Author: John Lortie

Link’s a sleepy hero. It’s a long-running trope in Zelda that the adventurer is sound asleep at the beginning of the games. Whether he’s found washed ashore and taken to a village home to recover, described as a “lazy boy,” or healing from hundred-year-old injuries, he rests before his quests. I like to think that at the end of each of his journeys, having saved the kingdom and rescued the princess, Link treats himself to a full night’s sleep. The…

Echoes of Wisdom is launching in a little over a month. After years of teasing a playable princess, Nintendo’s finally giving players the chance to step into Zelda’s shoes in a mainline Legend of Zelda title. The company’s making good on Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma’s sheepish allusions to the princess taking the lead. She’s the one doing the saving, she’s the one fighting Ganon’s forces, and she’s the one going on the adventure. Yet, there’s still so much we…

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons have been on Nintendo Switch Online for a little more than a year. This means that the service’s install base of over 38 million (as of September 2023) has had some time to play the games. Sure, each Oracle game is a stand-alone experience but the only way to access the true ending of the games is to link the two. Once you complete the first title’s quest, you’re provided with a code…

Ocarina of Time’s title theme has a tranquil quality that provides players with respite before they dive into Link’s adventure. The music is set against a video of the Hero of Time riding Epona as dawn breaks across Hyrule Field. It’s a chance to take a moment to gather thoughts and become enveloped in the game’s world before starting your save and continuing your journey. That little bit of relaxing and centering can help you make the most of your…

Echoes of Wisdom’s announcement inspired Zelda fan creators around the world. Since the game’s reveal, artists, animators, writers, and musicians have posted fan works dedicated to and influenced by the game all over the internet. You’ve no doubt seen, heard, or read many of these pieces. They’re each a bit of the game we can enjoy before we play it on September 26th. Today, we’d like to bring Patti Rudisill’s cover of Echoes of Wisdom’s main theme to your attention….

Ocarina of Time’s soundtrack is fitting for the game that transitioned Zelda from top-down gameplay to polygonal adventure. It featured wonderful new compositions as well as returning motifs from the Zelda games that came before it, bridging old and the new. The game’s title track featured the melody heard when playing the Recorder in the original Legend of Zelda, and the piece that would come to be “Zelda’s Lullaby” was first heard in A Link to the Past. Since A…

Ganon’s captured Zelda, trapped her in a crystal prison, and Link’s vanished. What’s a princess to do in such a situation? Should she despair and hide? No, of course not! She bulks up and rises to the occasion. Hyrule won’t save itself, after all, and this is a tale about our titular princess. At least, that’s how the introduction to her new story plays out in this short Echoes of Wisdom-inspired animation from takatakato. After whiling away the time with…

There’s something calming about smooth jazz. When I listen to it, I want to be in a coffee shop on a rainy day with a steaming mug of joe on my table, unwinding and savoring the atmosphere of the café around me. Thanks to The Deku Trio’s debut release, Zelda & Jazz, I can add a dash of Zelda into that daydream. Released earlier this month by listener-funded record label GameChops, the album features a total of 12 tracks from…

Zelda is a series focused on adventure and heroism, with individual soundtracks enveloping players in the land of Hyrule. That music accompanies Link and the player over each hill crested and through each secret discovered. Music is so intrinsically tied to the experience of playing Zelda that hearing a familiar piece in a new arrangement is as exciting as it is enticing. Musician and multi-instrumentalist Tim de Man’s Hyrule Highlands III captures the excitement of adventuring through Hyrule by reimagining…

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a game needing little introduction. The Nintendo 64 classic that successfully brought Nintendo’s beloved franchise into the third dimension is widely regarded as a masterpiece. Not only is it one of the few Zeldas with a direct sequel, Nintendo revisited the title with increased difficulty in Master Quest. A group of dedicated fans and modders recently released Ultimate Trial, a new Ocarina of Time read-only memory (or ROM) hack. The mod is…