This is a series I am starting on the philosophical viewpoints that the Legend of Zelda video game series can bring to the table. Whether you are a fan or not of the series, I will be going over the emotion, experience and thoughts of the series, as well as going over slave morality and ludus and paidia play of the games.
This is just an introductory video to the series and to get you familiar to the series and what it encompasses.
Transcribed from video:
This is a philosophical study of the theories presented in the Legend of Zelda series. This does not necessarily present my own beliefs, nor am I forcing these beliefs on anyone watching. Please do not start any religious arguments or cause a flame war. Comments will be deleted if that happens.
Discuss only that which is relevant to the video. Thank you.
This series is based on the excellent book the Legend of Zelda and Philosophy. This is a fan's attempt to take the somewhat confusing language of the book and make it understandable on a basic level.
One of the most popular franchises to date is the Legend of Zelda. Beginning with the original Legend of Zelda and continuing on to Spirit Tracks and beyond, the tale of Link is familiar to any gamer--a kid or adult named Link is on a quest to rescue Princess Zelda, and reunite the Triforce to save the land of Hyrule.
Of course, the fact that the storyline, enemies, characters, and music change slightly with each game is part of the fun. The Zelda franchise has become a cultural wellspring. Forget just video games, Zelda is huge. From cartoon shows in the 80's (which some would like to forget), to present-day comedic skits on YouTube, the franchise is prolific.
Calling yourself a gamer requires at least a passing knowledge of Zelda. There are entire websites devoted to Zelda and nothing but. Many of these have sections for dungeon guides, timeline theories, item listings, walk-throughs, forums, ringtones, game art, and much more. There are official comic books, fan comics, webcomics, and the Zelda music has been translated on just about every instrument.
But beyond all that, the original gold-plated Nintendo cartridge has sentimental value for all of us. It marks the beginning of a saga--or perhaps our childhood. While your love for Zelda might not have landed you a date (unless it was another gamer, like I found), it did give you a chance to take Link on an adventure through the fantastic world of Hyrule.
The exact reason that the gamer can guide Link is one of the reasons why Zelda is so ripe for philosophical speculation. A movie-goer cannot guide Luke Skywalker--he can only sit back and hope Luke doesn't give into Vader or the Dark Side. Despite having some fixed elements, a Zelda game is not entirely out of the gamer's control. The gamer plays the game as Link, and is not a passive observer.
Zelda does something for you that you may not even realize. Many of you, I'm sure, know that feeling of finally understanding something; of struggling and struggling to no avail, until, lo and behold, everything becomes clear.
It's like the puzzle has settled into your brain, and you can just sit back and admire the beauty of it, and you know the struggle was worth it. There's a difference between looking something up in a manual, and then finally getting it yourself. What is important here is that you go from knowing the answer, to figuring out the answer AND knowing it.
That point when you finally see something is the case, is called the "Aha" feeling.
In most of the games, the gamer has to struggle through dungeons, solve difficult puzzles, and defeat tough enemies. Towards the end, he often encounters a secret room with a special item like the raft, silver items, or hookshot, etc... When you get the item, and those four familiar notes ring out, it can be seen the gamer is being rewarded for his struggle. The gamer feels a sense of gratification, accomplishment, or the "aha!" feeling.
Join me in Part Two as I discuss "Why We Care About the Princess".
In the year 2000, following the success of the big hit, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Nintendo pushed out a title called The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, a direct sequel to the story of the Hero of Time. The game used the same engine as Ocarina of Time, retaining the concept of dungeon and over world exploration, but added in a whole lot of character development, massive amounts of side quests, and a time system. Because the developers used the same game engine and graphics of Ocarina, Majora’s Mask took only 18 months to complete, which is pretty good for a Zelda title, which can take 3-6 years to complete on average.
What is staggering about this game is the sheer amount of gameplay. While Ocarina of Time was decidedly linear, Majora’s Mask has the ability to let you skip around a bit. Now, it’s not anything like Morrowind, but coming from the somewhat linear storyline of Ocarina, it’s a nice change of pace.
Majora’s Mask was first named Zelda Gaiden, which, in rough translation, is Zelda Sidestory. Interestingly enough, in the year 1999, Famitsu released a statement saying that the long-planned Zelda expansion for the 64DD was underway in Japan. This is what was originally planned for Ocarina of Time, but never came to fruition. This was called Ura Zelda, and was supposed to expand Ocarina’s levels and designs. However, since the 64DD never took off, this would later be released as Ocarina of Time: Master Quest, which was bundled with the original Ocarina for the Nintendo GameCube and could be gotten with a preorder of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.
Screenshots were finally released, and you could see the familiar elements that Majora’s Mask still has in it. Finally, Nintendo released the finished product in March of 2000. Majora’s Mask requires the use of the 4MB Expansion Pack, which enabled greater draw distances (the amount of land you see on the screen at one time), more accurate and dynamic lighting, detailed textures, and complex frame buffer effects, such as motion blur, plus allowing more characters on the screen. Building interiors are also rendered in real-time, unlike the fixed 3D feature in Ocarina, which some critics called “blurry”.
