Episode 42: The Legend of Zelda Franchise

Maud Garrett. Okay, hey you, I asked. So we're talking about Legend of Zelda, and you not only have a tattoo right I'm looking at it right now, but your dog's name is Zelda. Yeah. But I I like this game, well, I like this franchise. I particularly like one game. There's a lot of history with this game and myself. But yeah, I look at into it. It's like, there's a lot

of reasons why this is really powerful. But the trifloced tattoo on my finger here represents power, courage, and wisdom, and I kind of think and the reasoning behind it is that you can't just have one. You need all of them to have that complete harmony. And I can't of really dig that. So I got that tattoo because I believed in it, and it's so funny how many people think it's the illuminati. It's an instant way to kind of know who I want to have a conversation

with and I never want to speak to again. Is that the Is that the illuminate? And I'm like, well, it's the illumin naughty and off I go. And I called my dog's elder, so I wouldn't call my daughter's elda. That's so funny. That's why I call in a different way. But that's why I called Molly my dog Molly because I don't know why, but back when I was when I got her, when I was eighteen, I wanted my daughter to be named Maddie and I was like, well,

I can't call her Maddie, so I'll call her Molly. Yeah, it works. So I called my dog Zelda because I rescued a princess. Wow. Wow, mad is very proud of herself. You can't see it. It's funny because I listened to the read and kid furious dog name is Link. So oh, y'all need to get together. He's the missing link. Yeah, waiting waiting a come together. But I like this selder in this franchise because she's the one princess that doesn't necessarily need to be rescued. She kind of rescues herself

and she lays down some game plan as well. So she's a kick ass princess and I respect that. On the other hand, you know, you cookie, she can pull her weight sometimes and Mario Kart's getting better. And then there was the Princess Peach series two, I mean not series, but one off game. Let me see what it was called, but she was she was I think in that one

she saves Mario like that switched it up. He gets followed by a toilet because he actually went to a job and did some Plus it was called Super Princess Peach, That's what it was, and it was it was a lot of people dug it, they should do it more. It was a d S game. Yeah, oh yeah, well excuse me, princess, because this is this we're talking about. Legend of Zelda. Yeah. For people that don't know, we're

just going to hop right into it. It is. The Legend of Zelda is an action adventure video game franchise created by Japanese game designers Sugaru Miamoto and Takahashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re releases have been outsourced to Capcom, Vampole and grizz Oh So. The series gameplay incorporates elements of action, adventure and puzzle solving games. Yeah and Uh.

The reason many people end up calling the main character Zelda instead of Link is because even though it is titled The Legend of Zelda, the series centers on Link, which is an alpha player character and most of the protagonists of most of the games. Link is often given the task of rescuing Princess Selda and the Uh in the Kingdom of High Rule from Gannon and evil warlord turned demon, who was the principal antagonist of the series.

But you know, in other settings there have been other antagonists. And if there's what was that one High Rule Adventures, I think where they team where you play uh and you team up, and I think you can play as Gannon. Right, we see the warriors, Yeah, that can slash that had absolutely no story premise. It was literally just enemies running at you and you were doing big moves. Oh yeah, getting it in a Selda game, because like you said

there there. I think that they're an adventure game first and foremost UM, and they do a great thing where there's an open, rich world and with high roll, but there's like little divisions through there, so fire amount or death Mountain m and then you've got um actual Hiral castle and you go into these little stages I guess you could say, and you sort of like travert your way through it and then unlock it and then you obtain an item or something that you needed to then

move on to the next thing. It's a pretty linear game, but I love the fact that it's it's got enough with story unlocking different dungeons, slash items and weapons, um, and then going through the main storyline and then having puzzles as well. And I'm looking with different songs and abilities. Guys. It's such a good game. But that's only one of them. What was your first introduction? Legend of zeld O Curator of Time eight, This cool cat going Nintendo CC four

for Christmas. And I started off that Christmas as a no one and I ended it as a someone. And that was the best thing that happened to me because I've got two older brothers and with any other console before that two controllers, so I was a professional spectator with four controllers whole man. I got involved and I didn't have to miss out. But of course Legend is the one player game. Um. I rented the game from the video store and I had one week to finish

this game. So with that you then buy the Nintendo magazine with the walkthroughs and hints and the guy that's so old school. I mean I was no I remember it but eleven when this was all happening, I was eleven, um, and it was like, you know, technically wasn't me. It was a blonde protagonist, but you know, from behind, yeah, kind of could be a girl. And I was like, yeah, I'm identifying here. It's got a little very cool. There's a princess. Awesome. But everything about this game is just

an over like wash of emotions. The soundtrack was beautiful, the vision like the look of it. This was when Nintendo sixty four was able to do the three D effect. Um, so like being able to run through the this this world of Hyrall was amazing. Um just I loved it.

I think it really is a perfect game. Yeah yeah, I mean one of the things is to uh is that Zelda is also a series one of the most convoluted storylines there is pre gain in there is uh there is a like if Link wins the Great Battle timeline, there's if Link loses the Battle timeline, and that's why

it spawns off. So it isn't even in any order, which I think also made it as enticing because that means that there wasn't an order you have to go back in, like, for example, a game like Valkyrie Chronicles where someone's like, oh, well, you gotta try one and then uh, then two, but three is a spinoff and you you gotta play four, but you can play four because it's a prequel and then go back and play one and two, or like Kingdom Hearts, where we've been

waiting longer than some people have lived for this U where like you could just pick up a zella for example, uh, the I'm currently playing Breath of the Wild. I'll never played Acarina of Time and the no I only played linked a Past, which is arguably the best uh Zelda in the franchise. UM. But then you have four Swords, which I did rock because that was right when I was like in high school, and so four Swords was the one where you could yeah and you link up

and you four people played the four split you link up. Okay, y'all are dorks, Yes I am, but yeah. So we would bring it into school and jack In and all of us would play and just try and get as far as we can. So that's that's it's it's it's so crazy because they're all like sometimes they connect, but it's all just the not not so much like Final Fantasy, where there's new characters every single time. This ins with having like the protagonist, the world, um, the Goddesses, I guess,

the Try Force and then Gannon um. But even the the graphics and the animation have been so different. I feel like there's only been sort of like two or three games at a time that have had like consistency, and then they just completely pivot and try something else. For me, like playing Oker in Time and then Majora's Mask going oh, I know what a Zelda game is, Now this is great, and then sitting down on the game Cube and playing Windwaker where it's in this different timeline.

