Back in 2012, I had just found out about speedrunning. It was AGDQ 2012, short for Awesome Games Done Quick. It was the second official AGDQ event and speedrunning was popping off in a big way. A ton of the guys on my dorm floor would gather in the lounge to watch the stream. Someone…
Oh Spirit Tracks, my beloved. I was a train kid, growing up in a post-decline industrial city with miles upon miles of rail infrastructure from WW2 and earlier. The Royal Engineer spoke to a long-dormant part of me, not to mention the excellent soundtrack of the game and the repetition of Phantom Hourglass mechanics that…
When looking back on my youth, I often find myself reflecting on how certain events or objects can take me back to certain specific gaming memories, despite the fact that those events or objects may not necessarily be related. I had finally fought my way to Gerudo Valley and begun my infiltration of the Gerudo…
The concept of a tutorial level in video games is long-historied, replacing a longer game guide as the storage space available for the game itself increased. Some games will give you prompts at certain intervals or triggers to teach you new mechanics, like how Breath of the Wild has control pop-ups when Link first picks…
This is a little story about how overcoming frustration and being a bit silly brought me to one of my proudest Zelda moments. After being introduced to the Zelda series through Breath of the Wild, and playing through it a considerable number of times, I decided to take my first foray into an older Zelda…
In all my years playing games across countless genres, publishers, and developers, there have been few times in my life where playing a game has made me gasp, drop my jaw, make my breath catch in my chest, and let a “wow” spill forth from my lips. Climbing the western edge of the Gerudo Highlands for the first time in Breath of the Wild was one of those times for me.
Almost any Zelda fan can recognize the most iconic races, from the rockin’ Gorons to the elegant Zora. Some may even be able to identify more obscure (but still important) races, like the Picori who forged the Four Sword in The Minish Cap, or the cute forest-penguin Kikwi from Skyward Sword. But of all the…
Let’s get the controversy out of the way. Fi is a wonderful companion. I’m not trying to be some sort of contrarian on the matter, however, when I played Skyward Sword for the first time, I found Fi to be very delightful. She was a calming presence during my time playing the game and every…
“To put it lightly, this challenge is the hardest I’ve ever put myself through. I’ve died over 30 times since attempting this, and I get the feeling that’s not going to be the end of it, either.”
Realm of Memories: The Goron who literally got my back #RealmofMemories
There is a difference, obviously, between playing a video game for the first time and the hundredth. A first play through has the joys and despairs of exploration, unlocking the game’s story, and getting lost. But after you’ve played a game before, starting up a new file instead has anticipation of your favorite parts, dread…
Of all the games in the Zelda series, my love of Twilight Princess is second to none. As a fan who became involved with the series during the DS era (with Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks), I did not experience a truly dark Zelda story until I picked up Twilight Princess, and it quickly became…
Nowadays, I would argue that the DS-era installments of the Legend of Zelda franchise are criminally underappreciated — most of all Phantom Hourglass — but if you had asked me about it many years ago, I would have been singing a much different tune. As a child, the two-screen puzzles that required me to keep…
Before we begin diving into this memory, I have a confession to make: I still have not really played Breath of the Wild, and at this point, I might never fully play through it. I’m aware of how much this hurts my Zelda-related credibility, but I’m not the biggest fan of open world games. This…
While I am a huge Zelda fan, an ardent admirer even, I unfortunately cannot call myself a long-time fan. My parents did not really like video games much, and my library was limited to mostly just Mario and Sonic games. It was not until I was older and was capable of buying my own games…
I hated Link. Every time I heard or said his name, it was like poison was oozing from my mouth. I could see in my heart of hearts why Ganondorf wanted to kill him. Now, I understand that you might wonder: “Why would you hate Link?” The answer to that question is very simple and…
