#and yes its heavily inspired by botw

[ganondoodle]

accidentally worked longer on this than i intended; a little mock up of a dream game of mine for my OC stories world i took some ideas i had for the totk rewrite into this but this is in fact an original thing

(original art, character: (post timeskip) Shargon, he/they, demon)

[recallback]

If You Do Not Feel Happy Dirt Boss Can Make You Some Yummy Dirt Chicken Noodle Soup

Wow thank you dirtboss, I would love some chicken noodle soup :)

Obligatory read-more because I've been using these asks as an infodump for shit I've been thinking about. Which is almost always related to my wish fulfillment zelda game, and that is literally what it is about today because I wanted to dump thoughts.

First of all, I finally settled on a rough name for it, and have been calling it Spectre's Blade. Just named after your main gimmick, you got a ghost sword. Boom.

Secondly, I've been tryna flesh out what I'd want from the dungeons more. Of course, I'm a fan of traditional zelda dungeons so that's the vibe I'd like, and I'm not against the gimmick items either they're fun. I would ideally want a good mix of stealth and battle mechanics though - the Link you play as is a thief and treasure hunter, he should be adept at stealth, but he's still Link. He's a sword boy at heart. But yes, I've been fleshing out ideas for the dungeons! Here's a list of the order they come in, and my current ideas for em:

Kakariko Cavern - a secret cavern underneath Kakariko village, this is the starter dungeon where you begin the game and find your Prince~. It's relatively small, very gloomy looking with some vague sheikah aesthetics, and a few generic buggy and lizard enemies. It's just supposed to teach you the game mechanics, thatse it.

Magamar Mines - the Fire dungeon, it's a mining operation in part of Death Mountain run by the Goron. As typical of fire dungeons, it has very heavy industrial aesthetics, and the special dungeon item you get is a bomb pouch. The little run-up to being allowed access is a secondary tutorial to teach you more game mechanics, such as shield surfing and archery. The story here revolves around first confirming there is a plot by the Yiga Clan to steal parts of a relic known as the Phantom's Pool, which when assembled creates a doorway between the mortal and spirit world, that they intend to use to revive Ganon. Not sure on the boss yet.... maybe something mechanical to fit the industrial theme? Big furnace creature you gotta throw bombs into.

The Water Temple - The name is self explanatory. It's an ancient temple maintained by the Zora, it has very Ancient Rome vibes (as one might expect of the Zora) but it's very much abandoned and in ruin. You obtain the Zora tunic in this area, and it serves to help teach water mechanics obvs. Bit more stealth heavy, the Zora do Not believe you about the whole Yiga plot and think they could stop em themselves anyway.... so you gotta sneak in for the first part. The boss monster is definitely fought underwater, I think something like a giant squid monster would be cool. Cut off the tentacles, avoid being grabbed, stab a big eyeball in a beak.

The Great Deku Tree - This is the forest dungeon, and as the name states, it takes place within in the remains of the Deku Tree. Typical of a forest temple. I want it to have very planty, natural vibes, like Inside Jabu Jabu but if it was just made of plants. The story here is where things get a bit more serious? You initially go to check up on some villagers who evacuated into the woods following Yiga occupation of their town, then go off to search for a girl who got lost in the Lost Woods. You find em with a lone Korok, who explains they were just tryna find help, because the Yiga have cleared out Korok Village too and seized the Deku Tree in search of the Pool piece. It's very gloomy and sad in this area in general, everything is abandoned and lonely. The item you get in this area is a whip, that can pull objects closer to you and attack enemies from afar and such. The boss? Unsure. I wanna say a giant termite themed monster.

The Forgotten Aviary - This is the sky dungeon, it is in fact In the sky and it takes its aesthetic inspiration heavily from Skyloft. The item you gain from this area is a glider, functions a lot like BOTW. The story here revolves around being scouted by the Rito for help, as they've heard of the goings-on with the Yiga and are worried about an attack on some ancient grounds their ancestors once guarded. But without knowledge of how the Yiga are operating their attacks, they are ill pre-pared to take them head on and can only attempt to hold them off while you secure the relic. This is a bit of a dramatic lore heavy area I wanna say, since it's like... supposed to be a riff on Skyloft. Main boss here is definitely some kinda sky whale, those guys LOVED their sky whales.

The Abandoned Lodge - I'll completely admit this takes a lot of insp from TP. But I'm not being original. Just writing what I like. This is the ice dungeon, it is a large abandoned lodge house out in the Hebra mountains that was once used by the royal family. You end up here largely by accident, after taking time to unwind from the Aviary siege and hearing rumors in a nearby town of this weird house a little ways out... you get there, find there's a couple living in it, and that a relic piece is there too. Some researcher guy has been trying to use the weird spirit magic from the pool to heal his partner, and demands you help em secure the relic from the Yiga when he hears about the thefts. It's supposed to be a Lodge, so the general aesthetic is just very... yknow, large snowy abandoned manor. Plenty of fortification cause the royals stayed there. Gotta be safe. The main boss is the researcher guys partner, gets turned into a big ol' dragon by the main villain who shows up to confront Link and be dramatic. The special item you get here is Iron Boots, since they let you walk across ice without sliding around.

