#Ganon is one of the main baddies

[lonely-cereal]

so me and my bestie may have made a kinda detailed TPN X breath of the wild AND sorta ocarina of time AU

(stuff in the tags bc it's SUPER messy rn)

[doomed-era]

also. i was going to ask this before but i didnt know how to word it: any zelda tropes you like/dislike? stuff like fairies being guides for link or the concept of sages/Legendary Sword or how link and zelda are always depicted or reoccurring characters like impa or beedle or epona. though theres probably not. a lot of tropes considering most games are vastly different from each other. uhh yeah if youve got nothing . things that were done from a zelda game that you liked?

OOH. tbh I had to think about this a bit (my gripes are usually with the fandom and how they depict the tropes as a Strict Narrative Rule) but! I do have some

UH ONES I HATE. this is gonna be long no matter what so it's going under a cut

Number one has got to be making link into a super special boy for basically no reason!!! being from a special type of knights is. so irrelevant to everything else about alttp link that I think a lot of people legitimately forget this. it barely ever comes up and it's honestly not that important to the story except as an excuse for why link's the only one that can grab the pendants and pull the master sword, which. why not just have him be the one to do this because he's just really determined? Ocarina of Time...tried this, sort of? almost completely irrelevant AGAIN. in twilight princess and wind waker they are just some guy basically and this is the best direction they could have gone with his character. except they ruined it in botw and ss and I will neverrrr forgive them for this. botw link beats up grown men at five years old he's like superbaby instant knight and I HATE it. it's just stupid. I don't even care that it applies pressure to him as a character and seems to affect him; they could have just made it an in-universe lie and it would have had the exact same effect so genuinely screw that trope

number two is calling random soldiers knights stop fucking doing this. i dont care that its fictional fantasyland it annoys me

number three! the 3D games' great fairies! I hate almost all of them the oot/mm great fairies are freaks, botw ones are so pretty but they're creepy as hell, and twilight princess is just a naked lady and it's stupid I hate her. wind waker minish cap and alttp fairies are gongeous though

number four. everyone thinking link is cool and or hot. I hate this in universe and in the fandom. I don't care that the devs wanted to make him """"cool"""" he's 100% always a LOSER!!!!

number five I hate the hijacked by ganon trope in zelda games so much. STOP ffs please let ganon/ganondorf take the spotlight we all love him. or let another villain be the main baddie

ok now for ones I like :)

nunberone...SENTIENT MONSTERS SENTIENT MONSTERS BABEY SENTIENT MOSNTERS ILVOE SRENTIERHSDJKFHSFHAAAAA

GRRAAA ITS A SECRET TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOE THE MOBLIN!!! KING BULBLIN SAYING HE FOLLOWS THE STRONGEST SIDE!!! THE ENTIRE DARK WORLD ITS SO

two. npc companions...rips off my shirt to reveal another shirt that says I LOVE MIDNA AND TATL AND EZLO AND KING OF RED LIONS AND GHOSTIE ZELDA AND MEDLI AND MAKAR AND TETRA AND SIDON AND YUNOBO AND

number three...I love random gods and spirits that are just hanging out because. keaton malanya zephos satori light spirits what have you. theyre great I need more of that.

number four incredibly weird npcs. need i say more

number five soldiers being extremely incompetent and dumb or getting possessed. soldiers as enemies or easily corruptible people

number six that one character that doesn't like link. you know what i mean (revali. groose. mido. iirc ralph? maybe? I haven't played much of the oracle games)

number seven hyrule with a dark and bloody past. and not only that but a fairly simple presentation of it that's clearly hiding a more complex underbelly. its just neat to see simple, clear-cut writing tell you so much with so little. it's a big reason I love alttp; it's simple but there's so much grief in it

number eight uh. clawshot/hookshot :] good stuff

[discet]

Can we get some workshopping on the Saga of Ganon? Pretty interested in how you would differ it from the Legend of Zelda.

Oh I meant to come back to this one.

So, I think the main thing would be framing of the conflict.

Zelda is our protagonist, for this one. Depending on the entry in the series is either the lost heir to a fallen kingdom, the actual princess seeking to save her kingdom, or a peasant unaware of her heritage.

Ganon/Ganondorf often acts in an antagonistic but sympathetic role. Sometimes poised as Zelda's betrothed, or childhood friend, or simply a friendly traveler Zelda runs into, depending on the game. No matter what the two are intertwined. Ganondorf is still infused with the soul of [Insert Satan Analogue Here], enemy of the gods, the key difference is that Ganondorf resents and resists this fate. Seeking a way to free himself from of the dark influence.

