The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure franchise inspired by the fields, woods, and caves outside Kyoto that creator Shigeru Miyamoto had explored as a boy. In his own words, the intent of the original Zelda game was to give players a "miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer."

The Legend of Zelda


Released in 1986 for the NES, the original Legend of Zelda was one of the earliest games to offer arcade-style, "action" gameplay within the scope of a larger, role-playing adventure. Zelda's direct lineage is difficult to pin down, but Namco's Tower of Druaga (1984) was a likely influence - itself influenced by top-down Maze games from the early 80s such as Pac-Man and Berzerk. --probs less berzerk, more wizardry/ultima tbh

"Druaga succeeded in 1984 because it forced arcade rats to work together, writing down their discoveries in public notebooks and pooling their wits (and 100-yen coins) together to get to the end. It created a community, in other words, just like Street Fighter eventually did — one that wrote strategy guides and dojinshi in droves. In a way, Druaga solidified the concept of a “game fandom” in Japan more than any other individual game."

Zelda refined and innovated upon many of the genre's conventions; enemies to fight and keys to collect were relatively common even in arcade and console games, but the ability to save your game, a system that allowed you to buy items in-game, and the concept of exploring and solving dungeons were fresh additions for the time.

The official instruction manual does an excellent job of explaining the game's core mechanics, so I'll be including excerpts here to avoid reinventing the wheel. All such images were taken from j0lt78's Imgur gallery and the artwork depicted is, obviously, property of Nintendo. I'll be referencing the English translation of the manual here for personal convenience, but it's worth clarifying that many minor details were lost in translation. The goal of the game is to bring together the eight scattered fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, defeat the Demon King, Ganon (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Bajie), and rescue the imprisoned Princess Zelda.

The origin of the hero's name, Link, and the Triforce was revealed in a French interview from 2012:
 * Interviewer: Finally, I would like to ask you a question that I believe you never answered. You have told many times the creation of Mario, but never that of the hero of Zelda. Do you remember the birth of Link?
 * Miyamoto: It's an anecdote that is not very well known, but at the time, when we started designing The Legend of Zelda, we imagined that the fragments of the Triforce would actually be electronic chips! It had to be a video game that would happen in both the past and the future. As the hero made the link between them, he was called "Link", the link in English. But in the end Link never went into the future and it remained a heroic fantasy game. We can even say that he had absolutely nothing futuristic! (laughs) --source

Even though the environment is tile-based, Link's movement doesn't initially appear to be tethered to a grid. There is actually a subtle mechanic that helps correct for potential clipping and wonky collisions:
 * "While Link can move a single pixel at a time, in any direction, the longer he continously moves in any direction the more he gravitates toward aligning himself with the underlying grid of the screen. The tile grid for LoZ is 16 tiles wide by 14 tiles high (including 3 tiles for the status display at the top of the screen). Each tile is 16×16 pixels. Link operates on a half-tile grid, though (32×28 tiles, 8×8 pixels each). As Link moves, if he’s not currently aligned with the half-tile grid, he is adjusted, one pixel at a time, toward the closest correction. As a result, if Link is 4 pixels off alignment he’ll line back up with the grid after moving 4 pixels."



A dungeon is considered complete after the player beats the boss and collects one of the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom. Collecting Triforce fragments is actually really satisfying; a 10-second victory jingle, no text-boxes to mash through, and then you're fully healed and warped to the dungeon entrance. I tend to dread obtaining the MacGuffin in modern games when I know it means gameplay is about to be interrupted for a 10-minute cutscene.

The biggest distinction between 'overworld' and 'underworld' screens from a gameplay perspective is where you end up after a 'Continue'. Continuing the play session in the overworld takes you to the game's very first screen where the player found the sword, while doing so in an underworld dungeon takes you to the first room of that dungeon.

Enemies take a few moments before spawning, and when they do they'll either enter from the sides of the screen or telegraph their spawn-position with a cloud of smoke, giving the player a brief window to plan their next move.

'''"As for respawns, enemies will respawn after you visit ten different screens, but only if you clear the screen of all enemies. If you leave one enemy on a screen, only one enemy will spawn when you visit again (which enemy depends on how the enemy list is in the code. In most cases, the harder enemy will usually be number 1 in the list.). In dungeons it's a little different, but that gets a little complex. In dungeons, if you kill all enemies on a screen, they will respawn after the required number of screens (which apparently is eight, thanks for that). However, if you die after clearing a screen, they will come back no matter how many other screens you visited. The respawns get slightly more complicated in dungeons in that if you kill a couple enemies on a screen and die, they'll all respawn. However, if you kill all but one enemy, leave the screen, then return to the screen and die, only that one enemy will respawn when you revisit the room. Minibosses such as patras, dodongos or digdoggers won't ever respawn, even if you leave the dungeon. Also, bubbles and traps count as an enemy, so if you clear a room that has a bubble or set of traps, then exit the room, the enemies will not respawn unless you exit and reenter the dungeon." - put in own words'''

Link raises the shield automatically whenever he isn't stabbing, which is both an ergonomic way of giving the player three options (sword, shield & item) on a controller with only two buttons, and an interesting mental challenge for the seasoned-but-impulsive gamer, as very few games ask you to stand in the path of an enemy projectile and press nothing.

