post a bit more!<br />
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Hope to see you guy(s) soon armed with knowledge of a beautiful future! In the meantime, enjoy this lovely <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20140610T09&p0=137&msg=Nintendo+E3+Press+Conference&swk=1" target="_blank">countdown clock</a> that I've had up for the past two weeks on a separate tab on my iPad.Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-56192053858085521132014-06-08T01:47:00.000-07:002014-06-09T19:56:25.084-07:00All Aboard the Hyrule Warriors Hype Train!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8JHhcwPh0es/U5Zwt6wl02I/AAAAAAAAAlo/s_EqMscxInU/s1600/Hyrule+Warriors+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8JHhcwPh0es/U5Zwt6wl02I/AAAAAAAAAlo/s_EqMscxInU/s1600/Hyrule+Warriors+Logo.png" height="165" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am so excited for Hyrule Warriors now.<br />
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If you don't follow Nintendo news, it's important to tell you that a HUGE flood of Hyrule Warriors info came last month, including screenshots, artwork, and story descriptions. And man... do they know how to hype an audience!</div>
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My <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2013/12/hyrule-warriors-announced.html" target="_blank">last post for Hyrule Warriors</a>, in all honesty, was an afterthought. I just needed my monthly post, and I was going to say Happy New Year, and I decided to mention Hyrule Warriors rather briefly just because it happened to be there. The first trailer was pretty cool, but it didn't show us very much. In fact, Hyrule Warriors kind of faded from memory after its initial announcement. Only a few weeks ago, I was marveling that no one seemed to be talking about it. No one seemed excited for it, and no new news had been released in quite a while. As a matter of fact, the lack of interest in the game was beginning to make me concerned that it could become a Japan-only release, especially when we heard that its Japanese release would be August 15th, with no word on an American or European date.</div>
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And then May came along.</div>
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My mind has been thoroughly blown, dear readers, and it seems that Hyrule Warriors is going to be far more of an experience than I was expecting. Back in December, it appeared to be your typical hack-and-slash game that just had a few Zelda characters, locations, and items involved. But now... rather than being a Dynasty Warriors game with Zelda elements, it seems like a Zelda game with Dynasty Warriors gameplay.</div>
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Let's start with the story. I really wasn't expecting much of one, but it seems they've actually put a bit of effort into it. We know very little at this point, but we WERE introduced to a few of our main characters, including the new villains. Cia seems to be the biggest reveal, as her design is... well, not Zelda-like at all! And I'm immensely excited for her.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKmjPS_owVM/U5ZvPwrxJAI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/90P_eML6uHw/s1600/Cia+Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKmjPS_owVM/U5ZvPwrxJAI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/90P_eML6uHw/s1600/Cia+Art.jpg" height="320" title="Cia" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">According to her character description, she once guarded the three pieces of the Triforce. However, eventually dark forces invaded her heart and she became evil. Everywhere's been saying that it was because of her jealousy over Zelda. But I haven't found an official source that says that, so...</span><br />
<br />
Regardless, it is true that her background seems to imply that there will be jealousy. According to translations of her character description on the official website, she's in love with Link. And I love this. So much. I've heard a few people complaining about her design and that it reveals a bit too much, but I think it's actually perfect for her character. As a girl myself, I see nothing wrong with her design, ESPECIALLY if her personality is meant to be seductive. Goodness, I can't WAIT. She just sounds amazing. I'm so eager to see what they do with her relationship with Link. We've never had anything even remotely like her in the Zelda series, so I'm interested in seeing what they do with her.<br />
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We also have Valga and Wizro, two other villains that are apparently her minions or something. Valga looks like Volvagia, which could either be really stupid or insanely awesome, depending on how they handle that connection. I'm kind of wary if they're planning on going the route of having Valga actually <i>be </i>Volvagia... that sounds like it could cause all kinds of continuity issues or even just end up sounding fake and forced. But... <i>but</i>... if they do it right, and put effort into it... I can't imagine how amzing that would be. It would be really neat to explore the background of one of the most memorable bosses of Ocarina of Time a bit more. (And not anything like that stupid backstory that the manga gave him. I know I like the official manga, but that whole chapter was pretty darn forced. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read it.) Wizro, on the other hand, was apparently a ring given form by Cia. I'm... not fully sure what to think of that at this point. I think I'm going to hold off on really commenting on him.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zWZrYAazIrw/U5ZzKXnO4aI/AAAAAAAAAl8/H8mribm5l9U/s1600/Valga+and+Wizro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zWZrYAazIrw/U5ZzKXnO4aI/AAAAAAAAAl8/H8mribm5l9U/s1600/Valga+and+Wizro.png" height="200" title="Valga and Wizro" width="400" /></a></div>
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Of course, we also got more information about our heroes. Yeah. Heroes. That's plural. Dynasty Warriors is famous for having multiple campaigns and many playable characters, and you could expect no less from this beautiful Zelda spin-off. Currently, we have two playable characters unveiled. There's Link, to the surprise of no one in the universe, but then there's also... Impa!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dHiLUqaqF5s/U5Zw9R6o9YI/AAAAAAAAAlw/Hz-jsMT_6o0/s1600/Art-Impa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dHiLUqaqF5s/U5Zw9R6o9YI/AAAAAAAAAlw/Hz-jsMT_6o0/s1600/Art-Impa.jpg" height="320" title="Impa" width="320" /></a></div>
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Oh my gosh. We get to play as Impa now. I must say, that was a genius move on Tecmo Koei's part. I cannot think of another Zelda character except Zelda herself that is more worthy of being playable than Impa. She's been in plenty of games and has always given off this warrior vibe (except in those games where she's an old woman -- but we can ignore those and focus on the ninja versions). Now we REALLY get to see her in action!</div>
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I have to say, though, the one thing I thought upon hearing all this Zelda news is that this sounds completely and utterly like a fanfiction. And I've read a lot of fanfictions; I think I know what I'm talking about. A lot of fanfics will alter the backgrounds of the characters to fit their settings in unorthodox ways, and Hyrule Warriors has done just that, as they've now given very unique backgrounds to Link and Impa. Instead of being some nobody kid from a small village, Link is a knight-in-training. On top of that, he already has the Triforce of Courage, and it sounds like it's an important part of his character -- meaning people are probably aware of it and its importance. This is very interesting; it almost feels like we're starting in the middle of a Zelda game. And I couldn't even begin to tell you how many fanfics use that exact same set-up, haha. Impa, too, is now the captain of the guard. It's a surprisingly fitting position for her. Her importance to the whole of Hyrule has never really been stressed in a Zelda game before, so this is new, but due to her commanding demeanor and closeness to the princess, this makes PERFECT sense. Fanfictions will do things like this all the time, too -- taking an established character and giving them a new role based on their personalities and relationships in the official games.</div>
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Oh, and did I mention there's a love triangle between Link, Zelda, and the villain? Please, if that doesn't scream fanfiction at you, you've likely never heard the term.</div>
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We haven't gotten nearly as many updates on how the gameplay will go, unfortunately, since we haven't had any new gameplay footage, just screenshots. But some of the images have showcased absolutely gorgeous new moves that could add some complexity to the game. Interestingly enough, I actually do kind of like games with destruction every once and a while. I find Link's Crossbow Training surprisingly entertaining. So if they establish that kind of gameplay with a decent story, this could become of the best Zelda games -- and it's not even a real Zelda game.</div>
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Oh, and... multiplayer! Now isn't THAT exciting? We've had some limited multiplayer experiences for Zelda in the past, such as Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, and the DS games, but maybe we'll finally get something concrete! ...I mean, I kind of doubt it, since they said one player would be using the TV and one would be using the Game Pad, or something to that extent... but still. There's potential there.</div>
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Nintendo's E3 Direct is coming up on June 10th at 9 AM PT, and we've already gotten a confirmation from Hyrule Warriors' official Twitter that there will be a new trailer shown there. I'm certainly hoping we'll get some news on Zelda's role in the game. For now she just sounds like a boring damsel in distress, but maybe she can become playable if we're lucky? Or maybe we'll be surprised by some more unexpected playable characters! I'm so hyped up for E3 now. We'll not only get Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros., but also the new Zelda for Wii U. This will quite likely be the best year since 2011, Zelda's 25th anniversary.</div>
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I'll see you all on June 10th! I'll be posting at least once or twice then as tradition demands, so stay tuned!</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-13251176082981339652014-06-01T01:47:00.000-07:002014-06-01T01:47:30.676-07:00Looking forward to E3 2014!I ruined my record today. I had two different posts that I wanted to write today, but I got distracted by Mario Kart and didn't look at the clock until 12:10 AM.<br />
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It's June. There will be no May 2014 post ever. Because I blew it. So now I can't say that I've had one post per month since 2009. I am surprisingly not as depressed about that as I probably should be...<br />
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Well, um... It's actually 1:40 AM right now. I was trying to finish a post, but I really have very little motivation right now. I probably should have started this earlier in the week when I was still fangirling over Hyrule Warriors, but I didn't soooo...<br />
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I'll give you guys a post tomorrow, alright? Well, not tomorrow, but in the morning, when I wake up. I'm too tired to trust myself to write a quality post right now. (I might end up deleting this post if I do.) And hey, we'll still have at least two E3 posts later in the month! Oh, yes. That's something to be excited about, right? Nintendo's press conference will be June 10th, and, shockingly, it's June 1st now! The summer seems to be passing so quickly. We've got PLENTY to look forward to at E3 this year -- but I'm going to talk more about that both in my later post of day, and in my "X amount of hours until E3" post.<br />
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I'll see you guys (guy? It's really only you, miniluigi. XD) later!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-33350492775435688562014-04-30T23:43:00.000-07:002014-06-01T01:49:50.441-07:00Skyward Sword - Hylia is a terrible strategist.Lately I've realized some things about myself and my preference for games. I only care about story, storytelling, and atmosphere. Gameplay only bugs me if it gets in the way of these factors. That's why I enjoy games like <em>The Legend of Zelda</em> -- a series that gets a lot of its identity from its unique atmosphere. Its stories may not be the most complex and realistic, but they are always interesting, fun, and draw you into the world.<br />
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As you probably know if you read this blog frequently, my favorite games as of late have been <em>Majora's Mask</em>, <em>Link's Awakening</em>, and <em>Skyward Sword</em>. If you take into consideration what I just said above, this makes complete sense. At only four main dungeons, <em>Majora's Mask</em> is almost driven by nothing BUT story -- its sidequests, characters, and DEFINITELY the atmosphere are the main points of the game. <em>Link's Awakening</em> is the same; its gameplay did very little that was revolutionary, but in regards to not just story, but storytelling, it took a step up. <em>A Link to the Past</em> brought the story of the series to the next level, but <em>Link's Awakening</em> was where they really discovered how to tell it -- with entertaining, unique characters, foreshadowing, a fascinating plot twist, a lighthearted mood with a sad ending, and an incredible emphasis on music to match it.</div>
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<em>Skyward Sword</em>, I think, is much the same as <em>Link's Awakening</em>. It stepped up the storytelling to a whole new level. <em>Twilight Princess</em> started doing this, but <em>Skyward Sword</em> brought in even MORE cinematic cutscenes, small twists, and lovable characters. And then on top of it all, you had this grand, widespread story, dealing with new races and a sky city and gods and wishing on the whole dang Triforce as we hadn't done since <em>A Link to the Past</em>. It truly fascinated me. That tragic scene in the middle of the game -- you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about if you've played it -- and everything else just made it rise to the top of my favorites. Not to mention the motion controls, which I rather liked despite everyone else's protests. It brought a whole new sense of immersion.</div>
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I adored Zelda's character so much that I decided to write a fanfiction called <em><a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7645582/1/" target="_blank">Awakening</a></em> based on her adventures. And it is here when I suddenly realized just how messed up Skyward Sword's plot ACTUALLY is.</div>
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Let's refer to our handy dandy <a href="http://zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Skyward_Sword_Text_Dump" target="_blank">Text Dump</a>. This is how Zelda described the game's backstory to Link halfway through the game:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>I think it's time you learned the whole story. Let me try to explain...</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>The old gods created a supreme power that gave anyone who possessed it the ability to shape reality and fulfill any desire. They called it the Triforce. In his thirst to make the world his own, Demise readied a massive army of monsters for war. He sought to take the Triforce for himself by force. The goddess feared for her people. She used her power to send both them and the Triforce into the sky on a slice of earth she cut away from the land. This floating rock became the new home of our people. In time, it came to be known as Skyloft.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>After a long and fierce battle, the goddess, Hylia, succeeded in sealing away Demise.</i></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>However, soon after the demon king was imprisoned, it became clear that the seal would not hold long against his fearsome power. Hylia had suffered grave injuries in her battle with the demon king. She knew that if he broke free again, there would be no stopping him.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><span style="font-size: 14px;">A</span>nd if the demon king were to free himself, it would mean the end of the world for all beings of this land.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>In order to put an end to the demon king, Hylia devised two separate plans and set them both into motion.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>First, she created Fi. She made the spirit that resides in your sword to serve a single purpose: to assist her chosen hero on his mission. Her second plan...was to abandon her divine form and transfer her soul to the body of a mortal.</i></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>...</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>She made this sacrifice, as you have likely guessed, so that the supreme power created by the old gods could one day be used. For while the supreme power of the Triforce was created by gods, all of its power can never be wielded by one.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Knowing this power was her last and only hope, the goddess gave up her divine powers and her immortal form.</i></span></blockquote>
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<em>Hyrule Historia</em> gives us a similar tale.</div>
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Page 71: "In an attempt to destroy Demise, the goddess Hylia tried to use the power of the Triforce. However, a goddess cannot wield its power. Thus, the goddess Hylia decided to renounce her divinity and be reborn as a human."</div>
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Okay, so we get it. We know that Hylia was entrusted with the Triforce by the Golden Goddesses, but Demise battled her for it. After sealing Demise away, Hylia sacrificed her own immortality so that she could use the Triforce to wish him away.</div>
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Let's repeat that.</div>
