All Aboard the Hyrule Warriors Hype Train!

I am so excited for Hyrule Warriors now.

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!

My last post for Hyrule Warriors, 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.

And then May came along.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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 be Volvagia... that sounds like it could cause all kinds of continuity issues or even just end up sounding fake and forced. But... but... 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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'll see you all on June 10th! I'll be posting at least once or twice then as tradition demands, so stay tuned!

Zelda 3DS - Oh. Yeah. Maybe I should post something.

I FORGOT AGAIN.

Wait, I take that back. I didn't forget. I procrastinated. There is a difference.

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--

...What? A Link to the Past? What are you talking about? I haven't played A Link to the--

Oh.

Oh, yeah.

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

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.

Strangely, though, this year, when Zelda 3DS was announced... I didn't feel that.

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...

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.

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.

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!"

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...

And, finally, she tells me I can use her phone to look at the websites. XD

So I sought her out (since she doesn't sit with me) and the very first thing I did... was go to Zelda Dungeon.

Because for some reason, I trust Zelda Dungeon more than Nintendo's official The Legend of Zelda Facebook Page. You know.

And, sure enough, there it was, right on the front page.

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.

...But the excitement never really came.

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!

...Yeah. You heard that right. So, uh, I don't particularly like the graphics.

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.

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 that one post forever ago. But that doesn't count. -.-)

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!"

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.

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:

(Which probably means that Zelda Wii U will look nothing like the demo, either. Darn. I love those graphics.)

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.

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.

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

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.

PROCRASTINATION FOR THE WIN WOOOOOOOOOO

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...

...I'm off-topic.

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.

I still can't believe I left a post announcing a BRAND NEW ZELDA GAME until now. Oh, how the mighty have fallen... XD

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.

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.)

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.

The Wind Waker Wii U – Medli Returns in Glorious HD!

This was announced a few days ago, but I didn't get the chance to post it until now, which shows just how far from grace this poor blog has fallen. But that's okay. At least now I've calmed down (a bit) over the initial unveiling and I won't go all fangirl freakout mode on this post here.

So what is this magical reveal that has the whole Zelda fandom talking?

The Wind Waker HD.

Yeah. That's real.

They are actually, REALLY going to remake The Wind Waker.

I... I pretty much freaked out when I heard this. My poor Facebook page ended up being my outlet instead of this blog for once, though. To put things in perspective... I don't think a single person on my friends list has even touched The Wind Waker, as far as I know. Well, maybe that one kid from elementary school that used to talk about video games with me... And, okay, I did force my friend to fight WW Ganon at my birthday party...

Anyway, no one knew what I was talking about, and I RARELY go on Facebook, but here I was, caps lock and all, typing up nonsense. I even went off and started complaining about "stuid OoT fanboys". Yes. In my excitement, I wrote "stuid".

As a result, I think you'll appreciate me waiting in the end, because this would be a full on nonsensical rant otherwise.

Not that I won't rant. Oh, no. I'm still reeling over this whole thing.

Let me begin by saying how I discovered this. As you know, I edit the ZD Wiki a lot. So I returned home from school, and, as my routine demands, the first thing I did was check my e-mail and the Recent Changes of the ZD Wiki. I realized people were editing the Wind Waker page and "adding HD release" was their reason for editing. I was like, "Okay, what is this noob talking about? HD TWW? That doesn't make sense. What's this?" And then I saw uploaded photos of "The Wind Waker Wii U", and suddenly realizing that something incredibly important had happened while I was at school, I immediately went to the front page of ZD with all the news posts...

And there it was.

...I could hardly believe my eyes. It... it didn't even look like a real Zelda game. It looked like some kind of fantastic fan project. Not because it looked bad, but because it seemed so impossible. I was completely and utterly shocked.

And the one thing I kept thinking was: WHY?

Majora's Mask 3D has been recognized as a desire, the possibility of an ALttP remake generated a considerable amount of attention – BUT NO. THEY CHOSE THE WIND WAKER.

I think it has something to do with the fact that it's the only Zelda game that hasn't been on another console aside from the Oracles and Skyward Sword. But seriously. I...

Okay, opinion time.

I was kind of upset.

...Okay, maybe upset isn't the right word. More like... affronted? But a bit nicer than affronted. Like... I felt...

Ugh. I just don't like the graphics, okay?

It's not that I don't want this remake. Not. At. All. I am soooo excited for this, you have no idea. But... That's kind of why my fangirl freakout manifested itself in a nonsensical Facebook post:

I had NO idea what to think.

I am TORN between LOVING this announcement and HATING it. The Wind Waker was my first Zelda game right? It's the reason this blog has its dumb namesake of a character from The Wind Waker that makes it sound nothing like a Zelda blog (I'm sorry, Medli, I love you! Really! I do! I've just moved on!). So, naturally, the prospect of it coming back really made me happy. My file was corrupted a while back, and since then I have not completed Wind Waker again. This will be the perfect incentive to play it another time. And, oh my gosh, A ZELDA GAME ON THE WII U. WHO COULD POSSIBLY HATE THAT.

