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triforce-princess · 3 years

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well, i finally 100% completed hyrule warriors age of calamity in its entirety, including post game content, so i’m finally going to write a full review. beware this review will contain every spoiler imaginable so please do not click the read more if you haven’t finished the game yet and don’t want to be spoiled!

tl,dr; this game is a lot of fun despite some of its shortcomings and it’s really nice to see characters get the development they needed in breath of the wild. also a huge improvement gameplay-wise from the first game. if you’re a fan of breath of the wild it’s worth a try, just don’t expect breath of the wild style of gameplay! and if you’re a fan of the original hyrule warriors, you are going to love this a lot. ok now to get into the details. this is extremely long;

about the gameplay; it took me a while to fully adjust to the new controls and mechanics, but once i finally understood it it was so much fun. i originally wasn’t crazy about the sheikah slate runes since it was difficult at first to remember that a. i had that ability, and b. when the proper time to use it was. but when it finally clicked for me it brought a whole new interesting layer to the gameplay that challenged my memory in a fun way. it took me even longer to learn what the use of the rods were but those were great in a pinch once i figured it out. i also loved the flurry rush mechanic since dodging is a pretty important aspect of the gameplay. all these new layers added to this gameplay makes me wonder how i ever put up with the original hyrule warriors gameplay lol. something i wasn’t entirely crazy about was the wall jumping and paraglider stuff? i never really found it useful and it always just became a problem when i was trying to dodge and i’d be confused about why my character was slowly flying around at critical moments.

the camera in this game was pretty frustrating. with the more organic map & lots of tight spaces (which i’ll get more into later), the camera would get stuck a lot and you’d be unable to really see what’s going on and it got pretty frustrating at times. i wish there were some way they could fix that but i’m not sure what they could do without having the camera go out of bounds & show the edges of the map. maybe they could’ve made some of the objects that are in the middle not be things the camera get stuck on though.

i also felt like there were too many special effects going on with some enemies and attacks, sometimes it would cover up large parts of the screen & you wouldn’t be able to see what you were fighting and that was pretty stressful (i found myself frequently yelling “i can’t see!!” when i’d defeat a guardian or something in a room with lots of other enemies. this only became an issue in the later parts of the game though.

now about the maps, i do love how much more organic and natural they are. it’s a big upgrade from the original which had a lot of wide corridors leading into square rooms which were allied/enemy basses. but unfortunately, this causes issues with navigation and the camera getting stuck (like i mentioned before). i had a lot of problems where the map was too natural and i was confused about why i was getting stuck on level geometry when it looked like i could walk through there. i think the breath of the wild style makes this confusing too because you can’t really undo a thousand hours of being able to walk through nearly everything. but also it was just really unclear what was a wall and what wasn’t sometimes. i was surprised i actually had to zoom in on the mini map and look at that to move around at times. definitely an ambitious aspect of the game & i appreciate the effort and detail, but i don’t know if it works that great for this style of gameplay. i also don’t know why they bothered putting so many small details on the ground if they’re just going to pop in so close to the camera. it was kind of awkward when you cleared out all the enemies & were traveling to another location and it was the only noticable thing on screen.

speaking of ambitious, we can’t ignore this game’s framerate issues. it’s the first thing on everyone’s minds when talking about this game. most of the time, it was pretty acceptable. but they definitely pushed this game farther than the switch can go and it shows. i really appreciate the love they put into making this game as detailed as they did, but i don’t know if it was worth it in the long run. there’s only a couple times i can think of where the framerates got absolutely unacceptable, and it always seemed to be when there was a lot of electricity and enemies on screen at the same time. it happened once during the final vah naboris mission and another time where there were a ton of electric lizalfos all shooting electricity at once at the same time you have to fight an electric lynel. but, i’m not the kind of gamer that loses my shit over dropped framerates, i grew up with the n64 & have had to put up with poor early emulation many times in my life so framerates don’t really phase me until it just gets unplayable.

wasn’t crazy about how many late game missions were just boss rushes, but that’s pretty standard hyrule warriors fare. at least it was more fair in this game where most of the time you only had to fight one boss at a time and the next boss wouldn’t spawn in until you beat the first one, so there was no risk of accidentally aggro-ing a boss in another part of the map & have an unfair fight on your hands like in the first game. it was pretty anti-climactic how the seemingly final mission which had the highest recommended level was just another boss rush, and not even the hardest one (it was just a bunch of regular malice bosses in a row).

