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Posts by Ellie Applebee

Medli’s Melodies: Howling desert defiance

The infiltration of Gerudo Valley and the excavation of the Spirit Temple are some of my favorite moments in Ocarina of Time. The memories of the game of cat and desert rat between Link and the Gerudo Guards, following the Poe through the raging sandstorm, delving into the Spirit Temple as both a child and…

Medli’s Melodies: For those about to ride, we rock

Living during the years when Twilight Princess came out was pretty interesting. Having come out of the Toon Link wars fought throughout the fandom years earlier, many were hyped to see an edgier, more Adult Link from Ocarina of Time inspired version of the hero. With every new trailer and all the bits of gameplay,…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: A charmed treasure trove

Childhood living is a charmed life. Besides school, you get to go through your day without the stress of bills and healthcare that dog your life as you get older. A common, crafty activity many people enjoy when they’re young is creating charm bracelets and necklaces. Even my own kid has taken up this task,…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: A peek into my past

When A Link to the Past came out, it consumed me. Every waking moment involved either playing it or gazing at the beautiful art of the instruction manual, much like I had with the The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link manuals in previous years. The way that the artwork revealed abilities and…

Medli’s Melodies: Campfire songs of hope

It was generally understood that he was dead. That was the story at least. The princess’s protector had fallen along with the kingdom on the day Calamity Ganon struck. Yet, 100 years later, rumors began to spread. A mysterious Hylian had been sighted performing miraculous deeds. He’d been seen entering dozens of the mysterious Sheikah…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: Faith connecting times

Tears of the Kingdom, like Breath of the Wild before it, tells its story across two moments in time. Link searches to find the missing princess and combat Ganondorf’s hordes in the post-Calamity world while Zelda trains and forges alliances to foil the Demon King’s machinations in the past. While both heroes are working towards…

Medli’s Melodies: Meditations with Majora

A journey across a dangerous, rugged land (or sea) filled with foes and trials to overcome is what the Zelda series is all about. It’s true of all the games in the franchise, but only a few of the games take us on an intensely internal journey as well. One of the very best in…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: No coin, no calm

Say what you will about Zelda’s first entry on the DS, Phantom Hourglass does have the distinct pleasure of introducing us to the most rapscallion of the series’ companions: Captain Linebeck. Channeling his best Jack Sparrow impression and mixing it with a pinch of Han Solo’s only-in-it-for-the-money attitude, Linebeck quickly became a fan favorite. The…

Medli’s Melodies: Facets of a princess

Fairly early on in the series, Princess Zelda stopped being a simple damsel in distress. As early as A Link to the Past, Zelda began taking a more active role even when she was held captive. She often discussed the next steps of the quest with Link and the player telepathically, leading them towards their…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: A beautiful gift

While the titular Princess Zelda in all her incarnations has dominated the royal roles in the Zelda series, there are other princesses that also appear. Though she spends most of the game as an imp, the Twilight Princess Midna is beloved by much of fandom. Princess Hilda from the 3DS classic, A Link Between Worlds…

Medli’s Melodies: A musical prayer answered

“The Ballad of the Wind Fish” is one of my favorite songs in the Zelda series. From the beginning, it’s so emotional because it carries Marin’s yearning for more to the sleeping ears of the Wind Fish. As players, it becomes even more meaningful as we complete the game. The waking of the dozing whale…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: The real enemy

The Zelda series is full of adventure and beauty, but it is also full of bone-chilling horror and creepiness. Games like Twilight Princess and Majora’s Mask have their fair share of nightmare-inducing cutscenes and heartbreaking sidequests. For sheer brain-breaking, frightening enemy design though, I think the crown has to go to Ocarina of Time. From…

Medli’s Melodies: Better than gold

Very few songs in all of gaming convey the feeling of adventure to me quite as much as “The Great Sea” from The Wind Waker. Hearing even a few notes of it conjures images of cannon fire, Big Octos, and a seemingly endless ocean stretching past a digital horizon. It’s an amazing melody already, but…

Yuga’s Art Gallery: The creators’ nebula

“In the beginning…” The Zelda series feels like it has a multitude of beginnings. The series itself began in the 8-bit era of the NES, but chronologically, Skyward Sword is the first game in the series and tells the tale of the forging of the Master Sword as well as Demise’s dastardly curse. Breath of…

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