...But... Those stupid graphics!

I don't like people who judge a game based on its graphics. Most people of the video gaming world don't, actually, particularly Nintendo fans. And I don't necessarily have a problem with this art style. I like it, actually. No, I take that back. I LOVE it. It's so beautiful. I would love a new Zelda game like that.

The problem lies in the fact that it's The Wind Waker we're talking about here, and not some new game. I loved The Wind Waker's GC graphics. They, out of all of the Zelda games, are the only ones that still look really amazing by today's standards.

So why would you take them and CHANGE them? They looked BEAUTIFUL as is! Don't fix what isn't broken!

The problem is that there are, what, fifteen, sixteen Zelda games? Any one of those could have been remade aside from Wind Waker, and they would have been AWESOME. Twilight Princess really, in my opinion, looks quite bad compared to The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword. If we had a remake of that with graphics like that tech demo – oh, my gosh. Just... I can't even comprehend the awesomeness. And what happened to A Link to the Past? I'm pretty sure MM is coming to 3DS eventually, so I'll disregard that, but what about ALttP? I personally was very excited for that, because I can't wait to see how 2D translates to 3D. But we got THIS instead!

...See my problem?

I sound like a whiny fan. Sorry. Like I said, I'm completely unsure what to think of this announcement. But those are just my thoughts on the matter.

I really hope they add in some new features for us, though. I also can't wait to try the Tingle Tuner. I've never been able to use that.

Anyway, Iwata also spoke briefly about the brand NEW Zelda game coming to Wii U eventually. I'll (hopefully) address that in a later post. I can't wait to hear about that.

Oh, and lastly: Hyrule Historia came out today! My copy's set to arrive on February 1st. I hate having to wait a few days, but whatever. I'm looking forward to that.

Well, have a good evening, everyone. I'll return in a later post to further discuss the details of Wii U Direct and the new Zelda Wii U, and perhaps more TWW thoughts.

Goodnight!

I have a new favorite video. (New Skyward Sword "Lyre" Trailer!)

So, I haven't posted in a while... and I've missed quite a lot of Skyward Sword videos. But now I've returned... WITH THIS!



AND IT IS THE BEST THING I'VE SEEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. I am in love. And I think Skyward Sword is going to be my new favorite Zelda game.

...Okay, so I said that with Spirit Tracks too, but that's because I was a n00b back then. And just for the record, Spirit Tracks IS pretty good; just not my favorite.

Now let's talk about the video. Before I begin tearing it apart and pointing out the things I notice as I usually do, I'm just going to mention that I have officially received my first top-rated comment on YouTube (at least, as far as I know). And it was on this video. XD Seriously! Go to the link (haha) above, and look at the top comment! It's by me: TwilightWakerofTime! I said we shoud feed dislikers to Link's bird. Apparently people actually thought that was clever or something. It's probably not going to stay top-rated for very long... but it did for a little while, and that's enough for me. Yay! :D

...I think it's just because I was the second commenter, but whatever. The early loftwing gets the worm!

ALL RIGHT! So... observations. To summarize this video, harps and lyres are apparently the same thing, Link's facial expressions are incredible, Zelda's just plain awesome, Miss Sheikah decides to reappear, Ghirahim tries be evil and summons twilighty-magic-barrier-things, Fi dances and pretty sparkles form, and... Miyamoto is epic. Gods. I can't wait for November 20th. I nearly cried watching this when I realized it was only October. The only good news is that there are only 28 days left! ...Yeah, I put numbers on my calendar counting down the days until Skyward Sword's release... I'm a nerd, okay...?

The video begins with Zelda playing her "lyre". No one is entirely clear on whether it's called a lyre or a harp. As most of you probably know, I actually play harp in real life. Harps (or at least the ones I've played) typically are rather large (with the exception of lap harps, which are the cutest little instruments ever) and sit in front of the harpist as they play. According to Wikipedia, a lyre is small and is carried with the player. Therefore, Zelda's instrument is a lyre.

...But wouldn't Medli's instrument be a lyre too, then? And Sheik's? I've heard both of those called harps before.

...Anyway...

Zelda plays her lyre/harp. And I HAVE to learn that song. It's apparently called the Goddess' Song... I will learn it on harp! After Link walks in and Zelda shows off her lyre/harp a bit more, we finally get some new footage. Link comes up a staircase into some stone area at 0:32. Zelda's there too, with her lyre/harp. When their gazes meet, they start running towards one another, only to be stopped by... *dramatic pause* GHIRAHIM! Supposedly, he's going to be the main villain of Skyward Sword.

