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May the way of the hero lead to the Triforce!

XOXO,
O'D & Ally

Zelda Podcast #1

Ally's and my first Podcast for the blog! We welcome your comments! (Remember, we're new to this whole podcast thing!)

Skyward Sword: Onward to Skyloft! (Her Perspective)

After a long hiatus from our Zelda blog, we’re back and with a more engaging strategy. Initially, John proposed we play through the Zelda games in the order they were released. At first it didn’t seem so bad, but it was tough to go from Skyward Sword graphics and storyline to the Legend of Zelda intended for the original Nintendo System graphics. Halfway through the Legend of Zelda, it was Game. Over.

But tonight John surprised me by agreeing to replay Skyward Sword. Not only that, but we would play through according to timeline. This had way more appeal to me, so it was  game on!

Admittedly, this was a tough game the first time we played it four years ago. Flying the bird around Skyloft was the cause behind the first time I threw the controller at John. I loved the game except for the bird because I would get so flustered and frustrated. For years I would tell John that Skyward Sword would be my favorite Zelda game, had it not been for the bird. But about 6 months ago, and quite randomly, I decided to give it another go on my own. This time I payed more attention to the tutorial, and it was so easy that I felt extremely sheepish. Skyward Sword is my favorite now.

To me, this is the rare Zelda that actually deserves a second play through. Hear me out. The hints of what is coming are all there in the beginning. You just don’t notice them because you don’t know where to look. For Instance, when you arrive in Faron Woods and enter the temple to meet the old woman. If you go behind her and peek through the doors, you can see the crystal where Zelda lies dormant. On the first play through it just a funny looking crystal that you can’t reach. But on a repeat play through, you know exactly what it is and I'm surprised Nintendo shows this so early in the game. There are tons of these hints sprinkled throughout the game though. 

My theory is that Nintendo intended for this game to be played multiple times and those hints are the rewards for replaying the game. Each time you play, there’s always something new that you catch...well unless you cheat and look it all up in a blog post. But as John would say, where’s the fun in that?

The tutorial took up most of our game time tonight. But that’s OK because the tutorial isn’t bad. In fact it sets up the story quite nicely and makes investing emotionally into the game very easy. The characters are more fleshed out and their relationships are more dynamic. I love that Zelda has so much spirit and sass in this game! Link isn’t just described as lazy, you can see it in his facial expressions.

It’s safe to say that the remote controller will not be flying at John’s head tonight. But it’s only the beginning of a very long game...

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword Playthrough - Part One

John's Vantage Point

Up first we have The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  While this is the most recent home console version in the Zelda Series (not counting The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD), it's the very first story in the Zelda Chronology.

The prologue begins as follows:

"Long ago, on a dark day, the earth cracked and evil forces rushed out of the fissure. These forces mercilessly attacked the people of the earth, slaughtering them and destroying their land. They did this in search of the ultimate power, a power capable of granting any wishes of its holder. This power, passed down from the gods of old, was guarded by Her Grace, the goddess of the land. The goddess gathered the surviving humans on a piece of earth and sent it skyward, beyond the clouds. With the humans safe, the goddess joined the land dwellers and fought the evil forces in a war of unmatched scale and ferocity. They eventually sealed the evil forces away, restoring peace to the surface. However, the humans remained in Skyloft, as Hylia knew that the seal on the evil would not hold forever."

And with that, our adventure begins in Skyloft.

Nintendo opted to go with a more "cartoony" graphical scheme as opposed to the more realistic looking style presented in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  However, it's not quite pure cel-shaded as was The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.  I would be fascinated to see if Nintendo would re-released this game in HD as they chose with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD.  My inner-gaming sense believes a lot of the hardcore players skipped out on this game because the Wii was undoubtedly tailored towards a younger generation, as opposed to the older folks who've been playing the Zelda series since the Nintendo Entertainment System days.

When first popping in the Wii Disk and beginning to play this Zelda game, the first detail I notice that trumps any other Zelda game is the facial expressions of the characters, particularly Link and Zelda.  It adds to the development of each character -- this is indeed one of the Zelda games where Link and Zelda are introduced immediately and have clearly been friends throughout their lives.  These facial animations, along with the casual conversations, made me feel more of a connection to the characters - which is impressive given the fact Link is yet again a silent hero as is the norm in the Zelda series - than perhaps any other Zelda title.

Another intriguing decision is that this is the first Zelda game to start the player with SIX life hearts, as opposed to the usual three.  When I first realized this, it made me wonder if the universe of Skyward Sword wasn't large enough to place enough hidden heart-pieces around the land.  Now that my attention will be directed towards evaluating this, we'll see if this ends up feeling true by game's end.

Despite what many others have suggested, I find the flying of the Skyloft Loftwings (birds) not to be terribly difficult - what could have been presented better was the tutorial on how to master the controls.  Admittedly, Ally and I glossed over the tutorial explanations the first time we played this game, and it wasn't until a second playthrough did we realize how simple the task actually was.

Skyloft appears to be a vibrant and large home town compared to some of the other Zelda games.  Clearly, players will come to realize there will be many sidequests to tackle after meeting many of the characters walking around Skyloft.

For the time being, there is certainly an introductory learning curve that players have to accept before being able to truly explore the land in the clouds (and perhaps the mystery of what lies underneath the clouds...)

This is Ally's favorite Zelda game.  On initial instinct, I'd say this feels like it's a middle of the road Zelda to me (which still makes it spectacular).  Let's find out together how impressive this Zelda game turns out to be....

May the Way of the Hero Lead to the Triforce!

