Category: Culture

I played: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, originally released in the U.S. on the Nintendo 64 in October 2000. It's a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, borrowing many of that game's assets (e.g. background character models, music, etc.) but introducing a dramatically different narrative structure and melancholic tone that helped it become a… Continue reading “It may be my undoing”

I played: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was released on the Nintendo 64 in the U.S. in 1998. It's widely recognized as one of the best video games of all time—as of this writing, it's the top-ranked game on Metacritic—and pioneered a number of design elements that became normative for other three-dimensional… Continue reading “A person like me”

I played: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, released in the U.S. in 1998. It's a color-upgraded version of the original Link's Awakening released in 1993. It's beloved by fans for its quirky humor and melancholy story, beloved enough that it was remade for the Switch in 2019. The first time I played it:… Continue reading “…Nostalgia… …unchanged… …boo hoo…”

I played: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, released in the U.S. in 1992, soon after my third birthday. As the third game in the series, it's a massive step forward for the franchise, frequently appearing in "Best Video Games of All Time" lists and ranking high on many Zelda diehards' ranking… Continue reading “This is all I can give you”

In 2021 I decided to play all the games in the Legend of Zelda series, primarily for fun, and secondarily as a reflective exercise. Ever since I played Ocarina of Time in 1999, the series has been beloved to me, occasionally an obsession. I thought playing through the 18-or-so main series games in chronological order… Continue reading What I talk about when I talk about Zelda

I played: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, released in the U.S. late in 1988, just a few months before I was born. It's a direct sequel to The Hyrule Fantasy and one of the least-loved games in the Legend of Zelda series (more on that below), though evidently it was well received when it… Continue reading “Thanks a million.”

I played: The Legend of Zelda, released in the U.S. on the NES in 1987, two years before I was released, i.e., born. It's the first in the series and one of the most beloved and recognizable games of all time. Evidently the complete Japanese title is The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda, which… Continue reading “Go to the next room”