Now here's the interesting part. If you pause around 0:35, we get a farther-out view of this scene. if you look closely next to Zelda on the left side of the video... you can see someone with her. Obviously there's no way to be certain, but I'm 99% convinced that that's our girl from previous trailers (one of which can be seen here; the woman appears at 0:34). Most speculate that she is a Sheikah, due to the Sheikan eye symbol on her clothes. She's kind of far away in this shot... but I swear that's her! It's got to be! I mean, in THIS trailer (which also came out yesterday), you can see her fighting Ghirahim. For her to be helping Zelda not only supports the idea that she could be that figure in this trailer, but also that she's a Sheikah, since the Sheikah are supposed to protect the Royal Family.

Next, at 0:37, Ghirahim creates some kind of weird wall of magic. See, THIS is the reason I thought he was a Twili when I first saw him in the March GDC trailer. Doesn't that look like the Twilight magic that Zant and Ganondorf use in Twilight Princess?

Ghirahim effectively blocks Link off from Zelda, but since Zelda's too awesome for that. She uses some kind of magic - perhaps the "holy power" that Ghirahim mentions that she has in previous videos - to send Link her lovely lyre/harp. That pose, right there, with her holding the glowing lyre/harp above her head... it's just fantastic. I want that as my signature of Wizard101Central. I just don't think I can render that...

Around 0:53, you see Zelda again. Behind her is the point of interest, though; it's something I forgot to point out in my last observation post. Many people think the thing behind her looks like the Twilight mirror. I doubt that's what it actually is, but you never know!

Then it skips to another scene, where we discover that Fi, Link's partner in this game, can fly around and spink and make sparkles AND walk on walls all at the same time. It's actually really cool to watch.

At 1:02 Link plays the lyre/harp that Zelda gave him. Apparently it does something. ...Or maybe it does nothing. Whatever.

We zoom out a bit to see the area, and discover that the Goddess statue from Skyloft is in this place, too. Then Fi flies up and explodes into shininess, which rains down on Link as he plays the lyre/harp some more. Amazingly, the background transforms into whiteness, and suddenly Link is playing in the sky, with various Loftwings flying around him. Sweetness!

1:25. Link and Fi appear to be in Skyloft yet again. Link, yet again, has the lyre/harp out, and he appears to be making the ground glow or something. If you watch Fi at this point... I have no idea what she's doing. Maybe she's singing? That's kind of what it looks like.

Link dives off the cliff and flies on his Loftwing at 1:30. Like we haven't seen that before.

Finally... my favorite point of the video!!! OMG, I don't know WHAT it is about this... but I think Link is just adorable at 1:39. Forget Young Link. Or Toon Link. Skyward Sword Link's facial expressions are just... beautiful. They're really realistic, yet exaggerated. This Link is DEFINITELY some kind of combination of Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker - and it's a PERFECT mix! I'm loving the graphics more and more every day.

Fi spins some more and makes more sparkles, and then the lyre/harp floats down in front of Link (who is still really awesome).

That's all there is in the video! The end.

...This is probably just some terrible wall of text that no one cares about. It's probably hard to read, too... as far as sentence fluency and flow, I mean. I didn't exactly re-read any of it...

Well, it doesn't matter. Please enjoy the video! Remember, Skyward Sword comes out November 18th in Europe, Novebmer 20th in North America! I can't wait!!!

Holy Din! (NEW SKYWARD SWORD VIDEOS AND INFO)

Zelda fans have been anticipating this for weeks, and now it's finally here. I just conveniently failed to mention it until now... because I've been neglecting my poor blog. I'm sorry, fans of Medli's Messages (if there's any of you).

GameInformer revealed a TON of new Skyward Sword information. And I MEAN... a ton. So much that I didn't even read through all of it.

First, we've got two wonderful videos, which are by FAR the easiest things to post.



This first video is one of four exclusive ones that GameInformer will be giving us. I was most interested in the music... fully orchestrated!

Phi also calls Link "Master", which was cute and creepy at the same time, if that's possible. XD



THIS video excited me even more than the last one did! This... just wow. LOTS of new stuff in here. Let's see how much of the interesting points I can mention in one post...

First noteworthy things I spotted? 0:35 - It seems like even diving will be using the MotionPlus in this game. They really implemented it in every aspect of the game. It's great!

At 0:40, we see that Link has learned some new moves as he literally hops over the monsters head to strike him from behind. This is, in fact, the same enemy (or at least similar to) that we saw in the GDC 2011 trailer in March. Like last time, Link can cut up his shield in any way he wants with the wonderful Wii MotionPlus.

Let's see... there's some kind of desert area, and of course more of the forest area we saw in Skyward Sword's first demo and trailer. Then, around 1:19, here's something new: With his sword, Link can draw symbols on some kind of... board thing that possessed the crest of the Hyrulean family without the Triforce - the bird-wing symbol we've been seeing everywhere in this game. He draws a heart, which causes Recovery Hearts to be spat out for healing. Very cool.