bit of a side note but i didn’t like having to grind for materials and find koroks for 100%. the koroks weren’t nearly as bad as breath of the wild though, thank god.

i’m pretty disappointed that some content that’s clearly in the game isn’t unlocked in the base game, it’s looking pretty likely that they’ll add it as dlc later & pretend it’s new content to make the game relevant again...i’ve always firmly believed dlc should be extra content that’s added in later. hopefully they’ll add some really cool stuff as dlc alongside the stuff that’s in the game & it won’t be so disappointing. there’s two characters i was sure would be unlocked as playable characters (sooga and astor) but i found it weird that you don’t get them in the post game and instead you get to play as the egg guardian (terrako) and calamity ganon???? talk about subverting expectations. also really frustrated to learn that zelda’s royal dress isn’t available in the base game but its in the files & is just missing one body part?? really hope that’s just a free update and not like, paid dlc. kind of dumb that they didn’t give the devs one extra day to model feet on the character.

about the story; the story starts out really strong i feel, i loved seeing characters get the development they didn’t get in breath of the wild and this game’s story makes breath of the wild’s story feel even more incomplete than it did before this game came out. and actually seeing the story play out in chronological order in real time without link having amnesia gave the story so much more feeling and connection. this is probably my favorite aspect of this game because i was always so disappointed with how disconnected you feel in breath of the wild because of the way the story is told. and it does so much of a better job illustrating link and zelda’s feelings. i’m probably the single most difficult person to convince when it comes to link and zelda being in a relationship or having feelings for eachother and i thought this was quite possibly the best master sword scene in any zelda game;

in previous games link has always had to prove his courage in a variety of trials spread across the land and to me its really boring, especially after how many times its been done. the thing that gets me about this scene is the master sword deems him worthy because of his desire to protect zelda even when he’s been beaten down & disarmed. that was a really beautiful moment to me & i’m glad they wrote the scene this way.

speaking of being worthy of power because you want to protect someone, i wasn’t really that crazy of zelda unlocking her power just because she loves link but honestly this game illustrated it in a much better way & i’m more down with it now. i loved this shot how it really captured what she was feeling;

it’s also in general awesome to see the champions in action, both in gameplay and in cutscenes. i remember being in awe the first time i got to play as urbosa. it feels like we finally really got to know them and how powerful they really were, instead of breath of the wild just telling us they were cool & we just had to believe it.

now for the part i know people say this game is shit because of; the time travel aspect. yeah, it’s a little silly and nonsensical, but honestly, it was kind of fun. and i don’t get how a time travel plot is somehow weird for the zelda series. the most critically acclaimed game of this series, ocarina of time, is entirely revolved around a time travel plot & the heroes would not have won if it weren’t for time travel in that game. yeah, it’s goofy, but this series is known for its nonsensical aspects & plotholes. there’s always some kind of unexplainable magic in this series that solves problems. i don’t think that makes this game shit. plus i was kind of starstruck when i first got to play as sidon lol. i was thinking to myself, man, who would’ve known 3 years later we’d get to play as sidon! crazy! none of the champion descendants were really my favorite to play as but it was still cool to see them & play as them.

something i didn’t understand was why kohga and the yiga clan joined zelda’s cause? i feel like a vital scene got cut. i don’t get why he’d join even when astor betrayed him, considering his group’s ambitions and how many times they tried to kill zelda. and where’d sooga go? the scene of astor betraying them kind of implied he was going to die but we never got confirmation of that, and he even shows up in a post game mission as an ally (no cutscene, just one line of dialogue during gameplay)

as for the ending, i guess it was alright? astor was a really lazily written villain and i just did not care for him at all. kinda don’t even care that we don’t get to play as him (yet, probably). calamity ganon’s design in this game was terrible. and i guess it would’ve been hard to make it work, but no beast ganon? just felt a little to easy to wrap up. despite this i guess it was nice to see hyrule get a happier ending even if it was a bit nonsensical at times. also this is just a bit of a personal thing for me but i liked seeing hyrule before it was destroyed. it always bums me out when you find a locaiton in game that’s been destroyed & you can only think about what it mightve looked like before. this is something that’s bummed me out since wind waker (was always disappointed you don’t get to see what greatfish isle is like!!) and breath of the wild gave me so much disappointment in that aspect lol.

