11 Specific Reasons I Love The Legend of Zelda 6-1
6. BEING THE HERO OF TIME
At number six, we're getting a wee bit personal and a wee bit interesting. The reason that the series is called "Legend of Zelda" rather than "Legend of Link" is that, besides in the TV series and CD-I games, Link is just the default name of the hero of time. In fact, as far back as I can remember, at least as far back as Link to the Past, which is the only game with a pink-haired Link, you can pick a name for your hero. I usually name my characters Sean, Imple, or Imple Jr.Anywho, the cool thing about being the hero of time is that you get to go on this big adventure, explore this big world, wield the Master Sword and other awesome gear (will get back to the gear in a second). Wielding the Master Sword is especially cool, whether it be from the ability to shoot lasers in the early titles, or in the latest title being used with wii motion plus to give you the closest thing to a sword fight you could experience in a video game.
5. THE ITEMS
The gear of Legend of Zelda is almost more iconic than the Master Sword; the boomerang, the bow & arrow, the ocarina, the flute, the grappling hook, the lantern, and, traditionally, every Zelda dungeon has at least one piece of gear vital to your quest (and it has been that way for 25 years). Each piece of gear has an awesome bit of functionality and, combined with items like potions and the like, there has always been a small roleplaying and collecting element to the game.
My favorite piece of gear is probably the boomerang for nostalgia's sake, but anything like the grappling hook that helps you get around is pretty sweet in my book.
 |
| With great Triforce, comes great responsibility. |
4. THE STORY
I think Zelda fans talk a lot about the epic story of the various heroes of time and I think thats part of why we're so obsessed with the timeline. To be honest, the Legend of Zelda's individual stories, at their core, are quite simple; bad guy steals girl and young hero must save her. But it is far more than that and when they deviate and how the deviate from this simple story are what sets each title apart from each other.For example, in Majora's Mask, Link is faced with preventing the destruction of the entire world by by crushing it with a moon. Link must manipulate time with his Ocarina, similar to the way that Billy Murray had to create the perfect day, to set events in motion to save the world. In doing so, Majora's mask covers themes of death, acceptance, finality, and other serious adult themes.
Another example, where Zelda deals with the basic storyline of the original series but in a compelling way, is in Twilight Princess In that title, Link spends much of the game as a monster, befriends a being of the shadow realm that threatens his own, and discovers some interesting themes about duality of people.
The formula is simple, but the way it is executed every time keeps Zelda fans coming back for more.
3. THE BOSS FIGHTS
The carrot at the end of the stick, the stick being dungeons, puzzles, and challenges, are the boss fights of the Legend of Zelda. There is nothing more exciting of thrilling than these showstopping set pieces that range from fights with giant kracken like beasts to fighting giant statues to fighting a floating yeti in a room of ice. The best part of any boss fight is discovering each boss's weaknesses and exploiting them.A fun fact, in Link to the Past you can deflect Agahnim's lightning attacks with the bug catching net and in Skyward Sword you can use it to distract the boss in the final battle and even deflect his lighting attacks.
2. THE MUSIC
I believe Zelda has the best music of any video game series and that its music one of the single most important elements that make it so spellbinding. It all goes back to Link to the Past; many of the songs that Zelda is famous for started with the classic SNES title and what is more incredible than how they keep using similar musical themes to create new works is when they create completely new works to send your heart aflutter.In 25 years of gaming history, Zelda's titles have all brought something to the table. The brilliant thing about Zelda is how fitting each orchestral score is to the tone of the scene or dungeon you find yourself in. Whether you're fighting a giant spider boss or talking to a shop clerk, the music is always perfect for the scenario and always attractive to the ear.
I cannot stress enough how amazing the music of the series is and I will be saying more about is when I review the 25th Anniv. CD that came with Skyward Sword.
1. UNIQUELY ZELDA
This one may be kind of a cheat, but it is definitely accurate in my book. The thing that makes Zelda so special....is that it is Zelda. There are many fantasy adventure and fantasy role-playing games out there on the market, but none have managed to capture the rich pallet, the instant likeability, or the unique creativity of the Zelda series. Furthermore, few game series have managed to capture the nostalgic fire of the series.
And the great thing about the Legend of Zelda is, that after 25 years of making games and titles across several generations of console, the series keeps surprising, innovating, and quilting a beautiful tapestry of gaming nirvana. There will surely be dozens of more Zelda games to come and, thankfully, I don't think we'll ever tire of them.
