#keep in mind I did this 1: with botw cutscenes only

[only-by-the-stars]

so. I have. some thoughts about TotK.

they're not happy ones.

(behind a cut for spoilers and negativity)

to be clear, the gameplay is mostly fun. that's what's kept me going this far. but... I'm not sure anymore if it can keep carrying me. because this is, honest to god, one of the biggest stinkers of a story I've ever seen in a video game. and I DO NOT say that lightly!!! I have seen some SHIT, okay??? time travel and alternate dimension shenanigans that left me unsure of what the fuck the situation was after the ending, a reveal that the universe was one big MMO... those have stuck in my mind for well over a decade for being just that fucking bad.

and this story isn't just as stupid, no. it's as stupid as those, AND it's INCREDIBLY poorly told. like I cannot stress that enough!!! as of this writing, I have found every single glyph on the world map + the bonus tear that you get for seeing all those + the little bonus scene from getting the Master Sword. they're all numbered in more or less chronological order in the menu, 1-18.

so.

why in god's name am I still missing 11, 14, and 16????????

LIKE

AM I JUST GONNA GET THEM AFTER DOING PLOT-MANDATED EVENTS?

this is deeply fucking terrible!!! at least in those other bad stories I got to watch all the nonsense unfold in linear order, AND! AND AND AND!!! I WAS INVOLVED IN IT, IT WASN'T SOMEONE ELSE'S MEMORIES

and also the writing for Zelda herself is just atrocious and embarrassing, like I'm genuinely cringing here. in the flashbacks she does little aside from stand around and talk, her love for history/science only comes up in the intro, and functions as long-winded exposition, and she unfortunately was handed the Idiot Ball on top of it (not figuring out that Ganondorf was the the Basement Mummy till after he transformed? girl... Urbosa even SAID that CALAMITY GANON was said to have been born as a Gerudo man... why are Nintendo's writers determined to make her look stupid like this???). and in the present time, she's apparently good at everything and everyone loves her (even the unhinged flower lady), and she gets a super special gold horse, and it's just... she's barely a character. she's more like the overpowered OC everyone loves that kids just starting to write come up with.

which is fine at that stage! necessary, even! we all start somewhere, and I am NOT shaming anyone for doing that when they're just starting out. goodness knows I produced my share of embarrassing crap as a baby writer.

but this is a main installment of a major franchise by one of the biggest video game companies, made by paid adult professionals. that is. embarrassing.

and... as far as I've seen/heard from others who have seen more cutscenes than I have (again, this is bullshit, why are these apparently key scenes being withheld from me?), there's never an explanation for the Calamity/Calamity Ganon and he doesn't seem to be the same entity as Ganondorf. Zelda also never once considers trying to prevent the Calamity, either, and save all those lives, because Reasons, I guess. and the time travel magically doesn't affect anything but the current crisis???? calling BS on this too. plus, it doesn't help that there's so little flow/build-up/connective tissue between the cutscenes. next to nothing, in fact. it feels like I watched the isolated anime cutscenes of an older RPG whose story was told mainly through scenes in the game engine, and tried to understand the plot from there.

except that for this game, that's all I get.

also they managed to make the Silent Princess metaphor even more ham-fisted than in BOTW, which is quite the achievement. good lord. the way my eyes rolled seeing that, the incredulous laughter I burst into... sheesh.

at this point I just. don't know if I should try and power through and rush to the ending, take a break, or just drop it entirely. either way, it would never get a replay the way BOTW did. it's just. bleh.

and don't even get me started on how they fucked up the Poes and Gibdos, way to even disappoint my desire for the return of favorite creepy enemies, I didn't even get my ReDeads. I DIDN'T EVEN GET MY REDEADS

in closing, everyone who complained about the story/time travel in AOC owes me the cost of TotK. that game may have been silly, but at least it respected the Champions and I got to see more characters interacting and everything playing out as it happened and I didn't feel so distant/isolated from it all. ugh. I need to replay THAT game!

[heartofhryule]

Breath of the Wild: Captured Memories - Chapter 1

First and foremost; SPOILER WARNINGS. If you have not played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or completed the Captured Memories Quest and want to stay unspoilered for it, DO NOT READ. Keep Reading link provided for that reason. 

So I am writing these as I play through BotW for the first time - which means they probably won’t be ‘one-a-day’ consistent as its taking me forEVER to get to all of them. I will post them as I can though! Promise! I also plan to include links to the cutscene for you to watch at the bottom, if so desired - at least for the ones I can find. Any other warnings that become necessary, I will add for content as I go. For now, enjoy!

Chapter 1 - The Sacred Grounds

He’d been walking for days. His legs ached, he was chilled to the bone against the rain and wind despite his warm doublet, and if he didn’t stop to make camp soon it felt like he might fall over. Still, Link pressed on.

Mind spinning with the events of the past month, sleep was not an easy thing won anymore. As far as he could remember, it never had been. Awakening in the Shrine of resurrection, lost, confused, grasping at the tendrils of memory as if threads in the wind, he’d not known true rest since. The King’s spirit explained he’d failed. Explained his daughter, the Princess, was a prisoner of the Ultimate Evil and that it was Link’s duty, calling, purpose, to save her. Still, even after having failed. What kind of life was that?

Then Impa confirmed… in her backwards way, that all this was so. Sending him to the little girl… immortal… thing, Purah and sending him all over creation to “prove himself” to them. He’d done it - he’d had to. What other purpose did he have? He remembered nothing, had no home, no friends other than strange people who claimed to remember him… claimed to have saved his life… At the end of the day amid the tempest of blank memory and identity he seemed to have, what other choice did he have? He literally had nothing better to do than try and learn who he was.