one final thought but it was odd to me how many lines revali got & how often he interacted with link lol. was weird to see him slowly warm up to link a little towards the end (but of course he’s still a little mean...). no other character acknowledges link as much as revali. this scene confused me the most??

there were so many other people revali could’ve spoken to. he barely even acknowledges teba who was the one who specifically came to his aid!! and the way link looks at him with big puppy eyes?? link barely makes a facial expression at anyone else! and how revali expresses gratitude for the first time in his life after looking at link’s stupid cute anime face and smiles (but he turns around because he would be too ashamed to smile at link i guess)

anyway that’s it, i finally got out all my thoughts about this game. this went on way longer than i intended and i’m sorry if you read the whole thing & it took forever lol. this game is fun, get it.

#legend of zelda #hyrule warriors: age of calamity #breath of the wild #text #hwaoc spoilers

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honeyveins · 4 years

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— - hello, yes, hi. it’s me, your least favorite planet named mun, here to try and explain my child without actually writing out a full intro. fingers crossed. oofies. this got long, please just go on and skip to the bottom for plot ideas !

— quick stats :

full name : link jang nicknames : n / a age : twenty - two ( 22 ) gender & pronouns : non - binary masc presenting / he & they birthday : august twenty - sixth ( 08 / 26 / 1998 ) zodiac : virgo romantic / sexual orientation : biromantic & bisexual fandom : the legend of zelda / breath of the wild timeline occupation : assistant to master blacksmith

( SKIP TO THE END FOR PLOTS ! )

— memory :

❛ — - the smell of damp, still and spoiled water itches at the soft freckles that reside on your nose. those that have faded in the one hundred years you’ve been locked away underground. locked beneath the tall grass, cold walls that coated you in a thin layer of restless sleep. with the stale water that blanked your pale skin, covered in gorgeous scars that rested against your hips, the curves that your waist held, your chest that was constantly covered by armor was still peppered in raised, white healing moments. how these all came before that which they aptly named CALAMITY GANON.

❛ — - with chills raising against your toned, yet fragile arms, you bright eyes opened. sapphie eyes that shone against the water that drained below you, cornflower shade against the moss covered stone that surrounded you. the slightly tinted walls now mirroring that of the necluda sea, remembering being at the helm and watching the waves go from that sweet cerulean to white as the waves crashed against the adorned wood. eyes that mirrored the sea were never hard to forget.

❛ — - crawling on your hands and knees over the rough rock bed that you’d gotten comfortable in, a stretched spread along your figure, blonde tendrils brushing against your ski slope nose and blushed colored lips. long blinks over those unforgettable necluda eyes, before getting used to where you’d been placed. why am i here ? did we lose ? is mipha okay ? daruk ? urbosa ? revali ? ZELDA ?

— teaser / summary :

❛ — - link jang leads a life as boring and generic as you can think. while there were bumps along the way, link still enjoys the life he was given. along with the parents he was gifted to. he’s shy, doesn’t speak much and a total dork. plays world of warcraft and reads comics in his spare time. hates the taste of coffee and ( doesn’t, but should ) wears glasses that will give you a headache. very sweet and loyal but with his fists are always closed if he needs to knock some sense into you. will never tell someone a secret you tell him, but it always very bad at making friends because he can’t open up. of course, this will all be explained in the intro. but for now, this is all i can expand on. if you have any questions about link, feel free to ask them and i’ll be happy to answer !

— plotting :

i’m really bad at plotting and plots, but i can come up with a few and i ADORE brain - storming, so we can do that, as well !

001. would die for a plot where link has a crush on your muse and never says anything about it. just admires them from afar and it too scared to say anything about it. maybe they come into his dad’s shop or link has seen them at a coffee shop / book store / any meet - cute hot - spot and they always end up there together. link has never been in a relationship, so please don’t tease him ! CLOSED.

