Four Swords Adventures screenshot log 1/3

This game was a lot better than I expected. It's a very high quality, full-sized 2D console Zelda game with a cool story and very nice aesthetic design.

Termina - The Realm of Time

Continuing off of my theory on the Sacred Realm being part of Hyrule, what does that mean for the parallel dimension of Termina that Link slips into in Majora's Mask?

First, some background info:

- Before Ocarina of Time, Hyrule was at war. The different religions factions and races of Hyrule were all fighting over control of the Sacred Realm. In the end, the fighting stopped and Hyrule became united as one country.

- The royal family of Hyrule, the waters of the Zora people, the shadows of the Sheikah village, the fires of the Death Mountain tribe, the protectors of the Forest, and the spirits of the Gerudo Desert then collaborated together to guard the Sacred Realm. The door of time was guarded by the 3 spiritual stones of different tribes and the Ocarina of Time. The Sacred Realm itself was guarded by 7 sages, who were eventually replaced by 1 member from each tribe.

- Rauru, the sage of Light, was the only sage who wasn't replaced. The origins of the original seven sages seem to be from the Sacred Realm itself, the "World of Light". They originally built the Temple of Light to guard the triforce. When Link awakes in the chamber of sages, only Rauru remains alive, the other original sages have been killed.

- The "World of Light" became sealed off from the rest of Hyrule when the Temple of Time was built to guard it, hence it became known as the "Sacred Realm".

- So Rauru, the sage of Light, is a member of the now-sealed world of light. The other 6 sages are each from different tribes with different elemental powers. The only one who's element is unknown, is the 7th sage, Zelda.

- The Ocarina of Time was the sacred item possessed by the royal family. For this reason, the royal family might be connected to the element of time like the Zoras are to water, Gorons to fire, etc... Therefore, the 7th sage is the sage of time.

What I think this means...

Hyrule's Sacred Realm

The Sacred Realm in the Zelda series has always been very mysterious. It seems to be like an alternate dimension, but it is also described as being located somewhere in Hyrule. What is the Sacred Realm really? Is it just the arbitrary name given to the resting place of the triforce, with no other meaning attached? Or does it serve another purpose?

Here's a brief review of each game's description of the Sacred Realm. Starting with the most recent description of it...

Twilight Princess:

When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world. They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. The lands where the goddesses descended came to be known as the Sacred Realm. For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body… But soon, word of the Sacred Realm spread through Hyrule, and a great battle ensued…

-Lanayru

That doesn't tell us much, it actually kind of confuses things a bit. But let's look at the translation of that text from the Japanese version of Twilight Princess:

The goddesses descended to the world of chaos where there was nothing at all, and created life and order. And after granting power equally to all people, they returned to the heavens. For a long time, the world was at peace, with people's hearts being deeply faithful… But at length, a rivalry ensued over Hyrule, the holy land.

-Lanayru

This quote doesn't even mention the Sacred Realm at all, and simply states that Hyrule is what was faught over during the early wars. When you take these two quotes literally, it almost seems like Hyrule IS the Sacred Realm.

Funniest quotes from Portal 2

Announcer: Good morning. You have been in suspension for -FIFTY- days. In
compliance with state and federal regulations, all testing candidates in the
Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center must be revived periodically for a
mandatory physical and mental wellness exercise.
Announcer: You will hear a buzzer. When you hear the buzzer, look up at the
ceiling. [BUZZER]
Announcer: Good. You will hear a buzzer. When you hear the buzzer, look down at
the floor. [BUZZER]
Announcer: Good. This completes the gymnastic portion of your mandatory
physical and mental wellness exercise.
Announcer: There is a framed painting on the wall. Please go stand in front of
it.
Announcer: This is art. You will hear a buzzer. When you hear the buzzer, stare
at the art. [BUZZER]
Announcer: You should now feel mentally reinvigorated. If you suspect staring
at art has not provided the required intellectual sustenance, reflect briefly
on this classical music.

Announcer: If you are a non-employee who has discovered this facility amid the
ruins of civilization, welcome! And remember: Testing is the future, and the
future starts with you.
Announcer: Good work getting this far, future-starter! That said, if you are
simple-minded, old, or irradiated in such a way that the future should not
start with you, please return to your primitive tribe and send back someone
better- qualified for testing.

Ganon plays Phantom Hourglass - Part 2

Well I guess I'd better go along with Linebeck on his ship before he becomes the main character or something...

Seems that he's going to be Link's travel companion this time around. A worthy successor to the great talking dragon boat!

Linebeck: Well, look who's gracing our presence! It's old man Oshus!