The Ancient Hyrule Archives - This is the light dungeon, it has a very medieval european vibe cause it's this big sacred building created centuries ago by the royal family. Literally Holy Ground. Storywise, you arrive here after receiving a letter from the current caretaker for the place. They explain they heard you've been helping fight off the Yiga, and need your help securing the relic - as they unfortunately can't. The family put in charge of guarding the place centuries ago was cursed for stealing from it, and it's a bit hard to sneak around the Yiga when you're kind of a half-skulltula.... but they wanna make up for those old mistakes! A lot of this dungeon is more stealth based than the last few, that were combat heavier, but you Can take a combat approach if you feel ballsy. The special item you get here is the Beetle - like the Skyward Sword one. You can use it to manipulate items from a distance (differently from the whip that just pulls em or breaks em) and also as a scout! For stealth! The boss here is your caretaker npc buddy, who is turned into Gohma (big ol spider boss in most games) by the main villain, and the battle itself is this big chase sequence through a secret route out the dungeon. Gotta use the beetle to knock rubble loose and trap em momentarily to smack around, until you eventually escape and the magic wears off. Inspired by the lost footage of TP's original Gohma fight I wish we had that shit.

Royal Catacombs - This is the games shadow temple, based entirely underground in a stretch of land between Kakariko Village and Hyrule Castle. It's got a lot of the general aesthetics associated with the Sheikah, though more of the modern-ish aesthetics with a healthy mix of the Ancient aesthetics in its enemies and puzzles. The item you get from here is the Lens of Truth, explainable for any OoT fans. The story here is kinda... idk, heavy? Because your companion character, Mr Sword Gerudo Prince, was killed and trapped in his sword BY the Sheikah when the kingdom was fearful of the rise of Ganon a few centuries back. He's extremely uncomfortable around em, you gotta navigate that, and the fact the Sheikah are a bit too prideful to want your help or to apologize until it's obvious they fucked it. The boss battle here is against a very familiar and terrifying face - a giant, corrupted Guardian Stalker. You have to use the Lens of Truth to see its weak points and strike em. Big Bad does usually say a few dramatic things before these battles, defo does a monologue here though to taunt your prince buddy.

Gerudo Valley Temple - The spirit dungeon of this game! It has a lot of inspiration from yknow ancient Arabic architecture, since that's where the Gerudo draw inspiration from. Unlike the previous temples though... you explore this one entirely in the Spirit Realm. Your intro to the area is going through the Yiga headquarters set outside of it, right before the Gerudo plan to raid the place for the relic pieces they managed to steal, and the Big Bad yeets you through the partially constructed Phantom Pool into the spirit realm, intending to trap you there. No concrete decisions here yet on mechanics, gotta stop though because I. hit the character limit.

Wait can I write more words if I create a new block. I think so. Anyway at the point above, I considered making you play as Wolf Link because it's wish fulfillment game and I Like Him. But I'm not settled on that because it feels like a big tone change for one area. The final dungeon of the game would obvs be the final dungeon inside Hyrule Castle, gotta confront the Big Bad and kick his ass.

That's all I got for today um. This was a lot of words <3 If anyone ever feels like actually talking to me about this AU then you can ask, I have plenty to say clearly. Thanks for reading this far I am kissing you.

[non-binary-laurie-strode]

Full Legends: Arceus thoughts

It is Tuesday night. The game came out on Friday, and I played pretty constantly from Friday evening until pretty early in the morning today. I haven't played today as I'm, uh, recovering from going so hard on it, but it's still fresh in my head, so I thought I'd write my full thoughts out for the void!

Arceus is easily the most ambitious and story-driven entry in the entire series. There is no comparison to it within Pokémon's titles. Black and White used to be the gold prize winning story game, but this absolutely blows BW out of the water.

Obviously, there's a comparison to Breath of the Wild that likely needs to be talked about. Yes, it is clearly heavily inspired by BOTW. This game likely would never have happened without BOTW. But it does stand on its own merits, and it escapes the shadow of that. The team really was operating at full creativity designing this game, and it still retains the feeling and spirit of a Pokémon game. It may look like it, but it is much more than Pokémon dressed up in BOTW skin.

(Sidebar: I posted a little about this before, but I do think that there would have eventually been a game like this in the series even if we lived in a universe without BOTW. Not like this exactly, I mean, but a radical format break. They've been playing with the formula for a while, from Alola dropping gyms and badges to the Galar gym challenge and Wild Area, so I think something would have happened. But we live in a BOTW timeline, and that really broke the ground for Arceus to do what it does.)