The bird-wing symbol is seen at 1:27 again as Link uses the Sword Beam ability - something I didn't see utilized very often in the demos, so I'm glad to witness it again - and it apparently works as some kind of switch.

Now, this part's awesome. 1:30 - DOUBLE CLAWSHOTS! Double Clawshots were the last items you obtained in Twilight Princess, and they were VERY fun. I'm ecstatic to see them return in Skyward Sword.

1:37 - Yet another new item. This time it's some kind of... hose? I can't tell if that's water or just air coming out of it. Many fans are guessing that it is the Gust Jar from The Minish Cap. (In all honesty, it reminds me more of F.L.U.D.D. from Super Mario Sunshine, but what do I know?)

At 1:43, Link's just using the bow, which isn't necessarily anything special... but then we zoom out and see his location. A pirate ship? Or... at least a ship of some sort!

1:55 is some more shots of the Beetle and it's incredible abilities of dropping bombs. And 2:07 is a switch that changes the room. For some reason, it makes me think of the Stone Tower Temple from Majora's Mask, with all that room flipping...

2:12 - Mine cart riding! Like in the Minish Cap! Epic!!!!

Finally, at 2:15, we see a glimpse of the Siren World (or is it Silent World? I've seen it spelled both ways... it's confusing me. XD). Some kind of Poe spots Link, and alerts the ominous "Guardians" of this alternate world. Link apparently has no sword in this area, and the Guardians are great, hulking monsters. Another interesting things to note is what Link looks like... he's glowing. I don't know why, but he is. And he changes colors when the Guardians chase him...

The Bug Catching Net that first appeared in A Link to the Past shows itself around 2:30, and right after that, we see some kind of potion guy, who apparently will make potions with these bugs, from what I understood. I mean, I don't speak Japanese, so I just have the video to go off of... (Poor butterfly...)

After, at 2:41 - BEEDLE! Beedle appeared first in... The Wind Waker, I believe, though he was also in Phantom Hourglass, The Minish Cap, and Spirit Tracks. This incarnation of his looks more like his Spirit Tracks version, since he seems to ride in some kind of flying machine, much like he rode in a hot air balloon in ST.

2:51 - Link uses a cool feature of Phi (A.K.A. The Skyward Sword). I'm not sure what the official name for it is (I've forgotten... sorry!) but I know he can use it to find items burried in the ground, or apparently, even Zelda herself. He then uses "Digging Mitts" which bare resemblence to The Minish Cap's Mole Mitts to dig up the items.

At 3:00, some kind of clock thingy causes a giant Sand Palace to rise out of the ground. Right afterward, Link enounters some kind of... statue... thingy... that glows magically and spins him around and takes him somewhere... I think...

3:14 - We see some bird-riding gameplay, with some mini-game where Link aims at targets. And then... ooh! Is that the giant whale that swallowed Zelda in the E3 2011 trailer? I don't know, but it seems to be kind of boss. There's another boss right after it... with tentacles or something... and then a cutscene with Link and Zelda in Skyloft (why is he bowing? WHY? She's not a princess!)... then Ghirahim and Zelda... and the fire boss thingy... and a fuzzy boss...

And then... the best part of the whole video.

4:19 - EPIC SWORD SPINING POSE FROM TWILIGHT PRINCESS!!!!

I am very happy. Just because that... is in Skyward Sword. That just made my day.

...Well, that's it! Can you tell that I rushed at the end? XD I have to go to bed - I've got a long day tomorrow.

There's also a video on Four Swords DSi, which I might comment on tomorrow, but I haven't time right now...

Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link Available for Ambassadors!

If you were part of the select few in the Ambassador program, meaning you connected to the Nintendo 3DS eShop before August 11th, then your first 10 NES games are now available for download, free of charge!

Legend of Zelda is there, as expected, as well as Adventure of Link. Other games include:

Super Mario Bros.
Metroid
Donkey Kong Jr.
Yoshi
Ice Climbers
Balloon Fight
NES Open Tournament Golf
Wrecking Crew

And an "Ambassador Certificate," which is basically just a video explaining how to receive notifications about the Ambassador program in a variety of languages.

I've played Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link a little - particularly Adventure of Link, since I never got passed the second dungeon on my other version, which is for the Wii's Virtual Console. It's not any different, of course. ...That doesn't mean I'm not having trouble with it, haha. Adventure of Link is VERY hard.

