As a few of you know, I never had a gamecube. Verily, I skipped right from N64 to Wii due to my losing interest in video games for a time. However, thanks to backward compatibility, I'm able to play a few of those gamecube titles that I missed.
One of those titles is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. On the Zelda forums, I had heard some bad things about The Wind Waker, and honestly had pretty low expectations as I stuck the game into my Wii. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the game's colorful atmosphere. Then, I was a little disappointed by some of the cartoony happenings (Link walking with a barrel for camouflage).
Anyway, after finishing the Forsaken Fortress, I arrived on Windfall Island for the first time. Now this is a good town. For Zelda standards, it's densely populated and there is a lot going on. It's like something out of Majora's Mask. I want to explore this area, as well as play a few more games of Battleship! lol.
So, while I wish they'd keep the action at least semi-realistic, I'm pretty impressed with The Wind Waker so far. I need to get a gamecube memory card so I can play more of the game though. Tomorrow I suppose..
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Hylian Archetypes
According to Wikipedia, Archetypes are, according to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, innate universal psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic symbols or representations of unconscious experience emerge.
Translation: Archetypes are the way we feel about certain people and ideas of people.
Almost as if by design, Zelda seems to contain a lot of archetypal images: Namely all of them. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I thought I'd take a moment to point out some of the literary archetypes present in Zelda.
The Old Man: The Old Man in LoZ and the Old Men in AoL are just that, wise old men. All stories of this nature have the Old Man.
The Old Woman: She gets her most obvious play in LoZ, but the Old Woman appears again in AoL, Alttp, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess if I'm not mistaken.
The Damsel/Maiden: Princess Zelda of course. The Maiden makes a second appearance in Alttp as the other six maidens, all of which Link saves: "Because of you Link, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters! Thank you!" Other damsels of note include Malon, Marin, and Anju.
The Hero: Link is invariably the Hero. However, he's more than a hero. His recurring nature through time and space extends him into messiah territory. Everyone needs to be saved by Link, because he's the only one that can save them.
The Trickster: Ganondorf. He almost always uses deception and slight of hand tricks to attain the Triforce.
The Devil: Related to Ganondorf is his near-deified form, Ganon. Corrupted by his newfound power, he becomes more than a mere trickster. He becomes a supernatural beast.
Most characters in Zelda are some kind of archetypal image, and it's nice to think about. I sometimes think that the same character conceptions (in all literature) are being placed into scenarios again and again.
Translation: Archetypes are the way we feel about certain people and ideas of people.
Almost as if by design, Zelda seems to contain a lot of archetypal images: Namely all of them. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I thought I'd take a moment to point out some of the literary archetypes present in Zelda.
The Old Man: The Old Man in LoZ and the Old Men in AoL are just that, wise old men. All stories of this nature have the Old Man.
The Old Woman: She gets her most obvious play in LoZ, but the Old Woman appears again in AoL, Alttp, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess if I'm not mistaken.
The Damsel/Maiden: Princess Zelda of course. The Maiden makes a second appearance in Alttp as the other six maidens, all of which Link saves: "Because of you Link, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters! Thank you!" Other damsels of note include Malon, Marin, and Anju.
The Hero: Link is invariably the Hero. However, he's more than a hero. His recurring nature through time and space extends him into messiah territory. Everyone needs to be saved by Link, because he's the only one that can save them.
The Trickster: Ganondorf. He almost always uses deception and slight of hand tricks to attain the Triforce.
The Devil: Related to Ganondorf is his near-deified form, Ganon. Corrupted by his newfound power, he becomes more than a mere trickster. He becomes a supernatural beast.
Most characters in Zelda are some kind of archetypal image, and it's nice to think about. I sometimes think that the same character conceptions (in all literature) are being placed into scenarios again and again.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Lousy Reality!
So, Capital One briefly restricted my credit card earlier. I called them, found out they thought my recent purchases were "suspicious" in nature, and got the card reactivated. No big deal, other than the fact that I'm going to have to wing it another night at Pizza Hut without GPS.
I got terribly lost last night, but I'm usually pretty good with directions. This won't happen again. Hopefully... but just like Link would, I'm going to keep going even though the path is frustrating and hard. He's a helluva role model, no?
Related to this post, I tried to get the Zelda: The Wind Waker on ebay. I scored a good deal for 9 bucks with shipping. Hopefully that went through before Capital One decided to restrict everything. Otherwise, Imma have to wrangle me down an ebay seller! lol.
I got terribly lost last night, but I'm usually pretty good with directions. This won't happen again. Hopefully... but just like Link would, I'm going to keep going even though the path is frustrating and hard. He's a helluva role model, no?
