It always fascinates me the ways in which game designers approach tutorials and information delivery. It’s almost always very awkward, grinding gameplay to a halt to show a few lines of text that detail menu navigation and the functionality of the A-button, among other mechanics. This is handled rather charmfully in Ocarina of Time, in…
From the overworld theme filled with allusions to “Zelda’s Lullaby” to the Eldin Temple’s spicy tango and more, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has some of the very best music in the entire franchise. A lot of Echoes of Wisdom’s musical charm stems from its location-based musical cues which borrow from real-world traditions.…
It’s always a treat to hear real-life musical ensembles play your favorite video game music. I’ve never had the privilege of catching a video game concert “live,” but I count myself very lucky to be living at the same time that musicians, like those of ZREO (formerly Zelda Reorchestrated), are producing masterful arrangements and orchestrations…
The Legend of Zelda is 40 years old! Happy anniversary! I remember when I first got my hands on a copy of Skyward Sword. I hadn’t played many Zelda games at that point — only Ocarina of Time, a bit of Majora’s Mask, A Link to the Past, and everyone’s favorite: Four Swords (it was…
Happy Monday-after-Valentine’s Day! We’re now halfway through the month of love. Cupid’s been flying around shooting heart-tipped arrows. Friends and couples have given each other gifts, gone on romantic dates, and leaned into the usual Valentine’s sentimentality. In Skyward Sword, too, romance is quite literally in the air. Of all the Legend of Zelda games,…
No, not that Nirvana. Not Nirvana with Kurt Cobain. This is Nirvana the Band, with Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. More recently, it goes by Nirvanna the Band, with two “Ns.” It’s complicated. Let me explain. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is out in Canadian theaters today, and there’s a good chance you…
Composer and producer Lufus takes a handful of iconic Zelda melodies and translates them into something sweet and gliding and strange in “Zelda’s Merry-Go-Round“, something with soft strings and a half-whimsy, half-haunted kind of swing, reminding me of carousel horses. Press play on the video below and listen along with me, and you’ll soon notice…
It’s the end of October, we’re officially deep into spooky season and the Halloween weekend is here. Although I’m not a big fan of the festivities, probably because I didn’t grow up with Halloween, I do partake in the spookiness in my own way. When the temperature goes down and the morning fogs lingers a…
Happy Halloweek! From the Shadow Temple and the Depths to Skull Kids and Poes, Hyrule and its parallel worlds are riddled with spooky places and characters. I wrote recently about the uncanniness inherent in the Twilight Realm and its battle music. Spookiness and creepy music come easily to darker Zelda games like Twilight Princess and Majora’s Mask. Breath…
Some of my favorite pieces of music from the Zelda series are truly bonkers. I have a special place for the wildest Zelda tracks in my music library, but one of them I added on accident; I am surprised and disoriented every time the track “Twilit Battle” plays in a shuffle. Among the wild tracks…
With last month’s trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a lot of talk has sprung up about Fi and her musical theme. With all this talk, I thought it would be nice to talk about Fi’s Theme, where we’ve heard it in Zelda games since Skyward Sword, and what its inclusion in the Age…
Every so often, you find a fan tribute to your favorite IP that feels like it was made specifically for you and your Venn diagram of interests. For me, that tribute is Tempo of Time, a 31-minute prog rock epic that pulls together fifteen Ocarina of Time tracks, stitched together into a single, shifting, dramatic musical…
Echoes of Wisdom has quickly become one of my favorite Zelda games, and its soundtrack has predictably followed suit. It has a cozy feeling of togetherness that I feel much of the series doesn’t always incorporate. Of course that’s not inherently a flaw; I’d consider it a feature in most cases. Link tends to mind…
A game’s main theme can tell you a lot about it. Well-crafted ones reflect the world, characters, and story of the games they represent. Skyward Sword’s “Ballad of the Goddess” and The Wind Waker’s title theme are great examples, giving players an idea of what makes their worlds special through music alone. Rivalled by the…
Chancellor Cole just might be the most cartoonishly evil character in the Zelda series. While there are a handful of goofy villains, they each have their own values and motivations. Master Kohga, for example, continues the Yiga legacy and seeks revenge for his ancestors being outcast by the royal family. Cole doesn’t seem to have…