I think it's like hundreds of years down the track after the big Battle of Hyrall with Lincoln Gannon and it's not even Zelda. Yeah, Tetra. What's crazy too is that has that caused like a lot of animosity just the design styles work. I didn't love some people like Skywoard Sword because it was a more realistic but then when you get into wind Waker, they're like, guess two cartoony. It was really kitty and the you know, I feel like the enemies were like want want walking around and

it just it felt it wasn't great. But then you get into it and the storyline and like unlocking a map through the ocean on this ship um and having like that grid formation was just so different to any other Zelda game that would say, And I was like, this is great. I really loved exploring this map um and being an adventurer like that. But you're right, like the animation, I was just like, I'm not loving it. And that's why I feel like Breath of the Wild is so great because it's got a little bit of

that cartoon in it, but it's still got that. Yeah, They've done a really good job of kind of like melding it all together. I wanted to talk about some of the how the original legend of Zelda came to be like some of the inspiration behind it. So Miamoto actually was inspired by his explorations as a young boy when he would go on the hillsides and forests and caves surrounding his childhood home um where he ventured into

forest with secluded lakes caves in rural villages. I actually this also does sound like my childhood where I would just take off for hours on end and disappear. Isn't that crazy that we used to do that? Yeah? I remember one time I did it with my friend. We went going, we went through the forest and then came back a few hours later. She got walloped by him mom because she was like, Hi, dare you go off? And my Mom's like, what did you get? What'd you get up to? What'd you say? I explored in this

poll girls and tears. Oh my gosh. I remember once like this kid. We were like hopping a fence and this kid like cut open his leg. It was like on these things that like you weren't supposed to do when you were younger. Another one was like this abandoned house that we went into, like we had a good chance of there being a haunted clown in there. That was going to eat us, you know, yeah, um So.

According to Miyamoto, one of his most memorable experiences was the discovery of a cave entrance in the middle of the woods. Look, this is how true detective starts. Okay um. Anyways, after some hesitation, he apprehensively entered the cave and explored its depth with the aid of a lantern. How long ago was this? Miamoto has referred to the creation of the Zelda games as an attempt to bring to life a minute your garden for players to play to play

with in each game of the series. And the name Zelda actually came from novelists f Scott Fitzgerald's wife, whose name is Zelda. So Miamoto thought the name sounded pleasant and significant, And that's f. Scott Fitzgerald of Great Gatsby Fame and many other books. Um, and so he paying tribute, he chose to name the princess after her, entitled it the Legend of Zelda. Uh. And then going on with what you said, Maud Link and the ferry, we're actually

inspired by Peter Pan and tinker Bell. So Miyamoto noted how at the time long ears made you think of Peter Pan and then you throw in the fact that he was also a Disney fan and the team ended up taking inspiration from those characters, so Takahashi to Zuka

created links design. Yeah, this is gonna be my just sidebar about Nintendo because Miomoto outside of Zelda, also has like a huge influence with He's Yeah, and what's interested interesting and cool about that is something you know, as like a long time gamer that has always stood out about Nintendo is the simple fact that they were They're never interested in having the best graphics, Like you know, that is like a very like Microsoft Sony Xbox versus

PS four contests who has the best graphics? Who's gonna be in there like an arms race? And Nintendo seems so focused on just what is the most fun and innovative way to play games? And you know, I will say like when the we came out compared to like you know, the PS three and and yeah, it seems so silly. But then you see where I tried to play Chronicle Chronicle what is it called on the Way,

and I was like, this is PlayStation two graphics. You don't go on the way to play something like that Chronicle. You go on there to play tennis, and that's what happened. There was so and and they and it was I don't know if you're remember, I think it was called I know, I'm not crazy. Yes, it was such a big deal when mad World came out for the Weed because it was their first M rated game, like years

after it came out. So Ninteno is very family focused, and so it's so interesting that Miyamoto is such a Disney fan because it seems like they have that similarity where like you know, in the arms Race of like you know, cool big robo movies and all this stuff. You know, they're their focus is just like family movies. And also they have the benefit of like having these other companies to accomplish that, like you know your mirrormax

is and now Marvel. But like it is interesting to see like a console that is focused on like family and innovation and doesn't need to do that you know, arms Race, And it's worked out for them we as well, we did on the Ninteno episode was one of the most like high selling consoles, you know, just simply because of what I shouldn't compete with something that they're never going to be. And I think that there's gamers come

in all shapes and sizes, ages, everything. You can't accommodate to the gamer without kind of like, you know, appealing to a family. You know, I think, I don't know one of my reasons why I don't think Star Wars is doing so well these days, because you have to appeal to an audience from five to fifty five or even old ninety five really, and I think that, yeah, you're right. Nintendo has just gone we're going to rock kids worlds, and we're going to make games as well

that adults really enjoy. So it's like you know, your Disney movies where everyone gets something out of it, but it's not necessarily about blood, gore and cool weapons. And I don't even necessarily think like that's a hit. Just the innovation. I mean, this is my last thing and we'll jump back to it, but just simply the switch is so innovative as a console, something that switches from a hand from a handheld to a console so seamlessly.