Legend of Zelda, however... there's a difference! Well, okay, there's not a difference between the original and this one, but there IS a difference between other remakes of this game! On my version (on the Wii Virtual Console) and on the GameBoy, the story message at the very beginning of the game (which you see if you wait long enough staring at the logo) was re-written due to the large amount of errors. I was expecting the same for this remake, but sure enough, when I waited long enough to view it, it still possessed its obvious errors like "Triforce with Power" and "Prince Darkness 'Gannon'". Interesting...

Anyway... happy playing, Ambassadors! It's still to be announced when the last 10 GameBoy games will be coming out, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Skyward Sword's Box Art

Wow... two epic Skyward Sword news posts in a ROW. Well, now the two things I really wanted to know about the upcoming Zelda game are out. Should I keep following the Zelda fansites? I don't want TOO many spoilers. I already told myself that I wouldn't be checking any of the fansites between November 18th and November 20th so that I can't read the whole plot of the game and ruin it for me before it comes out in America.

...Meh, of COURSE I'm going to keep following Zelda news. That's like asking if I'm not going to eat anymore. (Not quite... but close, right? It's a pretty creative comparison, considering I'm just dying from excitement right now and can't focus on much else.)

Here we go: Skyward Sword's box art!

As you may have noticed, there's more than just box art up there! For the increased price of $69.99, you can get a special edtion Skyward Sword bundle. This includes not only the game, but the golden Wii remote we saw at E3 this year, which has the Wii MotionPlus built within it, and a CD featuring songs from the upcoming Zelda symphony concerts. A pretty epic deal.

So now, rather than paying $49.99 like any sane person would, I'm going to dig out an extra $20 and get that CD and remote. ...Well, I guess sane people could still buy the offer, if they didn't have Wii MotionPlus. But I bought that earlier, specifically for Skyward Sword. Now I'll have no use for it at all...

Whatever. SPECIAL EDITION PACKS FTW!

Reminder: November 20th is Skyward Sword's American release date! Oh, how will we stand to wait?!?

(Random: I changed the header! How is it? I probably should put up a poll like always, but I'm too lazy...)

Skyward Sword's Release Dates!

Wonderful news! Skyward Sword's release date, at LONG last, has been revealed!!! (Both my affiliates beat me to posting this, but whatever. :P)

United States - November 20th

Europe - November 18th

Lucky Europeans... not only do you all get it two days earlier than us, but you ALSO get it on a FRIDAY! You'll have the whole weekend to play it!

Do you think if I ordered Skyward Sword online from Europe, it would arrive here on the 18th? XD On second thought, I already have it preordered at GameStop, darn it.

Speaking of GameStop, they were surprisingly close with their release date prediction. I was hoping that they'd be proven wrong when the real release date came out, since they kept telling people Skyward Sword would come out "November 25th" when they had no proof whatsoever to back up this ridiculous notion. But they were only a few days off - less than a week.

I'm just disappointed it's not coming out in September. That's my birthday month. Wouldn't it be epic to get Skyward Sword for my birthday?

Oh, I have a random comment: Skyward Sword comes out on Mexican Revolution Day. No, really. I looked at my calender and that's what it said. Who knew? (Besides Mexicans...)

Anyway... that's all I have to say! I think. There WAS more, but Skyward Sword's release date pushed everything out of my mind, haha. (Something about Link's Awakening I think. ...OH! I found a useless glitch in the Wind Fish's Egg! That was it! XD)

One last thing: After logging on today, Blogger told me that Medli's Messages was popular, and "popular blogs make money" off of ads. I'm not putting any ads (at least not yet? XD) but I wanted to point out that Google thinks this blog is popular. WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE VIEWING MY BLOG? I don't mind... BUT STILL?! (I mean, 21 Followers, yet it's "more popular" than the 60+ Followed Sierra's Story? HOW?)

The Legend of Zelda to be released on 3DS eShop

Today, Nintendo posted on their 3DS's Facebook page about a new price-cut for the 3DS. And I noticed it without Zelda Dungeon's help. I'm so proud of myself. :D

However, the price-cut to $169.99 isn't the important part (although I'm sure many of you that couldn't afford Ocarina of Time 3D earlier are excited about that). It's what the people who already have a 3DS (like me) are going to receive. Since we're apparently their most loyal customers (I felt quite loved and finally appreciated after reading that statement), we're going to receive 20 free new games! Half of them will be released early to us, and the other half are only EXCLUSIVELY for this offer. The best part? One of them happens to be The Legend of Zelda, the very first game in the series. It's one of the ones released early, so later on, even you with the price-cut 3DS's will be able to buy it.

For current 3DS owners, all you need to do is connect to the eShop before August 11th. Later they'll give us the games somehow.

I'm excited, even though I already have The Legend of Zelda for Virtual Console on Wii (and still haven't completed it, but whatever... I'm in Ganon's Castle and I already have the Silver Arrow, so I'm pretty close...).