Finally Link/The Nameless King is probably our biggest departure from LOZ. Often the bearer of the Triforce of courage, TNK is a warrior dedicated to the elimination of [Insert Satan Analogue Here]'s influence. Often rallies the forces of Lowrule against the threat he poses, pushing him into a corner. The reason he is this way is cause in every reincarnation, Link remembers all of his past lives at once and has become a husk chained to fate.

Sometimes Link serves as a final boss, sometimes Ganondorf's corrupted form is who you combat, but Zelda's goal in each game is to find a way to free Ganondorf of the dark influence on his sould.

The gameplay loop of each game mostly follows Zelda as she pieces together the method of sealing the SA often winning the trust and friendship of the various peoples of Lowrule. Aquiring new spells and artifacts that give Zelda new ways to explore the environment, solve puzzles, and fight baddies.

The specific game that Marcy has downloaded on her Shift was the one that revitalized the franchise, Saga of Ganon: Nature's Claim Follows Zelda a century after she failed to save her friend. Waking up, all but ressurected, she awakens to a world that has become overgrown and forgotten it's roots. The Nameless King sits atop the slain Ganon's primal form, killing it each time it ressurects. Endlessly, both trapped without a way to banish or seal the demon away.

It's an entry that focuses back on the franchies sense of adventure and exploration.

Alright, that's all I got, hope you enjoyed

[super-hero-confessions]

Since I now discovered the submit feature, it’s time to expand on an earlier confession about Kingdom Hearts; how Disney is the only interesting aspect about it and how the original concept stopped being interesting after 358/2 Days.   So the first game was mostly a “Disney” game. Sure there was a protagonist keyblade wielder, a comatose vague love interest (who was inside the hero the whole time…) and an a-hole who was easily tricked by the main baddies Maleficent and Ansem, but for the most part it was going through various nostalgic Disney movies while there’s this plot about Maleficent kidnapping princesses and destroying worlds with a band of Disney Villains. The plot could have been better (half the villains were entirely inconsequential) but for the most part it did a good job balancing Disney and original content.  Then there’s Chain of Memories and KH2 which… while not doing a good job of balancing the Disney and original content, the OCS that were there were actually pretty strong. Organization XIII, especially in COM, is a very intriguing and menacing council of bad guys with cool powers and discernible personalities save a few bad eggs like Lexaeus and Demyx (the latter moreso suffering from being ENTIRELY USELESS rather than boring). Roxas was a great tragic hero, and it was even better when his story was shown in 358/2 Days and it’s devastating gut-wrenching conclusion. Xion was a little hard to swallow considering she wasn’t mentioned in the other games but in the end it made sense.   But then came Birth By Sleep and the revelation that the TRUE main villain Xehanort was actually a result of an elderly keyblade master possessing a teenager’s body and the NEW Xehanort became Ansem and Xemnas (rather than simply some narcissist scientist trying to play god), and that Sora got his keyblade powers from harnessing Ventus’s heart in his own (which is why Roxas resembled Ven). In addition it’s implied that Master Xehanort played Maleficent like a fiddle right from the start as opposed to simply pulling a Ganon in the first game. This ruined the series lore and made it comic book levels of convoluted. Not to mention a lot of it was generic anime fluff. Many would say Dream Drop Distance ruined the series by making Maleficent even more of a joke and the whole time travel scheme (and of course the stupid 13 Xehanorts), but that was just adding what was already shown in BBS.  And if that wasn’t enough, then came Union across which was basically the Eternals movie before that became a thing, and then KHIII presented this new version called the REAL Organization XIII which despite reusing many of the old members felt a LOT less menacing compared to the ones in COM and KH2, and THEN not only was Xehanort revealed to be a good guy all along but then suddenly his right hand man Xigbar was actually LUXU, an ancient keyblade wielder who’s part of a group called the Fortunetellers (AKA THE Eternals as mentioned before) and NOW it’s revealed that this was ALL according to some master plan by this OTHER new baddie called the Master of Masters… ugh.   Notice I said Disney is the only interesting part of KH now. That doesn’t mean it wasn't poorly written like the rest of KH. There’s a reason people think KH should remove Disney content, and that is the fact that after KH1 but especially starting with the otherwise good 358/2 Days, the Disney aspects have been entirely irrelevant. They don’t advance or even tie into the main plot at all, Maleficent’s role in KH2 about acquiring Xemnas headquarters goes freakin nowhere after that game, and they’re incredibly out of place with the original OCS.   But it’s STILL more interesting than everything else after 358/2 Days, with this bullshit about some master plan by some new bad guy that should have been saved for after Xehanort is axed off.