I was just talking about it with a couple of friends of just how crazy that is, how it does feel like the future. I was on an airplane playing Breath of the Wild. I haven't Breath of the Wild because that is my travel game. I'm not Yeah, I'm not rushing to beat it because it is my playing game. It's really good on a big screen. Oh oh no, I'll do it because I'll bring the dock with me to a hotel when I'm going to do like shows and other cities, and so then I dock it and

I'll play it. Uh So it's great. Um for people that don't know what Breath of the Wild is that are new to it, can you explain? Breath of the Wild is the latest expansion in the uh Legend of Zelda franchises, the one that came on the switch. It is the last Zelda game that was released, and it was extremely innovative because like Mantzet, it's a very linear game Legend of Zelda, and Breath of the Wild was open world for the first time, which you know, for

better or worse, the world works that way. There are certain things where there's like that open weather that changes and sometimes it will make it hard, so either you want to wait out the weather or you just go

do something else. Um. So, what Breath of the Wild really did that We've never seen an a Zelda game before is yes, the open world, but they borrowed off games like Assassin's Creed, Shadows of War or Shadow of Mortal where when you unlock the area, you go up of giant tower so you can scope out that space and then that's the region that you now have access to, rinse and repeat. But they still do have like the

main quest where you have to defeat areas. I don't know if I want to call them dungeons because they're not necessarily dungeons at all. The way we see dungeons is different than the ways that presented it to us because and this will dive into just a general understanding right before we get into characters, which is in Zelda, dungeons aren't something like Dark Souls where you fight your way to the bottom and you have to fight the big boss. There is a big boss. There are enemies.

But I think one of the key things about Zelda dungeons is there is that they're filled with puzzles and problem solving my goods. And that's also why I just never dive that hard into a Zelda series. Puzzles aren't my strong suit. Till this day, I haven't done an escape room because I don't need to be trapped in

there doing something I'm not good at. It's funny that you say that, because, like, I've dusted off the Nintendo sixty four, I never played Banjo Kazooe growing up, and then you know, getting into that, I'm like, wait, what that doesn't seem obvious to me? And I got the ex boyframe playing Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and I'm sitting there like the best thing ever, and I don't know what to do. I'm like, well, obviously there's a stick in the corner, and then you'll realize that

over there there's a light. Do you have to run all the way over there get the light? And then you'll notice way back in the corner that there's like a spider web over this cave that you couldn't even see. You've got to unlock it with the fire And he's like, I would never have got that ever. I hate when games are deceptively puzzle solving, Like I'm like, just let me know up front. I was playing this zombie game and I thought I was just trying to keep myself alive,

but nope, how to unlock all these things? Like, oh, that's but like I thought was just gonna shoot these zombies. I didn't realize that I was shooting these zombies, but also had to go into this room and put this key in this thing and then like make sure this bomb goes off at the Yeah, I know that happened. I finally unlocked it after like five tried, but it was just insane to Yeah, anyways, just be upfront puzzle games. Yeah, that's that's like, that's a familiar looking item that looks

like we saw it in the last room. Oh thank you, I'm gonna get back in the last That's how it is. In Breadth of Wild. You have these shrines and so they'll have puzzles, but then they have somewhere it's like a test or strength and it's just fighting and I'm like, thank you. They're the ones I sucked at them. Those are the ones that I'm like, I'm about to body

this dumb and get this. And then there's the one where it's like, oh, this was hard to get to shrines, so we're just gonna give you everything for free and you're like, oh, thank you. But you know that elephant, dude, I had to look online to beat that. There's no way I would have figured out any of those. It's

it's a whole thing. But I don't want to spoil the trunk in this giant m kind of elephant where the dungeon technically inside of it and the water levels changed, which is what a temple in Legend of Zelda, which is everyone's night man. Anyway, let's go into these main characters, because we've been a lot of these names, and you know, I think we can just jump right into it. As a matter of fact, we'll jump right into it after

these messages and welcome back. You know. I'm sorry I kind of sprung that break on as I was getting ready to say what these characters were. I looked behind us and I was like, it's about that time, so let's do it. But first and foremost, our main character, the name we keep saying the most is Link, which is the central protagonist of the Legend of Zelda, and it's the name of various young men who who wear a green tunic and pointed cap. I mean, we can

get into the various nous about this. I have the timeline up that we'll get into before we get into specific games. Because they're saying there's because it switches. But I mean it seems like it's well, we'll just I honestly, if when you said that, I thought you meant like people that have been um named that since the game came out, a bunch of nerds and their sons Link. It's true, there are a bunch of Links like a

comic con all, that's what I thought you meant. Yeah, But in most games, the player can give Link a different name before the start of the adventure, and he will be referred to by that name. Well, there was, like, wasn't there like a cheat if you call if you like named him Zelda, it like gave you some kind of bonus, like there that the naming system, especially in Link of Past, had like built in cheats within him, like based on certain names, you were able to do

certain things. I'll after when Danny's talking about Zelda, I'll find out which it is. But the various Links have a special titles such as Hero of Time, Hero of the Winds, the hero chosen by the gods, and like many silent protagonists in games, he doesn't speak, is like most main characters, which I think is the best way to get around like letting players like decide who they are.

In Destiny, your character, your player character never talked and that was the big reveal and forsaken is that they actually talked for the first time where they were like no, when you're like, oh yeah, but the thing is and like there is a bit of a metaphor here. A hero that cannot talk can only listen, and that's a powerful thing when you have a huge mission, you have

to listen to everything. Oh yeah, thank you dr And then he does make noises though he has some of the best voice I sing when it comes to yeah, hacking and slashing and if you leave the legend of Zelder of Time, if you don't touch a button for a while, who just stretches and it goes father love it. That reminds me of like Sonic when you're when he's like tapping his foot. Yeah yeah, yeah. So despite the

player not seeing the dialogue, it is record uh. It is referenced secondhand by in game characters, showing that he is not, in fact mute. Is just we don't get to see what we're talking about. Link is shown as a silent protagonist, so the audience is able to have their own thoughts as to how Link would answer they questions instead of him having scripted responses, which is nice.

That's why everyone loves him like everyone loves dogs. Because they can't speak, and if they always know what they're saying that if they did, I mean we we can't understand what they're saying. But if we did, we might not like some of the things they said, because we don't. They always say good things according to us. Yes, So moving on to Princess Zelda, who's the princess of high Rule and the guardian of the tri Force of Wisdom. Um,

how would you describe Zelda? I love of that? With these three main characters, Link, you protagonist, Zelda your she's not a sidekick, she's your I don't want to say quest either, but you know, the other standing important person, and then Gannon the evil guy, each has a shot of the triforce. So essentially this thing. Um, it's it's like I don't know your hare Crux says, when it all comes together goes down? Can I say that? Probably not?