Skyward Sword Story Details

The Goron Times has recently added an entry about the new plot details of Skyward Sword. You can find the post here. There's isn't anything insanely new, but there ARE a few interesting spoilers. For instance: the harp will use Wii MotionPlus to strum, and we can now assume that it will be the main instrument of the game. Also, supposedly Skyward Sword is in the final stages and due for localization now. Hopefully that means a release date is coming soon.

EDIT: Something was wrong with blogger up until now, and it wouldn't let me publish my posts, so that's why this is late. I also am now too lazy to complete the whole thing, which was also going to talk about the rest of the interview with Eiji Aonuma, where he mentions Majora's Mask 3D and even a Legend of Zelda movie. The movie part was what I was excited about. I always thought Nintendo was too afraid to ever make a Zelda movie, and that's why it hasn't been made before. Apparently, they'd LOVE to make a Zelda movie, they just don't have enough money!

About MM 3D, I doubt that will ever become real, despite how awesome that would be. I mean... I don't really think that OoT 3D's graphic style would fit the dark mood of Majora's Mask, anyway. They'd have to change it a bit to be darker for it to really work well.

You can find the interview here at Zelda Dungeon.

This is a surprise! (Comic-Con Skyward Sword Trailer)

I just checked up on everything Zelda-related yesterday, but somehow, just overnight, we've got plenty of interesting new stuff. For instance, a new Skyward Sword trailer was shown at the San Diego Comic-Con (which is really disappointing, since I had a slim chance of being able to go to that if I'd been at home and not in Canada; San Diego isn't THAT far from where I live).



Oh! Now, what's that at 1:29?

...That's right. A Goron. Luke from The Goron Times will be SO excited. All I hope is that Zoras make an appearance, too.

A lot of this trailer appears to be the same as the previous one from E3 2011. Still, there were some interesting things in there. We see Link preforming what seems like the Finishing Blow from Twilight Princess on a Skulltula/Spider thingy at 1:08. I can't recall if that had already been confirmed or not, though. And there's a little more gameplay... a better view of Skyloft...

Anyway, I'll let you enjoy that trailer on your own. I have some other news. Remember at E3 this year, when they said there would be a symphony tour for the Zelda games? Well, we now have more information on it, including a trailer.




Apparently the first concert will be in Los Angeles on October 21st. Then, afterward, they'll have a tour in 2012. I hope they come near me... I don't know if I can go to Los Angeles JUST for a Zelda concert.

Back from Vacation!

Fortunately, from the research I've done, not much Zelda news has been added during my four-day-trip to Las Vegas. They've elaborated a bit on Phi (our sword girl from the E3 2009 picture) and Ghirahim (the Vaati-lookalike villain) and the Siren World (an parallel realm to Hyrule reminiscent of the Twilight Realm and Dark World from previous games) but there's nothing major. Zelda Dungeon.net has a lovely article summing up pretty much everything we've learned about Skyward Sword here. I suggest you check it out - you might learn something new. I know I did. For instance, I didn't know Phi would talk in gibberish like Midna in Twilight Princess! Very interesting...

Anyway... here's a bit more information on Ghirahim. Now we get to see the cutscene before Link fights him (as seen in the previous video). And geez... it's creepy...



Is it just me, or does Ghirahim seem a little... uh... hmm...

*cough* gay? *cough*

That's all I'll post for now! I'm still awaiting a release date for the Four Swords DS game and Skyward Sword. Remember, though... Ocarina of Time 3D comes out June 19th. That's less than a week! *sigh* If only I had a 3DS so I could enjoy it...

[E3 2011] Our New Bad Guy?

Remember that guy who was first seen in the March GDC Skyward Sword trailer? The guy who looks a little like Vaati? ...Well, he's not Vaati. He's Demon Lord Ghirahim!

Interesting gameplay above. I like noticing all the little things - like, that freaky new Heart Container... what the heck was that? It was... weird. Not like a Heart Container at all. XD And Link's reaction when he picks up the Heart Container. That's one thing I love about Twilight Princess that no other game so far has really done it for me - Link's facial expressions. Of course, Wind Waker had MAJOR emphasis on facial expressions, but TP Link's are just more... realistic. So far, I'm loving that aspect of Skyward Sword, too. I thought I wouldn't like it so much when I first saw its graphics, but now I'm liking it.

So. Demon Lord Ghirahim, eh? I wonder if he's the main villain?

[E3 2011] Two New Skyward Sword videos (Gameplay and E3 2011 Trailer)

I'm back. :D

All right! So, we've got a better quality version of that trailer we saw earlier. In fact, there's a lot more here. We get to see... Skyloft! Yay! Interestingly enough, this trailer was on the Wii's Nintendo Channel when I looked, which was the second I turned off the computer - only about a half hour or so after E3 was finished. So if you have a Wii connected to the internet, go ahead and check out the Nintendo Channel there, which I'm sure has many trailers in addition to this epic Skyward Sword one.