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Hylia sacrificed her immortality... so that she could <i>use the Triforce</i>.</div>
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And what does Zelda tell Link riiiight after that explanation she provided above?</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em>You learned wisdom from solving devious puzzles and traps. You gained power by honing and tempering both yourself and your sword. And by overcoming the trials set before you by the goddess, you've found true courage.</em></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em>Now that those qualities reside in you, you are worthy of wielding the power the old gods left behind for our kind. You can claim the Triforce.</em></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">So Zelda, tell me again... Hylia's plan was to sacrifice her immortality so that she could use the Triforce... and then have the Chosen Hero use the Triforce?</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What the heck?</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is a glaring plot hole. It makes no sense. She is flat out contradicting herself here -- there's no getting around that. Hylia plans to use the Triforce -- both the game and Hyrule Historia EXPLICITLY tell us this -- but then Link just uses it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Goddess, please tell me, if Link was just going to use the Triforce, why in Din's name did you sacrifice your immortality?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And to be completely clear, in case you have any doubts, she DID plan this. Trust me -- I've considered every scenario to get around this in my fanfic. It wasn't just the goddess planning to use the Triforce, and then discovering that she couldn't because she didn't have the right qualities; she says she planned it. She tells Link that only those with "<i>an unbreakable spirit... can wield its might</i>," and then soon after says "<i>...the goddess, Hylia, needed someone with an unbreakable spirit. That someone is you, [Link].</i>"</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And there we go. She flat out admits that Hylia needed -- past tense, NEEDED -- someone with an unbreakable spirit. And the only logical reason she would need someone like that is so that someone else could use the Triforce.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So why why, why, why, WHY did she sacrifice her immortality?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Because her original purpose seems to have been hijacked by Link, Zelda's role in the game as the reincarnation of the goddess is to head to these springs, regain her memories from her immortal life, and then go back in time to keep the seal on Demise up and running. That's great and all -- it obviously works out in the end -- but there was no reason for her to be a mortal in the first place. Hylia could have just as easily put her plans for the Chosen Hero into motion without the Spirit Maiden Zelda ever coming into play. Hylia, as an immortal, would never have needed any of that stupid time travel stuff in order to maintain the seal -- which, by the way, screws up the plot just as much. I'll get to that eventually -- AND she could have remained a goddess, who I think has a WAY better chance of defending the world from a returning Demon King than fragile little Zelda does.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now, I suppose you could argue that maybe Link needed motivation. Obviously, in the game, the reason he starts off on this quest is to find Zelda. But there are so, so many other ways that this could've been done. I'm not a goddess nor do I understand the logic in this Zelda world where goddesses sacrifice their immortality for no reason whatsoever -- but I can personally think of several far more sensical and less speculative ways to start Link on his journey. First of all -- Zelda getting sent to the Surface at that time was, as far as we can tell, never part of Hylia's plan. Obviously she was supposed to go there eventually, but it is pretty clear that the tornado that sweeps her away is Ghirahim's work. Therefore, it's evident that Fi would have gone and fetched Link at one point or another, regardless of Zelda being sent away. Maybe Link would have been reluctant to go, you say? Well, the goddess could have easily captured ANOTHER of Link's childhood friends to use as motivation if she was really THAT concerned. Though she probably needs a better hero if she can't trust him with something like that.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, Hylia. Your plan is terrible. I never even noticed this the first time through -- it all made sense to me. But the moment I started analyzing it, I spotted this peculiarity and became very frustrated trying to get around it in my story. Well, maybe the goddess lost so much power that she HAD to become a mortal, right? Or... maybe her sacrificing her immortality was a backup plan in case Link failed, or vice versa. Maybe she was being like that stupid rip-off Hylia in the manga who sacrificed her immortality just so that she could be on the same level as a guy she literally met 19 pages ago. (Gods, I hate the <em>Skyward Sword</em> manga. I should write a post just on that next.) I really don't know.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My favorite part is how she says that she made Fi to help the Chosen Hero on his mission but never specifies what it is. She says that Link's supposed to be the one to stand up against Demise -- but why did she even think she needed a Hero in the first place? She was supposed to wish Demise away with her newfound mortality! She needed no hero to beat him down if she could destroy him with a thought. Besides, what in her absolutely insane self-sacrificing goddessly mind made her think, "Oh, and even though I'm becoming a human and happen to have an army of humans and Sheikah and plenty of other races, I should probably get another human way in the future to help me out"?</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No. Just no,<em> Skyward Sword</em>. I love you, I love your storytelling, but your plot is absolutely NOTHING when the MAIN REASON for the entire game even happening makes no sense.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And I haven't even gotten to the time travel yet.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I think <em>Skyward Sword</em> actually has more time travel in it than the games named after time, <em>Oracle of Ages</em> and <em>Ocarina of Time</em>. Sounds pretty cool, right? Time travel was very interesting in those two games and allowed for both some fun plot points -- and <em>Majora's Mask</em> was Time Travel Central, right? The series has had plenty of experience with this. Surely they couldn't screw it up...</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Oh, but they did. With <em>Skyward Sword</em>, you can bet your Beetle they found a way to mess with the plot's coherency even more.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Our first interaction with time travel is when Zelda uses the Gate of Time at the Temple of Time to go back in time to the point right after Hylia seals Demise. Then there's another Gate of Time later that Link unlocks at the Sealed Temple, which goes back to the same moment somehow. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">We already explained that that was completely pointless since, you know, the goddess could have just sealed herself and not had to have added this confusingly stupid time travel to the mix, but... whatever. Aside from that, I suppose it makes sense. It's going back and forth between two single points in the timeline. That's fair enough, I suppose.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">But... What about Impa?</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Just... Just Impa. In general. Impa ruins EVERYTHING this game ever tried to do with time.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">As you know if you have completed the game, the woman at the Sealed Grounds is actually Impa when she grows old. As a result... she must know everything that's going to happen. It's highly unlikely that she suffered some kind of memory loss; not only does she still have Zelda's bracelet that our friendly-but-stupid goddess reincarnated gave her in the past, but she implies many times that she knows exactly what's going on. Now, I could complain about how she was just a jerk and didn't bother telling anyone about all the twists in the game -- for example, she could have warned someone that Zelda would be captured by Bokoblins when trying to reach the Earth Temple, or that Ghirahim was going to show up and ruin everyone's happy reunion after Zelda awoke. But maybe she just didn't want to mess with how the events had really happened as she remembered, you know? Maybe she was afraid that informing them of something they didn't know the first time would change the future for the worse.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">But, when you consider that time travel stuff I told you about... things get extremely confusing.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">At the end of the game, Link wishes Demise away in the present, and then goes back in time and kills him in the past. Then he returns to the present.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Impa must remember all of this. Therefore, when the younger Impa, who was present at Demise's defeat in the past, grows older... She must remember Demise dying, right?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">So why would there ever be any need for him to be killed again?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Older Impa remembers Demise dying. She remembers Demise being wished away. She remembers him being eradicated from the world. But Demise... has apparently respawned or something?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Or... Maybe Impa is just stuck in some kind of weird segregated time loop that makes Demise's death be reset every time, allowing her to remember everything even though it happens over and over</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">. She stays in this loop at the command of the goddess -- who, might I add, is quite often referred to as being in a place "at the edge of time" -- in order to guide the Spirit Maiden and the Hero on their (pointless) mission. </span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">And perhaps the reason that Impa disappears for absolutely no reason at the end if the game is implying that she's going back to guide the heroes because the loop is resetting, and the future has now changed. She can no longer exist in a timeline with memories of Demise being alive in the present, because that's no longer what the truth of that universe is.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I just came up with that now and I kind of like it. I like how it explains Impa's random disappearance. (...Seriously, why did she just poof into dust with no explanation?)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Of course, that doesn't change the fact that Hylia's poor planning made this game COMPLETELY AND NEEDLESSLY COMPLICATED. And all of Hyrule lost its goddess as a result. Excellent work, Hylia.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you're still interested in how incredibly terrible Skyward Sword's time travel system is, I suggest you check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dnh-0GZkjQ" target="_blank">TheJWittz's video on Zelda time travel</a>. Watching that video was what really inspired me to make this, and I borrowed a lot of his ideas for the second half of this post. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before I saw it I had already realized that a huge paradox was created by slaying Demise first in the future and then in the past, but that was when it really dawned on me exactly how incredibly paradoxical this time travel was. ...In fact, it's hardly even paradoxical. It's just... illogical.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Just like everything else in this game, apparently.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That's all I have for today, everyone! I'm going to repeat again that I love <em>Skyward Sword</em>. I love its characters, I love its cinematic cutscenes, and I LOVE its storytelling. Despite the numerous holes in its plot, I found myself completely enraptured with the game from start to finish and never noticed anything wrong with it until I thought about it. That's the sign of a good game.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This post is good news to my regular readers -- I started this early, so I didn't have to rush to get it finished by tonight. This is a genuine post, with real effort this time, ladies and gentleman. That fact alone actually makes me so proud I can almost ignore that it's on the last day of the month again.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Have a good May! See you on the 31st!</span></div>
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Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-53761034263187956892014-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:002014-04-06T22:00:47.330-07:00OoX Update - Another Game Completed.It has been YEARS. But finally, FINALLY, I finished Oracle of Seasons.<div><br></div><div>I'm not very fond of that game. It wasn't bad -- I really don't think it's possible for a Zelda game to be bad -- but something about it just didn't appeal to me.</div><div><br></div><div>Usually Zelda games have some kind of story progression in between dungeons that breaks everything up, but this game didn't really have that, so it ended up feeling very formulaic and repetitive. Link's Awakening, which, as you know, is one of my favorite games, really did this well; there were beautiful, realistic, memorable main and side characters, there were what passed for cutscenes back in the day in between every dungeon... everything was paced so wonderfully. In Oracle of Seasons... Were there any side characters? Or main characters besides Link? I guess you could say there's Din and Impa as well but they're not there for very long... And Onox is the most boring villain ever. He's generic, he's bland, he's boring, and there is absolutely nothing memorable about him except for the fact that he turns into a giant freaking dragon which was surprisingly fun to fight. I'll probably talk about him later.</div><div><br></div><div>The gameplay was... okay, I guess. It was pretty much just Link's Awakening. I don't remember anything TERRIBLY innovative about it... except for the Magnetic Gloves, which were SO MUCH FUN. They were definitely my favorite item from the game and probably among one of my favorites in the series. Those would be very entertaining in a 3D environment. Twilight Princess gave us a taste of that in the Goron Mines with teh Iron Boots, but I think it could be taken to the level that Oracle of Seasons used it. There was also this moment in the game where the walls were closing in on you and you had to run as fast as you can with a Pegasus Seed to get to the other side before they crushed you. I thought THAT was cool, too. We should see more Indiana Jones-style stuff like that in Zelda, haha! ...Other than that though, there was nothing special. Now, of course, I played this in EXTREMELY fragmented bits and pieces, so perhaps I'm just not remembering the cool parts. Maybe after a replay I'll enjoy it more. But for now... it's at the bottom of my favorite Zelda games list.</div><div><br></div><div>Oracle of Ages on the other hand... So far, it's done everything RIGHT.</div><div><br></div><div>We've got Ralph, who already has more personality than the entire cast of Oracle of Seasons, who's fun and entertaining. ...Although he makes no sense. In my most recent session, just the other day, I was speaking with some man who said he wanted to make the Flippers, and when I exited his house, which, keep in mind, was around a corner and over a broken bridge away from the regular path, Ralph just waltz up there. He says something like, "Hey, Link, what's up? ...Oh, that guy? Yeah, I think I saw his grave in the present time. Anyway, I'm busy, so bye!"</div><div><br></div><div>What?</div><div><br></div><div>He says he's busy, yet he came up to ME, while I was coming out of a WAY out of place house. He seemed to have no idea what I was doing there, but he has just the information that I need before he has to rush away to attend to more important matters. ...And what kind of matters does he even have in he PAST? Shouldn't he have been off trying to save Nayru like I am rather than wandering around Labrynna aimlessly and nonchalantly pretending that meeting you was a total coincidence and he's "busy" when he makes a wrong turn?</div><div><br></div><div>What the heck, Ralph? Or should I say Mr. Plot Device?</div><div><br></div><div>...Anyway, uh... Ages really does do the character thing right. I swear. Ralph just had a... moment. Let me talk about Veran. Veran is amazing. I love Veran. I've always loved Veran, even before I played the game. She IS the first and only female Zelda villain in history, after all. ...No, the Twinrova don't count. And her ability to possess people really makes the game interesting. Possessing Nayru and using her to wreak havoc in the past is FAR cooler than "Me Onox. Me kidnap damsel in distress Din. You save her at my dark evil palace." And from what I've heard about the rest of the plot of Ages, it gets more and more interesting. Seasons' plot never changed. Ever. Eveeer. Your goal the whole game was to get to the next dungeon. The only thing in between that was getting to Subrosia -- which was kind of fun.</div><div><br></div><div>But still. Like, there's this part in Ages where you have to get to the next dungeon -- but when you try to in the present, you instead gracefully tear the entire place down. Excellent job. FORTUNATELY, it's probably hopefully still there in the past. So you go to the past -- but the entrance is blocked! However, the queen is offering a special item to those who bring her Mystery Seeds. So Link finds some Mystery Seeds and brings them to the queen -- who, as it turns out, is just being manipulated by Veran, who wants the Mystery Seeds for some unknown reason. You find out the reason later, of course. The queen gives you bombs as a reward, which you can use to access the dungeon. This is excellent. This is worldbuilding, foreshadowing... everything.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm out of time for tonight, but this is not the end of my Oracle tales. Oh no. Certainly not. I've got lots to say. I've also got a fun... review-type post planned, so be on the lookout for that.</div><div><br></div><div>Last day of the month post at 11:59 PM... out again!</div><div><br></div><div>EDIT: Yeah, my blog has the frustrating tendency to publish posts when I STARTED writing them, not when I actually published them... But hey, the fact that this originally showed up on March 18th proves to you that I actually DO attempt to write blog posts during the rest of the month and don't COMPLETELY procrastinate. ...Key word is "attempt".</div>Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-41399350977271440472014-02-28T23:00:00.000-08:002014-02-28T23:37:30.506-08:00Top Ten Most Underappreciated Zelda SongsAfter last month's post, which was created out of a Zelda song so underappreciated that it apparently wasn't even in the Link's Awakening soundtrack (or at least the one I was looking at on Zelda Universe didn't have it), it made me start thinking that there are a lot of pieces of music in Zelda that are really glossed over. The Legend of Zelda is obviously known for its music. Sound has always been an integral part of gameplay and the music is praised and loved and brings tears to the eyes of Zelda fanboys and girls everywhere. Including myself, of course. I'm kind of a music person -- my YouTube channel has been a place where I can show off myself playing these video game songs.<br />