You can change your direction while in the middle of a sword stab, and the 'sword beam' is released at the very end of the stab, allowing for split-second adjustments. Only one sword beam is allowed on screen at a time, discouraging players from slowly picking off enemies one-by-one from a distance. As the sword beam only fires at full health, it functions as a sort-of 'reverse comeback mechanic', encouraging the player to keep their wits about them; even a minor mistake against a weak enemy late in the game can rob the player of one of their most effective tools.


 * Your punishment for making too many mistakes is "back to square one", and the reward for not making any mistakes is a more leisurely play-session
 * The number of chances increases permanently and temporarily as a reward for progression
 * The fact that you're able to completely ignore the sword and all but finish the game without it is an elegant touch.

https://www.zeldaclassic.com/wiki/index.php/Enemy_Editor

OVERWORLD: open world, enemy table, heart containers, old man caves, moblin caves, great fairies, shops, lost woods, gambling minigame, death mountain boulders (spice up gameplay), take and road you want (fast travel), wave sounds
 * Optional secrets (found through bombing walls, burning bushes, nudging armos statues): Secret Rupees, Door Repairs, Shops, Money-Making Game, Old Man Hints
 * Shop prices are initially daunting but balance out as you get stronger and learn the locations of Secret Rupees
 * The Graveyard could be a third of the size that it is, or at least a third smaller

UNDERWORLD:
 * Dungeons: map/compass, keys/locked doors, defeat all enemies (enemy table), block pushing, dark rooms, bombable entrances, ladder-rooms, boss guarding health and progression, rupee room, bomb upgrade, grumble grumble bait moblin
 * Dungeons seem to have been designed before the overworld.

ITEMS:
 * Items: side-scrolling item screen,



There are 5 different collectable items that have a chance of dropping when an enemy is killed; Rupees (in-game currency), Hearts (health), Bombs (equippable item), Clocks and Fairies. Blue Rupees are equivalent to 5 standard Rupees, Fairies restore 3 Hearts and float (away from the player? random direction?) in a manner reminiscent of Super Mario Bros' mushrooms. The Clock is the only collectable to not return in any future Zelda title; it freezes all enemies on screen.

An enemy's chance of dropping an item is determined by its group:

Other than the item drop counter shown in Baxter's chart (052A), there is a separate 'consecutive kill counter' (0050) that takes precedence over regular drops. ''"Kill 10 enemies without getting hit (by an enemy, even a non-damaging bubble, or by the whirlwind from the recorder) and you'll get a forced, guaranteed 5 rupee drop from the next enemy that drops items (not in the X group). Kill the 10th enemy with a bomb instead, and instead of a 5 rupee you'll get a forced, guaranteed bomb drop!

Kill 16 enemies in a row and you get a fairy drop forced, but only if the 16th enemy is capable of dropping an item (not in the X group)." - Red Candle (click through for more detailed information, such as storing & bypassing drops).

Intriguingly, in the English translation of the game, a hint in Level 8 encouraging the player to find the Lion Key was altered to read "10TH ENEMY HAS THE BOMB". Clearly not just a simple translation error, it seems like someone in the localization team wanted to clue players in to the nature of item drops. In hindsight, the altered hint appears to be a misunderstanding of forced item drop mechanics, as the 10th enemy will only drop a bomb if they are killed with one.

FIRST QUEST:
 * Levels 1, 2 and 3 are introductory (easy, medium and hard routes), 4, 5 and 6 provide a more open-world feel, while 7, 8 and 9 are an escalating finale (as evidenced by their hidden entrances).
 * Levels 5, 6 and 8 can be found early to offer a taste of what's to come.
 * The first 6 Levels open with roughly 3 free keys each before presenting locked doors
 * While this allows for a lot of versatility, the thorough player will have more keys than they know what to do with


 * EXPLORATION PREREQUISITES:
 * The Raft, acquired in Level 3, grants access to Level 4
 * The North-West corner of the map can be accessed in two ways:
 * 1. The Stepladder in Dungeon 4 to cross the river
 * 2. Navigating the Lost Woods (initially, presumably, with the Old Woman's instructions)
 * NOTE: Level 6 (the Magic Wand), the Power Bracelet (access to Warp Zones), and the Graveyard (Magical Sword - 12 hearts required) are in this area.
 * The Bow, acquired in Level 1, is required to beat Gohma in Level 6
 * The Whistle, acquired in Level 5, grants access to Level 7, and the Bait is then required to pass the friendly Goriya
 * Level 9 can be accessed immediately, but only properly entered after finishing the 8 other Levels.
 * Obviously, the Red Ring is pointless so late into the game