The central theme of the game is that you are plucked out of your time and crash-land into the land of Hisui, the medieval (or antiquity)* version of Sinnoh. You are recruited to the Galaxy Team to help survey the wilderness and expand the new Pokédex book. Along the way, the time-space rift that you fell through (oh, yeah, that's a menacing thing the whole time) begins to cause the Noble Pokémon of the Diamond and Pearl clans, who are at odds with each other because they worship two different versions of "Almighty Sinnoh", to become violent; this leads to people fearing the rift and your origins in it.

*(I say medieval/antiquitarian rather than ancient like a lot of people are doing because I think it's not meant to be ancient. There are plenty of actual ancient ruins around, and they outright speak about the ancient Sinnoh people. It's been long enough for a religious schism between the Diamond and Pearl clans, and both have a clear formalised administration. There's a third point on this timeline. It's like looking at modern Italy and saying the late Roman Empire is ancient. Which it... is kind of but it isn't. Look, the image makes sense to me.)

This is the bulk of the game. The first (and longest) phase of the game can be measured by your progress in quelling the Nobles. You have about half a dozen different sub-regions to explore for the Survey Corps, each dividing down into at least a dozen areas each.

As you progress through the different regions, you are meant to be researching the Pokémon of the regions by doing research tasks: This can be anything from catching the Pokémon over and over (I think there are some Pokémon you have to catch 25 times to max out the "Catch this Pokémon" research task), defeating them, defeating them with a specific type of move (you need to defeat 20 Staravia with Electric type moves, if I remember right), seeing them use an agile or strong move so many times, etc. As you complete research tasks, the overall research level of that Pokémon increases. After a point, the dex shows that research on that Pokémon is complete. (You don't have to finish every task; many of mine are only halfway filled in. Do a mix of this and that.)

The areas are all basically the Wild Areas from Sword and Shield but played out on a huge scale. You have full camera control, Pokémon fully spawning in the overworld, different weathers, different spawn tables for different times, etc.

This isn't a truly "Open world, go anywhere and do anything at any time" game. The areas you explore are gated behind story progress, in a general sense. You go into the first large region, have to do some story beats, and then you unlock the next map, rinse and repeat. Still, it feels so open, and so so so much more than the generic "horizontal route five tiles wide, then vertical route going up about thirty tiles" that Pokémon routes are known for. There are no routes; there are wide areas.

Mechanically, you can sneak up on Pokémon and surprise them with a Pokéball, thereby avoiding battle entirely, or you can enter into a more formal fight. And yes, the Pokémon can notice you and attack you; if you take too many hits, your character will collapse.

I've already seen one review or two talking about the regions being empty with nothing to do, and I am thoroughly confused by that. The regions do have open areas to allow Pokémon to spawn; you know, the things you're supposed to be dealing with? You do have to have room for those things to play out. And the terrains are very varied, from gentle meadows to a cliff-strewn tundra to a poisonous swamp, and even a volcano. It is not flat at all. Idk where that came from.

There are few formal trainer battles. Most characters in this world do not like Pokémon, so you only have a handful of NPCs who will challenge you. Which is fine: The damage formula and stats in this game are somehow very different from regular games* so the wild Pokémon are a terrifying challenge if you are under their level or just on par. If you have ever wanted to get stomped on by an early route bird, this is the game where it will happen. The only trainer battle to really give me any issues is the very final fight of the game. (More on that later.) I don't really miss the trainer battles; there's far more important things to do than spend thirty seconds dealing with Lass Elizabeth and her Meowth that are like fifteen levels under your Pokémon, yknow?

*(I even got out my stat calculator to check HP values and they were WAY off—I calculated the stats for a Bidoof in SWSH with full IVs and EVs but it was so far below the numbers in Arceus that I have no idea what's going on there. I have to do more research into battle mechanics for this game!)

Also of note are the Alpha Pokémon. Alpha Pokémon has glowing red eyes, have "wild might" (which basically just increases all their stats like the Totem auras in Sun and Moon), and are generally boss-like fights for their area. Of note, the Alpha Parasect wandering around Nature's Pantry in the first region is level 40 when you are probably about level 10 or 12. This is likely the most extreme level disparity (I know there's an Alpha Gabite who was about seven above me, I think, later in the game), but also a great illustration of the power and function of Alphas.

There are many side quests throughout the region to pick up as you travel. Pokémon has finally entered the 21st century and you have a quest log! And you can set flags on the overworld map to guide you through your quests! Can't believe it only took this long. Anyway, the quest givers need to see Pokédex progress, or you need to find a second character somewhere else, or you need to find vegetables from this region, or something. Some of them have ongoing storylines, the most obvious one being Choy at the general store, whose feud with Tao Hua plays out as you finish each quest for Choy.