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But I want you guys to ahead and look at any "What's your favorite Zelda song?" answer anywhere. Topics about Zelda music spring up everywhere -- on forums and fansites and blogs. Just compare a few of them. And you'll quickly notice that a lot of the time, the same songs are repeated over and over again. Gerudo Valley, Midna's Lament, Ballad of the Wind Fish, Dragon Roost Island. These are awesome songs. I'd totally rank them at the top of any of my favorites, too. But sometimes, there are songs that are almost as good, or even equally good, that are just kind of pushed into the background. I guess they're just not as memorable or as beloved or something.<br />
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So I'm doing something a bit different today. Instead of just rant or... whatever I do on a regular basis, I'm going to make a top ten list. These are the songs that I felt were the top Zelda tunes that deserved far more love than they receive. I rarely see these ones mentioned. If you see them often... eh. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places, haha. But I'm thinking that at least some of these, you might not even know off the top of your head without looking them up. They're ranked here according to both my personal opinion of them as well as their obscurity.<br />
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10. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSZxh-4AoW0" target="_blank">Wing Dungeon (Oracle of Ages)</a><br />
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Oh my goodness. I swear, this song is the catchiest song in the entire Zelda series. Like, seriously. I have only played two dungeons of Oracle of Ages, and this song is in the second dungeon. I haven't heard it in-game in over two years. BUT I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD. Any time I think of Oracle of Ages, this song just... pops into my brain. It's only 18 seconds long and it just loops repeatedly but it's so ridiculously catchy that... I don't know. It just kind of appeals to me. Some people might think I'm crazy and actually find this song more annoying than anything... and I can totally see where they're coming from. But I had to mention it here somewhere. It deserves more recognition where annoying/catchy Zelda songs come in.<br />
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Speaking of annoying/catchy...<br />
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9. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z72BCPHrkPI" target="_blank">Plum's Theme (Twilight Princess)</a><br />
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So... you know what I just said about Wing Dungeon? Forget all of it. It is NOTHING in comparison to the annoying catchiness of this impossible song.<br />
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Whenever I hear this, I have it stuck in my head for DAYS. It's gotten to the point where it's my generic song that I resort to when I'm playing the harp or piano. If I'm doing something else and just happen to be sitting at an instrument, one hand just automatically starts playing this song without me even thinking about it. It's just so... agh! Just listen to it! It's like a carnival but so much more... I don't know! You can't even tell me this doesn't at least KIND of get stuck in your head. You MUST want to hum it at some point. It's just that kind of some. And it deserves recognition for that! I mean, it's not a bad song -- at least I don't think so -- but it's sooooo memorable. But no one ever calls it their favorite.<br />
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In fact, I had this one time that I was humming this song so much that I got it stuck in my friend's head once, and she'd never even played the game it was from. It was pretty hilarious.<br />
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8. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEhmsZSS8fQ" target="_blank">Mayor's Council Room (Majora's Mask)</a><br />
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Does this count as underappreciated? A lot of people kind of like it... eh. Whatever. I'm including it.<br />
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The Mayor's Office theme plays -- you guessed it -- in the mayor's office. Why is this song so good? Like, really, who cares about the mayor? It plays while Mutoh and Viscen are arguing about what the town should do with the moon descending upon them. And it's... likable. I like it a lot. XD It sounds quite heated and emotional and it really emphasizing the debate and the time it's wasting. Plus... I hate to say this, since I just said it about the previous two, but... it's catchy! It find myself humming it quite often without realizing it. I think it's the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mle6z8kx428" target="_blank">Majora's Mask Opera</a>'s fault, though, partially... they put lyrics to this song and brought it into the spotlight for me.<br />
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7. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxOxcH-OmmM" target="_blank">Maiden Freed (Four Swords Adventures)</a><br />
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This tune just makes me want to smile! Now, unlike most of these other songs, this is actually very common in its source game. However, Four Swords Adventures is one of the worst-sold Zelda games, so I feel justified in calling it at least someone obscure and underappreciated. After all, who has ever said that Four Swords Adventures has their favorite soundtrack? The majority of its songs were ripped off from A Link to the Past, anyway.<br />
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This is one of its few original tunes and it's so catchy and memorable! It occurs whenever one of the Shrine Maidens is rescued. Its music box-like charm really captures the innocence of these kidnapped maidens. It's kind of like a lullaby... it's very calming to listen to, but it's happy at the same time. Like I said at the beginning, a small grin just creeps on my face hearing this. Not only from the actual tune, but from the happy, relieved memories it inspires from finally completing all the levels of Four Swords Adventures.<br />
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6. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDPLPRFNR1s" target="_blank">Introduction (The Minish Cap)</a><br />
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This song is gorgeous. This is what I consider the main theme of The Minish Cap. And it is, quite possibly, one of my favorite Zelda songs of all time. It's right up there with Ballad of the Wind Fish.<br />
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But, weirdly, while Ballad of the Wind Fish always sticks out in everyone's memory, this song never does. Why is that? It's kind of the same thing. Like Ballad of the Wind Fish, it appears in the game over screen, some emotional portions of the game, and probably elsewhere as well. I mean, okay, Ballad of the Wind Fish was actually PLAYABLE in the game, and yeah, The Minish Cap wasn't nearly as successful in general as Link's Awakening, but still -- how come no one ever mentions this? I don't even think of it very often, but I always hear it with fond memories in my heart.<br />
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The only reason it isn't higher on this list is because... I don't really know if it's underappreciated, haha. Obviously it's in the game very often, and I'm sure that others like me really love it. Maybe it doesn't even deserve to be up this high. But it's very beautiful and I wanted to bring attention to how awesome it is. I highly suggest that you also listen to the other versions of this song. I kind of wanted to include them all and cite the melody in general as the "underappreciated" tune, but I just chose the intro for the sake of simplicity. But make sure you also hear <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku0pS3ko5CU" target="_blank">Minish Village</a>, which is a more cheerful take on the song, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA1bIKY1nKs" target="_blank">Ezlo's Story</a>, a slower, sadder version. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCUyKSBon8" target="_blank">Game Over</a> theme is similar, too, but not identical.<br />
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5. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGLvDBwQZWg" target="_blank">Royal Valley (The Minish Cap)</a><br />
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Yeah. Two The Minish Cap songs. That's a surprise, isn't it? Knowing me? I don't even like The Minish Cap.<br />
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But I couldn't help it. For the sake of writing this list, I went ahead and listened through the soundtracks of games I couldn't remember well. The top among them was The Minish Cap, because I really couldn't remember a thing from playing it. When this song began, I was completely caught off-guard by the... surprisingly realistic calls of mysterious animals, instead of actual music. It's so unsettling and out of place from the rest of the soundtrack that I was utterly confused for a moment. Then the low, minor chords started playing over top of the animal calls, and they match up so perfectly... I was stunned. I knew INSTANTLY that I had to include it. This song is so effectively creepy, unique, and pretty much the definition of underappreciated. I don't even remember what Royal Valley IS, for goodness's sake, and even though I am notorious for not really caring for The Minish Cap, I doubt that it's really a stand-out location in the series. I'm glad I heard this song. Its eeriness was really different from the rest of the cheerful songs that I was used to while listening to the game's music and it definitely deserves some recognition.<br />
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4. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LC8aTvdrCE" target="_blank">Sage Fado (The Wind Waker)</a><br />
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What an interesting spin on this song! You hear this song quite frequently through The Wind Waker. The game's opening backstory is told with this very same song, and the sage Laruto has a version of the same one. But this is my favorite variation. It is heard when Fado first introduces himself to Link after the hero plays the Wind God's Aria. I love the steady drumbeats and the melody played by the flute and then the violin. The violin's even Fado's instrument, so... good for them for referencing that, I guess. It's very catchy and lovable.<br />
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Unfortunately, this melody overall is very well known due to its frequency in The Wind Waker. Honestly, it probably shouldn't be ranked this high for that very reason, but... I couldn't help it. I even saw it mentioned on a "you favorite Zelda song" thread the other day, and that couldn't deter me from placing it here. It's so fantastic.<br />
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3. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU9jwp1qnfM" target="_blank">Sky Keep (Skyward Sword)</a><br />
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Perhaps this isn't obscure enough. In fact, like Fado's Theme, I just saw someone the other day say this was one of their favorits. I was looking at a thread on Zelda Dungeon about favorite Zelda songs, and this showed up. But... it only plays once in the entire game, in the first room of the final dungeon. That's pretty obscure. Not everyone who plays Skyward Sword is going to get that far, and most people won't even bother to listen since it's just in one room. (At least, I'm pretty sure it is.)<br />
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Sky Keep just has such a unique, unusual, and strange theme. It has an extremely ethereal feel to it that few other Zelda songs quite manage to capture. In some ways, it even feels ominous, which is good for a final dungeon. It excellently captures the mood of the weird room-changing puzzles that you'll encounter while listening to this song. I really love it. It's a shame that it's not more widely used.<br />
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2. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY9ta4i_h-4" target="_blank">The Final Exam (Spirit Tracks)</a><br />
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This song caught my attention recently, when I decided to start replaying Spirit Tracks. As I started the game and boarded my train for the first time, this song started to play. And I was stunned. I mean, I've advocated since the game's release that is has the best soundtrack, but... this is such a happy, upbeat song! It's in the classic Spirit Tracks style, which is known for its very... agh, I can't describe it. But it has this really happy mood to all of its songs. They're all very similar and catchy. This song certainly doesn't disappoint. I adore Realm Overworld and Troubled Realm, and this sounds like it fits right in.<br />
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This and the number one spot were, of course, the first two I immediately thought of when this list came to mind. This song really shocked me, since I'd never heard it outside of the game. Despite having played Spirit Tracks twice already, apparently it took me three times to really take notice of this gorgeous piece and enjoy it. The only time it plays is at the beginning, so it's easily missed, and I'm sure most people don't really know about it. That's why I'm here! Spreading uncommon Zelda songs to the masses with love and joy!<br />
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1. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwHy7NxXjqQ" target="_blank">Zora Prince (Twilight Princess)</a><br />
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Holy Din, Nayru, and Farore. This song is gorgeous. Maybe it's just me, but... wow. How is this not more popular? I like it even more than other emotional tunes, like Midna's Lament or Fi's Theme!<br />
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Zora Prince seems extremely obscure. To the best of my knowledge, it plays only once in the game, when Link first finds Ilia again, watching over Ilia. It's there for such a short time; if you were reading through the dialogue quickly, this song would barely even have time to start. In fact, from what I saw, it appeared that it wasn't even included with the official Twilight Princess soundtrack. The only versions I could find were those that have Prince Ralis's deep breathing over top of them. Perhaps when you hear it, you might recognize it. But I really didn't think much of this until I heard the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tPdpouPfzY" target="_blank">Twilight Symphony's rendition</a> of this beautiful tune. I fell in love with it immediately. The strings are so beautifully done.<br />
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It's just such a subtle, soft song. And it's sad -- Ilia doesn't remember Link, the doctor can't help the sick Zora boy... it's really gorgeous and fitting. I can't get over how this doesn't get more attention. How did they not want to exploit the beauty of this song more in the game? I love it! You know what? THIS should have been Ilia's theme. Wouldn't that have been incredible? Ilia's current theme is so bland and... meh that I don't really care for her or her song. But this... come ON, Nintendo! You could have at least used it one more! At least given us a version that doesn't have breathing in it!<br />
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*sigh* But I disgress...<br />
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This is my number one underappreciated Zelda tune. I hope I'm not alone in loving the beauty of this song. You should also follow up listening to it by hearing Prince Ralis is saved, which, oddly, seems so much more popular. It's also beautiful and kind of follows the same style, but it's a remix of the main theme, so I didn't want to include it on this list.<br />
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That's all I have for today! I'm very short on time -- I started this too late, haha. I might come back and edit this later; I wanted to provide a brief list of some of my honorable mentions. For now... tell me what you think of this! It's different from what I usually do, but I really enjoyed it. I have an idea for another few lists like this -- especially music-related lists. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!<br />
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Have a nice day, everyone!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-79400117810117621662014-01-31T21:14:00.001-08:002014-01-31T21:15:43.469-08:00Undiscovered Link's Awakening Song?Later December and into the earlier days of this month, I picked up Link's Awakening again and played around with the Dog House Glitch some more. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it's a really simple glitch that's present in all versions of the game, as far as I know, including the 3DS Virtual Console. All you have to do is get behind the Dog House next to Madam MeowMeow's house at just the right position, and then head down and to the left, and then... presto! You're inside the "Karma Zone"! It's a very glitched up area containing enemies and textures that have been... corrupted or changed or something. It takes sprites from other things and puts them in the wrong places. Like, I've been attacked by a horde of evil Grandma Ulriras before that were supposed to be Ghini in a black room that was supposed to be in the third dungeon or so. And then I'll get Golden Leaves at completely random moments in here, even on files in which I've already collected all the Golden Leaves. Oh, and the disembodied Crazy Tracy heads with swords are always fun.<br />
