Ocarina of Time introduces a 3D element to dungeon design while keeping many of the same elements as previous games. Dungeons feel less and less like series of rooms and more like real places. They have the most coherent themes we've seen so far, some of which appear in many dungeons through the rest of … Continue reading Ocarina of Time Dungeon Ranking

My (and very many others') first Zelda game, Ocarina of Time has a special place in my heart. From watching my neighbor playing it when I was a little kid, to playing it myself at 14, the game always sparked a sense of wander in me. It was the stuff of my dreams, a magical … Continue reading A Year of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Last year I wrote about Spooky Things in Non-Horror Games, and I wanted to give one of those, The Legend of Zelda its own expanded post this year (especially since I'm doing my Year of Zelda series). One of my favorite things about the Zelda series is that many of the games contain horror elements. … Continue reading Spooky Scary Stalfos Knights: Looking at Horror in The Legend of Zelda

This is the first game to have dungeons appear on my Top 20 Dungeons in the Zelda Series posts (although upon replay of A Link to the Past, I realized some of those needed to be on there). However, here I only considered them as they exist in the remake, and things are slightly shifted … Continue reading Link’s Awakening Dungeon Ranking

Forget Zelda, forget Ganon, forget the triforce. Link's Awakening throw aways the barely established Zelda storyline in favor of a more whimsical adventure, and even features characters from the Mario games. It reminds me of Majora's Mask in a way, straying from tradition and giving a more unique Zelda experience, albeit one that I don't … Continue reading A Year of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Last week I talked about A Link to the Past, and this week I'm ranking the dungeons. I think this is where my puzzle bias will start to show through in my dungeon rankings. I tend to prefer challenging puzzles over tough enemies, and I'm not a huge fan of 'defeat enemies to get to … Continue reading A Link to the Past Dungeon Ranking

Look at that stained glass After playing The Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past feels like a gigantic leap forward. The game opens on a stormy night, very different from many of the series's bright, cheery openings (also hey, we have weather in Zelda now). You're instantly treated to … Continue reading A Year of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Adventure of Link dungeons were actually much easier to rank than I thought. They're a bit more distinct than the original's, with different features like hidden walls, floors you can fall through, and various obstacles to get around. They also have a lot going on between dungeons, many of them require the previous dungeon's … Continue reading Adventure of Link Dungeon Ranking

What a game. A challenge from beginning to end, Adventure of Link never gave me a breather. I couldn't have done it without the Switch rewind feature (thanks Nintendo). This game might always be my least favorite in the Zelda series, but I like to think that if I spent enough time practicing combat, I … Continue reading A Year of Zelda: Adventure of Link

This week, Nintendo dropped a surprise announcement for a new Hyrule Warriors game set during the war 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild. And after announcing three dlc packs for Cadence of Hyrule a couple months ago, they just announced that the third, Symphony of the Mask, would be coming out … Continue reading Zelda 2020: Age of Calamity and Cadence of Hyrule DLC