Any Zelda fan will recognize that giant, pink-spotted egg the moment they see it. Many will be sent back to their childhood when they explored Koholint Island, while others may recall recent memories of playing the remake. I fall into the latter category, having only experienced Link’s Awakening this year. And yet, when I see that egg, I feel weirdly nostalgic. After all, it’s an iconic part of the series. Even I, a latecomer, can attest to that.
In fact, when I recently came across a piece of Link’s Awakening fan art by Goemonsama, that strange nostalgia — which seems to transcend time and space — was once again evoked in me. I felt drawn to his piece, as I admired how perfectly it captures the aesthetic of a classic Zelda game, or any game about a hero’s journey for that matter. Even without the pink spots on the egg, the original 8-bit style, or the chibi graphics from the remake, this piece is immediately recognizable as Zelda and is reminiscent of everything we love about the series as a whole: going on an adventure.
Game, film, and book covers are lazy these days. Covers with a meticulously crafted, hand-drawn scene — the work of someone who wanted to creatively reflect the essence of the media’s contents and intrigue the person looking at it — are few and far between. I bring this up because, when I saw Goemonsama’s Link’s Awakening art, it immediately reminded me of those sorts of creative, hand-drawn game covers or the accompanying official art that you might see in its manual. I miss them. They are a gateway to the world you’re about to become immersed in, and the more intricate they are, the more I feel like I have to enter.
From the speckled sky behind the egg to the pastel pinks and blues in the clouds, to the rough rocky terrain of the mountain twisting up to the egg, to the mossy green of the woods, and finally to the beautifully sparkling and flowing sea in which Link stands, there’s so much simplicity yet intricacy in this piece.
It’s beautiful. It tells you everything you need to know about the hero’s journey. He’s arrived from the ocean, sword and shield in hand ready to face any foes that stand in his way, and he must navigate treacherous forests, formidable mountains, and dangerous cliff sides to reach that final goal. To reach that mysterious egg. To complete his adventure and find out what the end of his journey has in store for him and the whole island.