Oh yeah, we'll bleep you thank you. Well. It's amazing, um, but it's it's great knowing that you, the protagonist, as Link, has the courage to do it. She has the wisdom, so you don't feel alone at all. And she's actually, even though she's not there, she's providing information. She's giving you clues or equipment or you know, a musical instrument that will actually help you on your journey. Yeah, I

was gonna say so. Her name is present in many of her female ancestors and descendants, while most games require a link to save Zelda from gain, and she sometimes plays a supporting role in battle like you were saying, using magical powers and weapons such as light arrows to aid link. With the exception of the CD I games, which were not official Nintendo games, she was not playable in the main series until Spirit Tracks, where she became a spirit and can possess a phantom Night that can

be controlled by the player. But it wasn't a huge deal in that. Yeah, it sounds like it's really cool. You get to play Zelda na. Yeah, you get the song at her and then she gets to control and like, what wasn't an inanimate object? Right? And uh and and so she also appears under various aliases like you were saying, um tetrah, So was that a because now I can't remember, was that a late. She was a descendant of Zelda. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

that's what I thought. Um, but essentially serving the same purpose. Yes, she was the Zelda right, yeah, protagonist we needed to be saved. Well, no, she's actually a like a swashbuckling pirate kind of thing. So she's like, I don't need anyone. But she's like, oh yeah, someone like way back in my great great great great grandmother or something used to do this thing with lingol blah blah blah, and it's like, oh, that's how you've tiled together. But they made her look

somewhat similar, sound and act very differently. Um, but still you know, not need any help in anything. I love, though. I do want to talk about chic and she appears I think in Super Smashed Brothers Melee as well. Um, so for ages, this chic person comes out once Zelda has been kidnapped or run away, and it looks like a man. I guess it's got to cover over their face. Um, it's really androgynous. And they come out to help link in when when you need it the most to move

on into the storyline. I love the fact that I didn't know this was elder. It's not very very clearly Zelda, and that androgynous kind of look behind it was really really fascinating. But you just realize again she has almost like subterfuge where she can completely transform and become another person and still be able to help and guide Link even though she's probably in like mortal danger of the entire time. She's She's awesome. Yea, and certain guy would Sword.

I have a gripe with sky would Sword. This is a game that came out on we after Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess was an amazing game, which was a lot grittier and feel, and it was a bit darker. Um. Skywood Sword was slightly more anime in its animation, but um they made Zelda a giggling, giggling little git and for the first time someone went, you know, she's a princess, Zelda, we should make her more like a princess. She was

so not my Zelda. I couldn't finish the game. She'd be like, oh, high Link, I'm going in here now. Oh I don't know if I could do that or if I should, And I was like, nah, not my Zelder. I was out anyway, not my Zelda. Do you answer that question? By the way of like putting in Zelda, I was right lucky me. So in the first legend of Zelda, if you entered in Zelda, um, it starts on the second quest immediately and links my truly, my truly, But like, wait, why is this harder? In links Awakening?

If you put in Zelda, it changes the music of the registration screen. So it's just like a cute little easter egg. Did you hear recently that, um, someone discovered an Easter egg? I believe in the very first one. And I think it happened only because it was hidden all this time. But if if you got the Nintendo Internet, uh, if he's paid for their internet service, they give you like a library of any s games, And I'm sure it was someone digging around in that and found it.

So for thirty two years, like can you imagine being the person who set that Easter egg? Just like, yeah, that person might not be alive. That is a very real thing. Unless it was me a Motto himself, then he's chilling. So next we have Gannon also known as Gannendorff. That's his loan, that's that's his whole dame, that's his government. Most people call him a Gannon, and he's the main antagonist and the final Boston most of the Legend of

Zelda games. In the series, he's a leader of a race of desert brigands called the Garuto, which if you saw my episode of I'm actually it was the question I got right, because the Garuto are a race of women and they create a man to procreate with, uh and to. But it's every one hundred years, and Gannon is this man this time and just like a man

ruined everything. Yeah. So he's significantly taller than all the human MPCs, but his looks very between games, because sometimes he looks like a humanoid green man, and then sometimes he's like straight up demon boy, you know. Uh and yeah, just the giant borer. Is he born? Uh? Truly looking? You know what. That's a good question. You didn't beat it. I refused to finish the game. Why do you refuse it? Because I know what it felt like to finish Owner of Time and it was so sad. But there's DLC

in this one. There is. Yeah, I'm just doing it because that's my airplane game and I don't know what else I can replace it with. So I'm gonna get lots of suggestions after this episode and that people are gonna urge me to finish it. Yeah, I haven't played honestly yet there oh man. Uh So, yeah, he has that boar and I believe that is his form, Like that's a form he turns into in this one Calamity

again and um. His specific motives vary from game of game, but pretty much most of the time he just wants to kidnap Princess Zelda and hoping to achieve domination over high rule in the world. You know, typical bad boy stuff.

And because of this, he usually is looking for the Tri Force, powerful magical relic, and he often possesses a portion of it called the Tri Force of Power, which gives him a ton of strength, but it's never enough, which always leads him to hunt the remaining Tri Force piece.

And unlike Link Zelda and most other recurring characters, he's actually the same person in every game, and with the exception of the Four Swords Adventures, where he is a real reincarnation of the original uh in each game's the battles with him are different and he fights using different styles. In the game Skyward Sword, he they indicate that Gannon as a reincarnation of an evil deity known as demise Um.

Before we were going to get into the game playing the games before, let's just go down by the way quick. I love a good Kanye reference. So this is the timeline as it stands, based on Kotaku's article that was let's see back in uh two thousand and eleven, the last time they did it um And so according to them, it starts with the legend of God's and Hero of Time, and it starts with the air of world's creation. And that's when sky word Sword is and the goddess Highlia's

reincarnated ancient battle returns to Earth. Then it goes down to the Minish cap after that the evil god Vati is born. Then from there we get to my My Bay four Swords, where body is resurrected. Then after that is your bay Karina of Time and the dark world is formed in the sacred realm of Gannidorf turns into the demon King Gannon. Now this is where it splits because and maybe you can give me insight to this as someone who beat Akarina of Time. There's two timelines

from here. The timelines are if the hero is defeated and if the Hero is successful. If the Hero is defeated, then the next uh it leads to High Rules Decline, and the last Hero which leads to the Link to the Past, and then after that Oracle of Season Oracles Ages, and after that Links Awakening, which I will retract my

previous statement I kept saying Linked to Pass. I played Links Awakening because that was available on the Game Boy, and that's what I was playing when I had to get Yeah, and it goes all the way down to Legends of Zelda and then Adventure of Link. So so the first games are at the end of this timeline. So then we have if the hero is successful. I'm sorry, when does the hero not be successful? I'm guessing if you finish the game, it's you have to beat him.