[crusherthedoctor]

Ironically, at this point, it would be actually subversive and original decision at writers' part to make Eggman to be the 100% villianous mastermind behind the game's plot and the straightforward final boss without any twists. Ideally, over the course of three-four games straight.

I know, right?

I'm convinced that people who think there is such a thing as too many games where Eggman - the official arch-enemy of the guy this franchise is named after - is the main baddie, straight up don't like the character or want him to become Tinker, since you never see them complaining about arch-enemies in other games. Yes, Sonic can fight other villains now and then, but considering they have a history of dragging the doctor through the mud to make themselves look better (and also tend to be shite in general), can you blame me and likeminded Eggman fans for getting nervous and assuming the worst whenever a new villain shows up? That's the lingering consequences when stupid trends refuse to die.

Besides, not to discredit the likes of Bowser and Ganon, but Eggman is arguably one of the most flexible video game baddies anyway. His plans can revolve around anything, and his tastes can go for goofy, serious, or in-between. As long as robots are involved in some way, your imagination is your only limit with Eggman's dastardly schemes. Not to mention how much personality the character himself has, even in the 2D games with no dialogue.

[shaykai]

teach me about the hyrule warriors lore in the worst and most confusing way possible please

Hoo boy, let’s give this a go

So there’s this seer who gets to watch all of the time lines, and whilst watching those time lines she’s like “H u h. That Link guy is pretty cute. And I would like for him to love me. But it won’t happen because I’m a seer and we’ll never interact and even if we did Zelda exists, etc.

But Ganon's spirit presense thing is there and it's like "okay but what if you just got with him anyways" and it split said seer in half (now we have Lana, aka good Seer, and Cia, aka evil Seer)

And so the whole universe kind of breaks and merges several parts of other Zelda timelines together! Fun!! Anyways Cia is on a mission to go free Ganon's soul bits that are separated in different time lines so she can marry Link, but she decides that, if she's going to break into a bunch of highly guarded places to release Satan, she needs an army.

So she finds the worst fucking guy (Wizzro) (affectionate) and Volga (A dragon/human who has no desire whatsoever to help her) and forces them to team up with her. Also she kills like. So. So many gorons in the process.

They run over to Hyrule Castle to fuck shit up and kill Zelda cause they're evil and they gotta, and shenagins ensue. Everything is bad, Zelda and Impa are doing their best to fight, at some point Link comes out to help and that's how they figure out he's the fabled hero of legend or whatever, and they use a giant magic fairy who giggles in what I'm going to say is an uncomfy way and said fairy explodes half of the bad guys with a magic bomb. At some point Zelda disappears and everyone assumes she got kidnapped. I don't actually remember what happened.

ANYWAYS so Impa is like "Hey cool you're the hero, the princess got kidnapped and we need to go get her, come on" so they start following Cia's army and find Shiek, who is just Zelda, and who also does not tell anyone that they are Zelda.

Anyways I don't remember how most of this goes, but there's lots and lots of in fighting on Cia's side, it's delightful, no one is loyal and they're all selfish and or angry.

At some point Lana pops up to help team good guys, she helps collect other good guys, like Mida, Darauna, Ruto, Agitha, etc. At some point Midna punches Cia and knocks her mask off (Cia has a mask) and Midna is like "WOW HEY YOU HAVE THE SAME FACE AS LANA" and Lana is just like "hmmmmmmmmm yeah, I'm ashamed of it, but we're the same person" and then we move on

Meanwhile Cia is building her army, getting fun baddies like Ghirahim and Zant to side with her. It's great. Anytime Ghirahim and Zant are on screen is a good time.

Eventually Link gets the master sword and beats Cia with it, but it also turns out that was the last soul seal thing for Ganon. So he's alive again. So naturally, he takes over as the main baddie and discards Cia (so now there are three teams! Team goodies, team baddies, and team dysfunctional idiots)

Ghirahim and Zant are on Ganon's side now, Volga wants to 1v1 Ganon cause "ooooo strong guy", Wizzro wants to defect to Ganon's side (pretty sure Ganon told him no) everything is on fire, and Cia is dying because Ganon's soul was the only thing keeping her alive. So now she also wants him dead.

Lots of stuff happens, fun villain shenagins, Ganon dies, Ghirahim and Zant are pissed off and I thiiiiiink they just run away?? Don't remember. There's a delightful scene when the heroes are celebrating and Link and Zelda give eachother the look tm and Lana looks SO SAD about it. Like trying to smile but if you even tried to look at her she'd start sobbing.