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I should probably write a post just on my adventures during this glitch. Hmm...<br />
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Regardless, the bottom line is that this glitch is also known as the "Karma Zone" because it changes a bit depending on how many enemies you've killed. The layout is, from a general perspective, usually the same; you almost always start off in the same room. But certain sprite swaps might be different, and new and exciting invisible walls might have formed. You never know what you'll find.<br />
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Now, I first heard about this glitch a while ago -- around the time I was on what I called my "Link's Awakening high", when pretty much every post I wrote at least MENTIONED the game -- and have been experimenting with it for a long time. My favorite rendition of the Dog House Glitch was made this one time that I was playing around on my sister's file. She's only completed the first dungeon, and I'd just collected BowWow when I decided to try this glitch, because her file doesn't have all the items, so with a little luck I was hoping I could find some higher-level items in there and maybe sequence break a little bit (in fact, one time I found the Bow in there, and then the music freaked out, but that's another story). I enjoyed it because I wasn't too trapped; sometimes you'll get Karma Zones that start you off surrounded by invisible walls and you can't even go anywhere. But no, this one was wide and open and gave me lots of freedom. Therefore, I've had a backup from this file after I killed the number of enemies that I thought made the most fun "karma zone" since January 2nd, 2013. So, recently, I decided to revisit it.</div>
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I was showing off to a friend who had played Link's Awakening but had never heard of the glitch. Then, as a started heading north and eventually ended up at the entrance to what looked like Face Shrine... a peculiar song started to play. Neither of us recognized it. I eventually got stuck and was forced to reset the glitch by returning to my save state, but with a bit of searching, I found the music again. When I got home, I made the video you see below.</div>
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I don't know about you guys, but this song sounds very, very familiar to me. I have no idea why. No one I knew that knows a thing about video games could recognize it, though. I went through the soundtrack of Link's Awakening and went over all the songs, and this tune is not in there.</div>
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But here it is, playing in the Dog House. A legitimate copy of the game from the 3DS eShop.</div>
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Link's Awakening is known for its Easter Eggs. It had three musical ones in particular that I can think of: Totaka's Song in Richard's Villa, the secret "ZELDA" song on the menu screen, and the secret "MOYSE" menu song in the German version of the game. But is it really possible that after all of this time, one song has somehow been left undiscovered? I mean, we're talking twenty-one years since the game's release. Twenty. One.</div>
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So am I missing something? I brought this up with the people at the Zelda Dungeon Wiki, and none of them recognized it, either. One of the admins said he had gone through the sound files of a Link's Awakening ROM and never seen this there before, but he said that some of the other Easter Egg songs don't show up there either.</div>
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Anyone have any ideas where it might be from?</div>
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Just to clarify about the glitch a bit here... I can get back to this at any time. As you see in the above video, I can go north every single time and take the same path to that one room, and then going either left or right starts the song playing. And that's EVERY time I go to the left or the right. Around 2:49 in the video, you'll notice me go into the right room, go to the left, and then return to the right room... and if you listen carefully, the music restarts there for some odd reason. Does that mean it's linked to the unglitched counterparts of those rooms? The one to the right is obviously a cave (I think the one connecting Ukuku Prairie to Animal Village, perhaps) and the one to the left looks like... the House by the Bay or something? Not sure. Then again, when I enter from the bottom of that left room -- the one with the bed -- the song does not start playing. I have to go to the right and then left to make it start. (Right below it is a Fairy Fountain, and that music plays instead and continues even when I'm in this bed room. But after going right and then left again, this "undiscovered" song cancels out the Fairy Fountain one.)<br />
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Unfortunately, there's not much I can do for people who are interested in hearing this song for themselves, except suggest that they explore the area that I got to. Like I said, this glitch is altered slightly depending on how many enemies you've killed, and considering that I made this save state a year ago and I wasn't really counting anyway... I have no idea what that number for this file might be. You can... try beating the first dungeon and getting to BowWow normally, and then start killing enemies one by one and testing to see if you get a similar area? XD Like I said, I had rescued BowWow at this point, which is why I've got eyeballs and Ropes and Peahats and floating tiles following me for the majority of the video...<br />
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I hope you all enjoyed that, though, and that someone can help me identify this. I am really praying that it's not actually a normal song in Link's Awakening that I just don't recognize, because that'll make me sound really silly. XD<br />
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Have a good day, everyone! But before I finish this post, I want to leave you with one other... erm.... "undiscovered" Link's Awakening song that I found one day in the Dog House glitch. It's an older video of poor quality since it was on my phone. I'd just found the Bow in that chest next to me before I was supposed to, and then... this absolutely GORGEOUS song started. I'm sure you'll love it. My favorite part is totally that one note around 1:31. I suggest you turn your volume up ALL the way so you can hear that part REALLY well.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FixxbqlFG6A" width="459"></iframe><br />
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Aren't terrifyingly deep tones, erratic drumbeats, explosion sound effects, and ear-piercing GameBoy shrieks GREAT?<br />
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(I sincerely apologize if you actually turned your volume up.)Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-42140646966782578862013-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:002014-01-31T21:24:20.102-08:00Happy New Year! (And Thoughts on Hyrule Warriors)<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZOq4IiuRMWk" width="480"></iframe></span><br />
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Just like last year, I have to examine the quality of Zelda-related events. I wish I could have a more in-depth examination of that, but... Gosh, I'm lazy. I've been having SUCH a problem writing posts for this blog lately.</div>
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The most obvious Zelda-related event of 2013 was the release of A Link Between Worlds. I complained last year due to the lack of major Zelda related events -- but the release of a new game is certainly a major event! And I though haven't gotten around to posting my thoughts on dear ALBW, I'll just say now that it is DEFINITELY a good thing. A Link Between Worlds is an excellent game. Of course, you can expect no less from a Zelda title, but you know...</div>
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We also saw the release of The Wind Waker HD, which was a great remake. I've talked about it a bit; I liked it way more than I thought I would.</div>
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There were some other minor things that I can't really think of... but what I really wanted to talk about was the massive shock we all received about Hyrule Warriors!</div>
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Hyrule Warriors is a Zelda game with gameplay that strongly resembles the Dynasty Warriors series. I've never played Dynasty Warriors. But I did a lot of research on it after hearing about Hyrule Warriors. XD It's a hack and slash game based on romaticized Chinese history, I guess, and it's known for having multiple playable characters. People have already pointed out three characters in the background of the Hyrule Warriors trailer (that most have identified as Impa, Nayru, and Zelda). Could they be playable as well?</div>
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I am so excited for this. I think I'm more excited for this than I was for A Link Between Worlds. XD This is a new SPIN-OFF! We've never really had a good Zelda spin-off. We had Link's Crossbow Training, but that was hardly a full game, and we have the Tingle games, but they're not strongly Zelda-related, are they? (No, really. Are they? I've never played them. XD) The gameplay for Dynasty Warriors looks like a lot of fun! And oh my goodness, I'm certainly looking forward to playing as some characters besides Link! I mean, I love Link to death -- I really do. I love him more than any of the other characters, really. But I would love to see some interesting changes in a spin-off title!</div>
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Anyway, there's only one minute left until the new year. So I have to go! Hopefully you all had a wonderful 2013! See you next year!</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-74916043396801115982013-11-30T15:50:00.000-08:002013-11-30T15:50:42.774-08:00A Link Between Worlds is Released!A week ago, on November 22nd, 2013, the latest The Legend of Zelda game for 3DS, A Link Between Worlds, was released!<br />
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I already finished it. But you know.<br />
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Okay, thing is, guys, I have SO much going on. ALBW is probably a 20 hour game if you're REALLY giving it credit, but it took me a week to beat while dedicating every moment of my free time to this glorious new game in my Zelda collection. I can't write a post now... but oh my gosh...<br />
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If you've seen the ending of A Link Between Worlds, I can imagine you have at least a bit of an idea how darn badly I really want to write a full post right now.<br />
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However, writing something like that takes time that I don't have, ESPECIALLY today. And I probably won't for at least another week, which, as you all know, probably will be at least another month in my time.<br />
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I hate it -- November is Zelda Month, and I should be giving it the credit it deserves with a nice post! -- but I can't do anything about it.<br />
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So I'll be back as soon as I'm able to bring you a good post about this new, fantastic game. (I'm also beginning to question why I see to be a representation of the opposite of the "Zelda cycle" these days: with both ALBW and The Wind Waker HD, I was wary of the games and didn't like them much at first, but then I absolutely adored them when they were actually released... isn't that strange?)<br />
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Have a good final November day, everyone. See you soon. Enjoy A Link Between Worlds, and seriously, you HAVE to complete it if you haven't yet! That ending... it might be one of the best in Zelda history! So go!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-26733806300343995622013-10-20T22:23:00.002-07:002014-04-01T00:33:08.191-07:00New Header<blockquote>
"hey look there's a new header<br />
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kthxbai" - Sierra Winterbreeze, October 20th, 2013</blockquote>
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...I wrote that.<br />
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And then I realized that it'd make me look really stupid.<br />
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So, uh...<br />
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Hey, look! There's a new header! Okay, thanks, bye!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">...What am I doing with my life.</span><br />
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Well, since that Ocarina of Time 3D Header had been up for a ridiculously long amount of time, I decided, prior to the release of The Wind Waker HD, that the best way to celebrate a blog about Medli was create a header that actually freaking had Medli in it for once from the upcoming game. And I did! Or I started to. It only took... a month... to finish! But look at its beauty!<br />
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...I mean... it looks like an ocean, right? That's a wave. Or it's supposed to be. My sister made it (so I can't take any blame for it looking stupid). Does it look like a wave?<br />
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Anyway. This PROBABLY is not my monthly post, so don't worry about that. I've got stuff to say about A Link Between Worlds. I almost wrote a post about that at the beginning of the month, but apparently I got lazy and never finished it. Maybe you'll see it turned into something on the last day of the month, as usual.<br />
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(Oh, wait, that's Halloween, huh? Well, never mind then. Eh. I'll figure out something.)<br />
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Have a good evening, everyone!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-42570289944182915812013-09-30T23:21:00.000-07:002013-09-30T23:34:44.647-07:00First Impressions of The Wind Waker HD - Picto Box/Nintendo Gallery<div>
On September 20th, The Wind Waker HD was released for digital download on the Wii U shop. A special edition Deluxe Bundle was also released that included the Wii U and a special Zelda-themed GamePad, along with a download code for the game and a digital copy of Hyrule Historia. Because I lacked a Wii U system, I decided to purchase this lovely bundle.</div>
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And I have been playing Wind Waker NONSTOP since then.</div>
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...Well, I suppose that's not COMPLETELY accurate... I WOULD have been playing The Wind Waker nonstop if my life wasn't so busy, especially these days. But on Saturday I played it from three in the afternoon to one in the morning without stopping, sooo...</div>
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Yeah. I love the game a lot more than I thought I would. In my original post on it, I obviously was't THAT impressed. But now that I'm playing it... wow. I never realized how much I missed The Wind Waker. There's so much more exploration to it than any other game. It's the kind of thing that seems timeless -- as in, it's almost impossible to remember everything in that game, because there's so MUCH. True, a lot of the puzzles may not lead to anything important, but I still think it's probably one of the harder games to 100%.</div>
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As of now, I've played about 18 hours of the game total, and I'm supposed to be searching for the Sages and getting the Iron Boot and Power Bracelets. That's just over halfway through the game, I suppose. And considering I've been playing for so long, it seems rather odd that I'm not farther, doesn't it?</div>
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Well, I've been EXPLORING. I've only got three more islands to complete my Sea Chart. And I've gotten the Swift Sail and several Heart Pieces and oh-so-many figurines.</div>
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Oh, yes. Figurines.</div>
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The Nintendo Gallery has been made SO much easier in this version. Almost RIDICULOUSLY easier. I started with the assumption that it'd be mostly the same (I was vastly unprepared for most of the changes in WW because I wasn't reading up on it that closely, so I was pleasantly surprised by a lot). In the original, you had to take a picture of a character or enemy that you wanted to be made into a figurine and then bring it to Carlov at the Nintendo Gallery near Forest Haven to get it made. However, there were some conditions. First of all, you had to get a GOOD image of the character. And sometimes it was difficult to tell if it was a good one or not. This was especially hard for things that you weren't quite sure were a character or enemy. Like... the Beamos in the Tower of the Gods. Apparently they're not actually enemies, even if they are in other games. If I'd ever bothered getting their picture in the original, and Carlov told me he couldn't sculpt it, I'd have no way of knowing (except the internet) whether it was becaue it couldn't be made into a figurine or because I'd gotten a bad camera angle. And on top of that, you could only give him one pictograph to sculpt per day. So if you wanted to sculpt all three, which was the maximum your Picto Box could hold, you'd have to use Song of Passing several times to get him to finish his current figurine and give him a new one. Oh! And don't forget about Legendary Pictographs, which depicted the characters that you usually did not have the opporunity to get yourself in the game and therefore had to pay several hundred Rupees for. And if that wasn't bad enough... some pictographs were permanently missable. Forgot to take a picture of Gohdan? Too bad! You're not ever seeing him again! (Except in Second Quest... but whatever.)</div>