Now that we have the technical side, let’s talk about the storyline.
This is the first Zelda to really have a rather dark tone in it, which many fans didn’t like. They were used to the neutral tones of the stories, not really having a dark or a light side to it (not counting the obvious dark/light tones of A Link to the Past). This Zelda title became the black sheep of the series.
The game is set in Termina, a parallel universe to Hyrule. There are tons of speculations on what exactly Termina is when compared to Hyrule, which can encompass a whole article on it’s own. I have plans to make that article too, and it will be a series concentrating on the philosophy side of the Zelda series. But for the sake of brevity here, we can just refer to Termina as an alternate Hyrule.
Termina, according to legend, was split into five areas by four magical Guardians that live in the compass points of the land. At the center of all this lies Clock Town, which boasts a large Clock Tower that counts down the days until the Carnival of Time, a major festival each year in the land.
The game starts out with Link riding through a forest, presumed to be the Lost Woods (once again, speculation--it is never actually revealed). He is searching for an unnamed friend (Navi, the fairy helper from the first game, some like to think), when a character named Skull Kid and his partner fairies, Tatl and Tael, steal Epona (Link’s horse), and the Ocarina of Time from Link. Naturally, this makes Link a bit cheesed off with Skull Kid, and proceeds to chase the thief through the forest. One transformation later, and you and Link are thrust into a strange world filled with familiar people.
Oh, and you have a time limit.
Three days to be exact, which takes up 54 minutes in real-time. There is an on-screen clock where you can track your progress, and once you get the Ocarina of Time back from Skull Kid, you can turn time back to the first day, thus forcing you into the three-day cycle until you can save the world from it’s impending doom. What is this doom? Just look up. Yep, the moon is about to crash into the land.
You can’t have a good story without good gameplay, right? Some might argue that, but Majora’s Mask has both, so it’s a moot point. There are four main temples to beat in this game, which might sound a bit lax in the game play department, but never fear! The temples aren’t the point of this game anyway. Masks and side quests are the name of the game this time. Masks are obtained in side quests, which are usually integral to the game, as well as outlining major character development.
There are three main masks you can get which changes your appearance and abilities: Deku Scrub, Goron, and Zora. In later temples of the game, you can use these masks to combine your powers to finish an area. Songs also play an important part in Majora’s Mask. You can use songs you play on your ocarina to alter time, warp, awaken, heal, and change the weather. The ocarina usage is pretty much exact from it’s predecessor, Ocarina of Time.
So what’s bad about the game? Now, the good far outweighs the bad, but what is bad is annoying. Saving the game isn’t like the good ‘ol days of Ocarina of Time, where you could save anywhere you wanted. In Majora’s Mask, you have two choices. You can either save and return to the first day, or you can find checkpoints marked by a statue of an owl. When you save and return to the first day, you lose all collectable items like bombs, arrows, and everything you’ve done in a temple so far is reset.
If you don’t want to do that, you can save at an owl statue, and when you turn the game back on, it’ll start you right back where you left off. The trick is you have to turn back time again once you’ve completed your objectives for that cycle, or else you’ll have to save at the owl statue.
Sound complicated? It is. It’s a glaring flaw in an otherwise great game, but we have it better than the Japanese version of the game, which doesn’t even have the owl statues.
The other thing that might cause people to shy away from this game are the side quests. Some people just aren’t side quest people, they like the main dungeons and overworld exploration. The world of Majora’s Mask is large, but when compared to Ocarina of Time it feels a bit cluttered and shoved into a too-small bag. Granted, there are lots more things to do, and the land doesn’t feel barren and empty, but it doesn’t have that grand, sweeping scale to it.
However, I can put this up to being part of the design. The very essence of Majora’s Mask makes you uncomfortable, and you never really feel at home in this strange world. This works brilliantly when combined with the claustrophobic feeling of the land design. If Majora’s Mask’s story was in Ocarina of Time’s over world, it would fall flat.
Summary:
Solid gameplay Developed storyline Impressive graphics for N64 Odd save system
You can obtain Majora’s Mask for the Nintendo 64, the GameCube Collectors Edition Disc, and Virtual Console on the Wii console in the Shop Channel.
Tasked with restoring an afflicted sapling to its former beauty, you bring it to life with a swirl of your paintbrush. The sapling bursts with light, a melody of soft pink flowers blooms on its young branches, and lush green meadows breathlessly sweep away the cursed countryside, returning vitality to the diseased landscape.
The story of the video game, Okami (Wii) is told through cinematic cut-scenes and a visual presentation designed to mimic the style of traditional Japanese artistry -- specifically woodcut and watercolor paintings. This unique look is complemented by cel-shaded graphics and the result is beautiful. The word picturesque accurately describes the setting as Amaterasu (main character's) runs through the spectacular, giant-sized locales, all seemingly straight out of a painting.
Compare this:
To this:
Indeed, the first one is an in-game screenshot of Okami, and the second is concept art for the game. They are both beautiful, aren't they?
Okay, let's head on over to my favorite place: Zelda.
In-game screenshot:
Concept art:
Yeah, it isn't as close as Okami is, but it is still portrayed nicely.