Anyways Lana sends everyone back to their timelines but UHOH Toon. Ghost... Ganon?? Wants to fight so that's an issue, and Cia is fighting him too for reasons I do not recall. I'm pretty sure it's so she can live or something. Oh also she's a good guy now, everyone just had to sit down and talk it out. She's still dying btw.

Heroes kill Ghost Guy Ganon and I'm 99% sure that Cia and Lana merge back into one person again after sending everyone (again) to their respective time lines and then Seer goes back to magic seer land. I guess. That's Hyrule Warriorsssss!

At least as I remember it, it's been a long while since I've played it

[game-boy-pocket]

We are 100 percent going to be fighting an Echo of Link in the new Zelda game, right? Ganon is probably not the main villain, and that was just an echo of Ganon in the trailer. His eyes typically aren't red. They're white or yellow. So whoever the real villain is, they probably sent an Echo of Ganon to capture Zelda.

...Unless Ganon is making echos of himself... actually maybe this will be the debut of human Ganondorf in 2D, and he's sending out echos of his own inner demon. We do have Gerudos in this game so who knows. Part of me wants Zeldas first solo outing to be against a new baddie. But I also think it would be cool to see Ganondorf in 2D and to see Zelda be the one to defeat Ganon this time.

[epochxp]

Why Do Video Games Often Turn Hitler into a Caricature?

YouTube

Many developers would argue that one of the most important elements to a successful video game is having a great antagonist. Without a formidable opponent to face off against, the hero has no reason to exist. Some of the greatest video games of all time feature iconic baddies, including Bowser from the Super Mario series, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, and Ganon from The Legend of Zelda. 

But when it comes to video games based on real-world events, things can sometimes get a bit more complicated. Just like the actual histories that they’re inspired by, historical video games often don’t have clear heroes and villains. But those historical video games that choose to follow a more narrative arc require some sort of ultimate villain that the player must face. While the definition of what makes a villain in the real world is up for interpretation, there are a few historical figures that have earned their title as true villains. Adolf Hitler is arguably the biggest and most recognizable villain from the past hundred years, and as a result has been a staple villain of digital World War II scenarios. But how does one portray the human embodiment of evil? As some developers may have us believing, the more ridiculous the depiction, the better.

Becoming the Face of Evil

One could argue that World War II was the last war that really felt black-and-white in terms of who the “good guys” and the “bad guys” were. Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich have been seen largely as the ultimate villains of World War II, having committed genocide and mass murder while fueling the biggest war of the past century. As a result, it makes perfect sense that there are so many video games set during World War II - the Nazis are iconic, recognizable symbols of evil and Hitler was their leader. The average person--gamer or not--recognizes the Nazis and understands what they stand for, so for that reason they make perfect villains for a historically based video game.

Larger Than Life

YouTube

Hitler has been portrayed in countless video games, usually as some sort of ultimate evil, and Bionic Commando on the NES (which was even originally titled Hitler’s Resurrection: Top Secret) was one of the earliest video games that featured him as the primary antagonist. Hitler steps in as the game’s final boss, right after successfully getting resurrected by his Nazi followers. In the final fight against him, Hitler controls a giant aircraft that the player must destroy via a self-destruction sequence and escape from before it detonates. Appearing more like a supernatural being than an actual human man in the title, Hitler’s portrayal in Bionic Commando is done to give the game a thrilling and exciting ending.

Mic

Probably the most famous out of all of the games that he’s appeared in, Wolfenstein 3D also features the most outlandish and cartoonish portrayal of the former ruler of Germany. Adolf Hitler- or mecha-Hitler -- is the main antagonist of the Wolfenstein series and appears as the final boss in the 1992 original. Armed with full robotic battle armor and machine guns, Hitler better resembles a Transformer than he does an actual historical figure. And this portrayal is certainly a fun one. There are few other game endings that feel as satisfying as this one, as you can’t help but feel good after defeating a giant, hulking robo-Hitler.

Nintendo Enthusiast

Hitler has continued to appear in video games in the past decade, with his most notable recent appearance being in Zombie Army 4: Dead War. The Zombie Army series is a franchise set in a world where the Nazis have returned from the dead and even features a demonic version of the German Chancelor. This portrayal is perhaps the most extreme one yet, as Hitler becomes a literal monster with the power of controlling the undead and starts the apocalypse.

Is It Problematic?