I've seen people say "Oh, the game is too short, it's only 25 hours if you just do the story", and it's like... No. You can't reduce the game down to that. That's like saying BOTW is an hour long because you can skip everything optional and run straight to Ganon if you really want. It took me like, 33 hours, I think, and I am aware that I was rushing (especially at the end where I was absolutely blitzing the post-game) and have a load of side quests to do. If you play at a more reasonable pace and fill out the Pokédex and do the side quests, this is easily a 45-60 hour game. Which I think is very fair and reasonable for this day and age.

There are a mix of new Pokémon (of the revealed ones, stuff like Basculegion being an evolution of Basculin) and a good number of Hisui regional variants on old mons. (I think regional forms is one of the best ideas that the team has ever had, really.) I do enjoy many of the Hisui forms: I often said "Ooh, what is THAT?!" when seeing a regional form. Some of them are kind of silly-looking (Dialga and Palkia have new forms and they're... interesting), but I like the majority of them. The starters have new forms as well, so don't expect your standard Johto/Unova/Alola final evo. (I think Decidueye gets the best deal out of all of them, personally.) These forms and new mons are given much attention in the story: All of the Nobles and important story mons are either new mons or new forms. You'll see all but one of the newsies if you finish the post-game. (There is one additional legendary new thing, but I haven't seen it yet.)

Character customisation is kind of a boot. It's no Animal Crossing: New Horizons for sure. I'm glad I got the promo Shaymin kimono (available in-game if you have Sword and Shield save data on your device) because the other clothing options are... eh. There are a lack of good hairstyles and colours. I was hoping to unlock the legacy character hairstyles (as many of the "Ancestor NPCs" in this game have the hairstyles of modern Sinnoh game characters), but that didn't happen. Maybe I missed a sidequest somewhere.

Tangential, but the graphic design all-around, really, is very middling. It does sort of look like a game for the PS3 a decade ago rather than a modern game. (Which makes sense, as the Switch must function first as a handheld console. There is absolutely no way that they can do what some vocal posters online want and add 4k support because... it's a handheld console too. The tech required for that would not be possible for a handheld.) Sometimes the grass glitches out at certain camera angles. I don't know they're like this; Pokémon is a very successful franchise, but they don't seem to care about keeping on pace with graphics. At this point, all I can do is shrug and say eh, it's Pokémon. It's expected that the graphics are thoroughly average. I guess they focus more on coding and ideas. If graphics are super important to you, temper your expectations.

On the positive side, this is the first game in which your character has a variety of facial expressions! Not with any great depth, but they're there. It's not the haunted blank face of Alola and Galar! ....Tragic that it took this long, but hey we're here.

Ride Pokémon return from Alola.* Many of them feel very good. If you're on a Ride Pokémon and touch the water, you auto-shift to the Surfing one, which is a nice touch. Soaring on a flying Pokémon returns from ORAS, and I am overjoyed about that. That was legit one of the best parts of ORAS. (Also very useful for sprinting through the end-game.)

*(There's a character who talks about the Alolan Rides, and I was kind of surprised. Is Alola settled by now? Are they known for having Ride Pokémon? In this era, when Pokémon are feared? Hm. Interesting worldbuilding.)

As I said above, the story is the most ambitious attempt at storytelling they've ever done. It doesn't aaaaalways land, but it is by far the best job they've done on that front. It doesn't feel like a generic Pokémon storyline; there is an interesting premise, the supporting cast is at least memorable in terms of looks and dialogue (I still have trouble remembering the NPCs in XY), and it feels as though the plot has actual stakes for your character and for the game world.

Speaking of the game-world, the worldbuilding is off the charts here. SO much history and so many implications about the world. This is, truly, how the Pokémon world was meant to be interacted with, I think. It's so rich and so layered, especially if you know the original Sinnoh games well. Seeing a name pop up on a map like "Veilstone Cape" or being told to enter Snowpoint Temple is a treat because it's like, Oh THIS is supposed to become THIS, yes, I see! We are HERE on the mental map of modern Sinnoh! And of course, there's an eerie delight in seeing "Turnback Cave" pop up at some point.

Oh, before I end: That final fight (which you can do after the post-game story, it's the penultimate main story mission). That final fight is......... I have opinions. You have Cynthia's theme going off while you fight what is essentially her team with one substitution (because Milotic doesn't exist), and THEN you do not heal and have to immediately fight a wild might boosted —, and then you don't get healed again and have to immediately fight a wild might boosted — (which is the more dangerous form!). It is a final gauntlet. And I used a lot of Max Revives to stumble through that one.

On measured reflection, that final fight is likely easier if you, yknow, do the side quests and take your time in the post-game. I was almost speedrunning at that point because I wanted to go to bed. So, don't just rush into that one.

I have one last main mission to do, which is to complete the Pokédex (I'm like 2/3 of the way there) and then face Arceus himself in the final story beat.

Anyway, overall parting though: I love this game. It is absolutely one of the best things that Pokémon has ever created, hands down. Easy top three entry in the series, very very very possibly their best. Moderately derivative of the BOTW formula, but it stands on its own very well. It may end up as my personal favourite game, but I have to let it stew for a while. Very excellent game, very easy to get sucked into.