Our creator of Time is only I'm guessing they're going based off of things said in the opening of these other games of like Oh After YadA YadA, YadA, ya ya ya. You know I didn't say anything there was. But in the Hero's Successful, which is the timeline you're accustomed with in the Child era, it starts with Majora's Mask and it's the Dark World and the Hero's Descendants and Twilight Princesses after that, and then after that as the four Swords in the High Rule Adventure. That doesn't

make any sense. It would make more sense to split it after Majora's Mask because that is a very different game to Ocherring of Time, where you can only defeat Gannon. In Majora's Mask, it's actually not about Gannon at all. It's this giant, evil looking moon that's about to crash into High Rule. Yeah. I couldn't play this game because of the scary moon and happy mask Man, which is

the most frightening face of it. Yeah, it's really funny because it's it's slated, like whenever you look up those like scariest games, it's always in there, even though technically it's like if we looked at it now, it's okay. Silent Hill is a scary game like Majory's Mask was scary because we were little, but also it was the time crunch as well. It was like when you play you played Ocurring of Time, it's like I'm going to smell this flower, I'm going to cut every blade of

girl skid rupees, which is money um. But with Major's Mask, it's like you felt like you couldn't deally dally. It was like you had one chance to do it, and if you didn't, everyone would die from this evil moon. Um asked Chewbaccer about the fate of that, because in legends he died because the moon squashed him. Anyway, that's a fun fact. Um. That's why I think that there's more likely a chance to fail Majua's Mask because you

didn't rescue Hiral from the impeding moon. And that's where that should have split that according to this timeline, because it splits to the adult era, which starts with wind Waker, then goes to Phantom hour Glass and ends with Spirit tracks that I get. I did play those on the three d S so well, Founto Glass was just the d S. Oh but then there's an official um, so so this is there, I think, surmising, and then there's

an official one. But apparently the official one is even more like do you know, I probably think it's saying, going back to the original conversation you and I had about each game can be quite successfully stand alone. The

timeline of these games is nearly irrelevant. Yeah, yeah, definitely, Oh yeah, none of this is this is all like according to the official uh this official one, which is wild because it seems so sparse, the beginning of Skyward Sword, then the Minish Cat four Swords, then at Acreina time they split it as well. They in the official one they also split out of all the things you need to know about Zella that is not something that you need to know. Yeah, no, you don't need it doesn't die.

But there but for the for the the like completionist gamer that has to connect everything because they're there. They went and did it for you, and it's even more convoluted than you thought. But let's talk about the gameplay, and you know you can break that down for a smid well. I mean, obviously the different game players will happen on the different consoles. So if you're playing the game stay on like in tennesse sixty four or your switch.

You can definitely guarantee it's going to be an action adventure game first and foremost you get to do a lot of exploring. This is when the puzzles come into play. Um, the elements have remained consistent the fact that it is an action adventure with the storyline. You have your main quest, you have your little side quests, but later in the series, it included a little bit of stealth gameplay where you had to avoid enemies while proceeding through a level. Exactly

what we're talking about. Well time, I but I'm gonna in the side because I hate stealth options and games. I am not a stealthy person. I'm a guns blaze and kill everyone. Ha. Yeah, it's just because I'm just bad at being sneaky in real life, so it translates in the game. But I did. I just did that big mountain and Breath of the Wild that you have to climb up and they have those helicopter ancients and if they see you, they just shoot at you. And I just had to run through and I was like,

forget it. I'm gonna just keep healing and running. Oh my god. Yeah, I don't like that either. Yeah, so with me and Maud were the same on don't like it. That's it. But when you know, when you have those other Hackenslash games, there's no storyline. It's kind of I don't feel that they really slot into a typical Zelda game. Um, but even on the handheld console games with the d S and the three d S, there's still a sense of exploration, Um, you get to discover a new world

each time, even though it's still high rule. And then basically as you go through the game, I think they're quite linear. You start somewhere, you'll unlock, say a hook shot, which will make sure that every wooden plank you can now zip up to, so you have accessibility all of a sudden, which means you can progress to that next stage because you couldn't get up that little slot exactly. That's why I like, I feel like the earlier versions did have this sense and feeling of being open world.

But you're right, there are certain just aspects of the map you couldn't reach because you didn't have the thing that you need. It was a big fire blocking a wall, and all of a sudden, you've got this new thing where you can summon water all that kind of stuff. So that's the Ocarina where it had the tunes. You would play a note and you would get transported somewhere, or you would grow older. Yeah, got hot when it

goes from kid link to adult links. Yeah yeah, they really they really were, like, let's give him some fans have like shred shredded up and then they put them in different tunics and white Legons were poken out made it made Navvy more bearable. So Navvy is the fairy and she's notoriously because when when Link doesn't talk, you don't hear a voice over and over again, except when you get the hint and it's like, oh, maybe you've got to go back to that other place. But the

noise that Navy would make is hey, listen. And when you hear that over and over and you could be doing something different, you're having a hell time. It's great over here. Hey listen, You're like, you know what, please from stop stop, I will I will listen to you in a second. So that became like quite iconic for the Zelda franchise. Nowy's annoying voice. Another thing that I was going to say is iconic is the life meter, which is represented as a line of hearts. I've seen

so many tattoos of people that have that. Yeah. Yeah, And so the life meters replenished a number of different ways, including picking up hearts left by defeated enemies or destroyed objects, fairies or springs located specific locations, or consuming items such as potions or foods. I was going to say, I know that you mod love the soundtrack, which a lot of people do like the audio, and we can get into that after these messages and we're back still joined

