Posts by Silent Lion

Not a fully fleshed theory, but here's my thought.

After Ocarina of Time in the child timeline, Ganondorf's plot if foiled and he is executed. At this point (and with Link not around to argue a different perspective), Ganondorf is not known to Hyrule as the King Of Evil, or Demise's reincarnation, or anything like that. He is purely King Of The Gerudo, a secular figure. They attach the blame to the Gerudo in general and their culture, rather than to Ganondorf individually, and they embark on a very dark campaign of cultural eradication. Come the time of Twilight Princess, and there are no Gerudo to be found anywhere. Their village is nothing more than rubble in the desert. The Spirit Temple, the most spiritually significant site in Geurdo culture, has been turned into a worryingly large prison. It suggests to be that by 'Hyrule's most ruthless criminals' what they really mean is the Gerudo wholesale, and that entire population was imprisoned there, Uighur style. Either they were executed en masse or conditions were so poor that many of them died anyway, looking at the number of undead things that wander the dungeon in TP. The lucky ones were sent to inhabit the Twilight Realm, like a Native American reserve built on the most desolate of wastes.

Sometimes Zelda gets heavier than expected.

I read this a while ago but had nothing to add, other than very interesting, good observations. Come to think of it now though, there is a Shinto element to this. Miyamoto has said Shinto had a profound impact on him and particularly Zelda, and there's a nice video which includes how it fits into OoT. It would support the idea that the Lost Woods is indeed unusual and inter-dimensional, but perhaps from more of a spiritual, divine slant than a science-fiction one. The idea of nature, and particularly forests, being gateways to the spiritual or divine realm. I can't help but think how in TP the Temple Of Time has somehow wound up in a forest - whether that's because the Temple itself moved or because a new forest grew around the temple.

I think their forum is down again!

Really? I was devastated when they first removed the chatbox, I don't understand it at all. They're an addictive and easy entry into a community that makes people want to come back... aren't they?

I love that meme.

How much of the success of the Lord Of The Rings films is because of Zelda? When Fellowship of the Ring screened in 2001, the wild success of OoT was still riding high and MM had been released only the year before in 2000. Not only that, but these were both 'serious' games in aesthetic. Did these games prime western audiences to be receptive to a movie like Fellowship of the Ring? Would LotR have been quite as successful if it had come out in 1994, or if it had come after WW?

Bonus discussion!

Was Twilight Princess hankering after an OoT audience, or a LotR audience?

So it might be his birth name after all!

Going to work tired is horrible! I did a stint at a supermarket around the time my little girl was born, I had a twelve mile bike ride to get there for a 4am shift start, so that meant waking up at 12:50. The sleep deprivation can build quite high after a month or two.

Kaynil That sucks. Hope things get better.

I'm thinking: I should be working. * logs off *

I have to admit I don't know either of them, but then I am completely disconnected to gaming news these days. I wonder if Bowser is his birth name.

Yay I won!

Erm, good question? Let's go with, Link To The Past Link.

Finally got round to buying it!

The best thing for me so far has been the atmosphere. It's beautifully creepy, even in the 'lighter' parts. And it's impressive how they've knitted different genres into the gameplay and yet it doesn't lose coherency. It's weirdly addictive, even though I misplaced my mouse and have been resorting to using the trackpad. I played it for 'twenty minutes' last night and was there for a solid hour. Part of that was a pointless completionism, feeling obliged to grab every coin and walk to the edges of the corridors to make sure there was indeed a wall in that dark edge and not another area.

My only proper criticism would be the slow pace of walking. It's frustrating watching the characters walk ever so slowly along corridors and through doors I've already explored with other characters.

Completely missed this! And the forum in general over the past couple of weeks. Could we have an extension? I'd very much like to nominate Pocahontas.

I plan to make a plan.

Time to stop checking the forums and get some work done. Must remember to come back to the forums later and post something.

Welcome back - I remember you.

But do you remember you?

* camera pans off into the sky *

I'll probably buy this on my next paycheck.

That's awesome.

I'm a little skeptical too if I'm honest. Either it should display nothing at all, crash, blank screen, something like that, or based on his hexadecimal comments it should be just a repetition of the ordinary map. I can't see what mechanism would cause the game to randomly allocate assets into a buggy map.

Probably? How old is he?

The N64-era Zeldas are some of the more evocative imo with their weird instrumentation and unrefined colour pallettes. They were my first hook.

Eh, yeah it's sad that we'll never be 21 again and have all those youthful superpowers. But who wants to live forever. I'd never get any rest.