 * FREEDOM OF EXPLORATION:
 * Dungeons accessible from the get-go: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 5, Level 6, Level 8
 * the Whistle (Level 5) and by extension Level 7 (and the Red Candle? ehh..) can be accessed immediately
 * the Magic Key and Magic Book can be found immediately (Level 8), though the latter can't be used until after the Wand is obtained in Level 6
 * Magic Key is very useful in Level 9 as that dungeon has 4 keys and 16 locked doors.
 * The Letter can be found immediately; granting access to Potion Shops
 * The first Bomb capacity upgrade can be accessed immediately in Level 5 (at the cost of 100 rupees)
 * The White Sword requires only 5 Hearts (which doesn't require completing a dungeon), and is guarded by a single Lynel
 * The Magical Shield, Bait, Arrows, Blue Candle, Blue Ring and 4 Keys can be bought in various Shops immediately

SECOND QUEST:

-IN PROGRESS-


 * The Legend of Zelda Arcade Machine - https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=387576
 * Mirror link to the pictures - Kotaku
 * Zelda Randomizer - https://sites.google.com/site/zeldarandomizer/home
 * "Devs Play" S01E04 - Legend of Zelda (Part 1: Explorer's Club) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYrd6uDLeM

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

 * Fundamentals: Mixed-perspective; side-scrolling battles, temples and towns cross with a top-down overworld with random encounters. Experience points, high-low dynamic, jumping, cracked/falling floor, lava pits, falling screen
 * Overworld: open world, paths, caves, boulders, Death Mountain 'maze', dock/raft, Maze Island, the 'river devil', hidden town, Heart Containers, Magic Containers, Link dolls
 * 'Action' Scenes: grass, forest, desert, swamp, graveyard, mountain, water, rock-throwing, bridges
 * Towns: Health refill, magic refill, wise old man, NPCs & sidequests, houses, jumping on rooftops, sign posts, purple ache
 * Temples: potion statues, keys/locked doors, elevators, breakable blocks, falling block trap, dripping trap, outdoor section, fake walls/floors
 * Items: Candle, Hammer, Handy Glove, Raft, Boots, Flute, Magical Key, Cross
 * Magic: Shield, Jump, Life, Fairy, Fire, Reflect, Spell, Thunder
 * Collectables: blue potion, red potion, point bag


 * Intricate combat system foreshadows the approach taken by 3D Zelda
 * Cheesing it with falling slashes kinda mars the whole experience though
 * The goal is to assemble the intentionally scattered/hidden pieces of the Triforce of Courage, and the final boss is Dark Link - indicates a more 'personal' challenge for the player
 * No rupees; experience points essentially serve as a replacement
 * Completing a Temple gives you the option to completely fill your EXP, and each level up can be skipped to save the EXP for a different stat; the player is subtly encouraged to use these systems, which blurs the line between EXP as a resource and EXP as a symbol for progression.
 * Both can be grinded for
 * EXP Point Bags are hidden across the world and offered as rewards for optional challenges in Temples, much like chests with rupees.
 * Lots of enemies unique to this game and a very cool implementation of Tektites
 * Replaces Darknuts with Iron Knuckles: the two never appear in the same game, and Iron Knuckles so far have only returned in the N64 titles

A Link to the Past

 * Fundamentals: 8-way movement, z-axis, picking up/throwing bushes/pots/rocks, chests, light world/dark world, cracked walls, thin walls, no 2D sections, holes, cracked floor/falling floor
 * Overworld: trees, npcs, houses, minigames, sign posts, fortune teller, shops, witch's hut, fairy fountains, water warp tiles, mad batter, cuccoos, falling boulders
 * Dungeons: big key/boss door, hint stones, blue/orange switches, swamp palace (water level dynamic), block pushing (Sokoban), lever pulling, lighting torches, moving floor, ice floor, outdoor sections, roundabouts, checkpoint warp
 * Items: Sword (slash, spin attack, upgrades), mirror shield, Pegasus Boots, magic powder, Lantern, mirror, hammer, ocarina (fast travel), bottles, power glove/titan's mitts, flippers, bug net, shovel, cane of byrna/magic cape, cane of somaria, fire rod/ice rod, hookshot
 * Spells: Quake, Ether and Bombos Medallions
 * Bottle: Medicine of Life (Red), Medicine of Magic (Green), Medicine of Life and Magic (Blue), Fairy, Bee/Golden Bee
 * Collectables: Magic, Arrows, Rupees, Hearts, Bombs, Fairies
 * Master Sword grove still holds up today; aesthetically and thematically
 * Cryptic elements
 * Dark World/Light World mechanic takes full advantage of this
 * locations of dark world portals
 * Hookshot across dark world gap
 * Flute to get to dungeon 7
 * hammer order for dungeon 8
 * Eating Shields
 * Pond of Happiness
 * Energy Ball Tennis
 * Moldorm boss fight
 * Cukeman
 * blue/orange switch dungeon prepares the player for light world/dark world switching

https://web.archive.org/web/20120718105011/http://www.glitterberri.com/a-link-to-the-past/development-interview/

https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/NathanSavant/20160104/262944/Enemy_Design_in_Link_to_the_Past.php