002. also think a best friend that he almost looks up to would be sick. link is a man of VERY few words and never really says much. he talks, but doesn’t ramble or anything, keeps it very concise. but, if you muse can ramble and talk and teach link how to use his big boy words and get him out of his shell, that’d be RAD.

003. lastly, i think link having a someone who he doesn’t talk to, someone where they can just enjoy each other’s company in silence is cute. someone where they can give each other a look and it speaks volumes ! could also include tons of fluff with cuddling, watching movies and kisses on the cheek / forehead / nose. little acts of showing their friendship and how close they are. CLOSED.

that’s all i can really think of, i’m up for literally anything. i’m partial to angst, so i’m sorry if we plot and it turns into a big ball of sad, messy angst. but, feel free to message me / ask me for my discord. i’d love to plot with all of you !

#dhq.plots #pls excuse this actual mess of a plotting into and IGNORE the typos pls .

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a-truth-universally-acknowledged · 5 years

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Some Breath of The Wild Sequel Thoughts and Theories

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the Breath of The Wild Sequel it’s like I desperately have to solve whatever was happening in that first look trailer.

So here’s a brain dump of things I’ve been thinking of. A lot of this I’m saying is kinda a lot of little theories, but make of it what you will.

Also this is may be quite long…

Brain Dump 1:

So at the moment I’m assuming that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe is closely associated, if not the same as the Zonai Tribe. Note that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe are from the Faron region and the Zonai Ruins are also found in the Faron region. The Zonai Tribe were also said to worship a dragon which is likely to be Farosh due to the region, and of the other dragons Farosh is associated with courage.

The Zonai Ruins also show structures of animals which symbolise different parts of the Triforce, pointing out that dragons in general represent courage, and boars/pigs represent power. (Should also mention that they have structures of owls which represent wisdom, but this won’t be my focus since I feel that the other two have been more prominent for the tribe(s), or for what I’ve seen at least)

But I’ll talk more about this later.

Brain Dump 2:

Just a random thing, this kinda looks like those long structures are Guardian legs haha. I guess this could sorta be linked to the idea that Guardians are stored in the pillars that once rested beneath Hyrule Castle (which we know have risen from the ground now), given that this place we see is in fact underneath Hyrule Castle.

Anyway, this overall structure also kinda reminds me of

this one, and it may be the Ancient Barbarian Tribe’s/Zonai Tribe’s own sort of Shrine of Resurrection?

Brain Dump 3:

As amazing as it would be that this hand could be associated with the Twili (would totally love to see Midna again!!!), it sorta does seem to have Aztec-like designs on it which we also see on Zonai structures. Could be a bit of a stretch though if no one else sees it.

Also wanna raise the idea that the hand is green, commonly associated with courage within TLoZ games.

Brain Dump 4:

The Barbarian helm kinda reminds me of Ganon with the red hair and the horns. Particularly OoT Ganon. This one could be a stretch, probably just from thinking about the teaser trailer too much and trying to make sense of it.

Also OoT Phantom Ganon rode a horse and wielded a trident and we also see a figure wielding a trident and riding a horse in the paintings on the wall in the teaser video.

Bringing these brain dumps together:

I think the symbolism of the colours could be quite important. Honestly, I don’t think the green hand is bad and when we see Link’s hand turn green in the teaser trailer it could be to do with the Triforce of Courage.

I personally had interpreted the teaser trailer as the green hand (courage) preventing the red malice (power) emanating from the body, presumably Ganondorf, to spread further. We also see Link’s hand turn the same green. Maybe he obtains some sort of power from the green hand. Maybe this is Link truly awakening his powers, just like we had seen Zelda do before.

As for the stuff about the Ancient Barbarian Tribe and the Zonai Tribe, this is what is making myself confused. Assuming they are the same, why would they appear to largely worship dragons (once again noting that they represent courage), yet also pigs/boars (also noting again that they represent power) as seen by an entire armour set (Barbarian Armour) being created possibly with this animal in mind?