by Mad Garrett. So Mad, I know that you love the soundtrack to Legend of Zelda. Yeah, they do an amazing job, not only with providing kind of a unique, beautiful music for whatever area you're in. So the exploration music when you're in higher all it's just got his gusto, this get up and explore and get out, the sort of attitude. There's very ominous music where you realize you're in danger. One of my two of my favorite three, oh my god, all of them pieces of music from

ok Arena of Time. Sorry, his song in the Forest. Um, someone did the best dubstep remix of that. That is just fire. I know Z, the German DJ guy. He consistently has the original Zelda from the first game, that theme in the that static kind of like you know my money, that grime craft, like that's his whole thing. He does like video game remixes. And he's better than Z because because he didn't come for check West, Z can eat one. Yeah, you missed that whole It was

a whole thing. And you know, big ups to um. This is where DJ Daniel is going to come in and correct me because there was a DJ, but I forget his name. He's a very big one too. What was the name? I know, Dan, just go ahead and say you know who it is. Okay, So yeah, here's story time, side notes, overy times. Since we're on yes, which was this is during uh this is great because

it's during audio. So check West has a song called mo Bamba which slaps and was a moment and Z did a tweet that was basically like, hurt this uh mo Bamba song. I really don't get it because because you know, when you're a DJ who thinks he's on top of the world, you say dumb stuff like that. So obviously he was mid dragging in a track tried to like reason why. It was like, look, man, look I get why you might not get it, but when you see the way people vibe with it in the club,

you understand. He's like, no, I think I just like real music, which is the dumbest thing. Your opinion is wrong. Well that and like it's the weirdest thing for DJ to say, because that is the number one like insult that DJs have to hear, so for him to dole it out, it kind of in a way to kind of weave this back in the nerd them. It's kind of like when you see nerd bullies when it's like that's the thing that's that usually you are dealing with, so it's weird to see you dole it out like

number one. That's the one thing I hated about when I did used to spend um. People would always be like, oh, DJing, I like, you learn to play an instrument is like, dude, if you knew how much work actually goes to beat matching, especially before serato, when you have to like straight up use your ear to beat match and make it sound like you are mixing, and to make it sound like basically the best DJs around you, you won't notice a new song starting because they beat matched it that well.

And once you have that ear to it kind of you're saying, and now I get it what I sound like when I talk video games or something that's not a nerd. Because I have spent a little bit of that on this podcast. For people listening, because this s nearra difficent, I will do a quick explanation. So every song has a bpm beats per minute. When you beat match, you're matching the bpm of one song with another so that it matches up when you can hear both of

them at the same time. So yeah, and usually there's like little sneaky tricks you can do, like a lot of electronic music have like sounds, and then you can start the song up where that and you don't have

to worry about beat matching. But a real good keen ear DJ will use the beats of one music and isolated beat of one song to maybe the base of another, and it sounds like a completely singular song, and then this new song will start and you won't even notice it because you never notice the shift in beats, which you know before Serato meant you had to slow down the the the plates on the turntables so that the beat slows down enough to beat match. Yes, d DJ Dan,

you know, Dan's like a legit real D right. I didn't know. I didn't. I thought he just said DJ Dan is like, oh, it's kind of funny because Zeke goes by DJ Ziggy Zeke And then then I went on a deep dive because I was seeing he counted on a so we have a reddit how stuff works. Read it. There's different stuff you could check it out. He commented on something I wanted to see if he had any embarrassing subreddits he was commenting on, and really he was just commenting on people who were praising his

uh DJ skills as a gladiator. Let's get back into the audio. We this is probably the furthest tangent, but you know what, I'm gonna grab it by the horns, turn it back in and Jesus, let's get back to Yeah. Well, I was just thinking that having an iconic and recognizable theme song for a game says a lot. Oh yeah, like a Final Fantasy has the same theme song across each one, but just with a different tinge. Like I can specifically go, I love Final Fantasy seven's intro because

I can tell it. But it's something that you anyone, even if you didn't listen to seven, we'll know it's a Final Fantasy and that is a feat in itself. Yeah, it's it's good sort of like what are your branding in a way, and that will be better to me than than Mario. No, it's as I can get. I get it, like it's just and even when he goes down, dundunt don nut like when no, it was so good, but it was so unexpected because like the like, yeah, it's some poppy and fun, whereas like stuff like RPGs

like Zelda and Fantasy is so overly orchestra like. And then it's like, yeah, knows, nothing is more iconic than like you don't this is how good Mario is. You don't even have to be a gamer, but if you hear the you know it. I think that there's a few that are happening in Zelda that have become iconic. So when you open a chest like there's yet not let me try this get okay. I know I know what you're trying to do, but if no one's ever

heard that noise before, it just sounds like you're dying. Okay, okay, that was good. People at home, I'm gonna scream like if you're doing it perfect, this is this is the hell I'm going to die on, just like Danny's accent her impression of yeah, that's the hell. Someone came in my street. It was like I did like some some like impersonation and I was like that was bad, and someone was like not as bad as Danny's Jimmy ste but you know, he is a completely different like person

than me, even the same demographic at all. Oh my god. Legend of Zelda Tame is a It's a reoccurring piece of music that was created for the first game of the franchise of the Composer and sound director of the series, Cogi Condo, initially planned to use Maurice Ravel's Bolero as a game's title theme, but was forced to change it when he learned late in the game's development cycle that the copyright for the orchestral piece had not yet expired. So as a result, we had this beautiful piece um

that is now iconic. Well, he had one day to write it. Within one day. He wrote it within one day, so wow, And that is really beautiful music. I think you can have both. I agree with what you're saying. If you final Fantasy Legend of Zelda, they have very whimsical, mystical type of I kind of love it. Yeah, yeah, it's beautiful, especially when you got those video game orchestras that actually will perform those songs live. It's just stunning.