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Top it all off with the fact that these had to be taken in color -- meaning that you couldn't even start collecting pictures prior to making it to Forest Haven and getting the Forest Firefly, sailing allll the way back to Windfall to get the Deluxe Picto Box, and then sailing allllll the way back to unlock the Nintendo Gallery in the first place... well, it was definitely a challenge.</div>
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I never completed the Nintendo Gallery in the original. I THINK I got pretty far, but, eh... my GC file's corrupted now, so who knows?</div>
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However... The Wind Waker HD fantastically improved on every single dilemma mentioned above.</div>
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From the very moment you get the Picto Box, you'll immediately notice what's probably the most useful improvement: you can now save 12 photos instead of 3. That alone is fantastic. Now in addition to the important figurine images, you can take really stupid images, like <a href="https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAABAADMUKlZ7qBwJA" target="_blank">whatever the heck I did here</a>.</div>
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Oh, but that's not ALL. Even though you can take those lovely 12 photos to get figurines made of them, what about the "one figurine per day" limit? Doesn't that sound frustrating, too? Well, I thought so as well, but fortunately you can actually give him up to twelve pictures to make figurines of in one day! I spent the first two dozen figurines or so actually just giving him one and then playing the Song of Passing to go to the next day, because I was so used to that method. Plus, another lovely addition is the fact that upon turning on the system, the Wind Waker song repeats only once, and then after that you just have to play the directions and the song's affects immediately occur... if that made sense. So it wasn't even AS bad. But being able to put in more than one figurine is absolutely incredible, haha.</div>
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How about not knowing whether an image would make a good figurine or not? Wind Waker HD comes to the rescue with a little symbol that appears in the corner of all Carlov-approved pictographs, so you'll know right after taking it if it's good or not. Believe me, it's saved me lots of incorrect pictures where I would have to travel alll the way back to take them in again in the original. And how about the Deluxe Picto Box thing? ...No, you DO still need it, and they DO still have to be in color. HOWEVER, the Forest Firefly is no longer required. Now, all you need to do is become Lenzo's assistant at his pictograph shop on Windfall Island by taking three pictures. I didn't know this, but I felt like becoming his assistant anyway. I still am not entirely sure what you got in the original -- I can't remember -- so I was only doing it in hopes of finding out what it was. But instead, much to my delight, I got the Deluxe Picto Box! Therefore, you can start snapping pictures as early as Windfall Island and Dragon Roost! And of course I did. I took pictures of as many people as I could, haha, in preparation for obtaining their figurines the moment I reached Forest Haven.</div>
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Lastly... what about Legendary Pictographs? And those permanently missable ones? How on earth could they fix that?</div>
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One word: Miiverse.</div>
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I'll probably have to write another post separtely on Miiverse at a later date, because I love it so much, but for now, I'll just talk about how it ties into the Nintendo Gallery. Using the Tingle Bottle (which I'm a bit less bitter about now, even though I was annoyed it replaced the Tingle Tuner initially), one can attach a pictograph to a bottled message and send it out. Then another player might receive it and can save that pictograph to their own Picto Box.</div>
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Do you understand what this means? Player A can snap a pictograph of, let's say, Cyclos, since he's easily missable. Then Player B, who, for the sake of ease, we'll call "TotallyNotSierra", can pick up a Tingle Bottle with this image in it. And, much to TotallyNotSierra's amazement, she can finally get the figurine that she unintentionally missed! Now, if only Player A would hurry the heck up and send that stupid bottle to TotallyNotSierra because she TotallyDoesn'tNeed it...</div>
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...Gosh. I was so mad I missed it. I've been picking up EVERY Tingle Bottle, and though I've SEEN images of Cylcos on Miiverse, I never GET any of them... -.-</div>
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But! You get the idea of how it can help, right? So far I've been terribly meticulous in not missing any figurines (EXCEPT CYLCOS. I REALIZED LITERALLY THE MOMENT I SHOT HIM WITH AN ARROW THAT I MADE A MISTAKE. -.-), but oh my goodness, I love it. Even before I'd unlocked the ability to get Legendary Pictographs, I had Ganondorf and Jabun, because someone was kind enough to send them to me. You can only get the images that you randomly find in a Tingle Bottle, though, so you just have to be lucky. You can't pick and choose off of Miiverse, sadly. I've made sure to send out most of the Legendary Pictographs I've both paid for myself (which are only two) and received in Tingle Bottles, just to keep the cycle going and let some other lucky person get those figurines. And I've also sent out images of Gohdan, the Helmaroc King, and Phantom Ganon, which I've seen many people ask for.</div>
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...and just in case you guys somehow missed this...</div>
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YOU CAN TAKE SELFIES. SELFIES, guys! Look, look, look! Tetra and I were traveling in Hyrule Castle together so I took this picture in front of the Hero of Time statue! :D<br />
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Yeah. Another improvement? I can pull my images off of Miiverse. So you guys can actually get SCREENSHOTS from now on. ;)</div>
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So, with these beautiful improvements, I've gotten pretty far in my Nintendo Gallery collection. The Windfall and Outset rooms and fully completed. So, can anyone guess what my first figurine was? It HAD to be special, of course. I made sure of that.</div>
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Really. I'm going to give you a moment to think. You could guess it if you really tried. Okay? One... two... threeee...</div>
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It was Medli. Of course.</div>
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Even if I forever regret my choice in blog title, Medli will still hold a special place in my heart...</div>
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Alright, everyone! Have a nice day! See you... probably in a month, haha.</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-67546672934779724072013-08-31T10:29:00.000-07:002013-09-12T21:34:10.743-07:00The Legend of Zelda Fanfiction RecommendationsDoes this post look familiar? If so, it's because two years ago, I did the exact same thing. And before that, I ALSO did the same thing in 2010, except I used a lot of stories from The Sacred Realm, which no longer exists, sadly. I listed off my favorite The Legend of Zelda fanfics to aid the rest of the world on their search for an excellent story.<br />
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However, key words there are "two years ago".</div>
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Not only have my tastes changed since then (I'd like to think I'm a bit better at telling a good story from a bad one now), but I've also discovered SEVERAL new stories. In all honesty, my love for fanfiction waned a bit toward the end of 2011, mostly with the release of Skyward Sword. But that doesn't mean I don't like it anymore -- it just means I'm not as active anymore. But I'm still finding new stories to read and writing stuff, so...</div>
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First off, for anyone who might not be familiar with this blog, my name on ff.net is <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2506575/TwilightWakerofTime" target="_blank">TwilightWakerofTime</a>, so if you're interested, go check out my own Zelda fics. I've got seven at the moment: five oneshots, two multi-chapters. I highly suggest <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7645582/1/Awakening" target="_blank"><i>Awakening</i></a>... I love that story a lot. It gets better after chapter three. Promise. And, if you're not satisfied with the things I mention here, go ahead and check out my favorites list. It's terribly outdated -- I HATE removing things from it, and I rarely, rarely add things now, even stories I love, as I presently have extremely high standards -- but you can find some decent reads in there. A lot of what I'm going to mention will be in there, too.<br />
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Click <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2011/05/legend-of-zelda-fan-fiction.html" target="_blank">here</a> to read my recommendations of 2011, and <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2010/09/zelda-fan-fiction.html" target="_blank">here</a> to read the list in 2010. Keep in mind, though, that I'm more experienced in the realm of fanfiction now, so these are probably the best Zelda fanfic recs you'll find from me.</div>
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These aren't going to be a ranked list like I did previously, but they will be slightly organized by my own personal enjoyment of them, with ones I like the most listed first. Also, I want to mention that I don't read slash fics often. I'm not really a huge fan of them, so I won't be including any yaoi or yuri or shonen/shojo ai or whatever the heck you call them stories here.<br />
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And with that, let's begin:</div>
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<b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/344741/1/Legend-of-Zelda-The-Return" target="_blank">The Return</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1755123/1/Legend-of-Zelda-Reconciliation" target="_blank">Reconciliation</a></i> by Rose Zemlya</b> - Ohhh, yes. Judging from my other lists, I'm sure you saw this coming. These two tales have been two of my favorite fanfictions for a long time now -- and for a good reason. <i>The Return</i> and its sequel, <i>Reconciliation</i>, are fantastic stories. They are some of the most-reviewed Zelda stories of all time, with <i>The Return </i>at 35 reviews per chapter, and <i>Reconcilliation </i>at an amazing 46. That's <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">insane, considering that I would say most stories average at six or seven, perhaps ten or eleven if they're good. <i>The Return </i>is kind of average, honestly; I was worshipping it years ago when I first read it, but now that I'm more experienced, I'd still say I love it and I've reread it soooo many times, but the plot is actually pretty straightforward. However, what Rose excels in is really characterization. Her characters are FANTASTIC. I'm not a fan of OCs in Zelda. As a matter of fact, I generally hate them if they play major parts in the plot. But instead, Hunter, Neesha, and the many other original characters she includes are so incredibly well-written that I can't help but love them. Their personalities are clear, and the way they interact with each other and Link is just so much fun to read. The humor in this story really is something to mention, by the way. It's just so QUOTABLE! It's made me laugh out loud many times. And of course, all of this stems from her portrayal of Link. The story is in first person from Link's point of view, which isn't TERRIBLY common in the realm of Zelda fanfiction, with some third person "interludes" that tell the tale from other characters' points of view. But Link just MAKES the story! He's sarcastic, realistic, and absolutely everything a main character should be. He has flaws, but he's also very likable and has good qualities that stand out.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Reconciliation </i>is definitely the best out of the two, though, I have to say. Like I said, <em>The Return</em> is just average; <em>Reconciliation</em> is where it gets REALLY good. It adds a touch of darkness to the plot that I really enjoy, being based in A Link to the Past. Unfortunately, she updates VERY slowly, but the chapters are usually really, really long, sooo...</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I'm going to spend the whole post talking about this if I go any further, so I suggest you check it out for yourself! XD</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3672539/1/Forgotten-Demons" target="_blank">Forgotten Demons</a></i> by Celeborn00 </b>- This is new, hmm? It wasn't included on my previous lists. And I have to say I totally regret that I didn't read this soon enough to put it on them. This story is FANTASTIC. I almost read it a long time ago, interestingly enough -- meaning it was almost the second amazing fanfiction I read, the first being <em>Hero of Wolves</em> (which I'll talk about later). It was on the <em>Hero of Wolves</em>'s </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">author's favorites list, and I read the first chapter, but mistook Demon for an OC, and you know how I feel about OCs... XD</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Actually, Demon is Link. The plot of this revolves around how Link has become corrupt and now fights in these gladiator-style arenas in a country named Aratia, before he teams up with Zelda and they... well, go on a quest, I guess. I don't want to spoil too much. ;) It's dark, it's violent, it's somewhat overdramatic (especially early on, though the author has grudgingly acknowledged that), but I love it to death. Best of all, compared to most of the stories I'm going to mention, it's updated pretty frequently. I just get SO excited when I see an update for this story in my inbox -- especially now, since a MAJOR plot twist happened earlier, and I'm waiting to see how that will resolve. I recommend this to anyone who likes a good darkfic like me. It's so good. Their writing is okay at the beginning, but it becomes astounding near the end. The plot is amazing and their OCs aren't annoying. If you don't mind something dark, please read it. This person deserves so much more praise than they are given for this masterpiece.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4249013/1/Insomnia" target="_blank">Insomnia</a></i> by tikitikirevenge </b>- I'm not sure why I put this one third. Even if these aren't officially "ranked," the above two stories are my favorites of all time, so this spot probably should be something at least as original and exciting. Yet I'm mentioning a novelization of <em>Majora's Mask</em>. How can that be interesting and new...?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Oh, I dare you to read this and you'll know.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Insomnia </i>is basically the awesome version of <em>Majora's Mask</em>. Now every single time I play the game, I think of this story. It's unavoidable. They've managed to blend in their own realistic style into this very surreal game flawlessly by seamlessly adding in almost unnoticeable rules about complicated things like time travel.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The description is fabulous, and both Link and Tatl, again, are SO amusing to read about in their interactions. Their personalities contrast so well that it provides for plenty of humor, and the constant references to <em>Ocarina of Time</em> make it even better. Tatl's always trying to learn about Link's mysterious past, and for some reason, that's very entertaining.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">If you're looking for a long, serious-but-not-too-serious fic based on <em>Majora's Mask</em>, check this out. It's really worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3458319/1/Hit-List" target="_blank"><i>Hit List</i></a> by zestycrouton </b>- This was number three on my 2011 list. And I still love it. Like I said, I was kind of skeptical at first, as I'm sure any new reader would be. High school fics are among the biggest clichés in the realm of fanfiction, and Zelda ones can be notoriously awful, considering it's a fantasy world. But this blends Hyrule's lore perfectly with modern times. It's really impressive. You won't think much of it in the first few chapters, of course -- it'll seem pretty average. However, one thing you will notice is that every single character in it is based on a Zelda character. EVERY ONE. That means... no OCs, but still an incredible amount of originality, since their backgrounds are completely different to correspond with the setting. It's amazing, and I love seeing how my favorite characters act in different scenarios. It's also interesting how this doesn't only focus on Link, Zelda, or Ganondorf, but there are also several fascinating subplots going on at the same time. The biggest draw, though, is how all of the history of <em>The Legend of Zelda</em> series fits perfectly into a HIGH SCHOOL, of all things! I really can't get over how well the Triforce was implemented, how clever their references to the goddesses worked, how they managed to make a tribute to EVERY SINGLE ZELDA GAME by including at least one character from every one. Even if you hate high school fics or modern day fics, give this a chance. And make sure you read past the first few chapters!</span><br />