Link's Awakening

 * Overworld: marin relationship, trading quest, ghost quest, fishing minigame, stealing, warp portals, photos, library, submerged secrets (heart piece, mermaid), dogs
 * Dungeons: mini-bosses, compass key-chime, owl beaks, controllable blocks, eagle's tower (z-axis dynamic)
 * Items: Rock's Feather, shield that pushes enemies, diagonal pegasus boots, bomb arrows, optional overpowered boomerang, ocarina (fast travel), magic rod
 * Collectables: Guardian Acorns, Piece of Power, Seashells
 * Dream Shrine is like a mini Temple of the Ocean King
 * A Link to the Past Demake Map - https://twitter.com/MrCheeze_/status/1290342465015287808
 * Dark Link - https://twitter.com/NintendoMetro/status/1295857602119774208

Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask

 * Fundamentals: Cinematic cutscenes, analog movement, rolling, c-button items, navi/first-person camera, z-targeting (switch, strafe, side-hop, backwalk, backflip), auto-jumping, ledges, shield/crouch (shield drop), time-travelling, day-night cycle, horse riding (archery), hidden grottos, Gossip Stones, burning cobwebs, cows (epona's song, win your own cow), fishing hole (OoT and MM3D), trading quests (Biggoron Sword, Happy Masks), Dampe Gravedigging, racing (Dampe, Deku Butler, etc...), toggleable mini-map, fixed-camera areas
 * Combat: Horizontal, Vertical, Thrust, Spin (Quick-Spin), Jump Slash, Crouch Stab (Power Crouch Stab)
 * http://www.zeldaspeedruns.com/oot/generalknowledge/links-attacks
 * In Majora's Mask, Link's third consecutive quick-spin has greater range/duration (same as a charged spin?); seems like this was actually intended to be in OoT too, but the spin attack outlasts the time frame to continue the combo.
 * Critical Wiggle - DannyB explaining Critical Wiggle
 * Originally intended to have a persistent world, making use of the 64DD
 * Ocarina of Time still records how many game days have passed during playtime. This number is reset when the game is saved and reloaded. You can see this by going to 8015E674 in Nemu's memory editor. For every day that passes, the value is increased by one. The Sun's Song still works in Majora's Mask, and has kinda hilarious results, does this mean MM puts the aforementioned memory register to use in its 3-day-cycle?
 * "For a long time Hyrule Field had nothing, it was terribly uninteresting. Of course, while you were trudging along in that wide empty plain we had planned to introduce effects such as wind, temperature, and atmosphere."

OCARINA OF TIME:
 * Items: Ocarina, Wooden shield (can burn), deku stick, deku nuts, slingshot, magic beans, Zora/Goron Tunics, Iron/Hover Boots, fire/ice/light arrows, fishing rod, lens of truth, bombchu, egg/cuccoo, silver/golden scale, masks, stone of agony
 * Spells: Farore's Wind, Nayru's Love, Din's Fire
 * Bottle: Red Potion, Green Potion, Blue Potion, Lon Lon Milk, (Full and 1/2), Fairy, Bugs, Fish, Poe Soul/Big Poe Soul, Blue Fire
 * Collectables: Deku Seeds, Deku Sticks, Deku Nuts, Bombchus, Gold Skulltula Tokens
 * Songs: Zelda's Lullaby. Epona's Song, Saria's Song, Song of Storms, Sun's Song, Song of Time, Temple Warp Songs, Scarecrow's Song


 * Deku Tree leap-of-faith emphasizes z-axis
 * Non-linear solutions to puzzles: Heart Pieces are often placed high out of reach, lets the player choose between Cuccoo, Hookshot (w/ Scarecrow's Song), Longshot, Hover Boots, Boomerang, Magic Beans
 * Forest Temple shifting perspective is interesting, Phantom Ganon fight not triggering immediately is cool
 * Secret Business Scrub/Fairy room in Ganon's Castle
 * "Here's a secret for saving me! A wall that you can destroy with the Goron's "special crop" will sound different than a regular wall if you hit it with your sword."
 * "They say that if you get close to a butterfly while holding a Deku Stick in your hands, something good will happen."
 * Fabulous Five Froggish Tenors
 * Introduced Deku enemies, Skulltulas, Lizalfos/Dynalfos/Wolfos, Redeads, and Door Mimics
 * Anubis is a more serious 3D version of Arm & Mask-Mimics
 * Giant enemies: Stalchildren, Leevers and Guays if you kill 10 in a row
 * Item Drop Rate Chart by Ecksters - https://www.speedrun.com/oot/guide/prwj5
 * Movement Speeds - http://www.zeldaspeedruns.com/oot/generalknowledge/movement-speeds

Speedruns:
 * AGDQ 2020 - Ocarina of Time 100% No Source Requirement Speedrun in 2:50:12 by ZFG
 * Ocarina of Time 100% New Route Demonstration Run by ZFG
 * Ocarina of Time Max% Child LOTAD (Commentated) by ZFG


 * Ocarina of Time Glitches Showcase - GamesDoneQuick - That's Never Happened Before - ZFG
 * Spawning Arwings on original Ocarina of Time without cheats (with Arbitrary Code Execution) - ZFG
 * Parkour in Ocarina of Time (#1) by Glitches0and0stuff