Honestly, I don’t have an overarching theory of this, but for the moment, I do believe that the chosen hero we see in the tapestry depicting The Legend of the Calamity 10,000 years ago is Ganondorf (I mean not just the reddish hair colour but that’s definitely a Gerudo nose too!), and this could be part of the plot of the Breath of The Wild Sequel as I think we would have to learn things that went wrong with the Ancient Barbarian Tribe/Zonai Tribe. Perhaps there was confusion and conflict between tribe members in regard to the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Power that caused a rift in their relations and led to their downfall? Maybe the Ancient Barbarian Tribe are a small group who were once of the Zonai Tribe but established themselves due to different values, similar to how the Yiga were once Sheikah?

Obviously, there are flaws with all this but just some thoughts.

#breath of the wild #the legend of zelda #link #zelda #ganon #ganondorf #nintendo #botw #tloz #breath of the wild sequel #botw 2 #tloz theory

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eggoreviews · 5 years

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9 Things That Need to Happen in Breath of the Wild’s Sequel

Just as I was getting over my intense love for Breath of the Wild, Nintendo go and drop that trailer on us at E3 and stop my whole ass heart. Hi, I’m two months late to the party on this one, but I’ve had a lot of time to think over what this sequel can learn from its predecessor and the rest of the series, as well as what brand new stuff can be brought to the table to make this sequel as spectacular as the first. Without further ado, here’s my list of 9 things Nintendo should do to make this amazing, as well as my own personal theories on what they could do to make it happen. Enjoy!

Spoilers for Breath of the Wild ahead!

1. Ditch the shrines

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the shrines in Breath of the Wild, I loved how difficult some of them were to find, how they brilliantly utilised each and every mechanic in the game and testing you on everything you’ve learned. These shrines were the ultimate compliment to a game that really wasn’t about holding your hand. But I think they’ve had their time, and it might be a nice idea to go back to some of the larger, more traditional dungeons of Zelda past. I’m not saying to go back to the old way of ‘you get given an item, it’s useful for one dungeon and that’s all’, I’m saying they need to definitely keep the massive variety of ways you can approach dungeons to keep that sense of freedom intact, but at the same time give us whole new types of dungeon with more visual variety. Abandoned forts, weird Lorule-esque dark versions of dungeons, towers, there’s really any kind of location they could explore when designing a new set of dungeons. Oh, and I adored the divine beasts, but I’m hoping for something completely different and surprising when it comes to main story dungeons this time around.

2. A whole new world map

If there’s one thing I think basically everyone agrees on, it’s that Breath of the Wild absolutely nailed its world. A huge, sprawling map with a variety of locales to explore and all of it packed to the brim with extra content and adventure-y fun. But we all know this world inside out, and even if they strip it bare and fill it with brand new secrets, it’ll still feel too much like something we’ve seen before. So from what we know from the trailer, it seems like Link and Zelda will be delving into the underground in this latest installment, so a fairly safe theory would be that they’ll uncover a whole new world down there, perhaps a forgotten and buried civilisation from thousands of years ago, now overgrown with Ganon’s influence and bizarre plants and animals that don’t exist on the surface. If they’re going full Majora’s Mask on this one, I think Nintendo’s best bet is to fully embrace this new darker tone they’ve shown to us and give us a world that is as twisted as that trailer.

3. Keep Zelda’s importance to the plot

I could honestly make a whole separate blog post about the evolution of Zelda as a character throughout the series, from her literally being asleep the whole time in Zelda II, to her role as more of a quest-giver in Ocarina and more recent games like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword where she plays a much more active role in the plot. In Breath of the Wild however, they did something completely different that I adored; they made her into her own person. I mean sure, she was never completely devoid of character, but between the games where she wasn’t really there and the games where she’s outshone by every other character, Breath of the Wild really felt like her time to be properly fleshed out and have enough depth to be remembered. Sure, Zelda doesn’t turn up in the flesh until the end, but you spend the whole game with her voice guiding you, with you finding memories of your past with Zelda; how she seemed to have only contempt for you at the beginning because of Link’s fulfilled destiny compared to hers. You form your own opinion of her through her actions and how the champions perceive her (Urbosa as her sort of mother figure, Revali sees her as ever so slightly inferior for not being able to access her power and the mutual respect between Mipha and Zelda). Then you watch their relationship grow and change into something neither of them can really understand, but they become so close and so integral to each other that Zelda is the one to finally make him open up about himself. And that makes it all the more heartbreaking that Link has had all these memories snatched away from him and, of course, all the more gratifying when he finally gets them back so him and you, the player, both understand that you’re not just fighting for the safety of a realm you’ve been shoved into with no recollection of what’s happening, you’re fighting to be reunited with Link’s closest friend. Very probably more than friend, considering that final memory in Korok Forest. Nintendo did a brilliant job of laying the groundwork for Zelda not as a plot device or a damsel in distress, but a real, complex human being who enriches the story and makes the world you’re living in and what you’re fighting for feel more alive. So build on top of this! Keep developing Zelda, ask those questions of how Zelda feels now she’s free of Ganon and her constant fear of her power failing, how 100 years alone facing a demon has affected her mental health and, most of all, how everything that happened in Breath of the Wild changed their relationship. Are they together now? Do they have any idea what they are really? Do they just pick up where they left off or do they have to make an active effort to regain that close relationship they had before? I don’t know, but I’m really hoping we find out.