Related to this post, I tried to get the Zelda: The Wind Waker on ebay. I scored a good deal for 9 bucks with shipping. Hopefully that went through before Capital One decided to restrict everything. Otherwise, Imma have to wrangle me down an ebay seller! lol.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A place called Shambhala
Shambhala is a (likely mythical) place that only awakened individuals can enter in Tibetan Buddhism. It apparently exists somewhere just beyond the Himalayas. People spend their entire lives seeking this "Sacred Realm". Interestingly, Shambhala seems to be a kingdom centered around a pyramid. Check it out.
In A Link to the Past's backstory, we hear about the Golden Land (which is later termed the Sacred Realm). People spend their entire lives trying to get into the Golden Land, and those that try never return. The Golden Land, wherever it is, seems to exist just out of the sight of everyone. And, as you know, Ganon's corrupted Golden Land, the Dark World, has a pyramid at the center.
Caughtcha Mr. Miyamoto! I don't think there's any doubt that Shambhala influenced the idea of the Sacred Realm.
In A Link to the Past's backstory, we hear about the Golden Land (which is later termed the Sacred Realm). People spend their entire lives trying to get into the Golden Land, and those that try never return. The Golden Land, wherever it is, seems to exist just out of the sight of everyone. And, as you know, Ganon's corrupted Golden Land, the Dark World, has a pyramid at the center.
Caughtcha Mr. Miyamoto! I don't think there's any doubt that Shambhala influenced the idea of the Sacred Realm.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Swindled!
Yes, that whole Zelda faith thing was a fraud! Can you believe it? I thought someone had done something bold, taking current concepts of religiosity to the limits. But noooo.. it's a marketing scheme. Bullshit!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Games of the Future
To be perfectly frankt, I think that the Wii Motion Plus, Kinect, and the PlayStation Move are all incredibly unattractive interfaces. Let's hope the future of interactive gaming gets better than this current line of unintuitive, bulky, crap. With that thought in mind, I wanted to reflect on a couple of ideas I've heard mentioned.
Trance Based Gaming: Ever seen the movie Brainscan? In this film, the protagonist orders a revolutionary new type of "video game". The game puts the player in a hypnotic trance, causing them to lose the true perception of reality. The player takes cues from the game and creates the entire plot within his or her mind.
Is this plausible? I'm no expert on hypnosis or trances for that matter, but a product that could tap into the imaginative power of the human mind could usher a revolution in gaming. This would be difficult to perfect, and would likely never work for most individuals. Not everyone is a good candidate for hypnosis alas.
Brain Downloads: I think the title says it all. You download a game into your mind via microchip implant, close your eyes, and experience everything first hand. This could and probably will happen. Who knows? We may even live to see it. I don't care if I'm 80 and halfway senile; if they make Zelda: Implant Edition, I'll buy the stuff!
Virtual Boy Zomg I don't care that the thing only had two colors. This was a far more impressive idea than the WiiWii. Nintendo had the right idea, but ditched in the trash along with Gyromite the Robot (which, unrelated, should get a Wii debut). Nintendo or some other company should give true first person gaming another chance. I want Zelda goggles damn it! And while they're at it, they should add in the 80s style boxing gloves. Yeah, that's the future! They can actually do this stuff now.
Perhaps an ideal similar to an improved Virtual Boy will be our transition to Brain Downloads. I hope so.
Trance Based Gaming: Ever seen the movie Brainscan? In this film, the protagonist orders a revolutionary new type of "video game". The game puts the player in a hypnotic trance, causing them to lose the true perception of reality. The player takes cues from the game and creates the entire plot within his or her mind.
Is this plausible? I'm no expert on hypnosis or trances for that matter, but a product that could tap into the imaginative power of the human mind could usher a revolution in gaming. This would be difficult to perfect, and would likely never work for most individuals. Not everyone is a good candidate for hypnosis alas.
Brain Downloads: I think the title says it all. You download a game into your mind via microchip implant, close your eyes, and experience everything first hand. This could and probably will happen. Who knows? We may even live to see it. I don't care if I'm 80 and halfway senile; if they make Zelda: Implant Edition, I'll buy the stuff!
Virtual Boy Zomg I don't care that the thing only had two colors. This was a far more impressive idea than the WiiWii. Nintendo had the right idea, but ditched in the trash along with Gyromite the Robot (which, unrelated, should get a Wii debut). Nintendo or some other company should give true first person gaming another chance. I want Zelda goggles damn it! And while they're at it, they should add in the 80s style boxing gloves. Yeah, that's the future! They can actually do this stuff now.
Perhaps an ideal similar to an improved Virtual Boy will be our transition to Brain Downloads. I hope so.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Dragon Worship and Crescent Shields
I've got a job now and can devote the remainder of my unemployed time to Zelda. That's wondiferous, as Mike Tyson might say. Without any further ado...