[dumbfinntales]

Last night I beat Immortals Fenyx Rising, so let’s talk about it.

I’ll get this out of the way and say, this game is mechanically almost identical to Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. If you’ve played BOTW in the past you’ll notice this and the game doesn’t try to hide its inspirations. Everything from the open world design to how the overall movement feels is identical, with some minor variations. The only thing that is truly different is the combat, which is actually very fun and varied. Now, is it a bad thing that Immortals is so similar to BOTW? Hell no. If you’re going to copy a game then do it with a good game and do it well, which I think Immortals succeeds in.

Immortals does stand out however with its setting and presentation, the game takes place on the golden isle which was built for the gods as sort of a vacation resort. But then the big baddie of Greek mythology called Typhon sets all hell loose, turns all the mortals to stone and takes all the power away from the gods. You play as Fenyx, a character who can be either male or female depending what you choose when you customize your character. Fenyx seems like a lowly nobody and is the sole survivor of a shipwreck, but he quickly finds the famed sword of Achilles, the axe of Atalanta and the bow of Odysseus which turns him into an ass kicking badass. Fenyx then sets out to free the other mortals from their stony prisons, help the gods and uh. Solve a lot of puzzles? That are just scattered around the isle? Those puzzles have something to do with Daedalus.

The game is very heavily steeped in Greek mythology, and if you’re an absolute nut for the old Greek myths like myself, you’ll get a chuckle out of the many references. The game even managed to teach me some new myths that I didn’t know about. I love Greek mythology, but I haven’t studied all the myths in detail. It took me forever to read about Heracles and his twelve labors. Oh yeah, and the game is also narrated by Prometheus and Zeus. Prometheus being the main storyteller and the voice of reason, while Zeus is kinda there and makes smug quips. You’d think that the banter between these two would get annoying, but no. It is actually very entertaining to listen to Prometheus’ stories, and whatever Zeus has to say.

Okay enough with the myths and the gods, how’s the gameplay? The open world? Good. Really good. The world isn’t bloated, it’s big enough to feel expansive, but not so big that it exhausts you with the sheer volume of repetitive content. I’m looking at you, AC: Odyssey. The open world of Immortals is filled with fun puzzles and activities to take part in, and there’s ALWAYS something to see or to do. There’s never a moment where you just run long distances without anything to do in between and that’s what kept the open world so captivating for 50+ hours. Not to mention that the things you do are a lot of fun, as I enjoy puzzle elements in adventure games. My favorites were the constellation challenges where you had to find blue orbs from the surrounding area while solving simple puzzles, and then arranging them to form a star sign.

I mentioned that the combat was good, and it is. At least when compared to BOTW where the combat is very simplistic and your weapons break every 2 seconds, that’s not the case here. You got your basic combo system with light and heavy attacks, a satisfying parry mechanic, a perfect dodge system and even a system that rewards you for not getting hit. There’s a combo meter and the higher it gets you start doing more damage with each hit, accompanied by some neat visual effects. There’s also the godly powers that allow you to just decimate everything. The damage and the stun damage that these skills do when fully upgraded are disgusting. Some bigger enemies can’t do anything when I send them to the stratosphere. Talking about enemies, what this game does better is that there’s great enemy variety! There’s tons of mythological monsters to fight like harpies, gorgons, chimeras, three headed dogs, hydras etc... There’s also many kinds of humanoid enemies and even animals, like bears, lions and chickens! Yes, chickens. Hated those things.

So were there any things I particularly disliked? There’s really one thing that bothered me and it’s the upgrading “cut-scenes”. Every time you upgrade anything, like your armor or your health you get a funny little cut-scene of your character doing the thing. It was fun the first time I saw them, but considering how much you upgrade your character throughout the game it gets very tiring. Even though they last for like 10-20 seconds, they still feel like time wasters after a while. And of course you can’t skip them. So every time you upgrade your stamina you have to watch that annoying work out cut-scene. But yeah, beyond that there was nothing that really bothered me. I truly feel like Ubisoft actually created a good open world game. Guess all it took was to mimic a game that did open world well.

Is Immortals Fenyx Rising the open world Greek mythology game of my dreams? Not really, if AC: Odyssey was actually done well it would be. But it is still a damn good BOTW clone. This game gets a thunderbolt out of ten! Get some disinfectant for those!

[castletownranger]

Make Haste, And Go (Part 1)

So I’ve had some botw angst floating around in my head for a while. Heavily inspired by Memory #17 from Breath of the Wild, this is the first of what I believe will be a three part story chronicling the moments of Link’s death, and the immediate moments that follow. This first part is most heavily based within Memory #17, but later parts will expand on what I picture happening off-screen. 