Hitler has made many other interesting appearances in various other games, but it’s important to ask ourselves whether these exaggerated portrayals are harmful or not. While Hitler was a horrible person that deserves the title of “villain,” it makes sense on a surface level why he has appeared so often in games. But on the other hand, by giving Hitler the spotlight so frequently in video games, we’re giving him the attention that the real Hitler would have wanted. Hitler’s frequent appearances within gaming start to become problematic when we start separating Hitler the man from Hitler the caricature. Perhaps it’s time that we stop giving Adolf Hitler so much attention in games and focus ours on other things that are more deserving.

At Epoch XP, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch XP's service on our parent site, SJR Research.

--

(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)

[pixelgrotto]

Link has an Akira-esque motorcycle now and that’s awesome, but this DLC is just kinda OK

So, what is presumably the final piece of DLC for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild dropped about two days ago at The Game Awards 2017. It was one of those shadowy, no-promotion announcements that only Nintendo can get away with, and it was exciting, if only because the trailer showed Link on a FRIGGIN’ GUARDIAN MOTORCYCLE, DAMN SON. Also, following the tradition of Breath of the Wild having some of the best promotional artwork in the business, the drawing released to promote this DLC pack is basically an Akira reference! That’s so dope! But when it came time to fire up the actual DLC and gave it a whirl...I found myself kinda underwhelmed. (If you haven’t played it yet, go do that first, because spoilers lie ahead.) I’m not going to say that The Champion’s Ballad is a disappointment, because the fact that I wasn’t feeling it is mostly due to my own overblown expectations. But from looking at some reactions in the ResetERA official thread, I think it’s fair to say that myself and a host of other people were expecting something different. Ever since Breath of the Wild’s DLC plan was announced, Nintendo was hyping this second content pack up with promises of a “new original story.” From their ambiguous wording, it seemed like DLC pack 1 - the one that introduced the game’s Master Trials - was supposed to be the gameplay-focused package filled with a hard mode and other challenges, while DLC pack 2 was the one that was going to go heavy on plot content. Some people speculated that we’d be able to play as the deceased Champions or as Zelda herself. I wasn’t expecting anything that ambitious, but I was hoping for something like a little epilogue, or maybe a new map or island to explore.

What was actually released is maybe 30% story content and 70% stuff like the first DLC pack, AKA more endgame challenges and Shrines. The Champion’s Ballad, which is only unlockable after you’ve beaten the four Divine Beasts, actually starts off weirdly in that it makes you go back to the game’s starting area and clear out several enemy camps with a new weapon called the “One-Hit Obliterator,” which lets you KO baddies in a single strike but also decreases your health down to a fourth of a heart. New, more deviously difficult Shrines pop up after you clear out the camps, and once you’re finished with all of them, the Obliterator disappears...making it a strange, temporary tool that seems solely designed to create an arbitrary difficulty ceiling. 

Once you’re done with the One-Hit Obliterator section, you’re sent to four corners of the map. At each location you need to complete three more tasks AND more shrines before tackling a boss and unlocking a never-before-seen memory of each Champion. (Finally, story stuff!) Unfortunately, here’s where I started to get weary, because the challenges to unlock said memories are mainly rehashed tasks from the main game (like sand seal surfing), the Shrines are all sorta annoying and the bosses are the same versions of Ganon that you fought in the past, only slightly harder and now in some nebulous “illusory” realm that looks like it was run through an Instagram filter. (It was at this point when I realized that this DLC felt more like a remix album than anything else.) 

At the very end, there is one new Divine Beast to conquer, followed by an all-original boss battle that’s arguably one of the best parts of the DLC. If you’re successful, Link wins himself a spiffy new motorcycle that makes travelling around Hyrule a breeze...except it’s also kind of useless because by the time players unlock it, there’s just not that much left to DO, unless you’re still trying to collect all of the Korok Seeds or complete the game’s original 120 Shrines. 

Don’t get me wrong, the bike certainly is a fun toy to play with and has resulted in some amusing videos on YouTube. And the new memories, though they amount to little more than 15 minutes in total, are very good. (There’s one scene in particular of Link, Zelda and all the other Champions that’s practically tear-inducing.) But the questline that you need to endure to get the bike and these teeny nuggets of plot just didn’t feel worth it, IMO. It seemed like it was designed to appeal to a certain type of player - the ones who are 100% completionists and loved the complexity of Breath of the Wild’s Shrines. 

If you’re one of those persons, then I think you’ll enjoy this DLC. Sadly, I’m not a member of that group, and I’ve mentioned in the past that dungeons have never been the main reason why I’ve been attracted to Zelda games. For me, I play Zelda to be swept away by a sense of adventure, and the experience of climbing mountains, racing across Hyrule Field and learning more about a post-apocalyptic world was what made Breath of the Wild one of my favorite games of 2017, not its 120 Shrines. If you’re in the same camp as me and haven’t already bought the game’s $20 season pass, I recommend just watching the new cutscenes and boss fight on YouTube and calling it a day.