As many of you Zelda-ites know, Ocarina of Time had two major modifications made to it in the later versions: Namely, the Crescent Shield (the crescent moon next to a star is a symbol of Islam), and the volcano music that implored everyone to worship Volvagia the revived dragon. Nintendo took this stuff out due to politically correct mumbo jumbo, and it was not cool.
Who cares if Link has a Muslim shield? I don't. That shield kicked ass, and us Zelda-ites should demand its return to the VC version! lol.. well, not really. But still, the Crescent styled Mirror Shield will forever own the bs version. Look:
Anyway, that's a small issue. What really grinds my gears is the fact that they did away with Goron dragon worship. That was great! Here's a link to the old Fire Temple melody.
Old Version
Many listeners swear the chanting says:
"Volvagia Volvagia! All fall down!"
I don't know about that, but I like to think so. Nintendo should've kept it in there, as opposed to replacing it with this chantless remix of the same melody.
New Version
Bring it back Nintendo! Do what's righteous! Tell those protesters that Zelda rules and they need to STFU! :)
As many of you Zelda-ites know, Ocarina of Time had two major modifications made to it in the later versions: Namely, the Crescent Shield (the crescent moon next to a star is a symbol of Islam), and the volcano music that implored everyone to worship Volvagia the revived dragon. Nintendo took this stuff out due to politically correct mumbo jumbo, and it was not cool.
Who cares if Link has a Muslim shield? I don't. That shield kicked ass, and us Zelda-ites should demand its return to the VC version! lol.. well, not really. But still, the Crescent styled Mirror Shield will forever own the bs version. Look:
Crescent Mirror Shield  | Bullshit Mirror Shield  |
Anyway, that's a small issue. What really grinds my gears is the fact that they did away with Goron dragon worship. That was great! Here's a link to the old Fire Temple melody.
Old Version
Many listeners swear the chanting says:
"Volvagia Volvagia! All fall down!"
I don't know about that, but I like to think so. Nintendo should've kept it in there, as opposed to replacing it with this chantless remix of the same melody.
New Version
Bring it back Nintendo! Do what's righteous! Tell those protesters that Zelda rules and they need to STFU! :)
Oh, the good, but not so old, days.
Within the context of Zelda, my good ole days were playing A Link to the Past as a kid. I was a teen when Ocarina of Time came out, but I definitely loved every minute of that game. I played it seven or eight times before finally giving it a rest.
Yesterday, I decided to start playing Ocarina of Time again. It has been at least five years since I've done so. Man, I've gotten rusty. But how? Majora's Mask is just like Ocarina of Time, and it's only been a couple of weeks since I've played that. Some of it has to do with Link's variations in movement/attacking within the two games. They look similar, but MM Link cannot jump as far as OoT Link. Also, their slight difference in height adds more for adjustments. Because of this stuff, those deku babas are eating me alive: literally!
I just noticed something which should have been obvious to me on all the previous playthroughs of this game.. the Temple of Light is almost certainly the same building that you kill Ganon in during A Link to the Past. It's in the center of the Sacred Realm and contains the Triforce. I can't believe I never caught that!
Another thing that I had never noticed. The main motif to the traditional Zelda theme is actually in the Hyrule Field theme.
I still suck at that obstacle course on Lon Lon Ranch. 49 seconds is the best time I can get.
Furthermore, this is the first time that I've actually paid attention to the subtext of Sheik's dialogue. He/She is a fairly interesting character.
Anyway, I'm in the Forest Temple now, which I really think is the most challenging dungeon in the whole game... I always get forget what to do. lol. I'll make another post similar to this one after I beat a few more dungeons.
Yesterday, I decided to start playing Ocarina of Time again. It has been at least five years since I've done so. Man, I've gotten rusty. But how? Majora's Mask is just like Ocarina of Time, and it's only been a couple of weeks since I've played that. Some of it has to do with Link's variations in movement/attacking within the two games. They look similar, but MM Link cannot jump as far as OoT Link. Also, their slight difference in height adds more for adjustments. Because of this stuff, those deku babas are eating me alive: literally!
I just noticed something which should have been obvious to me on all the previous playthroughs of this game.. the Temple of Light is almost certainly the same building that you kill Ganon in during A Link to the Past. It's in the center of the Sacred Realm and contains the Triforce. I can't believe I never caught that!
Another thing that I had never noticed. The main motif to the traditional Zelda theme is actually in the Hyrule Field theme.
I still suck at that obstacle course on Lon Lon Ranch. 49 seconds is the best time I can get.
Furthermore, this is the first time that I've actually paid attention to the subtext of Sheik's dialogue. He/She is a fairly interesting character.
Anyway, I'm in the Forest Temple now, which I really think is the most challenging dungeon in the whole game... I always get forget what to do. lol. I'll make another post similar to this one after I beat a few more dungeons.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)