Tw: Blood, burns, death

__________

She had told him to run. Broken Guardians blazed in the field around them. Embers swirled in the air. Smoke flooded their lungs, and rain battered their skin. In a fleeting moment, the princess wished for a flood. Let the sky cry for eternity, let it wash away all the pain and wreckage that lay in front of them.  If this was to be the end, she wanted it to end swiftly. 

Because as many Guardians as her knight had killed, more were on the way. 

They came relentlessly. Scampering across the field, six legs to carry each one of them, like mindless insects swarming a rotten pile of fruit. The land was already bruised enough. Hyrule’s fields were covered in blood and fire and ash, and even for Ganon, it must have been enough. With the rain falling down her cheeks like tears, Zelda looked to the sky. Let it finally end, Hylia, please. But the princess had long since learned that her prayers would not be answered. And her kingdom’s demise would not be so swift. 

Link was a dead man standing as he held his ground in front of her. Zelda knew this, and she had begged him over and over to run; insisted that he leave her and save himself. With all the friends she had already lost, she could not bear to lose another. But after her most recent attempt, a new Guardian beared down on them. And the knight—bruised, limping, and bleeding—raised his sword against it. 

The red tracking laser locked onto Link’s forehead. 

Zelda told him to run. He did not. 

There was nothing else she could do but throw herself in front of him. She swore on Hylia, on all the Goddesses, she would not lose another friend. Whatever it took. But taking the hit for her knight would not prove to be the princess’ final act. 

Zelda did not know the golden power would erupt from her palm when she stepped in front of Link. But as she moved, she was compelled to raise her hand skyward. A bright, shining aura enveloped her hand. The Guardian froze. Three triangles ignited on Zelda’s skin, and golden energy burst through the field. 

The Guardian dimmed and collapsed. Its pink glow, the Malice infecting its core, drained from its body and dissipated into the air. And it wasn’t just the Guardian in front of them that suffered either; one by one, the Guardians in the field that had been enveloped by the princess’s light halted and collapsed. Zelda stared at the back of her hand. Maybe Hylia had finally heard her. Maybe this wasn’t the end after all. 

But her hope died when she heard something—something close, something smaller than a Guardian—collapse behind her. 

She turned. Link lay in the dirt. His chest rising and falling in rapid heaves, his blood already pooling on the ground around him. 

“No, no…”  

Zelda rushed to his side. 

“Link! Get up!” 

The princess knelt and gathered the knight in her arms. He wasn’t supposed to die here. She would have taken the hit for him, and instead she unlocked the power that would save them. She was sure she had saved him. And they could save everyone else now too. 

He wasn’t supposed to die here. 

Link looked up at her with a weak cough. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth, and his body was more burn and gaping wound than skin. Zelda cried. She couldn’t hold back her tears anymore and she did not make any effort to. But through her sobs she spoke. “You’re going to be just fine.”   

Link looked into her eyes. His breathing was slowing. The crease in his brow indicated to Zelda just how focused he was at keeping his gaze on her. His lips trembled like he wanted to say something, but Zelda watched the light leave from his eyes first. He stilled against her. 

Zelda held him. She held him close to her chest, not caring about his dark blood staining her white gown; she held him as if her touch could will him back to life. There were no more Guardians in sight, but still she curled over his body as if in a last ditch effort to protect him when she couldn’t earlier. The rain and fire swirling around them would not touch him. It did not matter that his body was already broken; nothing would get him, not ever again. 

Through her sobs, she almost did not hear the voice. At first it sounded faint and far away, but then it sounded like it came from between her ears. It was soothing, if a bit robotic, but there was something sorrowful about the simplicity with which it spoke. The Master Sword, still clutched in Link’s lifeless hand, glowed in time with the voice. 

“Child who carries the blood of the Goddess in her veins…” 

At first Zelda could not believe what she was hearing. “The sword…?” She was aware of ancient legends that told of a voice within the sword, a voice that only the hero had been able to hear. 

“Yes. Child of my creator, you need not give up hope. There is a way for this incarnation of the hero to survive.”  

“So he can…He can still be saved?” 

“If you bring him to the Shrine of Resurrection, I estimate a 91% chance that he will be revitalized. But you must hurry.” 

Before Zelda could respond, another voice echoed from across the plains. 

“Princess!” 

Two Sheikah foot soldiers bounded over the wreckage of the Guardians and knelt before her. “Are you alright?” One of them asked. 

Zelda did not waste time explaining that she was relatively uninjured. “Take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection. If you don’t get him there immediately, we are going to lose him forever. Is that clear?” 

Both soldiers nodded. 

“So make haste, and go. His life is now in your hands.” 

“But princess, what about you?” 

“Do not worry about me,” Zelda said. She looked down at the sword in Link’s hand. Then placed her hand on top of his. “I will meet you at the Shrine. Activate it and stand guard, but do not seal it until I get there. I have other matters to attend to first.” 

“But, your highness—”

“That is an order.” 

