My Experience with Zelda Part 1
My Experience with Zelda Part 2
My Experience with Zelda Part 3
Nearly one year later, I got Hyrule Warriors for Christmas. It’s really not an official Zelda game, but it was ok. I'm not much of a "hack and slash" kind of game person, but the "Zelda coat of paint" overtop of a Dynasty Warriors game made it enticing enough for me to want it. It’s nice that it was 2-player, so someone could use the TV and someone else could be on the Wii U Gamepad. But ultimately, once I got through the game there doesn’t seem to be much replay value to me, unfortunately. And unlike every other Zelda game, I wasn’t a completionist for this one.
So while Hyrule Warriors was a nice little diversion, the
thing that really got me excited was when Nintendo finally announced what we
had all been hoping for – the Majora’s Mask remake. There had previously been a
fan-led awareness campaign to let Nintendo know of the desire and demand for
this game called Operation: Moonfall. It seems that Nintendo had been trolling
and stringing along the fans in the
various forums, panels, and interviews in the years leading up to its
announcement.
I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D from Gamestop on the midnight release. There
were a few little changes to the game - mostly to one area of Clock Town and
the 4 bosses, some mechanics changes, and a couple of additions like fishing. But overall the improvements and the new detriments sorta cancel each other out, but it's an okay remake.
An "adventurer’s pouch" was released that was a leather case
intended to hold a 3DSXL, 2 game cards, and 2 included special styluses shaped
like the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield. I got one after I saw someone at
the 3DS Meetup get one.
Later that year, the next new Zelda game debuted – The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes. This game was made in the same vein as Four
Swords, only this time there’s only 3 players, and the strategy involves
wearing different costumes to gain abilities as well as picking up the others
to make a totem pole. Fortunately, it worked better than previous multi-player
games and even works online pretty well; and the single player version is
basically the same, and only requires additional multi-tasking skills.
A demo was released a bit before the game came out. We could
play locally or single player whenever we wanted, but they opened up the
servers for a few select times to allow people to experience the online version
of the game. The really cool thing was the little communication buttons that
allowed the players to indicate what someone else needs to do without words –
preventing trolls and 13-year-olds from bragging about how they banged
someone’s mom.
I got it release day from Wal-Mart, but soon learned that
it (like the 3DS itself) was designed to have a single user file. The solution
was, of course, to buy 2 more copies for the kids so we could play 3 player
locally.
Just before I got a NN3DSXL, Anne and I started to play
Phantom Hourglass together. She played the bootleg version on the DS Lite and I
played the official version. The plan was to trade items and ship parts, but we
ran into a problem. Not only was the bootleg unable to work in a 3DS, but it is
also Asian region coded, meaning it won’t connect to my American version. So we
bought another copy of Phantom Hourglass
and ended up giving the bootleg to my niece (who has a DS Lite). We also got a
second copy of Spirit Tracks to do the same thing.
The next Zelda release was another remake – this time it's Twilight Princess HD. It was getting the same HD treatment that Wind Waker had
gotten previously. Personally, since the Wii U was the most current console, and
the Wii was still ubiquitous, I thought it odd to remake something that was so
recently released. I would have thought it more wise to update FSA, since it
can’t be played on modern equipment (every other Zelda game could either be
played on the 3DS or Wii U Virtual console at the time). But the result was
beautiful. They didn’t update any music (which was already great), animations,
or polygon count. The only real update was quality and resolution of the
textures and the ability to connect it to an HDTV via HDMI. It also included the
ability to play it like the GameCube – the non-mirrored map and without motion
controls. It also had a new dungeon and the ability to accept amiibo. In a way,
it’s very similar to the DX remake of Link’s Awakening, but now I had the
disposable income to get it even if it wasn’t as big of an upgrade. One
additional perk was that it was promised that the Wolf Link amiibo (that was
included) would be usable in the next Zelda game.
Early in the Summer of 2016, we got word that my brother’s
family would be moving, and I got the idea of buying my nephew a copy of
Tri-Force heroes that we could play online occasionally. The idea was to set up
regular times to play with him, but it hasn’t really turned out that way. Oh
well.
In the year leading to the next game release, Anne completed
several Zelda games, something she hadn’t really done since we were first
married. Before Avery came along, she finished ALttP, LA, OoT, and got about
halfway through MM. Later she finished WW but has been too busy with life to do
much in the way of gaming. But having her own 3DS has helped because she
doesn’t have to wait for a turn on the TV or someone’s handheld. She completed
PH and ST with me so we could trade items, making the games more fun. She’s
finished the Oracle series, ALBW, and gone back to the classics and just completed Zelda 1 & 2 with copious use of Save States.
Nintendo announced that the next Zelda game would be
simultaneously released on the Wii U and their new console, known as the NX at
the time. It was very similar to the release of the Wii, when a new Zelda game
debuted with a new system while also being released on the previous console. I
had planned on getting the Wii U version so I didn’t feel obligated to buy a new
system, originally. But after seeing the Switch presentation in February, I
decided to get a Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The next
day I stopped by GameStop on the way home from work and pre-ordered a Switch.
Avery also ended up getting his own Switch and copy of the game after waiting
in line for 8 hours on launch day.
I absolutely loved the new direction of this game. Having
such a huge world to explore and little direction spoke to one of the main
reasons I loved the series. I know that it is good practice to have a notebook
(or something) to keep track of side quests or other notes to go back and
investigate an area after a new item is obtained in these kinds of games, but I
usually don’t because I like just trying to remember everything. However, this
game kept track of most major things automatically.