 * Cut Content:
 * 'Arrow Trap' reflects Arrows - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jss07grDy2c
 * Temple Medallions originally had magic powers and their magic could be fused with arrows; replaced by the Goddess Spells and Elemental Arrows.
 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K_UTbP7QTU
 * https://twitter.com/MrCheeze_/status/1351628714157731844
 * The Desert Colossus goddess statue is confirmed to have been Din - https://twitter.com/MrCheeze_/status/1351663649035866112
 * Zelda states that her dream was from Nayru - https://twitter.com/Nate_Nyo/status/1351690856579928066
 * The Light Arrows were originally Silver-coloured, matching A Link to the Past - https://twitter.com/MrCheeze_/status/1351689450154291201
 * The waterfall blocking Zora's Domain from Zora's River is called the 'Waterfall of Wishing', another nod to ALttP.
 * The injured soldier in Castle Town possibly gave you Zelda's Letter - https://twitter.com/ledarbian/status/1351917070015983618
 * The mysterious holes in Darunia's room and Zora's Domain may have been shortcuts

https://tcrf.net/Proto:The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time/Late_1997_Overdump

MAJORA'S MASK:
 * Items: Bombers' Notebook, Powder Keg, Pictograph Box, Deku Flower Title Deeds
 * Bottle: Chateau Romani, Mystery Milk, Deku Princess, Gold Dust, Seahorse, Zora Eggs, Magic Mushroom, Spring Water/Hot Spring Water
 * Masks: Deku Mask, Goron Mask, Zora Mask, Postman's Hat, All-Night Mask, Blast Mask, Stone Mask, Great Fairy Mask, Keaton Mask, Bremen Mask (Ikana easter egg), Bunny Hood, Don Gero's Mask, Mask of Scents, Romani's Mask, Troupe Leader's Mask, Kafei's Mask, Couple's Mask, Mask of Truth, Kamaro's Mask, Gibdo Mask, Garo's Mask, Captain's Hat, Giant's Mask, Fierce Deity's Mask (3D sword beam)
 * Songs: Song of Time (Inverted Song of Time/Song of Double Time), Epona's Song, Song of Healing (Saria's Song reversed), Song of Soaring, Song of Storms, Sonata of Awakening, Goron Lullaby (Lullaby Intro), New Wave Bossa Nova, Elegy of Emptiness, Oath to Order, Scarecrow's Song, Ballad of the Wind Fish
 * Fairy Rewards: Magic Power, Great Fairy Mask, Super Spin Attack, Doubled Magic Meter, Enhanced Defense, Great Fairy Sword (spin attack glitch)
 * Thematically, the Great Fairy is an important source of agency for the player


 * Originally 7 days rather than 3
 * 100% proof that Majora's Mask was going to be 7 days long.
 * Mask Salesman foreshadows the 3 day time limit before you even get to see Clock Town/the moon - very spooky
 * Cutscenes are skippable after the first time seeing them (masks, changing the flow of time), unless they're important for setting (day/night transitions, resetting time, soaring)
 * Link's 4 main forms are balanced well between one another and have surprisingly sophisticated movement options
 * Human is versatile (access to C-Items, namely Arrows)
 * Deku favours the air but is weak to fire and replaces the Slingshot
 * There's evidence that Deku Link originally fired Deku Nuts rather than Bubbles, and could do so after burrowing into a Deku Flower.
 * Goron is strong against fire but weak to water and replaces the Power Bracelets, Megaton Hammer, Din's Fire (area of effect)
 * Zora is weak to fire, strong in the water, and replaces the Boomerang, Nayru's Love (protection)
 * Epona is found at the game's halfway mark; outside of the literal gates blocking Great Bay and Ikana, the Leevers and Real Bombchus respectively encourage Epona's use
 * Dog in South Clock Town reinforces helplessness of Deku Scrub
 * Neutral for Human, admires Zora, fears Goron
 * Deku Bubble prepares the player for the Bow and Arrow upgrades they'll receive throughout the game
 * Ranch Invasion is meant to be the first time you reunite with Epona, but it seems a lot easier to beat it without her
 * Dog helping fend off the Ranch Invasion is cool though
 * Running Man is repurposed as the Postman, which became his more iconic role in the series
 * Serves somewhat as an example to teach the player about NPC schedules
 * Posters help with organic world-building (soldier recruitment, indigo-gos
 * Beggar repurposed as Bank teller is simple but funny, and very cool that his "special ink" seems to transcend time
 * Spider Houses are an interesting repurposing of OoT's collect-a-thon, and necessary as the MM overworld has enough secrets without skulltulas
 * Takkuri steals your items and forces you to buy them back at the Curiosity Shop - clever
 * Goron Elder re-freezing is a clever and funny troll
 * Title Deed trading quest teaches the player to plan ahead and avoid repeating tasks unnecessarily
 * Frog Choir cutscene was a little underwhelming considering how much effort it took
 * Swordsman boasting about slicing the moon and then cowering in the last minutes is a nice detail
 * Features iconic/unique enemies: Moths, Real Bombchus, Snappers (KLAP TRAP!), an insectoid version of the Helmasaur called a Hiploop, the first 3D Chu Chus (they're gross), Dragonflies and the terrifying Death Armos
 * Repeated mini-bosses: Dinalfos, Gekko (partners up with another enemy), first 3D Wizzrobe (pretty lame compared to WW)
 * Ikana has interesting mini-bosses: Gomess (reminds me of Crow Master in Prince of Persia), Garo Master, Captain Keeta and Igos Du Ikana
 * The Moon is a serene, thought-provoking final location
 * Moon dungeon Gossip Stones tell you where to find the missing masks
 * final cutscene maybe drags on a little tho, prior to the carnival starting
 * Kafei & Anju sidequest asks the player to put aside their own interests out of compassion for their plight:
 * Kafei: "Step on that switch!!!"
 * Tatl: "What?? Are you telling us what to do?!?"
 * "Just behind the impending doom is a world teeming with stories, and on countless levels, you are the one who decides which story to tell."
 * The Message of Majora's Mask - https://www.zeldadungeon.net/the_message_of_majoras_mask1/#.U4b_avmSz9r
 * Themes in Motion: Majora's Mask and the Five Stages of Grief - https://www.zeldadungeon.net/themes_in_motion_majoras_mask_and_the_five_stages_of_grief/
 * Childhood/adulthood is a recurring theme; Young Link > Fierce Deity, Skull Kid, Kafei, Moon Children

Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons
ORACLE OF SEASONS:
 * Fundamentals: Same as 'Link's Awakening'
 * Overworld: tree stumps, soft soil, Ring shop, Bipin/Blossom sidequest, secret shop, maple, old man caves, trading quest, following-npcs-in-secret, subrosia, subrosian dance, sokra the wandering prophet, great moblin, gold monsters, quicksand metal detector, ghost ship, signpost subrosian
 * Dungeons: hero's cave (swordless dungeon), mine carts, rupee room, trampolines, walls-closing-in, fire & ice (concept, carrying ice/freezing volcanoes)
 * Items: Flutes, rod of seasons, shovel (digs snow), slingshot, magnet gloves, gale seeds (fast travel), magic boomerang, roc's cape
 * Collectables: Gasha Nuts, Seeds, Rings
 * Seasons: spring flowers, summer vines, snow paths, wilted trees, fallen leaves, mushrooms

ORACLE OF AGES:

-IN PROGRESS-

The Wind Waker

 * Fundamentals: Sailing, "Free Camera", Crawling, Sidling, Swinging, Parry Attack, Hurricane Spin, Pigs (Giant, Farting)
 * Items: Telescope, Sail (Swift Sail), Wind Waker, Grappling Hook, Deku Leaf, Bait (Hyoi Pear), Hero's Charm, Treasure Charts, Magic Armor Crystal, Tingle Tuner/Bottle
 * Bottle: Bottled Water, Forest Water, Forest Firefly, Fairy, Elixir Soup, Red/Green/Blue Potion
 * Spoils: Boko Baba Seed, Red/Green/Blue Chu Jelly, Golden Feather, Joy Pendant, Knight's Crest, Skull Necklace
 * Enemy Weapons: Boko Stick, Machete, Darknut Sword, Moblin Spear, Stalfos Club, Phantom Ganon's Sword
 * Songs: Wind's Requiem, Ballad of Gales, Command Melody, Earth God's Lyric/Wind God's Aria, Song of Passing


 * The Zen of Sailing
 * Sailing next to a seagull
 * Expressive character models, perhaps a more faithful interpretation of the 2D Zelda aesthetic than the N64 games?
 * Self aware humour takes the edge off the hand-holding
 * Gives you the sword, and then takes it away for the first mini-dungeon
 * Stealth
 * Hiding in barrels
 * Sudden thud
 * More believable, interconnected town layout (in windfall at least) - mini-game shops aren't necessarily self-contained, for example, and can branch off to other paths and areas on the island
 * Slightly more complex NPC behaviour
 * Seagulls help with identifying places of interest?
 * Mansion/Mila's Father on Windfall Island is cool
 * Bomb Shop's exorbitant prices are funny
 * Tingle copying Link's 'Item Get' pose is funny
 * Trapdoor Rats on the path to the Picto Box are pretty funny
 * Platforming in Dragon's Roost Cavern is realistic and precarious
 * Puzzles are simple and progression linear, but the solutions aren't spelled out to the player
 * Ganon has relatable motivations
 * Beautiful and creative rendition of Wizzrobes in 3D, Miniblins and Dexivines are neat too


 * What Could Have Been:
 * Greatfish Isle/Jabun/Nayru's Pearl
 * Fire Mountain/Ice Ring Isle
 * Ghost Ship
 * Underwater Hyrule
 * Aging Link

The Minish Cap

 * Overworld: minish portals, swordsmith dojos, growing buds with bottled water, filling holes, warp spots, shoe-maker quest, library quest, bell heart piece, swamp water, activating statues from inside, sand walls, cows, gold monsters, beanstalk, newsletter, monster dream "game", man from a faraway land, magic boomerang/tingle sidequest, sneaking past the castle guards, hotel, school, climbable walls, biggoron, goron cave,
 * Dungeons: rolling barrel, cobwebs (used twice), mushrooms, two checkpoint warps, minecarts, melting ice with light, early boss room (frozen octorok), jumping clouds, one-way jumping panels, fans,
 * Items: ezlo (shrinking, riding gusts of wind, companion), gust jar (lilypad travel), cane of pacci (inverting holes), four sword, picolyte,
 * Collectables: kinstones, seashells