Ah, so much epicness! I can't stand it!

You know, the more I look at that girl who appears to be Link's friend - the one in pink - the more I think about how she's GOT to be Zelda... who else could she be? (EDIT: *gasps* I think I was right! Look carefully at the video BELOW. When Link gets the statue (2:37 or so), the text says "You got the Bird Statue! It proves your victory today. Wait until Zelda sees this!" Therefore, Link knows Zelda. And that girl is very similar to her... well... it's just too much of a coincidence. YES! I FIGURED THAT OUT ON MY OWN! :P)

Now here's a little bit of gameplay! You'll be able to fly on a bird, similarly to that mini-game in Twilight Princess.



The bird should totally be named Epona. Seriously.

That's all for now. I'll see if any other information was added while I was gone.

...WAIT! IS THE FOUR SWORDS GAME AVAILABLE YET?

*checks*

No. *sigh* It'll probably be added late tonight, dangit. Too bad.

[E3 2011] New Skyward Sword trailer!

This is how E3 started: a wonderful orchestra playing a Legend of Zelda medley. :D This is the video of it. And at the end?

Skip to around 3:30 to find... Skyward Sword!

There's a mysterious girl - I think she kind of looks like the concept art for A Link to the Past Zelda. Exciting! She falls from the sky. And then we briefly see the E3 2009 girl that looks like a sword. We also see the reappearance of that guy from the GDC trailer in March, and Link fighting him. So maybe he IS the villain for this game!

Also, it turns out that the backwards Zelda's Lullaby from the GDC trailer is actually Skyward Sword's main theme. Interesting.

Hopefully there will be a better upload of it later - just the Skyward Sword stuff.

E3 is over now, as you can probably tell from the fact that I'm actually posting again. XD I mentioned all the Zelda goodies we have here in a previous post. Let's recap:

Four Swords Adventures (FREE download)
Link's Awakening 3DS
Special Wii Remote for Skyward Sword
Orcestra performances of Zelda songs

Also (didn't mention this earlier because I got bored posting all the time about halfway through, lolz) there was an interesting Zelda demo thing on Nintendo's newly revealed system: Wii U!

...So Project Cafe is Wii U... interesting...

Here's the Zelda thing they showed on the Wii U. It looks like Twilight Princess... especially with Armogohma there...



(I stole the picture from Zelda Dungeon. XD)

The Wii U controller itself looks very epic, too!

Unfortunately, I probably won't post much more today. Perhaps later this evening, but that's it. I now have to go babysit, and then I have harp lessons afterward.

Keep enjoying E3, people! I'll be back around 5 tonight. ;)

Okay. I give up.

There are WAAAAAY too many new Ocarina of Time trailers and videos coming out! I can't keep up with them. Therefore, I'll just say... go to Zelda Dungeon, or some other fansite that updates more frequently than I do. :P I'll post two of the most recent, but I've missed some - I know I have, since I WATCHED them but was too lazy to post them here - and I don't feel like finding them again. Sorry!

Still, this video is preeeeeety epic!



You know what one of my favorite parts was? 1:33. Somewhere around there. Link's in Ganon's Castle, and these sparklies fly around him and heal him. They didn't do that in the N64 version. So Link would just stiffly look at his hands like an idiot - even more so if you had full hearts to begin with. Now he fluidly looks at the sparklies healing him. Makes more sense. :P

So there actually aren't that many changes, now that I think of it. Backgrounds changed quite a bit, yes, and so did Link... but other characters look surprisingly similar. Facial expressions have been added - such as when Darunia pats (more like pounds) Link on the head at 1:13 or something like that. And movements, as I mentioned above, are MUCH more fluid! I love that.

And this next trailer?



It shows off the new features. The newest new feature I've noticed is the role of the Gossip Stones. I knew there would be a hint feature (as I've mentioned previously) but I didn't know how that would work. Oh, wait. I guess they're not Gossip Stones anymore. They're... "Sheikah Stones." Well, same difference, I guess...

There's also the lovely demonstration of the improved Iron Boots - something I'm sure we're ALL excited about. And at the same time - the Hookshot now has a red line, showing us where it will hit! How convenient!

And then there's that Boss Replay mode. I'm looking forward to that. Trust me, I'll pwn Gohma so many times it won't even be funny... well, at least not for Gohma... but for me it probably will be...

And that's all I've got to say for now! Unless someone has an idea for a Link x Din romance fanfic, lol.

OoT 3DS Intro

My friend on Central found this somehow. It's awesome!

Sorry, I'm in a hurry, I can't post much else. XD

Enjoy!

There's more Ocarina of Time 3D information than there was Spirit Tracks... (New screenshots and info!)