I’m not ashamed to
admit that I spent over 625 hours on the game (the Switch keeps track of it for
me) finding every secret and unlocking every item. At that point, if I had
divided out the cost of the system and game by how much time I put into it, it
would have been about $0.61 per hour of play. It’s hard to beat that kind of
value on enthralling entertainment. The best part of the Switch was that I
could take it with me and play Zelda whenever I have free time.
Within a week of getting the new system and the game, I got
a Zelda themed case to hold the Switch, as did Avery. I felt like I was set,
until I went to the next 3DS Meetup. There I got to use the amiibo someone had
brought, and I realized that there were a lot of unlockable items that I couldn’t
get without owning 1 of every kind of Zelda related amiibo. I didn’t want to
spend the $400 it would probably take to find all of them online (especially in
light of the fact that I had just spent that much on a new system, game, and
case). But I found a cheaper alternative that let me unlock everything I wanted
– NFC215 Tags - the chips that are in the base of the amiibo figurines. Using my phone with a new app, a
bunch of NFC215 tags I bought online for around $0.85 each, and some files I
downloaded, I was able to spoof some amiibo. I printed out pictures on cards so
I can tell them apart. So now I effectively have one of every Zelda related amiibo, as well as many of the Mario series and other characters I’m
particularly fond of. Later I converted the individual tags to laminated cards (the same size as a standard deck of cards), each with 2 NFC tags in the corners.
A few days before the Switch and BotW came out, I got a book
called The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts. It was the second book in the
series began by Hyrule Historia. It’s mostly the official artwork and a few
pre-production sketches for all of the games so far. Like Hyrule Historia, it’s
a beautiful book and I look forward to the third one coming out in 2018.
Something I had known about but didn’t look into all that
much were 3 Zelda games I had never played before. No, not those CDi monstrosities, but the BS-X games. They were only playable if you a) lived in
Japan in the mid 90’s, b) owned a SNES, c) also owned a Satelliview add-on, d)
had a subscription to the world’s first satellite radio service, and e) were
free for about an hour on particular nights. I only qualified for categories B
and E.
Anyway, the basic gist is that the games were sent via
satellite radio (sorta like the 90’s version of wifi) and were only playable
for 1 hour a week. The first game, called BS-The Legend of Zelda (Map1), which
was basically Zelda 1 but with a slightly remixed and shrunk overworld, and all
new dungeons. Also, you didn’t play as Link, but as either the Boy or Girl
avatar from the BS-X system menu. But the biggest twist is that actual audio of
“the Old Man” was broadcast over the game with updates and hints, coinciding
with timed temporary buffs (like unlimited bombs). Each week had specific
goals, like getting 2 Triforce pieces and finding a certain number of heart
containers. 
Some time later, Nintendo released a Map2 version with a
very different overworld and 8 new dungeons (which spelled out NINTENDO, sorta like how Zelda 1's Second Quest's dungeons spelled out ZELDA), but otherwise was pretty similar
in concept. They also released A Link to
the Past (with no changes or time limits) over this same system for those who hadn't bought the
game 6 years earlier.
Thankfully some nice people in Japan were able to save the
ROMs and release them to the web, and hackers have more or less pieced them
back together. In my post-BotW lull of Zelda, I decided to play through these
on emulators. As I suspected, I wasn’t missing much in the way of Zelda
lore/story but they were fun to play through. Unfortunately they can’t recreate
the exact game, but have done the best they can. But with a little imagination, it's not hard to fill in the gaps to get a sense of what it would have been like back when it was live, and it helps if you see an actual VHS recording of it.
Here’s a small chart detailing
the differences between the original broadcast and the hacked ROMs.
BS Zeldas |
ROM Hacks |
Players already have an Avatar in the Town whose name was stolen (kinda like
a Mii, but the only customization choice is boy or girl).
|
Players must go through a registration screen not unlike the LoZ and
AoL name registrations with the added task of picking boy or girl.
|
Players can walk around the town and go into the tent where there’s
an entrance to BS-LoZ, and are treated to a scene that looks like it’s from
Mario RPG.
|
The ROM just shows static pictures of these events.
|
While the game is loading, information about the history of the Zelda
series is read aloud, and Zelda herself (voice actor) asks you for help.
|
While the game is loading, information about the history of the Zelda
series is printed on screen, as well as a written plea from Zelda to save
her.
|
During the 50 minutes of playtime, pre-recorded and remixed versions
of Zelda music are played. The songs are played in full regardless of whether
the player is in the overworld or a dungeon, similar to how listening to an FM radio broadcasting music while playing won’t affect the in-game music.
|
While playing upgraded versions of the music from LoZ is played and
is functionally no different than playing the LoZ.
|
Throughout the game the Old Man will communicate with the player. A
message saying “Open your Ears” will appear (in Japanese, obviously) and then
his voice can be heard telling the player about a temporary feature like
unlimited bombs.
|
Throughout the game, the Old man will communicate with the player. A
screen of text will appear on the screen (in English) with a translation of
what he said.
|
A second voice giving general tips and hints, like what each button
does, can be heard throughout the broadcast.
|
Not present in the ROM.
|
When time is up, your score and progress is shown and then a reminder
to play next week is shown.
|
When time is up, your score and progress is shown, and then there’s a
prompt to continue to the next chapter of the game. In AST, you must migrate a file to play the next chapter
|
A VHS recording of an original playthrough for reference. |
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