Both Sheikah bowed their heads. Zelda did not let go of Link until she had placed him in the arms of one of the soldiers herself. She requested that the soldiers leave Link’s sword with her. This sword, combined with her own sealing power, and the hope of a revitalized hero, was  their last remaining chance at sealing away the darkness. Zelda was too wary of anyone other than herself securing it. 

It would be a long and perilous journey north of Hyrule Field, she knew. But there was only one place the princess felt comfortable with putting the sword to rest.

[gaiabros]

Short on time? Head on over to our ELECTROWEEN Mixes page where we have created an archive for all of our ELECTROWEEN productions. There you will find our latest 2017 mixes to stream and download. We will be adding additional mixes from other projects in the future, so please subscribe to GAIA BROS to receive forthcoming news and announcements.

Prologue: Alone In A Basement (An Origins Story)

In October 1994, somewhere in a small suburb of Detroit, I was playing by myself in my Ghostbusters tent in the drafty unfinished basement of my parents’ house. All of the lights were off, with the exception being the ceiling light near the stairs heading up to the main floor. It was almost Halloween, and my curiosity was unquenchable.

I had inside the tent with me a single battery powered cassette player and a tape that I had smuggled from my parents without raising suspicion. Being young and foolish, my inquiring mind drove me to ask but one innocent little question:

“What else is there?”

With the help of the internet, I tracked down the memory of a tent that had almost been consumed by time. What is shown below closely depicts the visual atmosphere of this personal memoire I wish to share. This I remember vividly.

Encounter With The Tape

I had managed to load my cassette player with the blood red Halloween tape my Mom used for luring brave trick or treaters to our doorsteps. This particular tape included all sorts of haunted sounds, noises and things within the realm of the supernatural. Ghosts shrieking. People screaming. Chains dragging on cement. Zombies moaning. It was truly horrifying for a seven year old boy; my brain at that age often blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. I dared myself to listen as long as my bravery lasted, which was no longer than five minutes. Spooked by my imagination recreating all of the surreal scenes around me, I ran upstairs as fast as possible, never stopping to look behind me at what was following and chasing me…

Leaving that tape to continue to play on, into the empty darkness of bare, cold concrete and musty air…

A Tale From A Dark Place, Carried

Undoubtably, this was one of the scariest experiences of my entire life. I distinctly remember the feeling of being chased by the void and my heart racing at insane speeds. The influence of that vivid moment in my early childhood left a permanent scar on my subconscious mind. Looking back, I can say that it planted an endless curiosity of the unknown — and an eagerness to come to terms with it.

“No End Darkness” — my latest mix released for ELECTROWEEN 2017 — is the most recent and honest attempt I’ve made at revisiting that frigid, dreadful basement and remembering what it was like…

Sensing the coldness of the air…

Grasping the presence of absence….

Witnessing the canvas of the void…..

Feeling hopelessly vulnerable and alone.

Twenty three years later, that tape still plays its haunted cacophony into the atmoshere within the depths of my soul.

Reconciliation

This is my personal encounter that I’ve chosen to share with the world, and by doing so, have come to confront my fears and the wholeness of life once again.

Knowing the darkness is a personal experience we must all wrestle with in some aspect of our mortal existence. However, it is through the honesty of our shared vulnerability that we discover the most promising truth of human existence:

That each of us is not alone.

“No End Darkness” Mix Liner Notes

From Scott: These are the sounds of a past golden age, paired with the technology of the present. Some of these tracks have echoed in my mind for the past 20 years and never left me. They are the video games and stories I grew up with, forever entwined in the fibers of the visionary synthwave works and gaming titles of today. This is the present in full reconciliation with the past. Everything is relevant, and nothing is forgotten.

These artists and their counterparts communicate the importance of narrative, of colossal struggle and the great lengths protagonists go to fulfill their missions. They tell of creative diligence, uninhibited imagination, and a reconnection to the core essence of humanity; that is, the capacity to endure life’s most difficult trials in dark times.

Key influences for this mix include Castlevania (The new Netflix Original series released in July, created by American film producer Adi Shankar), Stranger Things Season 1 (in anticipation of Season 2 releasing October 27th!), Game of Thrones (HBO’s masterpiece, particularly season 7 here), and all of the timeless 80s/90s NES masterpieces (in particular: Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda, and Mega Man series). While I know these creations are not for everyone, I could not hold them in higher regards nor offer more significant recommendations for those adventurous in spirit, mind, and heart.

I should note that No End Darkness is just as much of a political statement as it is a memoir. Perhaps some of the included pieces speak to your own experiences this year; maybe none of them will. It is crucial for me to note that my objective is not to seek agreement nor acceptance from its creation. This project came out of a need to express myself and challenge the forces dictating this very moment. Now that it has been released into the wild, it may very well speak for others too, but not intentionally.

This work is dedicated to my loving parents and brother; for introducing me to the darkness at an early age, and giving me the strength to learn from it and fight it, no matter the cost. Thanks for all of your support along the way. I love you guys.