Speaking of that $20 season pass (which is the only way to purchase the game’s DLC), do I consider it a waste of money in hindsight? Well, not entirely. I did enjoy parts of the Master Trials in DLC pack 1, possibly because that stuff came out shortly after the game’s release and was never advertised as a “new original story.” Would I have enjoyed The Champion’s Ballad more if it had been released earlier and if the marketing language hadn’t shot my expectations skyward? Yeah, probably. As it stands, I still maintain that Breath of the Wild is a fine game, but when it comes to the post-launch content, I need to point out that we live in a world where Horizon: Zero Dawn - The Frozen Wilds, Bloodborne: The Old Hunters and both Witcher 3 expansions (the gold standard of recent downloadable content, in my eyes) all exist. DLC doesn’t have to be arbitrary stuff that should have been included in the base game, which kinda feels like the case here.  Nintendo can, and should, consider doing a little better next time. 

I made the Breath of the Wild/Akira comparison pic myself! Though a quick peek at Twitter shows that I wasn’t the only one with that bright idea...

[lu-cia-lu-nacy]

Ask me how I liked the ending of BotW. Go ahead. Make my day.

lol jk I'm going to rant about anyway. The TL;DR is at the bottom of the post. Obviously, spoilers ahead. Buckle up, kids.

There I was: in front of the beast that is Calamity Ganon, the ugliest motherfucker I have ever had the displeasure of fighting in a final boss battle. The battle itself was great, but left something to be desired. Not only was Ganon at half health due to the Champions getting a shot at him before the battle officially began, but it also was terribly easy to just barrage the guy with Ancient Arrows without receiving a single scratch in return. By the time he was at a quarter health, he had gone beast mode with his defenses, which finally gave me the challenge I was expecting all along. At that point, the boss battle felt real, felt difficult, and, ultimately, felt gratifying.

Dark Beast Ganon was a great second phase to the battle, imo. I had to shoot at him on horseback while evading his efforts to trample me or kill me with Malice. Of course, Zelda swoops in when Ganon is weak and then seals him away, the words, "Destroy Ganon: Completed" filling the screen as she does it. Link's interaction with the princess afterwards was bittersweet. In fact, the entire ending was bittersweet, what with Link trying to remember who she is and Zelda finally coming to terms with Link being chosen to be the Hero of Hyrule for a reason. As the credits rolled, I was left to contemplate the ending that left me feeling both satisfied and a bit melancholy.

And then the title screen came up.

Perplexed, I selected the "continue" option in hopes of looting the Sanctum in which I fought Ganon. I noticed a star next to the save file I created, so I assumed that meant my save file was altered to accommodate my victory.

I assumed wrong, becAUSE GANON WAS STILL THERE IN HIS EGG-CACOON-WHATEVER THING, WAITING TO BUST OUT AND FIGHT ME AGAIN.

At first, I thought it was my fault that I didn't save in between the boss phases, so I begrudgingly fought Ganon again with the few Ancient Arrows I had remaining all while remembering to save. I defeated him again, I saw Zelda and went through the Emotional Rainbow™ again, and I went through the credits again...only to end up at the title screen. Again.

And there it was. That tiny, little, piece of shit star next to my save file, that does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO THE GAME BECAUSE GANON IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL.

At this point, it's past 1:00 AM and I am livid. I check the forums to see what the deal is, only to find that other gamers are saying, "lol that's just how the game is otherwise we wouldn't have Blood Moons and we'd run out of things to do."

THAT'S WHAT DLC IS FOR, MY DUDES

YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THE DEVELOPERS OF THE LEGEND OF ZELDA REALLY THOUGHT THE BEST WAY TO REWARD A GAMER FOR COMPLETING THE FIRST EVER LOZ OPEN-WORLD GAME AND DEFEATING CALAMITY GANON IS PUTTING A STUPID STAR NEXT TO THE SAVE FILE??? The "Destroy Ganon" quest isn't even shown as completed in my Adventure Log! What the fuck, yo

I felt like Hidemaro Fujibayashi just strolled up to me, stuck to my shirt a gold star sticker that's barely the size of a thumb tack, and simply said, "Good job!" as he strolled back out. You'd think an open-world LoZ game would have done SOMETHING more to commemorate the gamer defeating the almighty Calamity Ganon. All those hours spent exploring, taking down monster camps, regaining control of the Divine Beasts, completing side quests, tirelessly grinding to upgrade all my armor, finding shrines, upgrading my Heart Containers and Stamina Wheel, learning exactly how to take down Guardians--it feels like all of that was invalidated by the game's lack of recognition of Ganon's defeat.