Oshus: The bridge has been fixed, so I thought I'd check up on the youngsters here... You're an amazing lad to emerge alive from the temple, Link! Very courageous for one so early in his years...

Linebeck: You sent me into that treacherous temple too, you old barnacle!

Oshus: Any who enter the temple unprepared will find it a terrifying ordeal... And most would lose heart and flee for their lives upon hearing me say it. But evidently, there are true heroes among us...

Linebeck: Preen my feathers a little more, old man! Yep, I'm famous, all right!

Oshus: Not you, fool! You're a wreck! You'd be sunk by now if our young friend here hadn't shown up!

Linebeck: I was injured! On a typical day, I blaze through one or two such temples...before breakfast!

Oshus: Calm yourself, Linebeck, and tell me what you've made of the temple's map.

Linebeck: I've inspected it fully. My trained eye finds that it holds no secrets at all! But wait, old man! What do you know of this map?

Oshus: Hohoho... Has the map's puzzle eluded you, Linebeck? If I may see the map...
......
A standard map would simply show you where to go, would it not?

It's a scratch and win map! Touch the right spot and win the ability to move on to the next level!

Skyward Sword story predictions

While most of us Zelda fans are looking forward to the exciting gameplay of Skyward Sword and the unique Wii Motion Plus control scheme, there's also quite a lot to look forward to in the story and overall timeline references. Looking at what we know about Skyward Sword so far, it seems to be consistent with a lot of the story elements from the last console Zelda title, Twilight Princess. Here's an article that details the parallel themes between the two games.

Skyward Sword as an Expansion of Twilight Princess’ Themes

First of all, the director of the Zelda games, Eiji Aunuma, has expressed great interest in fixing up the Zelda timeline with future games. He wrote the bulk of the story for Twilight Princess as an attempt to tie in to older games and provide some foresight into the stories of future games. Although it was given major changes by Mitsuhiro Takano and Aya Kyogoku which removed some of the connections, Twilight Princess still did its job of establishing the basis for a new story arc.

Since 1998, Ocarina of Time has been considered the major focal point of the story, from which all future Zelda games are based on. Skyward Sword will be the next major focal point in the Zelda timeline. When Aunuma wrote the story for Twilight Princess, he already had his ideas for Skyward Sword in mind, and TP began to shift the focus away from OoT and instead used the ideas for Skyward Sword as its main backstory.

Super Mario 3D Land info/predictions

Nintendo's newest Mario title coming out for the 3DS seems like it'll be quite interesting... Currently the 3DS is lacking in original titles, but Nintendo's newest Mario title will definitely be one of those things that warrants buying a new system. Mario games have a proven track record of getting better and better with each new evolution of the series. What we know about Super Mario 3D Land so far:

- It combines elements from 3D Mario and 2D Mario games to make a completely new game engine. The game's being built ground-up for the 3DS, and it will make use of the gyroscope to put a unique spin on the gameplay.
- As always the case with Mario games, the level designs are unique and interesting. Director Yoshiaki Koizumi also designed and directed Super Mario Galaxy, his influence on this title will undoubtedly make it great.
- It's likely to make use of the 3D effects in some cool ways that we haven't seen yet...
- Shigeru Miyamoto describes this particular game as "completely original" and a cross between Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64.
- The tanooki suit from SMB3 returns, as well as some other old powerups along with new ones.

11 minute gameplay video:


Release date is November 2011. If you have a 3DS, this is not a game you'll want to miss out on. Super Mario 3D Land is the type of game that defines what gaming is all about. It's going to be amazing and will certainly be one of the iconic Mario games to be remembered for generations to come.

Ganon plays Phantom Hourglass - Part 1

"Let the old kingdom of Hyrule drown under the ocean" they said... "We'll find a new, better Hyrule" they said... "We don't need stuff like the Triforce or the Sacred Realm anymore"... Gahahaha! Don't you fools see that the goddesses betrayed you? Hyrule, the land that contains all the history and lore of the Zelda timeline, has been destroyed, and now in its absence, this abomination of a game is the best they could come up with GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ah but let's not be so quick to judge, Ganon. You know all too well what it's like to underestimate things... certain young swordsmen dressed in green for example?

How dare you talk to the King of Darkness like that!

More like the king of deadness now! And I am a king too you know! I am Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule! I am also known as the King of Red Lions.

... oh yeah that's right, Master Sword and all that. Still, even being turned to stone I can tell this game is garbage. It takes place directly after Wind Waker, yet it's nowhere near as good! Clearly, Zelda games just aren't the same with me gone... If you hadn't made that damn wish to drown Hyrule, I could've been revived again and made the series more interesting!