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<b style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3719913/1/Hero" target="_blank"><i>Hero</i></a> and <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6221143/1/Moving-On" target="_blank"><i>Moving On</i></a> by Karama9 </b><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">- I talked about<em> Hero</em> for weeks at one point. Just constantly talking about how good it was and how much I loved it and how great the plot is and blah blah blah... And there's a reason for that! This actually is a good story. <em>Moving On</em> is <em>Hero</em>'s sequel, but it's not very far in development at this point and it's on hiatus -- but fortunately its predecessor is enough enjoyment for me at the time. This story isn't very popular, and I don't see it show up very often. Honestly, I have no clue how I found it, but I'm immensely glad I did. This story is SO unique, in its portrayals of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, in its setting, its plot... everything. Ganondorf has taken over, and Link is afraid of absolutely everything, which is actually quite adorable even though it's probably not supposed to be, hahaha. It's a really great character choice, because it makes him far more relatable and less like the hero of legend that he's supposed to be. Oh -- and, also, it's rated M due to violent content, although it was actually rated T when I read it. There is some intense violence, to warn you. But I like it because Link and Zelda are so cute, which contrasts so well with their environment: they're put into a dismal plot, where Ganon is killing people constantly and they witness terrible horrors and monsters that are from their nightmares, but they're still bickering with one another childishly and becoming excited whenever they make progress, which leaves a sense of innocence in a foreboding world. It makes me overwhelmingly happy whenever they accomplish anything -- it's quite an impressive feat! And I really can't fathom why this doesn't have more reviews; it's baffling to me.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1935567/1/Shadow-Lord-s-Bane" target="_blank"><i>Shadow Lord's Bane</i></a>, <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1309143/1/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Rebel-Assassin" target="_blank"><i>Rebel Assassin</i></a>, <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8271764/1/The-Wondrous-Adventures-of-The-Righteous-Maximus" target="_blank"><i>The Wondrous Adventures of the Righteous Maximus</i></a>, and pretty much everything else by <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/323422/Split-Infinitive" target="_blank">Split Infinitive</a></b> - Assuming Split Infinitive is a guy... I love this guy. I LOVE THIS AUTHOR. His writing style is so unique and entertaining, his plots original and fun, his style dark, descriptive, and amusing at the same time. Honestly, there's very little that I could say against him. He's so good at what he does -- it's phenomenal. I've loved every one of his stories, except<em> </em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6134734/1/Storm-Star"><em>Storm Star</em></a> and <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5633056/1/Legend-Redux"><em>Legend Redux</em></a> -- which aren't bad, but... well, I never actually finished <em>Legend Redux </em>(I don't really remember why -- I guess I just got bored or forgot about it or something?), and <em>Storm Star</em>... when I first started writing this list, I hadn't actually finished it: I'd stopped about, eh, chapter ten or so, for a very good reason that would spoil too much if I told you. Thinking of this list (because YOU, dear reader, are awesome), I FINALLY decided to return to it and finish it. And it was probably one of the STRANGEST stories I'd read. Not bad, but... so, so, so weird, and kind of depressing for a while, and then it gets better and stranger and... yeah.</span></div>
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Anyway...<br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">The three I listed above are my favorites (along with <em>War of the Fairies</em> which I didn't include up the due to the fact that it's a sequel). The thing is -- his stories are all different! <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1172649/1/The-Apprentice" target="_blank"><em>The Apprentice</em></a> is pretty much your basic in-universe <em>Ocarina of Time</em> fic, with a Gerudo OC that the plot centers around (which is why I don't like this more). It's one of those good, basic, tried-and-true fics that doesn't do much to set itself apart, but it still enjoyable nevertheless. <em>Rebel Assassin</em> is darker, with a more mature storyline and interesting themes of overcoming the evil within. <em>Shadow Lord's Bane</em> is probably my number one favorite, because it's absolutely HILARIOUS -- I laughed SO much at this story. It's a fascinating combination of a serious, adventure-style plot with flat out ridiculous, almost absurdist humor, and it includes parody of many different aspects of literature or various clichés. Actually, the whole story is pretty much a parody of the darkfic genre, with Link supposedly being evil, when in reality everything is lighthearted and ridiculous. And its sequel is <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2398047/1/War-of-the-Fairies" target="_blank"><em>War of the Fairies</em></a>, which is just as humorous and lighthearted with a serious plot as a flawless backdrop. <em>The Wondrous Adventures of the Righteous Maximus</em> is actually a sort of sci-fi Zelda fic -- a rarity to be sure. It's very interesting. The best part about these stories is that they're all very faintly linked together. Now that I've read almost all of his tales, as I'm rereading them I'm catching vague references to his other works in them. It's hard to explain unless you look it up for yourself. He's on my favorites authors list, which consists of six people (most of the rest of which I don't even read anymore) so he's worth a read.</span><br />
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<b style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5280026/1/Free-as-the-Wind" target="_blank">Free As the Wind</a></i> by S.R.H Fade</b><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"> - I'm finding it hard to say much about this one. It used to be one of my favorites, but as time passes with no updates to refresh my memory of the tale, I'm kind of forgetting it. But it's still really good. Like I said before (it was at number two in my 2011 list), it's about TP Link and OoT Link ending up in TWW Link's world. The plot's fabulous, and the personalities of the Links fit them SO WELL! And I've always loved irony above all else -- you'll see that featured prominently in both the stories I read and write -- and this is FILLED with it. WW Link talks about the Hero of Time, and the Hero of Time is standing right in front of him. That kind of thing. And it's funny, too. There's plenty of entertainment in the relationship TP Link and OoT Link have; they absolutely hate each other, so there's opportunity for both humor and serious characterization. I really hope they update soon.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7727815/1/Beloved-Monsters" target="_blank"><i>Beloved Monsters</i></a>, <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6124957/1/Masked-Dreams" target="_blank"><i>Masked Dreams</i></a>, and other stories by <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1091584/Spiritual-Stone" target="_blank">Spiritual Stone</a></b> - Soooo... maybe it's cheating a bit, putting these two together. Masked Dreams and Beloved Monsters are linked in absolutely no way except they're written by the same person. But... eh... I love them both a lot, and I don't really want to make this post any longer than it's already going to be, sooo... we'll leave it here.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><em>Beloved Monsters</em> is my favorite for sure. It's her newest story, but I enjoyed it the most. It's an alternate version of <em>Ocarina of Time</em>, where Link works for Ganondorf and travels with Sheik undercover. And Sheik is separate from Zelda. Sheik is ALWAYS separate from Zelda in her stories. XD In <em>Masked Dreams</em>, Sheik is female, and it's a romance between her and Link, where they... travel around Termina, I guess? I dunno how to really explain it. Just read it and find out for yourself. It's excellent. And there's Fierce Deity! :D</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">Her plots are always really original and creative, and that's what I love. And her characterization of Link is just AWESOME. Interestingly, I rarely ever like Sheik as his/her own separate character, but I've actually really liked it in Spiritual Stone's stories. I've also read <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5529125/1/Once-upon-A-Fairytale" target="_blank"><em>Once Upon a Fairytale</em></a> and <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7307149/1/Blue-Pearls" target="_blank"><em>Blue Pearls</em></a> from her, and they're also excellent. However, she said she probably wouldn't even finish Blue Pearls, which is still ongoing, so yeah. <em>Once Upon a Fairytale</em> was great, placed in an AU (alternate world) fairytale setting and based heavily on <em>Twilight Princess</em>. I reread it just the other day, partially for the sake of this list and partially because I wanted to remember why I favorited it, haha. And it's certainly worthy of my favorites list!</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5439015/1/Legend-of-Zelda-WolfBane-AU" target="_blank">Legend of Zelda: WolfBane AU</a></i> by Slade1987</b> - Not to be confused with <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3539623/1/Wolfsbane" target="_blank"><em>Wolfsbane</em></a> by Twilight Stallion, another story that I read that I think was also pretty good, but I don't remember the plot so I couldn't have liked it THAT much... XD Anyway, this is the only rated M story you'll find on this list. Oh, e</span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">xcept for <em>Hero</em>. But that was rated T when I read it, so it doesn't count! -.- This used to be on my favorites, but I removed it because there is... er... minor "adult content" in it (so, uh, warning for that) but now I'm rereading it and I love the rest of it so much that I kind of want to add it again, but THEN I'd let the author know I removed it in the first place so I don't know what to do...! XD</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">But, yeah. WolfBane.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The plot centers around Link being a Wolfos, which, rather than being an enemy like in the games, is a race of shapeshifters that can turn from wolves to Hylians/humans. Link, Zelda, Malon, and Sheik go on an adventure to save Hyrule from Ganondorf, pretty much. The basic story is simple, but there's actually a surprising amount of depth to it. And then there's this god named Ordon that gets involved... and I looove him. ^^ He tries to manipulate Link. It goes a lot into how different the races are from one another, and it's very interesting. Maybe a bit violent, but, eh. I can't sing</span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> praises about characterization for this one like I have for the last few, and in all honesty, the grammar and just writing in general are quite... lacking. Comma splices are extremely common here. But the plot is enjoyable and I really, really like Link's portrayal, which can really make or break a story for me. So I had to mention it anyway. It's worth a shot if you like those wolf-personality dominance stories... like <em>Hero of Wolves</em>, I guess, haha.</span><br />
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<b style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/573298/1/Regrets" target="_blank">Regrets</a></i> by Yucca</b><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> - This, like <em>Hero</em> and <em>Moving On</em>, is an undiscovered gem. Again, it's kind of a darkfic. But these are the kinds of stories I like, hahaha. The plot is interesting. There are issues with it, though. MANY issues. It's short. It ends very abruptly, and some ends seem to kind of be left hanging without explanation -- I get the feeling that the author wanted to make it longer but didn't care enough to exert the extra effort. It's a MAJOR shame -- what is there is so amazing, and I've reread it many times. Additionally, I </span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">don't like its OCs. I really don't. They're boring and they don't get enough characterization time. And the first chapter is just ridiculous with the amount of detail it gives to things that are never important again. Like I said, it seems like a lot was planned for this, but nothing ever became of it. </span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The whole story seemed kind of... haphazard.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">But... I'm making it sound bad. Even with its flaws, it's still on my list, and I love it to death. I like it for its darkness. You'll see what I mean if you read it, haha. If you don't like the idea of Link being a semi-bad guy sort-of-but-not-really... then this might not be for you. (Which is exactly what I should say for <em>Forgotten Demons</em> above, to a FAR greater degree there... but whatever.)</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5359603/1/Why-You-Should-Never-Travel-With-Foreigners" target="_blank">Why You Should Never Travel with Foreigners</a></i> by LittleBlueNayru</b> - Just... yeah. Read it. All you need to know is it's <em>Twilight Princess</em>, it's based on Midna's nonsense language that she speaks, and it is the funniest thing I have ever read in my life. And I'm actually quite serious about that. I just die with laughter every time I read this. In fact, this could probably be higher as far as personal enjoyment goes, but I decided to put the plot stories first. This is more of something that will make you laugh so hard that people will think you're insane if you read it in public. So yeah.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3366412/1/The-Hero-of-Wolves" target="_blank"><i>The Hero of Wolves</i></a> and <i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6885547/1/Shadow-Kingdom" target="_blank">Shadow Kingdom</a></i> by The Wolfess </b>- Considering how high I rated these before, you might be wondering why on earth I didn't mention them right away. To be honest, I've completely lost interest with this series. They're masterfully written, but... I don't like the plot, really. I love the wolf-like mannerisms of Link -- that's what drew me to the story in the first place. But I don't like Dark Link, and he's featured later in these stories (was that a spoiler?). Annnnnd... ugh. The plot of the second story is just killing me, and not in a good way. I don't like it. I can't say why without revealing everything, but... WOLVES ARE SPEAKING GERUDO LANGUAGE. HOW CAN WOLVES SPEAK GERUDO? HOW CAN THEY SPEAK ANY HUMAN LANGUAGE? IT DOESN'T WORK!</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">And I still hate Dark Link. This story just isn't a good match for me.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;">However, that doesn't mean I shouldn't mention it. Even if I'm not fond of the sequel,<em> Hero of Wolves</em> is still a great read. And plenty of people love it. The plot is extremely creative, even if it's not my cup of tea. I still suggest that you look into it -- maybe you'll like it more than me.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/774465/1/Ascension" target="_blank">Ascension</a></i> by Damien </b>- I'm not sure what to say about this. It's marvelously well-written and very unique, and it takes place after <em>Majora's Mask</em>. It's updated SO slowly though. Fortunately, the chapters are long. It's... different, to say the least. There are a LOT of OCs -- I didn't really hate them, but I can't say they were wonderful, either. But it's interesting in the sense that you can't really tell who the good guys are. The author changed and added a lot of lore that I find interesting, and that I'd suggest anyone to check out.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3544959/1/The-Golden-Power" target="_blank">The Golden Power</a></i> by DBAinsw </b>- This is a pretty good story about the nature of the Triforce. It's a post-TP tale that follows Link's adventures in two original countries that apparently border Hyrule. It's certainly not a short story, but the OCs are likable and the new countries very believable, so I enjoyed it. It's also one of those stories that make Link and Zelda all-powerful due to their Triforces, and I've always really been drawn to the idea. I like the thought that having the power of the gods in a mortal body can make really interesting conflicts, so it was enjoyable to read.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Also, this person pretty much predicted Fi before <em>Skyward Sword</em> was even announced with their OC Arrika, which I thought was pretty funny at the time...</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4177320/1/Fate-Favors-the-Fearless" target="_blank">Fate Favors the Fearless</a></i> by Freyjadour</b> - <em>Fate Favors the Fearless</em> is a TP-inspired AU ZeLink fic. They changed Ordon to be a warrior village, pretty much, and a separate race on its own, kind of like <em>WolfBane</em> did with the Wolfos. I... think I mentioned this before? Maybe? A lot of the story, at least at this point, is centered around a tournament that Link enters. He faces a lot of racism from the Hylians, though. I really liked it. I've reread it, at least. ('Course, I think I've reread EVERYTHING on this list. XD)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5828175/1/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Seven-Swords-Saga" target="_blank">Seven Swords Saga</a></i>, its <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6443526/1/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Seven-Swords-Saga-Redux" target="_blank">sequel</a>, its <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8397867/1/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Seven-Swords-Saga-Ultimate" target="_blank">triquel</a> (or whatever you call it), and various oneshots by <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1397089/Royazali" target="_blank">Royazali</a></b> - DID YOU SEE THIS COMING? I mentioned it last time. I also mentioned that this author was nice and helped me beat <em>The Legend of Zelda</em> when I was working on it, so I kind of HAD to mention them out of respect. ...But, of course, I would have mentioned them even without that, because I love these stories so much. XD</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Just think of this: every Link ever from every Zelda game ever (except the CD-i because they suck) ends up somehow in the same universe as each other. Except there's one Zelda. And every villain ever ends up kidnapping her all the time. Absolute hilarity.