Look at a game like Skyrim. Believe it or not, there is a main quest, and believe it or not, one can sit down and defeat that main quest, thus "completing the game." As many Skyrim players know, just because you complete the main quest, doesn't mean you're done playing the game. There are boat loads of other quests and tasks and whatnot to do in the game that will keep you from putting it down, but the game will still recognize you managed to complete the main quest. Breath of the Wild is a huge game, yes, but so is Skyrim. So is Dark Souls. So is Fallout. Why couldn't Nintendo follow in the footsteps of these other open-world games by allowing Ganon to remain defeated all while still giving you plenty of quests to complete? I feel like Nintendo really dropped the ball when it came to how they handled what the player could do post-Ganon, and that's why I really despise the ending.

Don't get me wrong: I still love the game to bits. I still love anonymously bombing unsuspecting Bokoblin camps, or taking down Guardian Stalkers, or completing my Hyrule Compedium. I'm sure the game will still be fun to play because I still have about 30 shrines left and I plan on getting the DLC. Nevertheless, as a gamer, you want to feel satisfaction when you finally defeat the boss--not disappointment and frustration.

TL;DR: The boss battle had its moments, but left something to be desired. The fact that BotW will only recognize Ganon's defeat by putting a star next to your save file is infuriating, discouraging, and plain stupid. Other open-world games allow you to complete the main quest, get recognition for it, and still give you plenty of baddies to fight or quests to complete; why couldn't Breath of the Wild do the same thing? The ending would have been much more gratifying if they allowed Ganon to stay defeated and incorporated post-defeat content, but the fact they didn't makes me feel like I wasted my time preparing to fight Ganon in the first place.

[ponett]

Okay, so. After over 60 hours of playtime (much of that being sidequests and shrine hunting that I was by no means required to do) I beat Breath of the Wild last night. What a game

I had an extremely good time with it, and it’s definitely my favorite open world game ever. Maybe also my favorite Zelda. I’m not sure. It’s hard to say. It’s the best at a lot of things, but there are a few things other Zeldas do better. But it’s easily top 3

Here are some spoilery thoughts on the story and the imperfect way they had to structure it due to the extremely open nature of the game

So Breath of the Wild is a fantastic game. I just wanna get that out of the way. It was an absolute blast to play and it’s a monumental achievement for the medium of video games. But I think the one aspect that let me down a little (not entirely, but a little) was the story. Mostly the ending, I suppose. It’s not a bad story--I think they absolutely NAIL the melancholy yet hopeful tone, which adds a ton to the game, I think. Zelda was fleshed out nicely as a character compared to past entries in the series. And I think the addition of voice acting (finally) adds a lot

But I think the main plot and the execution of the ending left a bit to be desired

I think part of that is due to the unique structure of the game. You can do story content out of order, and you can also skip most of the story and just head straight to the final boss. The concession made here in order to acommodate this is that most of the main storyline has already happened before the player takes control of Link. And I’m not... COMPLETELY sold on this execution

Link awakens with amnesia and has to regain his memories from 100 years ago. This theoretically puts him in the player’s shoes--he knows as little about the story as you do. The problem here is that Link is remembering significant events you had no involvement in, so I always felt a bit distanced from the main storyline with Zelda. I didn’t really feel like I was growing closer to Zelda as I remembered all the things she and Link had done in the past, and there really isn’t much more to the main storyline aside from those flashbacks. It’s a nice story, I think, but it felt disconnected from my adventures

I think that might be part of the reason why I’m seeing people get so much more attached to characters like Sidon and Kass than Zelda--at least, among people I know. Sidon encouraging you on your adventure through Zora’s Domain and later helping you out when taking on the Divine Beast is something that happens to YOU. Running into Kass repeatedly, hearing his songs, getting his help in your hunt for all the shrines, and seeing how impressed he is when you solve his riddles is something that happens to YOU. The story of Link being Zelda’s personal guard is something that happened to LINK, not you. There is not a single part in the game where you directly interact with Zelda, and the main lot hinges on your relationship with her

It doesn’t help that this story with Zelda is almost guaranteed to be told out of order thanks to the way memories are uncovered. I love the idea of finding significant locations to uncover Link’s memories, but it probably would’ve been better if these memories were supplements to the story, rather than a bulk of the central plot