“The Nightmare Begins” Mix Liner Notes

The Nightmare Begins came into being after one of the best gaming experiences I have had. Early this year The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released with the Nintendo Switch. Then the idea was fully formed with my viewing of American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare. From those inspirations came a steadier mix filled with atmosphere instead of the bombastic electro that came in years prior.

Zelda BoTW is a video game all about exploration. Within the land of Hyrule, there are no waypoints or map markers telling the player where to go. Every destination you must set on your own by climbing up a high area to see interesting points in the distance. Complete directionlessness is given to you, but the developers trusted they built an interesting enough world that you’d want to explore anyways. In addition, I decided to play with the pro-HUD on, which takes away the minimap and forces you to remember your surroundings and paths. Just getting lost in the world was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had in a video game. Combined with themes of loss and Zelda’s timeless charm this is a perfect combination for ELECTROWEEN.

Getting LOST was what I took away from this game. The point was to go for a jaunt in the woods and get sidetracked. Find something that sparked your interest? That something could turn out to be a cute Korok (a type of woodland spirit) or a dangerous Guardian that could down you in one hit. Whatever the consequences it was always compelling and fun. Link, the character you play as, wakes up at the beginning of the game to find his own nightmare come to fruition. As Link, you must go through this waking nightmare. I wanted to reflect this in my mix, but with a much darker and slower tone than previous years.

I first came across American Horror Story with my girlfriend, Jessica. She asked me to watch it with her, as it is one of her favorite shows, I was reluctant. Historically, I’ve not been a fan of extremely scary tv or cinema. For those not familiar, American Horror Story changes every season in what story is told and the way in which it is told. We started by watch season 5: Hotel. Other than the performance by Lady Gaga, I didn’t enjoy the show. It was watching this year, season 6: My Roanoke Nightmare that got me hooked. The first half of the season is done in the style of true stories, that is, the “real” people are recounting their horrible time at the Roanoke Manner while actors act out the scenes. The second half of the season is played out like a reality show. The entire season is thrilling, tense, and extremely graphic. The many times I wanted to cover my eyes in horror, I also wanted to dive back into the show night after night.

Yes, a theme of My Roanoke Nightmare was getting lost in the woods. Unlike Zelda, this usually played out poorly for the heroes. Both Zelda and American Horror Story were my two and only influences for this mix. Usually, I have several others, but these two pieces of media were masters of their respective areas, it only felt right to draw from them.

Inside The Nightmare Begins: Different From Years Past

The Nightmare Begins is much slower than previous ELECTROWEEN mixes. It was very difficult for me to find songs that fit into what I wanted at the beginning. I started with a list of about twenty songs I thought could work, knowing that many had to be manipulated in ways I wasn’t quite comfortable with yet. I ended up throwing about half of my original track list out and completely replacing those selections.

The first song I knew I wanted in the mix was Hot Lights by Lany. This song set the tone for what I wanted the mix to be. A plodding medley focused on the somber mood, yet something you could dance to. My usual sources of Bandcamp and Beatport were quite useless at the beginning of my search. Fortunately this year I was exposed to quite a bit of Lana Del Rey, thanks to Jessica. Three of Lana’s songs are in The Nightmare Begins since she captures such a dreamy darkness with her voice. It was a perfect match!

Most, if not all, of the song selections were slowed down between 10 to 40 bpm — even Lana Del Rey’s songs were slowed down. Two songs, Somebody Else and Starboy were fast upbeat club remixes. Both of the song tempos were reduced heavily to give the exact feeling I wanted. Personally, I thought the slowed down versions sounded amazing. Check out the originals below:

I discovered it was difficult to pick out songs because I had to listen to the songs as if they were already slowed down. I had to see if the music would sound good together in a much slower tempo. Fortunately, it worked out for the best and now you can enjoy The Nightmare Begins.

Art and Music: The Voices of The Times

One takeaway we hope our work conveys is the reminder that no art form exists within a vacuum. Every personal creation is subject to the circumstances of the time and age from which it is crafted. In this way, these mixes give voice to an era ravaged by the evil-doing of cowardly men and women, the few seeking to fulfill personal agendas at the expense of the many. Every day has felt darker since their arrival, and the nights longer…

Right now, this Halloween season, we ask Karma to return the light to these lands again soon and conquer the darkness in which we find ourselves living. The great balance will be restored. In the meantime, we suffer through the long night together. Not just as a people, or a nation, but more so as a species that has survived hundreds of thousands of years of pain, grievances and tragedies alike.

As we continue to endure the darkness and nightmares before us and within ourselves, let us never forget the pendulum swings both ways.

Yours,

SW (VII) and MK (Loveless)

ELECTROWEEN 2017's No End Darkness and The Nightmare Begins are musical journeys into the depths of Hell itself. Short on time? Head on over to our ELECTROWEEN Mixes page where we have created an archive for all of our ELECTROWEEN productions.