You and me Ganon, we are the same. We have lived regretting the past, both clinging to the ruins of old Hyrule. That's why I wished for the destruction of Hyrule. I believe there lies promise in a new future for the Zelda timeline, a new Hyrule in a different place, that doesn't involve the triforce. The goddesses flooded Hyrule, and in doing so they created a hope new original Zelda stories to happen in future games.

Very well, then... Allow me to show you... This future of yours... just what hope you have...

See how much your precious triforce-less world is worth! I'll play through this game myself and destroy any hope you have!

More reasons to be excited about Skyward Sword

Skyward Sword is just 4-5 months away from release, and the game just seems to be getting better and better the more info we get on it. These 3 video interviews with Nintendo of America reveal some interesting info about Skyward Sword, and the Zelda series in general.

The Legend of Zelda:Skyward Sword - Timeline, Series Future, Forging Hyrule - GoNintendo


Let's break down what was talked about...

Majora's Mask was done in Japan before localization in the states started. Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess both used simultaneous localization.

In most cases, the localization of Zelda games happen simultaneously with the game development, but in MM's case, it was such a unique game, with many Japanese culture references, it would've been incredibly hard to localize for English audiences. Instead, they waited until the game was finished to start the localization, so they could focus on properly translating and interpreting all the foreign stuff. For this reason, there was a 6 month wait between the Japanese release and the North American release. The differences between the Japanese and US versions of MM are minimal, because they put a lot of effort into localizing the game while keeping true to the original meanings.

I think with other Zelda games, they actually take longer to release because the localization is happening simultaneously with the development, and so the developers have to take the localization into account when developing the game. Majora's Mask is an example of what can happen with the Zelda series when the Japanese have no regard for localization... a weird, creepy, deep and emotional game that departs from the usual Zelda stories. Link's Awakening was like this too, as the developers of that game treated it as a side project, and basically just did whatever they wanted with it...

With Skyward Sword, they've been doing the localization simultaneously with the development. Given the amount of time they've spent SS so far (apparently they've been working on SS since 2009), I'm very interested in seeing how it turned out.

Skyward Sword ties into Ocarina of Time

This was already known, but hearing it again from the horses mouth, specifically saying it "ties in" to Ocarina of Time, doesn't it sound exciting? You know there's going to be a lot of cool connections and references to OoT.

Nintendo fears that if they put out an official timeline, they'll be limited with future Zelda ideas. There is a a master document for the Zelda timeline which contains overall plans for the series, but it's kept under wraps.

Miyamoto often likes to "tip the tea table" on Zelda development, making the developers change or remove story elements to make the game easier to understand for non-Zelda fans. It is a long-running tradition in the Zelda series to make the stories as simple and self-contained as possible, while only loosely connecting to other games through references and hidden meanings. They do this not to remove the notion of a timeline, but to keep the timeline open ended enough so they can add games in between other games in the timeline wherever they want. They have an official timeline, including ideas for future games and their timeline placements, but they keep it secret for the purpose of being able to change and add to it along the way.

Skyward Sword will be 'tremendously expansive'

Imagine soaring through the wide open sky world, discovering dozens of floating islands hiding within them many secrets and treasures, and in certain areas you find connections to the Earth world below. Then you go down to Hyrule, where you are overwhelmed by a vast landscape with dungeons, forests, mountains, and fields. The combination of the Sky World and Hyrule makes an amazing potential for an expansive and atmospheric world...

Spirit Tracks high playthrough comments, part 4

Decided to go do more of the side content before finishing the game... there's actually a lot of cool stuff you could miss easily.

There's some mini dungeons including Disorientation Station, Ends of the Earth Station, Lost at Sea Temple... there's also a fun sidequest where you search for rabbits in the scenery while riding the train... most of the sidequests reward you with materials for train parts, and those can be used to make various different looking trains with different stats... I managed to get the gold train after beating all the sidequests and minidungeons, and doing some grinding to get some rare materials...

I really like how Zelda mostly just complements you on figuring things out, she doesn't point out where you need to go as much as Navi or other Zelda game companions do.

The top floors of the Spirit Tower is the coolest part of the game yet.. the atmosphere is insane, as you have to avoid phantoms and explore in pitch darkness... the Bow of Light can get through the darkness... and the compass of light leads to the demon train. All of the puzzles here require Link and Zelda to use teamwork in unique ways.

That whole final boss sequence was incredibly epic... chasing down the demon train, and then using both Link and Zelda to fight Malladus... and that Duet song... I was like in tears from this ending, the feels were just too powerful...



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Part 3