Looking to the strange, glowing tablet at his side, the Sheikah Slate stared back at him, cold and unassuming. The pictures, still, magical paintings of places the Princess had once created on the magical slate, were to lead him to his memories. A few he recognized, having travelled some, a few stirred nothing within him yet.

And yet he travelled, walked, despite the exhaustion, battling demons that rose from the ground, learning to stealth under the Blood Moon, all the while hearing a voice that turned his stomach, created a sense of urgency and longing, and drove him to find the truth of his past. It was a voice, her voice, that lit a fire inside of him. He had no idea who she was, but he needed to find out. It was her voice that made the not-remembering chafe… sometimes unbearably. Whoever it was, she was his reason for fighting, the fire in his gut and thunder in his heart. He had no face to recall, no scent or recalled touch, but it was no less his one truth - This voice was his reason for not giving up… for not dying.

Now if only he could remember her.

Looking up through the rain, ahead of him appeared through the silver wash of the storm, ruins. The same ruins he was mostly certain were present in the first of the Princess’s pictures. A thrill went through him. He knew this place. He’d not recalled it before, but neither had he been so close. A memory of mossy stones and taking a knee in the sunrise washed through him, and he retrieved the Sheikah slate from his belt, pulling up the picture for comparison. This was it!

The ruins were different, more worn and battle-torn, but it was undeniably the location he’d thought it to be. One remarkable different stood out even in the grey sheets of rain that fell around him… the fuschia and blue glow of a Guardian on the other side.

Link barely had time to dodge, leaping behind a pillar as the devastating laser singed the edge of his soaked cloak. Back pressed to the pillar providing him cover, he drew his bow. These magi-tech, mechanical relics were deadly, and far too prolific in Hyrule. He wasn’t certain he currently had the tools to defeat it. Normally when he spotted one, he made a hasty retreat - but today, that was no longer an option. Not here, where his memory was sparking as if perhaps it might return to life, no longer keeping him in the dark.

Peering carefully around the edge of the pillar, Link was relieved to find that this guardian was without its legs. Hylia could still find it in her heart to be merciful it seemed. As good as that was, thanks to the rain, he was not able to aim confidently before the machine levied another blast, vaporizing the rain and briefly setting aflame the flora in its path. Closing his eyes, Link slowed his heart with a deep breath, and let the sound of the rain fade away around him. Focus, he thought, and recalled Her voice, drawing from the fire it engendered to sharpen his mind.

Coming again around the pillar, it was as if time slowed and he could see between the raindrops. Bringing up his bow in the same, fluid movement, he aimed, and let loose an electric arrow. The machine twitched and shuddered as the electricity overloaded its circuits, albeit briefly, but it was long enough to loose a second arrow before again returning behind the pillar’s cover. He repeated this many more times, until despite the downpour, the machine exploded into an orange fireball, and moved no more.

Hesitating an extra few heartbeats to make certain, Link leaned back against the stone pillar in exhaustion. This land was tiring, browbeating… it wearied the soul.

But, this was not the time to rest. Hylia knew there was probably another ambulatory mechanical monster just around the corner, and he had to know. Had to remember… and then leave. Quickly. Darting forward, as he stepped foot onto the flagstones, the rain seemed to lessen a bit. With each careful step, the memory began to wash over him.

***

It was a cool, sunlit day. His was wearing blue, as were all 5 other people gathered. A dark skinned woman, a man apparently made of rock, a bird person, and a woman that he knew was a ‘Zora’, though he wasn’t sure how he remembered that. Perhaps it was her voice he heard? These four were all strangers to him, as was the woman in front of him, until he saw her face. Long golden hair lit by the sunlight, bright green eyes clear with intelligence and poise but somehow sad despite wearing the trappings of someone well to do. She sighed and her lips parted, beginning what sounded like a very dry, rote speech. Something twisted inside of him when she spoke - it was Her voice.

And yet, it wasn’t. The voice he’d heard since awakening was gentle, longing, edged with desperation and worry. The young woman who stood before him looked sad, patronizing a little, and defeated. It was an entirely different bearing than what he… knew? That seemed a little presumptuous all things considered, but something deep in his bones felt it to be true.

The others whispered behind him, but he couldn’t hear what they said. It was very clear that not all were convinced he should be where he was. Least of all, the Princess. Wait, the Princess?! That was to whom Her voice belonged? Surely not. She was trapped in a castle surrounded by destruction and evil, how could she talk to his mind? Why would she talk to his mind? That last question answered itself with the “you’re the last hope” thing everyone kept telling him, but something didn’t sit right. No, no he must be making this princess sound like Her in his mind. Her voice was so much more dear, more personal. Had he been married? Was he hearing the spirit of a long dead wife, or beloved and supplanting her voice into that of this Princess? It had to be.

In the memory, she looked at him with such cold distaste, Link felt there was no way Her voice could be that of this princess.

***

He snapped back to reality as lightning struck the ground nearby, thunder and its deafening crash heralding to him that it was time to move on. He needed an inn, dry clothing and something to eat. Looking at the Sheikah Slate, his heart sank. Something wasn’t right. There were still so many missing pieces that he didn’t want to accept some of the little truths his mind was trying to provide him. Bringing up the map, he tapped the spot for the Shrine nearest to Kakriko Village. Impa had said to return to her once he’d found the site of one of The Princess’s pictures. He could cook something and sleep there for the evening. As the strange magic carried him away, Link’s mind added to his thoughts; Let’s go sleep and ignore the truth a little bit longer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIm4sjv3yBg