 * Rupee-likes are awesome

Twilight Princess

 * Fundamentals: D-Pad Item Menu, Hawk Grass, Wrestling, Wolf Link (digging, scents), Twilight, fishing (bobber, lure), riding Bulbos (Gerudo Desert, Hyrule Castle Courtyard)
 * Hidden Skills: Ending Blow, Shield Attack, Back Slice, Helm Splitter, Mortal Draw, Jump Strike, Great Spin
 * Items: Ball and Chain, Bombling, Water Bomb, Double Clawshot, Dominion Rod, Fishing Rod, Gale Boomerang, Hawkeye, Horse Call, Iron Boots (magnetic), Lantern, Ooccoo, Spinner, Magic Armor
 * Bottle: Red Potion, Blue Potion, Milk, Hot Spring Water, Lantern Oil, Great Fairy's Tears, Soups, Bait (Bee Larva, Worm)
 * Collectables: Pumpkin Seeds, Tears of Light, Poe Souls, Fish, Golden Bugs
 * Mini-games: Goat Herding, STAR game, Kargarok/Fruit Pop Flight, Falbi's Flight-by-Fowl, Iza's Rapid Ride, Rollgoal, Yeto & Yeta Sled Race
 * Horse mechanics/Bulbin/Wagon: ...
 * Sword combat: ...
 * Wolf combat/Shadow Beasts: ...
 * Midna jumping: ...
 * Feels like the logical end-point to the design philosophy pioneered by the original Legend of Zelda; the goal is to finish the game (ideally quickly and with a high percentage of completion) rather than achieve a high score
 * Optional Heart Containers and Pieces let players modulate the game's difficulty
 * All 4 bottles and the Magic Armor are also available early and serve as further means to adjust difficulty
 * Link's fastest movement method is rolling. While better than OoT's backwalking and sidehopping, it feels like an attempt to rework that game's 'roll' into a 'run'.
 * The enormous amount of Rupees suggests the developers were struggling to fill the game world with worthwhile secrets - which then necessitated large Rupee-sinks (the beggar in Castle Town, Malo Mart sidequest, etc...)
 * The move from 4 Heart Pieces making up a full container to 5 also seem to be an attempt to fill out space
 * "You got a Rupee!" messages are shown every play session, for some reason
 * Upgrading Wallet Size/"Wallet is full put it back"
 * Fuelling the magic armor/scrapped magic meter?
 * Slingshot is quickly outclassed by the Gale Boomerang, and then made almost redundant by the Bow & Arrow
 * Gale Boomerang, Bow & Arrow and Clawshot DO all have slightly different timings and utility in combat, though, while building off the same core 'aiming' skill
 * Overall its nice design, but borders on 'repetition' rather than 'rhyme'
 * Forest Temple flirts with the idea of puzzles around the Lantern/lighting torches, and extinguishing torches with the Gale Boomerang, but the game doesn't really develop this interplay
 * Iron Boots are utilised well (magnetic in the Goron Mines, then later used for sinking in water, then finally for resisting wind in the sky)
 * They can even be used to fall faster while flying with a Cucco or Oocca.
 * Bow & Arrow can be combined with Bombs (a la Link's Awakening), or with the new Hawkeye
 * Even inside of Arbiter's Grounds, the Spinner is only used to its potential in one room (two including the boss), and outside of that just one small area of Hyrule Field
 * While Double Clawshots are a fun concept and open up some interesting navigation-puzzles, in practice they are mostly used for scripted set-pieces/glorified quick-time events
 * Swinging around with the freedom of Spiderman may be asking a bit much, some non-linearity/more choice of targets at any given time would have better justified the upgrade
 * Peahats being Clawshot targets is a cool spin on a classic enemy
 * Dominion Rod is only used for a small handful of platforming puzzles directly after the Temple of Time - it would've been nice to control a few more statues before the game's end, whether recycled from the Temple or entirely fresh
 * Walking a statue across the Bridge of Eldin for a Heart Piece was a neat moment
 * 3 bomb bags seems excessive? Perhaps if Water Bombs and Bomblings were more useful...
 * Castle Town is populated largely with 'crowds' of non-interactive NPCs
 * Many NPCs exist only to share gossip, though their text does seem to update with the story
 * Block sliding puzzle in Snowpeak that has you re-contextualize the puzzle via the Ball & Chain is cool
 * Hyrule Field Ice Block Cavern doesn't use the ice-breaking mechanic, but features 3 more block puzzles of comparable difficulty to Snowpeak's puzzles
 * Considering this puzzle style doesn't make as much sense in third-person as top-down, it's probably for the best that they're used sparingly like this
 * Hidden Village Western Shootout/Cats
 * Master Sword being upgraded with the power to cut through dark fog is a cool spin on one of the game's core mechanics (swinging your sword around) - reminds me of Half Life 2's supercharged Gravity Gun sequence, albeit subtler
 * Zant fight is a well-executed boss rush - it has thematic context and gives the recycled content a fresh spin
 * Scrapped magic meter
 * Unused text suggests that magic power was once required to transform into Wolf Link. - "You don't have any magic power... You know you can't turn into a beast without it!"

Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks

 * Temple of the Ocean King
 * Touch-screen
 * Grappling Hook Tightrope

Skyward Sword
-IN PROGRESS-

Breath of the Wild
NEW UNSORTED NOTES:

• filling out the map gradually is good

• shrine's are a permanent change in the landscape, drives home progress

• obvious intended linear path, made more open -elaborated on interviews?

• the engine gives you a lot of interesting options (esp. in combat) but doesn't force you to use them

• game is also too punishing to encourage experimentation

• climbing is too strong - you can cheese it by recovering stamina on slight inclines on most if not every mountain


 * Runes - Cryonis, Stasis, Magnesis
 * Mipha's Grace/Revali's Gale/Daruk's Protection/Urbosa's Fury
 * Weapon Stats - Attack Up, Durability Up, Long Range, Quick Shot, etc...
 * cutscenes suck
 * loading screens suck
 * apparently more-so on Switch than WiiU
 * the game is in desperate need of traditional Zelda items
 * both the runes and champion powers are clever in concept but feel tacky
 * cryonis is generically useful and a clever mechanic, but doesn't feel "fundamental"
 * infinite bombs? I don't even care that it's tacky
 * statis and magnesis are cool, but tend to feel either useless or cheesey depending on the situation
 * the camera is flawless
 * befriending a dog has seemed too obtuse so far
 * enemy AI doesn't let you get free damage
 * they punish spin attack if its poorly spaced
 * they maneuver to avoid arrows
 * they have a response if you just run in guns-a-blazin
 * they knock bombs back at you
 * enemy histun armor is a crutch though
 * bokoblin behaviour is especially complex: they hunt prey, converse with one another, dance, attempt to find a weapon when unarmed, sleep, etc...
 * the high damage output from enemies and prolonged hitstun Link suffers when he gets knocked down is more conducive to a punishing environment than a challenging one
 * not so bad late-game when you can essentially choose how difficult you want a fight to be (stockpiling food, choice of armor, etc...) - but putting that in the player's hand is a luxury, it shouldn't be fundamental
 * the flurry rush is cool but too autonomous
 * bullet time when shooting arrows in the air should probably use more stamina
 * basic weapon attacks should be more dynamic, got very tired of the same patterns - variations like the windcleaver were a massive breath of fresh air
 * inclusion of classic enemies is cool, but a much larger variety would make the world feel larger and more immersive - got very sick of goblins and lizards very quickly
 * stone talus is a great mix of climbing and fighting; the difficult to reach weakpoints are better in theory than practice though because they take away the climbing aspect
 * each mini-boss is exciting on first encounter, but doubly serves as a great way to farm minerals, food and weapons through combat
 * NPCs are too bland. Majora's Mask gave each NPC a life and purpose
 * First Zelda game to rely heavily on physics puzzles
 * Explicit 'riddles' for puzzles - both from Kass and the 'Riddles of Hyrule' side-quest for the Korok
 * the game works cohesively whether you make a bee line for Ganon, play through the story in sequence or fluff around
 * weapons should be more durable, and there should be a larger blacksmithing element
 * dragons are cool, but interacting with them is tacky especially the fight with Naydra
 * death mountain is like a giant shrine; clever
 * the leviathans are excellent world building
 * as are the eighth heroine and her forgotten sword
 * the forgotten temple, the labyrinths, the Yiga clan hideout and the colosseum are great examples of open-world dungeons
 * every tower is unique, but they should be more unique
 * tarrey town is a fulfilling side quest, in the vein of the kafei and anju quest
 * having a house is cute, but it's far too limited
 * eventide island encapsulates everything that's great about the game
 * chu jelly and octo-balloons are too limited a toolkit for manipulating physics, even with magnesis and stasis
 * elixirs are generally redundant
 * luminous stones and the radiant clothes barely let off any light, and there's very few pitch-black areas in the game
 * would be nice to be able to make notes and/or draw on the map like the DS games
 * there should be a reason to revisit Kilton
 * the giant and royal horses are nice, but there should be more unique horses
 * stalhorses and lord of the mountain, of course, are cool - but don't count cause you can't check them into the stable
 * blood moons are brilliant; you can clear out an area but never clear out the whole game
 * memories are pretty unintuitive to find, and when the incentive for finding them is a poorly voice-acted, generic-by-necessity cutscene... meh
 * Shame cause the story is pretty decent
 * changing every item of clothing is tedious, and there is little incentive to mix-and-match clothing items beyond aesthetic
 * enchanting clothes is a way to strike a balance between aesthetic and gameplay
 * it seemed that arrows were too difficult to come by early game
 * Silent Princess is clever symbolism
 * boomerangs also seem quite bad, not sure if they can even grab items