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The humor in this is akin to <em>Why You Should Never Travel with Foreigners</em> -- sarcastic, witty, hilarious, and... awesome. Personally, <em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6076615/1/Seven-Swords-Summer-Vacation" target="_blank">Seven Swords Summer Vacation</a></em> is my favorite oneshot -- at the end they all see <em>Skyward Sword</em> unveiled and it's just great. And they play each others' games. And then <em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6955734/1/Seven-Swords-Saga-CHI" target="_blank">Seven Swords Saga: CHI</a></em>, which is a collection of BRILLIANT oneshots, each and every one of which are SO funny. (My favorite is the St. Patrick's Day one!) If you're a real Zelda fan, you'll appreciate the references and jokes that, really, only a Zelda fan would understand. When I first read it, I didn't get everything, because I hadn't played all the games. Now rereading it is that much better because I'm catching so much more than I did before, especially where LoZ/AoL Link is concerned. Of course, to understand most of the oneshots, you actually have to read Seven Swords Saga first, so... go for it! The grammar's not perfect BUT IT'S FUNNY, DANGIT! And the plots actually aren't terrible. The first one's simple, but the sequel and so far the unfinished triquel (or whatever) were decently interesting.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">AND OH MY GOSH CAN THIS PERSON SERIOUSLY WRITE A ONESHOT IN WHICH SEASONS AND KNIGHT REALIZE THEY'RE THE SAME PERSON. THAT WOULD MAKE MY DAY.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7302682/1/A-Wolf-in-Goat-s-Clothing" target="_blank">A Wolf in Goat's Clothing</a></i> by Elphaba-Rose</b> - Now, I'm hesitant to put this on my list, for the same reason I'm hesitant to favorite it: this story is at only six chapters. My new general rule is to not favorite anything under ten chapters, aside from obvious exceptions for intentionally short stories. After all, last recommendation list, I absolutely loved <em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6603835/1/Bright-as-Night" target="_blank">Bright as Night</a></em> when it was still early in development, yet I ended up losing interest halfway through that one. However... I had to mention this. HAD to. The length is really the ONLY thing keeping me from favoriting it.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">It's a <em>Twilight Princess</em> story. Link goes to join the army, but he's suffering from the loss of Midna and the presence of the wolf within him. You know. Typical <em>Twilight Princess</em> stuff. But it's still good! Lots of OCs, though. I should probably hate it more. But I don't. It's a wolf-dominance fic... and people underestimate Link, which is another one of my favorite clichés... so yeah! When I reviewed in November 2012, they said that they'd update in a few weeks, if all went well... and clearly all did NOT go well, since it has not been updated since February of 2012, which is disappointing... but, even so, if you need a quick little beginning story, try this!</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7565979/1/Into-the-Woods" target="_blank">Into the Woods</a></i> by Lyxie</b> - I think the only reason this is low on the list is because I don't really remember it. But I know I liked it. I KNOW I did. There's supposed to be a sequel coming at some point, too, and I'm looking forward to that. This person goes a lot into magic -- Zelda is a sorceress, so they have a really detailed magic system for their world. Link himself is a really awesome character, too. I can't reveal too much, but this is a really good fantasy "fairytale"-type story if you're interested in that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7899418/1/My-Ghost-Shouldn-t-Cry" target="_blank">My Ghost Shouldn't Cry</a></i> by Spirit the Fire Dragon</b> - Am I putting this on my list? Really? I have mixed feelings about this one, but... okay!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Alternate ending to <em>Skyward Sword</em>. Link dies. Ghirahim is haunted by Link's ghost. That's the basic plot. But, wow, the emotion in this is fantastic. I can admit to crying more than once. I hate the whole "Link dies" plot, usually, but this one, somehow, really entertained me. It's all from Ghirahim's point of view.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3761793/1/Zelda-A-Fairytale" target="_blank">Zelda: A Fairytale</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2513523/1/The-Mystical-Ocarina" target="_blank">The Mystical Ocarina</a></i> by Sakurelle</b> - I'm almost unsure if I actually do want this on my list here -- at least in the main section and not under "honorable mentions". But I guess I will, heheh.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Both stories are original AU fics based on classic fairytales. <em>The Mystical Ocarina</em> is a parody of <em>Aladdin</em>, whereas <em>Zelda: A Fairytale</em> combines a lot of different tales. They're very cute and keep of the spirit of the genre they're imitating quite well. <em>Zelda: A Fairytale</em>, at least, is extremely entertaining. It was one of the first stories I read, if I recall correctly. Man, I can still remember describing it to my friends back when fanfiction was new to all of us... now we all have accounts and various fandoms we go to...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">But, uh, yeah! It's like a fairytale! So... read it if you want! XD</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>HONORABLE MENTIONS (Mostly stories I've forgotten the plots of and don't know if they're actually any good anymore.)</b></span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><br />
</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5444766/1/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Sacred-Reliquary" target="_blank">Sacred Reliquary</a></em> by Sharper Than the Sword</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3550998/1/Fortitude" target="_blank">Fortitude</a></em> by Ingie</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2644780/1/One-Hundred-Days" target="_blank">One Hundred Days</a></em> by Lyxie</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5264810/1/I-Just-Want-a-Vacation" target="_blank">I Just Want a Vacation</a></em> by -funkmasterjo</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6533685/1/Westward" target="_blank">Westward!</a></em> by Shadsie</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><em><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6127504/1/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Link-s-Reward" target="_blank">The Legend of Zelda: Link's Reward</a> </em>by TennisWriter456</span><br />
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I think... that's it for now! If I discover any other marvelous Zelda fics, I believe I will edit this and add them here. Perhaps in another year if there are a LOT of changes, I'll make a new post. We'll see how it goes.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading! I apologize to the terribly off-topic post for my regular readers (if there are any) -- I really didn't quite know what to write today as my monthly post, and I'd been working on this list for a while, soo... here you go! This SHOULD be about ALBW and WWHD, but... eh. I'm not inspired to write about them, for some reason. *shrug*<br />
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Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, everyone!</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-69238585924705048572013-07-31T23:30:00.001-07:002013-08-01T00:13:02.629-07:00Aonuma Likes Skyrim!<a href="http://gengame.net/2013/06/aonuma-looking-to-games-like-skyrim-for-inspiration-for-zelda-wii-u/" target="_blank">This article.</a><br />
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<div>
Ever since I read that article, I wanted to write a post on it. So here it is, long overdue.</div>
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According to that interview, Eiji Aonuma is a fan of Skyrim. One of the Zelda masterminds... likes Skyrim.</div>
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And he plans on using ideas from it in the next Zelda game.</div>
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As you probably know, I've been talking about Skyrim a LOT lately. I haven't been able to play it these past few weeks because I've been on vacation (which is my excuse to why this is so late, along with the fact that this was supposed to be an extremely long fanfiction post, which I'll get to you sooner or later), but it's probably, at the moment, my favorite non-Zelda game.</div>
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And this, hearing that Aonuma's taking inspiration from it and using it for Zelda Wii U... that makes me SO excited!</div>
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It sounds like he doesn't really want to copy the game -- which is good. I don't want to play Elder Scrolls when I play Zelda. Rather, he wants the "feel" of the game. The emotions that made it memorable.</div>
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When I think of why I like Skyrim, I think it's... it's the freedom. It's the freedom, and uniqueness of your experience. It's rare that your experience in Skyrim will be the same as someone else's, because it's so vast and interesting.</div>
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And I'm thinking that's why Aonuma brought it up. He knows that Skyrim's known for that. And he's been talking about how he wants to create "personal" Zelda experiences, and how they want to remove that linearity that everyone seems so concerned about.</div>
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Can you imagine an open world in Zelda? Skyrim's overworld is vast and expansive. I don't know if we really need it to that extent in the next Zelda game, but maybe something more like Twilight Princess... except FILLED with secrets and sidequests and things to explore. Exploration would greatly benefit Zelda Wii U, especially if they create sidequests for more unique items. And doing dungeons on your own time would certainly be interesting as well, although I like the stories of Zelda games and don't want them to sacrifice that. In other words, I don't want them to completely reshape the next Zelda game, but I would still love to see something new and exciting and sort of mixes up the Zelda formula a bit.</div>
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And then there's voice acting. I highly doubt that's really what makes Skyrim good... especially as far as "emotions" go, haha... but I do think it's an element from it that would be interesting in Zelda. A lot of people are opposed to it, unfortuantely, but I'd be really happy if they get voice acting. As long as it's GOOD voice acting. XD Even if it's just it's cutscenes, I think that'd be cool. Or they can all talk in Hylian! You have NO clue how happy I'd be if they made up a language for me to learn to achieve ultimate nerd status! XD</div>
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But... anyway... yeah. I'm just concerned they'll make it too MUCH like Skyrim, or some other game that Zelda isn't. I really don't want to see that. I really want to still feel like I'm playing Zelda. I want a good storyline, too, which can be lost in non-linear games on occasion.</div>
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Either way, I'm EXTREMELY excited. :D My iPad's glitching on me here, so I have to go. Have a nice day! See you soon with my absurdly long fanfiction post!</div>
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Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-85222681658104867682013-06-11T17:42:00.000-07:002013-06-11T17:42:02.708-07:00E3 2013 Wishes Fulfilled and UnfulfilledI promised you a post later in the day... and here it is. A bit later than you were probably expecting, but it's here.<br />
<br />
So, yeah. We had Nintendo Direct today. For some reason, the website I was using crashed, so I ended up using their Australian website to watch it, but it still worked. I spent most of the time chatting in the Shoutbox of Zelda Dungeon throughout the presentation, but then some other guy who lived in Japan started spoiling everything because his live feed was somehow ahead of ours and I had to leave until after. XD<br />
<br />
It was better than last year; I can tell you that already. No matter what, it was better than last year. Why? BECAUSE WE HAD SOMETHING BESIDES MARIO, THAT'S WHY.<br />
<br />
The presentation started talking about the upcoming Pokémon games with a huge shock: there's a new type of Pokémon. Fairy type. I heard some speculation about that, but I was surprised to see it actually come true. Then they talked about Super Mario World 3D and Mario Kart 8, and I think a bit of a new Donkey Kong Country...<br />
<br />
...But this is a Zelda blog, right? So we don't care about that stuff. What I was really looking for came soon enough, though.<br />
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A new The Wind Waker HD Trailer. A new Super Smash Bros. Trailer. And then... finally, after the presentation was over, a trailer -- and the official title -- for A Link to the Past 2, AKA Zelda 3DS.<br />
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Let's start with The Wind Waker HD, shall we?<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IkVt1s_ZFbw" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
That trailer doesn't show it, but they talked about some new features that they're adding as well, one of them being a faster traveling system if you hold A on the boat. Seems convenient, and I'm very glad it's being added for the people who complain about how slow sailing is. Even though the slow speed never REALLY bothered me before, I'll probably use this fast travel thing.<br />
<br />
Then they showed... the Tingle Bottle.<br />
<br />
Alright, so, when I first saw it, I kind of missed something, and only noticed its features. It can be used in game to send a message to Miiverse with a photo from the Pictobox attached. You toss it into the ocean and it disappears. I actually thought that was pretty cool to begin with. You know? Not a bad idea. Not like it's overwhelmingly awesome, but it's interesting...<br />
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And then I realized it was replacing the Tingle Tuner.<br />
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NO, NINTENDO. I WANTED THAT TINGLE TUNER IN WWHD VERY BADLY. VERY, VERRRRY BADLY.<br />
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You can't even 100% the game without it! Ugggh!<br />
<br />
Well, that kind of annoyed me. But... *sigh* whatever...<br />
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Next up was Super Smash Bros. 4.<br />
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And my goodness, we were certainly in for a surprise.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xvudMu-5kIU" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<br />
FREAKING VILLAGER.<br />
<br />
THE FREAKING VILLAGER<br />
<br />
FROM ANIMAL CROSSING<br />
<br />
IS IN MY SMASH BROS. GAME<br />
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I just... like...<br />
<br />
Wow.<br />
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Hahahaha, oh, but that's not the best part. I mean, there are returning characters as well, and there's Megaman, but the above trailer still fails to show THIS:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lBoL1Ic9uWw" width="480"></iframe><br />
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THE WII FIT TRAINER.<br />
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I'm not joking, though: I'm going to play as her. If I don't feel like playing as my usual Zelda characters for once, I'm playing as her. Srsly.<br />
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And what about Link himself? He... well, I'm not a huge fan of his look, in all honesty. Just look at this:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iuMn1dGF_js/Ube9I85pHyI/AAAAAAAAAjM/fBVsncOMZnI/s1600/linkssb4screen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iuMn1dGF_js/Ube9I85pHyI/AAAAAAAAAjM/fBVsncOMZnI/s320/linkssb4screen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I don't even know what's happening to Link in this picture... but I don't like it. Something seems just... wrong. About his face, or... I don't know! But he looks awful in that picture. He's some sort of combination of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, and it's strange...<br />
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But, then, sometimes he looks cool:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MNpOfYaOXME/Ube96mzOaOI/AAAAAAAAAjU/IFtEaevvOYo/s1600/linkssb4screen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MNpOfYaOXME/Ube96mzOaOI/AAAAAAAAAjU/IFtEaevvOYo/s320/linkssb4screen2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That looks good to me! But the above one... eh...<br />
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Well, anyway, it doesn't matter, hahaha. I'm excited regardless. I'll probably buy both the 3DS and Wii U versions regardless. XD<br />
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Lastly... Zelda 3DS.<br />
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Or should I say... A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS! *gasp*<br />
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Yep. The new Zelda game is going to be known as The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Here's the trailer:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qAluniNRibs" width="480"></iframe><br />
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That makes its acronym ALBW, which I've been repeating over and over today because it's such an awesome acronym that I can't stand it. XD<br />
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Anyway... I'm actually far more excited than I was last time I talked about this! I think it looks interesting! My hope was that I'd get some cutscenes, or at least some artwork... and as you can see, I didn't get any cutscenes... however...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A6AXsWBDjFM/UbfAY-X0Y2I/AAAAAAAAAjk/-jcuGzNv-0o/s1600/albw+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A6AXsWBDjFM/UbfAY-X0Y2I/AAAAAAAAAjk/-jcuGzNv-0o/s320/albw+art.png" width="320" /></a></div>
LOOOOOOOOOOK<br />
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LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL THAT IS<br />
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OH MY GOODNESS<br />
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IT'S SO AMAZING<br />
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I... I was sooo happy to see that image. It's an INCREDIBLE piece of artwork. I can deal with that. It's not what I wanted, but in some ways, it's better. It also confirms the return of the Master Sword and Hylian Shield... and that bracelet that Link has... maybe it's important?<br />