I might’ve liked it a bit better if I went back and watched all the memories in chronological order before fighting Ganon. Zelda has a very clear emotional arc there and is more fleshed out as a character than she has been in literally any other game. But that arc is only clearly visible in chronological order, rather than in the form of a bunch of random vignettes

Her emotional arc is also almost completely separate from the actions of the player. The only involvement you have with her story, really, is the fact that you beat Ganon for her so that she can finally seal him away. Again, this comes off as a concession to let the game be more open. To avoid guiding you through a linear story with Zelda in the present, her arc was made part of the backstory that you can uncover at your own pace. It’s an interesting workaround, but not the most satisfying from a storytelling standpoint

The champions’ storylines, if much simpler, worked better than Zelda’s, I think. Every Divine Beast questline is a nice little story where you’re introduced to the relationships Link and the people of the town you’re in had with the champion, you free the champion’s spirit in the dungeon, and everyone gets some closure. More characters are involved in the emotional arcs of these stories, more of it happens in the present (Revali’s opinion of Link only improves due to your performance in the dungeon, for instance), and you get all the necessary information in a more deliberate order, meaning all four of these chunks of the story offer a nice little arc

The other main problem I have with the story, which I can’t really excuse as a concession for the game’s loose story structure, is that the game has no real villain. Calamity Ganon is a malevolent force, not a person. Zelda outright says as much. He’s a plague on Hyrule, not a villain. He does not have a single line of dialogue in the game. You show up to fight him, you kill him, Zelda’s freed, and that’s pretty much it

I think the only villains who got any actual characterization in the game were the Yiga Clan, if I remember correctly. And I loved them. They’re fantastic. But I want MORE of that. Not having more bad guys to work with was a major missed opportunity here. Even all the dungeon bosses are just manifestations of Ganon’s blight rather than unique monsters or baddies

With no villains and no other major allies, the only character to really wrap things up with in the ending is Zelda, and her story is wrapped up pretty quick. The game doesn’t show you how the rest of the world reacts to Ganon’s defeat. It just ends. It feels like a fitting conclusion to Zelda’s personal story arc, but not like a conclusion for the other stories in Hyrule

Zelda’s story is just one very, very small piece of a huge world that’s brimming with life and charm. There are more fun little side stories and colorful NPCs in this game than in probably any other Zelda game in history, just because it’s huge. You never know what random NPC will have a story to tell in this game, and as a whole this incarnation of Hyrule has such a genuine warmth and friendliness on top of the melancholy story of a kingdom that largely lies in ruin. I was in awe at environments like the new Zora’s Domain, or the Rito Village, or Hateno Village. I loved exploring every nook and cranny of this world and I’d gladly do it again--and I surely will, with a bunch more shrines to find and DLC on the way

This is absolutely my favorite incarnation of Hyrule ever and a game I’ll cherish for years. I just don’t think that such a simple, rather abrupt ending could live up to all that, I guess

I’d still give this game a 10 though lol. No game’s perfect and everything I’ve nitpicked here is like... 3% of the whole game tops

[dmbakura]

golvio replied to your post: lonely-occultist replied to your post “like this...

I am *still* salty that they seem to have decided that Ghirahim is the one thing that’s not going to carry over from Skyward Sword. I swear, that guy has more potential in his left pinky finger than Demise had in his whole body, even if he’s just playing second banana to Ganondorf the next time he shows up.

honestly i had a pretty bad feeling about the plot the moment i saw calamity ganon was the main baddy. not even ganondorf. no we gotta literally fight an evil cloud instead as if thats even a fraction as compelling as the variety of villains weve gotten in the past. its just a fact that without a good antagonist, theres nothing to drive the story

[skiplo-wave]

Finally finished Age of Calamity

Pretty good game!

It’s basically endgame plot but Zelda edition. We have two timelines now botw ( first game) and AoC where Thanos Ganon is defeated and nobody dies

Characters were hit and miss. Zelda, Urbosa, damn yiga clan, and literal robot egg has most character development

Mipha sadly I thought had the worst. But her and Sidon meeting again and battling together was the best. Glad they saw each other.

Astor was eh but he’s just small baddie to help support main one ( rip to Soga I guess)

I have no idea if this canon will effect botw 2 or not. However knowing Ganon once again returns either endings from these games could work.

Really thought calamity just prequel leading up to botw but I was surprised by ending.

8/10 game now I have 100% it sorta to get the costumes lol

Not sure if I’ll get the DLC for AoC but I’m mostly ready for botw 2. When it’s ready I don’t want rush game trying combat the hype

Impa is best girl she’s my second favorite character to play seeing she’s almost level 70 like link lol