Please remember to read and comment on the post beneathe this one - I don't usually do two posts per day, but I had to today.

~~~

Ocarina of Time 3D, so far, seems to be even more popular than Spirit Tracks was. The release is still over a month away, and yet more and more information is released about it seemingly everyday (or at least every time I log on to the computer!). Of course, there's ALSO the fact that I wasn't THAT involved with the Zelda community when Spirit Tracks came out... but still. Here's just a quick update on what Zelda Dungeon has to say:

There will be a "boss challenge" mode added to the game! In Spirit Tracks, there was the whole "Take 'Em All On" game in Castle Town where previous bosses could be re-fought to gain treasure. Apparently they will somehow integrate this into Ocarina of Time 3D. I'm super excited! I love that game in Spirit Tracks - whenever I'm bored I'll just go and play it for fun. XD This sounds great!

Also... apparently there will be a hint system? Well, I guess that's nice for new players, but still... people made it through the games just fine without them before. Whatever.

And here's some other new details they've heard:

• The blurry pre-rendered bitmap Castletown is now a rendered environment. With several new remodeled building exteriors, but still maintains the old camera angle.



• The water effects of Lake Hylia have been improved.



• The fishing pond has been changed with more textures adding a more rocky appearance and a waterfall has been added.



• The tree wall has been replaced by three dimensional trees.



• All 2D backgrounds have been replaced by rendered 3D backdrops with greater detail.



• When viewed from Hyrule Field, Death Mountain is no longer a 2D cardboard cutout but a 3D model.



• Temple of Time interior has been remodeled including a visible ceiling.



• The inventory is now kept on the touchscreen and items may be equipped by the X and Y buttons.



• The ocarina is now permanently placed in an area on the lower left corner of the touchscreen.



• Due to a lack of rumble feature the Stone of Agony now emits a sound instead of the old “rumble” of the N64 controller.



• In game text and music have not changed from the original.



• Master Quest is confirmed as a second quest that requires the player to complete the game first to unlock.

I'm glad to hear about Stone of Agony. Since I play OoT on the Wii, I've never been able to use that item. But - aww - you have to COMPLETE the game before playing Master Quest? Darn it! XD Oh, well.

Also - I just found this a few minutes ago - but more OoT 3DS screeshots! And, OMG, they are AMAZING. Check out Zelda's Courtyard! And Castle Town - wow. The Happy Mask Shop certainly changed. I'm only taking the ones I thought were the most dramatically different from N64, so check out the link at the bottom of the post for the rest of them. They're all pretty amazing.

(Why do I think that one picture of Link sitting on the ground is just sooooooo cute? :D It's my fan girl side shining through...)

Sources: Boss Challenge and Hint System, Details, Screenshots

More Ocarina of Time 3D Information!

And pictures. I personally didn't care much about the pictures - I mean, they're just updated graphics of things we've already seen. Therefore I won't post them all here. You can click this link to view the pictures at Zelda Dungeon.

However, I will post the box art.



It's SO much more epic than the original Ocarina of Time box art, wouldn't you agree? I personally didn't like any of the box arts for Zelda games until the two Oracles came out. Now THOSE were pretty awesome-looking. I don't like Wind Waker's and Twilight Princess's much, either... nor ST and PH... the Japanese, however, would be another story. They always get the cool ones!

The release date has also changed a bit. Previously I said it was the 17th, right? Well, unfortunately, that's not the case. June 17th is only for the release in Europe - over here, we have to way for June 19th. Two days later... it's not much, but still.

Oh, and the best part of all?

Ocarina of Time 3D will also include... Master Quest!

For those of you who don't know, Ocarina of Time Master Quest is a harder version of the game for GameCube that was available if you preordered Wind Waker (I think... of course, I don't have it XD). I really wish I could play it - I almost bought it a while back - and now I'm jealous of my friends getting OoT 3DS. It only makes me more desperate to raise the money for the system before June... although that will likely never happen.

No new Skyward Sword news, sadly. I doubt we'll hear anything until E3.

Important Dates

I only have a few short things to say.
First off, the Pokemon global link is in two days! I really know nothing about it, sorry. I do not have Black or White - that money is going toward Skyward Sword (although I have MORE than enough for it right now) and 3DS (which I TOTALLY don't have enough for).
The other thing is that there's a rumor for Skyward Sword's release date: September 25th, 2011. Wouldn't that be awesome? From what I've been reading online, it's actually a good possibility - but don't get your hopes up just yet. I'm certainly not going to let my excitement get the better of me, even though that is right after my own birthday (the 16th) and... well, it would just be plain epic.
That's pretty much all I have right now! Hopefully we can look forward to some more stuff at E3 this year, which will be June 7th through the 9th. I'm not sure when Nintendo will announce its stuff during those dates, though... ...OH MY GODS BLOGGER IS ANNOYING ME.
It keeps taking out my paragraphs! :( I had to put them in manually for this post...
Ugh...