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I loved it so much that I made a new avatar for Zelda Dungeon using it. HoT stands for Heroine of Time, my username, in case you didn't know. ^^<br />
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So, yes. We didn't get any Zelda Wii U, sadly, but it's not like that was ABSOLUTELY expected. In fact, I kind of wasn't expecting it, but I was hoping we'd get lucky with a piece of artwork or something simple, you know?<br />
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Ah, well, E3, I think, was pretty darn amazing. I'm excited for these upcoming games and I can't WAIT to get a Wii U system... I hope you guys enjoyed E3, and let's hope there's more coming!<br />
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Have a wonderful day, everyone!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-25368293309830669712013-06-11T06:45:00.001-07:002013-06-11T11:21:31.835-07:00I always have an E3 in X amount of time post. Can't break tradition now!So, here we are. This time, twenty minutes until E3 2013.<br />
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Ugggh. It's sooo early right now. XD The previous two years, I've only have to awaken at eight or so, because E3's been at nine. This year it's six. Why? I don't know. They just hate me and want me to sleep for only five hours, I guess.</div>
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What's that? It's MY fault I stayed up until one in the morning reading the Skyrim wiki? Nooo, shhhh, I know what I'm talking about...</div>
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So! Yep. This year, as I said in my last post, I'm hoping for Zelda 3DS AKA A Link to the Past 2 -- and what I really want to see of it are some CUTSCENES, and hopefully some official art or at least a better image of Link so I can make a signature with it, haha. And, of course, there's The Wind Waker HD, and it'd be interesting to see a bit more of that, and the big one: the next Super Smash Bros.</div>
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That's what I'm most excited for this year, unless Nintendo has even BIGGER plans for Zelda on the Wii U? Maaaaaybeee...?</div>
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Alright. As always, you can watch E3 at e3.nintendo.com. (EDIT: The site kind of freaked out when the time came, so actually watch it here: <a href="http://www.nintendo.com.au/nintendodirect">http://www.nintendo.com.au/nintendodirect</a>.) I'm hoping it'll work on my iPad, but it seems to me I had trouble last year, so I'd better hurry and get on a computer soon. Only fifteen minutes left now...</div>
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I'll give another post with my thoughts afterward. (OMG, that's going to be three posts in the month of June! That will be... the most since last June! XD)</div>
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Enjoy E3, everyone! Maybe I'll be able to go to some demos later today, too, since they're hosting some at Best Buy. That'd be cool. Anyway, see you guys later!</div>
Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-32665345805169223332013-06-08T18:38:00.000-07:002013-06-08T18:40:18.092-07:00Happy Anniversary to My Wiki Editing!Alright. I promised everyone a post -- and, as you might notice, it's a biiit late. Part of this is due to laziness, which is self-explanatory.<br />
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And a lot of it is due to Skyrim. I WANT TO WRITE A POST ON THAT GAME SOOOO BADLY. Would you guys be mad at me if I did? I've been playing it nonstop lately. I love that game so much. I considered it for this post, but, I mean, I should save that for a time when I'm NOT posting just once per month, because leaving you with an entirely non-Zelda related post doesn't seem fair at all. Of course, I fully intend to post during E3, so this is probably not going to be my only post of the month... but still. Oh, by the way, it's totally the game I was <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2012/08/omg-guys-i-forgot-about-this-blog.html" target="_blank">hinting at here</a>, if you didn't catch that. XD (Hilarious, now, rereading <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2011/12/skyward-sword-ftw.html" target="_blank">this</a>... "I haven't played Skyrim, and I likely never will." Haha. Good news, I found out it's not nearly as bloody as I was expecting if you're a mage. And I am a mage, so we're good.)<br />
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Anyway, most of all, I haven't posted yet this month because I had no idea what to post about, just like in my last post. I don't know why I thought that in another week or so I'd suddenly have ideas, but I did.<br />
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So here we are, a week later. My options are Skyrim, or The Legend of Zelda fanfiction. And I doubt either of those sound terribly appealing.<br />
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This WAS going to be the fanfiction thing -- and I think I might even make another post after this about that. I'll probably write it today and post it tomorrow. But for now, this is just a random... update thing.<br />
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Oh! I have news, actually! Today, June 8th, 2013 marks my first year of editing the <a href="http://zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Zelda Dungeon Wiki</a>!<br />
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Yes, that's right. As you can see from the <a href="http://zeldadungeon.net/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&dir=prev&target=Heroine+of+Time" target="_blank">first page of my contributions</a>, my first ever edit may have been May 5th, 2012, but I only started editing frequently on June 8th of that year.<br />
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Also, I never mentioned this, but I became a Patroller. I'd been wanting that for a very long time, and I was overjoyed when I got it. ^^ It's pretty awesome. The wiki group there is amazing. They're all very fun people.<br />
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So, yeah. I don't know what else to say, haha. I want to go and play Oracle of Seasons or something. I just got to the Ancient Runis, the sixth dungeon. I haven't really done anything farther than that, though, haha.<br />
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Have a nice day everyone! See you next time -- hopefully at E3!Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-56752976535833789022013-05-31T23:07:00.002-07:002013-06-08T18:39:17.549-07:00This is sad.I have no excuse. I seriously forgot.<br />
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And I really, really can't post anything right now. Ugggh. I'm so mad at myself right now. I have to get up really early tomorrow morning, so I can't write this...<br />
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Plus, all I can say is that the Oracle games came out on the eShop... when was it? Yesterday? Today? I THINK it was yesterday. But I already have them on GameBoy Color, so... I don't have a point to buying them. (Except I really, really want to! They would have a backlight! My GBA doesn't have a backlight, so it's hard to play at night...)<br />
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Oh, and E3's kind of coming up soon... SSB and The Wind Waker HD and Zelda 3DS and maaaaybe some Zelda Wii U if we're super duper lucky...<br />
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Well, I'm sorry, guys. I really have to go. I can't write anymore. I still have lots to do before sleeping, and it's eleven right now.<br />
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Right now, I am making a full promise to you to write a post later this week. I am swearing it, right now. I'm not sure when, but it WILL happen. Before E3, hopefully. Because I'll probably make some posts on that. It's sure to be better than last year, which I concluded was boring. Even if Nintendo's not holding an official press conference this year.<br />
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Gods. I can't believe this even happened.<br />
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I'm really sorry! Goodnight everyone... See you later this week.Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8400853609380696451.post-25109963890849036512013-04-30T23:27:00.000-07:002013-06-12T19:56:02.689-07:00Zelda 3DS - Oh. Yeah. Maybe I should post something.I FORGOT AGAIN.<br />
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Wait, I take that back. I didn't forget. I procrastinated. There is a difference.<br />
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I thought of my blog several times over the month and CONSTANTLY told myself to go and post something -- but I kept telling myself I'd do it some other time. Oh, well, it's not like there's anything to post about anyway. It's not like anything important is going on, and I didn't play much--<br />
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...What? A Link to the Past? What are you talking about? I haven't played A Link to the--<br />
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Oh.<br />
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Oh, yeah.<br />
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So, there's that thing called Zelda 3DS that I kind of forgot about... I mean, uh, I didn't forget about it, but I didn't really feel like posting about it... XD<br />
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Ugh. See, here's the thing. Zelda 3DS -- or A Link to the Past 2, as the community calls it (since apparently it's Triforce of the Gods 2 in Japan? Seriously, Nintendo?) -- is kind of a bit of a big deal. Think about what I would have done a year ago. After all, 2012 sucked for Zelda fans, as I emphasized in my yearly closing post in December, heh. I would have FREAKED. OUT. And then ranted all over the blog about how amazing this was going to be.<br />
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Strangely, though, this year, when Zelda 3DS was announced... I didn't feel that.<br />
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It was the strangest thing. First off, it looked like a fan project. ...Yes, I know. That's exactly what I said about The Wind Waker HD. Maybe I'm going to think all Zelda games from this point on look like fan projects; I don't really know, since I've only had the whole "find out day of the announcement" thing with Skyward Sword, and I'd been counting down the days for E3 to show us more about that. Well, and OoT 3D, I guess... which, interestingly enough, I suppose I didn't believe THAT was a real game at first, either, thinking it was only a tech demo...<br />
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Anyway, it looked like a fan project. Fans have tried to recreate 2D Zelda games into 3D before, although I haven't heard of any super successful ones. Or it looked like a fake. Either way, I didn't believe it.<br />
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When I found out, I was still at school. My school is evil and decided to block virtually everything gaming related, including almost every Zelda fansite in existence, so I am completely out of contact there. I knew there was going to be a Nintendo Direct that evening; the day before, there had been rumors about Majora's Mask 3D being announced then. But, of course, I didn't believe the MM rumors and completely forgot about it.<br />
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So, at lunch, my friend sent me a text message saying "SIERRA! (Well, real name, whatever.) HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? 3DS sequel to A Link to the Past!"<br />
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And, of course, I scoffed and sent her a suspicious message back, saying, "Are you sure?" I was trying to be as kind as possible because she had CLEARLY fallen for some stupid rumor or fake, but I didn't want to seem condescending or dismissive in case she had some kind of real lead here. After that, she said, "Well, yeah, the The Legend of Zelda group on Facebook posted it..." Since I don't know anything about Facebook, I wasn't sure how official this Zelda Facebook group was, although I did feel a bit interested by this fact, especially knowing about the Nintendo Direct. But maybe she had misunderstood the announcement? And then she tells me that NINTENDO ALSO posted it on THEIR Facebook page... And then she shows me a bunch of screenshots that she had saved...<br />
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And, finally, she tells me I can use her phone to look at the websites. XD<br />
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So I sought her out (since she doesn't sit with me) and the very first thing I did... was go to Zelda Dungeon.<br />
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Because for some reason, I trust Zelda Dungeon more than Nintendo's official The Legend of Zelda Facebook Page. You know.<br />
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And, sure enough, there it was, right on the front page.<br />
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So, yes, the surprise was ruined for me yet again, just like in TWW. Except for TWW, at least it was a fantastically wonderfully unexpected surprise when I got home, where as this was a surprisingly unusually unexpected discovery at school. Apparently setting makes all the diffence. XD I didn't want to freak out there, so I waited until I got home.<br />
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...But the excitement never really came.<br />
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Please help me. I don't know what's happened to the Zelda fangirl that used to run this blog. She's missing! And she's been replaced by someone who keeps judging games based on appearances again!<br />
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...Yeah. You heard that right. So, uh, I don't particularly like the graphics.<br />
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Now, uh, I'm sort of happy. I'm just not, like... overwhelmingly excited, like for SS and ST. I even felt more eager for WW HD than this. I don't know. Something about it just... puts me off.<br />
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Oh, well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I never liked A Link to the Past in the first place? (Except for <a href="http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-need-more-computer-time-and-of-course.html" target="_blank">that one post forever ago</a>. But that doesn't count. -.-)<br />
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Yeah. Now, believe me when I say I was among all of the others that were cheering for a sequel instead of a remake, but keep in mind that when they said sequel, I was actually imagining something 3D. "But, Sierra," you say, "A Link to the Past 2 IS 3D!"<br />
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First off, STOP CALLING IT THAT. THE BEAUTIFUL GAME KNOWN AS LINK'S AWAKENING IS AN A LINK TO THE PAST SEQUEL AND IT IS PROBABLY WAY COOLER THAN THIS NEWBIE GAME JUST BECAUSE I SAID SO. And, uh, when I said 3D, I meant, like, Ocarina of Time 3D.<br />
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Geez, Sierra. When will you ever learn that you can't trust tech demos on what the graphics of the next game are going to be? Even if the tech demo was made into a full game? D:<br />
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(Which probably means that Zelda Wii U will look nothing like the demo, either. Darn. I love those graphics.)<br />
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Yeah, so, I was among those fooled into thinking that Zelda 3DS would look like OoT 3D. Instead we get a remake of a game that never really was a favorite of mine to begin with.<br />
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Like with TWW HD, though, DON'T GET ME WRONG. I probably will love this game to DEATH. And maybe I'm just waiting for the excitement to kick in. Maybe it'll come as we learn more about this game. But for now, I'm not impressed by a couple of videos and some cool turn-into-a-2D-painting thingy.<br />
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Oh, yeah, I didn't mention that yet. You can turn into a drawing or something. Kind of interesting. I can imagine some cool stuff with that. XD<br />
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Wow, no pictures for this post. I'm sorry. I'm kind of in a hurry, in case you didn't notice. It's becoming 11 PM here on the last day of the month.<br />
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PROCRASTINATION FOR THE WIN WOOOOOOOOOO<br />
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But, yeah. It's probably past midnight in most of you guys' time zones. I wonder if Blogger adjusts to time zones? I don't think it does, but...<br />
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...I'm off-topic.<br />
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Yeah. So I'm not exactly hyped for Zelda 3DS yet, but any Zelda-related announcement is a cause for celebration. I was talking about it all day the following few days.<br />
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I still can't believe I left a post announcing a BRAND NEW ZELDA GAME until now. Oh, how the mighty have fallen... XD<br />
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Unnecessary, insincere, and probably false promise: Hey, maybe I'll get on sometime this weekend and write a full post about my thoughts on Zelda 3DS! If I remember. After all, I didn't get to go into much detail here. I want to tear apart every little aspect of the game, including music, more on graphics, and what I think about it being a sequel to the SNES classic. Oh, and I want to complain about Link's voice. Don't let me forget that. That will be first on my list. Objective one: complain about Link's voice.<br />
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Alright! Goodnight, everyone! Have a nice... week? The day's almost over, so it probably won't do you any good to say day. :P (...Assuming you read this as soon as I post it, haha. Which is a rather awful assumption.)<br />
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Random trivia fact: This is the first post on my blog with the label "A Link to the Past" since March 30th, 2010. See. I told you I don't really care much for that game.Sierra WinterBreezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18407285689822927532noreply@blogger.com1