It's really beautiful music. And in fact, he's a fun fact. I first got a keyboard, and I was like, what song do I want to learn? I learned Garudeo Valley from an Area of Time, which is technically what Gannon's theme song in a way, but it's this almost Spanish flamenca kind of gorgeous sound as well, but everything, every part of it when you go into the lake as well,

it sounds more like trickling and mystical you are. It's so different and it's so intrinsic to where you are that I think it transports you so much more successfully. But all the games are like that. All the games have really really great music. So I'm doing some very important research right now and I'm trying to find out if Koji Condo it's related to Marie Cado, because that would be the coolest connection because this music is really

clean and it's that it's amazing. But yeah, that's the thing, no info, because Marie Kando surprisingly has zero information beyond like, oh she does the cleaning thing and and yeah, it's like and like her backgrounds, like she said, she's always been a tidy person her whole life. It's like, yeah, you're tidy. With that info, you're not letting anybody know Um,

that's cool. That's just gonna be my head cannon. So we have you know, even though I went through the timeline, we do have a list of the games, and you know, we're just gonna go down and uh because because there are a lot, there are a lot we haven't played, which is gonna hit on the ones we have played. So starting with number one, Legend of Zelda that dropped February twenty one, six five days and two years before my birthen. Look that that one's hard because it's so close.

That definitely not two weeks away from mine. Wow, we're really close? Are we both pisces? Oh? Man, that's so that's I don't I guess it's not. But did you ever play the original Zelda game? Um? I didn't know.

I did. Never a famicon. I've seen it, but no. But if you want to know what they kind of look like, the first few of them, especially anything before in teno sixty four when I went three D, we're very bird's eye view, so top down it kind of looked like the old school Pokemon games on the game Boy, where you were a little blip up the top and you got to move around. You would see the face and the leg still, but it would you'd have to

navigate with like yeah, a bird's eye view in a way. Um. And for those who don't know, Family Calm is what the name of the A S system was in Japan because it was called Family Computer Family Calm Um. And yeah, I played a little bit of Legend of Zelda, but I was never good at it was. I didn't play that the Two Adventures of Link Drop Chain where seven did not play that one. It was also on FAMN. Then we move on to the Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past November twenty one. This was on

the NS. Yes, and this is a game I think that really made Zelda standout. This is very, very well done. It was a little bit more palatable. You were able to beat it, which not many people well not not many people, but it was harder. Yeah. I still didn't beat this one. I only had a little taste. But after that was the Legend of Zelda Links Awakening August six on the game Boy and I played the remade version for a game Boy Color and it slapped. It

was fun. I'd never beat it, but it's the furthest I've gotten on my own at a young age in a video game. And then the game shook up five years later November twenty one and when Zelda Allegen and Zelda of Time dropped and this then became the greatest game of all time. I was so jealous, too many, and that's what I pay big time. I played on the n sixty four. This game changed your life. This is the game that made me a gamer. Yeah, so I played a lot of games before that, Earth whim Gym,

all that fun stuff from there. But it was those games where you didn't have you play that one, and no, I actually played it on the then ten or sixty four. What was not the sixty four, It was on this nest. Oh maybe I was um, But usually those games beforehand, it was this system where you only had three lives and as soon as you lost all those lives, the game was over, and so people would always constantly pause the game and turn the TV off and pray that

your mom didn't want to clean the console. And gaming then it's like such risk factor. You know, you know the first stage because you played it four thousand times, but when you got into a new area, it's like, well, I've only got one life to get this right. So when you had the Legend of Zelda, carea of time you had. You got to save your game huge, you got to zoom in and lock on on objects, which we've never seen in a game before. That was a

new fighting technique. Um that was really big. And being able to explore the world on horseback no less. Great, great game. They had to pivot big time. They got the next him out only less than two years after that in two thousand and that was Legend of Zelda Mador's Mask again on six four, and they pivoted the gameplay by yeah, having that time challenge on it. Yeah, and it was intense. Yeah. The reason I skipped these two games is because it was on in sixty four

and I've never owned an in sixty four. It is yeah, yeah, Well I had the PlayStation Teken Slap, Reside Eval slapped, PlayStation Underground slapped because if if my dad didn't want to buy me new games, I was playing demos back to back. There are some games I have a clear memory of playing but never owned it, like pau Ropper the Rapper and you only got like three and then it's like, yeah, Legend of Zelda, Oracle of seasons and Oracle of Ages came out for the game Boy Color

uh in May four of two thousand and one. I remember that game. I think I got Ages. That was the era of high school nerds coming together talking about the game as they played it. See I was playing Pigwon Yellow or Diamond or whatever. Yeah. Oh man, so here's here. Here we go to another. If you drought so the legend of Zelda, the wind Waker March GameCube. I got Mono in eleventh grade or twelfth grade when, and that's what I played for three weeks straight. It

was awesome. Yeah, I didn't have a a GameCube. I entered the contest for Nintendo. There was like a Nintendo contest of like what would you do for a GameCube? If you say something cool enough, we'll have you do it. And I think like I submitted that I would run naked down the street saying I love It was like very it was like what like looking back, I'm like, I know why they didn't pick up. But I was like it has to be wild and crazy. And this was like during the like Jackass era too, So I

was like, oh yeah, a lot of thought on fire. Yeah, spell out Zelda So then after that we got the Legend of Zelda four Swords Adventure, which was June seven, two thousand and four, and once again on the game cube, So your boy didn't play Legend of Zelda the minish cap Now we now we got something if he has, which was the Game Boy Advance, and your boy played a little bit of it, but I think I borrowed it from a friend. I don't think I owned it. And then the we came out and this is a

game changer again. This is when we got our real Zelda games back at the Open Worlds and you know, six hours to finish it. Twilight Princess coming out November nineteen, two thousand and six. Now we didn't really touch on this game except that it was a bit darker and grittier. But in this one you had um Link transformed into a different realm and he would turn into a wolf. Yeah that was sick, and you instead of having an ocarina or like a little pan flute, you would howl

the tune. You'd be like, oh, so that was a win from me. I finished that game. I loved it. Moving onto the handheld, so we got Phantom hour Glass which came out October one, two thousand and seven, on the DS The Best Game. Did not play that, not great, didn't finish it, didn't love it. But Spirit Tracks came out two years later December seven, on two thousand and nine, again on the DS. It'll be Better. Yeah, I didn't play that either. That was that one was where I was.

I think we're talking to two thousand seven, two thousand nine. I was in the ex bone land. Your boy was playing Halo, trying to make it to the m LG. As you can see, I'm not a millionaire now, so I did not make it to the miss that on Spirit Tracks on you. But then after that we had This was another I think game change. This was another one that had everyone shouting about how how much it slapped.