The Zelda Timeline Playthrough

John's Vantage Point

Clearly, Ally and I have only recently begun to post again.  With the spectacle that is planning our wedding and the trials and tribulations of law school, we haven't been able to focus as much with our originally designed Zelda playthrough.

As I was chatting with Ally last night, she was discussing how great it felt to start legitimately contributing to this Blog - but she also asked one simple question: "John, can we play Skyward Sword again?"

This genuinely is Ally's favorite Zelda game (with Wind Waker HD a close second).  I adore that she is absolutely devoted to that particular Zelda game because it was the first she ever 100% completed (heart tanks, bottles, and all).

It got me thinking...there was one summer when I was younger (and this was where I was going with my original post on this Blog) where I watched all the James Bond movies and ended up making an ultimate list (best movies, best Bonds, best gadgets, best villains, etc.).

Upon reflection, I've decided doing such a list would be an excellent venture throughout these coming months (as I finish law school and begin studying for the Illinois Bar Exam).  So as Ally plays through these games, I'm hoping to rank Dungeons, Weapons, Bosses, etc.  But instead of starting chronologically from time of release, we're going to play chronologically through the Official Nintendo Timeline.

The Zelda Timeline

The Zelda Timeline is a fascinating overview of the chronology of the series.  For starters, it does an impressive job of finding a logical place for every Zelda game ever released (including the Four Swords Games, which, lets face it - aren't legitimate Zelda games).  Though I'm particularly impressed that it's able to explain why we see Ganon/Ganondorf in most of the Zelda games.  Without giving too much of a detailed discussion on this for now, I just want to emphasize one point.  If I had to predict where Zelda Wii U will land on the timeline, to me, it has to be at the point between Ocarina of Time ---> A Link to the Past - where Link is defeated.  I'd love to see Nintendo explain how Link was defeated and how Ganon came to power in that timeline.

In any case, Ally and I are going to tackle these games in Zelda Chronology, which means she shall get her wish of starting with Zelda Skyward Sword.

Stay tuned dear friends!

- O'D

Zelda: The Link Between Us

John was appalled when he discovered I had not played the Zelda series at all. Appalled is putting it lightly too. He looked at me like I had been living under a rock my entire life. I mean, it's still better than how he looked at me when he found out I was a Packers fan (He roots for the Bears), so I took this in stride. Little did I know that it would be his determination to play this series with me that would get me back into gaming.

It was November 2011, and only a couple months before I would start working at NBC Chicago in addition to CBH Video. Zelda Skyward had just come out and John was adamant we play it together. We were living together at the time so it seemed like a fun way to bond.

It was more than that though. Yeah, sure flying the bird around was a pain in the ass and led to me throwing the control numerous times at John. But the storyline! The side missions! The graphics! It. Was. Awesome. I was hooked.

I was also lucky because it turned out Skyward Sword was first in the Zelda Timeline. Since that first game, we went on to play Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda, Wind Waker, and Spirit Tracks.

I'll give you more in depth thoughts on those, but in the meantime I'll give you the important stats for my first playthrough of Skyward Sword.

Rating: 9/10

Times Controler was thrown at John: 20+ (it's hard to remember the exact amount)

Video Gaming: Ally's Beginning and Reunion

I'll never forget when I was five years old and my dad bought a Nintendo. I was the oldest and a girl - I don't delude myself into thinking that my dad truly felt like my childhood would be deprived without being able to play Duck Hunt. He clearly bought it for himself to play, but little did he know it would unlock a new world for both of us...and make me the talk of the dorm my freshman year in college.

Super Mario was the first Nintendo game I ever obsessed over. While my dad only allowed me to play Duck Hunt at first, when he was at work I totally popped in Super Mario and went to town. You can imagine his surprise when he sat down to play one weekend and his young daughter start shouting out what he needs to be doing. After that moment, my dad fully supported my video game habit.

There was one night I had a fever of 103 and was home from school for two days. During the moments I was lucid, I was hard at work trying to beat Tiny Toon Adventures on Sega Genesis. The night I beat it, a school night, my parents were in a huge fight over whether or not I should be in bed sleeping. In fairness to my mom it was 11:30 p.m. But to my dad's credit, he fully understood that Max Million needed to be stopped ASAP. It was one of the rare fights my dad actually won, and the good Lord was on his side too because my fever finally broke while I was playing the final boss. Ron Sr. made sure I was able to stay home from school an extra day as a reward. It was glorious.

EU Box cover (It was similar to the US one). Picture was taken from Wikipedia and you can read more about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Toon_Adventures:_Buster's_Hidden_Treasure

From there, I graduated to Playstation, N64, Game Cube, PS2 and the list goes on. My favorite game growing up had to be a tie between Mario Kart and GoldenEye 007 on N64. I had those two games down to an art that had me whooping guys' butts! I was the only girl in my dorm to bring a game system and it brought me immense pleasure hearing guys moaning and groaning over the ass kickings I served them. My biggest regret in college was that I gave up gaming mid-freshman year because I had let a guy bully me into being more like a girl, which included joining a sorority.

After that, I kinda wondered aimlessly and put way too my energy into things that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I won't bore you with those details.

Eventually I met John who reunited me with gaming. At first I tried to impress him by trying to beat him at Mario Kart and GoldenEye 007. But it was useless. I was totally out of practice, and humbled completely. Admittedly, he's better than I am and there have been numerous times I've thrown the console controller at him while playing. In my defense, he yells the most ridiculous advice out at the worst times and totally deserves it. 

This is all my way of saying that you'll see video game reviews from me a lot more on this blog. It's also my way of setting you up for a feature with those posts - "Times Control was Thrown at John - ##." Looking forward to sharing those with you! :-)