You didn't like I didn't like it. Zelda Skyward Sword. No. For five years between Twilight Princess and Skywood Sword, you would have thought it would have been a bit better for me. It just pivoted in a different direction. They'll do that from time to time. Instead of going darker and grittier, I feel this one was a little bit lighter and fluffier, to the point where it was sugary sickness, and they also made Zelda's nose look pink like she'd

constant had a cold. And I just remember, like I put down the control and said, not my Zelda, and that was it. Then we had a Legend of Zelda Link between Worlds on the three DS November. What a link between world means on this one is that you got this ability to literally go in a crevice in a rock face, so you would literally go between two worlds and you would split from High Rule to Low Rule, so it was like an inverse world. I yeah, I love I love that game. It was actually really great game.

And then we had Legend of Zelda Triforce Heroes on the three D s October ttween third two thou fifteen. I didn't touch that. Then we have the current Champ Game of the Year award winning Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild March third, two seventeen on the switch still has DLC. Still great is my travel game, and

I love it that way. I'm so calm on that plane as I listened to I'll plug in the headphones because speaking of audio and sound design, it's so calming to just walk around the breezy world until I get raged out because I'm trying to climb on something and as soon as I want to climb something is when the game decides it wants to start raining. By the way, in this yeah, this flight was the first time I learned that you can avoid lightning by taking off all

your metal stuff. So I figured out what happened because I was like, I thought I tried it. I think I took off all my metal armor. Yeah, yeah, that thing and the lightning hurts. Like I had these dork bocokin art horses with flame swords coming at me and it starts lightning storming and they had their metal bowl and he got wrecked, and I was like, okay, I like lightning again, like it again. So something that happened in this game which had never seen before is armor

and weapons that deteriorate. If you are to use the same sword and you strike something seven times, it's going to break. And I think initially we're really not okay with that because the other weapons that we had, like the Iconic Master Sword, were indestructible. They were like almost save your weapons, and here you couldn't love your weapon because it would just break. But you find some of it, but I'm still kind of annoyed by that feature only

because for example, things like guardian weapons. You know, I need that I needed to survive, and if that goes away, it doesn't to be resourceful. But now I got to the point where I can buy those Guardian arrows, and so the game has changed for me, that's true. And you also get to cook food, so you can, um have different abilities like stamina, the stamina use as well

in this one instead of the power meter. Um. So you collect all these ingredients and then the cooking music even as great do do Do Do Do do do doping and then you'd make this dish um and it would help you again in the game if you need a little bit of a little bit of a hand. Definitely.

I was going to say, as of September of this past year, so that these numbers are tiny bit off, the Breadth of the Wild has sold over eleven point seven million copies worldwide, and like you said, it did win Game of the Year, but was also won Game Critics Awards as well Best Action Adventure Game, Best Console Game, Best of Show. Also in sixteen, it was for the Game Awards it was won the Most Anticipated Game then turned around in one Game of the Year. So and

it just has a wealth of games. Um the four British Academy Games Awards also, uh it won Game Intervention there. I mean, it's just endless awards for this beautiful game. Yeah, and I got as well on Metacritic ninety seven out of a Yeah, it is the best selling Zelda game to date. Yeah. And and here's the here's the thing, Like, if you are curious about a Zelda game and want to try, just start there. But if you Okarina of Time does have a three D S remap stared version.

If you do have a three D S if you want to check that that again on the game ke two. So they want you to keep playing this game. So it literally stands the test of oh my gosh, yeah, just going for the puns. By the way, a man has been going pun after pun and she's wearing a shirt that says puns don't people. So just so you know the why every time she makes a But we've come to do you guess what of Time got out of a hundred, I'm going to say out of a hundred,

that is nearly a perfect game. I don't think a hundred exists. I don't think a perfect game exists, so that supports my theory that I know what it is. Don't Don't, Don't don't the best game of all time. Well, speaking of time, we're all out of it. So where can people find you more? I'm all over the internet at Maud Garrett Garrett has two s, two t s. Maud sounds different when Americans? How do we say? My name has gone from Maude Garrett to Maud Garrett mad that's a different name. But M A U D E

is how you spell Maude. I do a bunch of stuff on Nerdiced and other outlets like that. I took Maybes, I took games. I have a dog called Zelda. Check her out. She's my life to my life. That's all that, right. What about you, Danny, I'm at miss Danny Fernandez on all the things. It's M S D A and I F E R N A N D E z um um um um. I wrote in a book called The Good Immigrant. It is a collection of essays from actors and writers of color that drops February nineteenth. You can

actually pre order it right now on Amazon. I was very honored to write in it and there are a ton of a ton of talented people that contributed, so check that out. Yes, and you know me, I'm if I F y n w A d I w E on Twitter and Instagram. If he's on Twitch, shout out to all the nerd fam hanging out on my Twitch channel. Give me those Twitch prime subs. I thank you so much about it. But you know, you don't even have to watch me stream. You can hang out with me

and Danny in the discord. It's salts. It's Discord dot gg Forward Slash Salt Squad. We have a nerdificent channel. Armand flickery uh does a great job of dropping the all of the footnotes in the discord if you don't want to click, even though it's there in the description of the podcast. If you're like, well, I needed when I'm on the computer so I could go to a website. Flex taking care of that for you. And it also gives you notifications of when I'm streaming, and you know,

just hang out. We will pop in there, we'll cheat with you. It's been a good time. We've been having lots of fun discussions, people dropping trailers. It's a good fun community that that bleeds all the way over from Twitch to Nerdificent to Candy Dinner as well. So it's hang out watching you talk about Discord and you've got a Discord sweater on. Oh yeah, someone asked if I work at Discord today. Also, uh, you don't go to tea public. You need a T shirt. It's getting to

Valentine's Day. Get your bay a Nerdificent shirt. It's gonna be tight. She's gonna be happy, especially there. And I wore stay Nerdy shirt at the airport and got so many compliments. See that could be you getting all them compliments. So go to the tea public site search Nerdifficent, find our store and get up in there. You can even get phonecases even if you don't like shirts. And I love that. I really love probably. But until next time, stay nerdy.