4. Ditch the sheikah slate

Get rid of it. Do it, cowards. Make Link drop it over a ledge in the first 10 minutes or something. Much like the shrines, the sheikah slate was such a fantastic idea and gave you 4 brand new powers to play around with in the massive sandbox world full of puzzles and it was great fun! But again, we know those powers too well now; we know how they work and how they can be exploited when you think outside of the box. What I want is for Nintendo to keep that brilliant creativity when it comes to gameplay mechanics, don’t just give us bombs and an ocarina again, give us something unique to this experience! I mean yeah, they could just give us an updated sheikah slate; a different model perhaps that dates back even further than the original one that has some weird abilities (maybe even a slate that’s somehow been infected with Ganon’s influence, that’d be funky), but my hopes are riding on Nintendo pulling something completely different out of the bag for this one. Making Link lose everything and only be able to use whatever he can salvage in this ancient, evil place is surely going to have a whole host of ideas behind it so I’m curious to see what they can come up with.

5. Embrace the darker tone

This sort of goes without seeing considering what we’ve seen so far, but I really want them to go full in with this darker atmosphere they’ve shown us. I mean, Breath of the Wild was never a ‘light’ game so to speak, but most of the games darker elements were masked by its beautiful landscapes and huge array of colourful characters that made Hyrule feel alive. There hints here and there of a much more macabre side to the realm; destroyed battlefield littered with rusty weapons, old structures covered in Ganon’s malice and the general feeling that Ganon was always watching you from the castle that you can see basically anywhere on the map. I want them to take that mild dread they instilled and turn it up to eleven. And one way that can be accentuated is through the plot. For example, we know a fair amount about the Sheikah tribe at this point, but what if there’s a side that was never explored? What if there’s a much more sinister reason why the Sheikah tribe were suddenly shunned by the royal family all those years ago? Or maybe the Sheikah found something under the castle as well as the divine beasts that they left buried down there and hoped no one would ever find it. Oh, and I’ve heard a theory that Calamity Ganon was just a puppet of the real Ganondorf, who was hiding underneath the castle all this time, which is absolutely terrifying if you consider what the puppet managed to achieve on its own. Not just plot stuff like this, but the music (keep that ambient style they went for before that knows when to amp it up and make it epic, but with a creepier vibe to match the tone of the world), the visuals, the sounds you hear while exploring. Nintendo need to make it clear that we aren’t in Kansas anymore; no more soft piano melodies while riding through beautiful valleys on my horse, make it spooky!! Unsettling, distorted notes playing through dark, twisted woods with trees gnarling into each other and shiny eyes peeking out at you from the canopy. Or something. Who knows, I just wanna be spooked.

6. A much fuller story

One of the main criticisms I always hear for this game is its lack of story content, which I suppose is true to an extent. But I don’t think this let the game down at all really. The game was far less linear than previous titles, so it makes sense that the story they were telling was much more general, but I don’t think this kind of approach would fit as well in its sequel. Nintendo told us just enough in Breath of the Wild to keep us guessing; we were introduced to this particular version of Hyrule, its inhabitants and what Ganon’s up to etc. But they’ve deliberately been extremely vague on what could possibly be explored in a sequel, as well as where/if these two games even fit into the overall Zelda timeline. They deliberately lifted focus off the narrative to make the world and how you traverse it the central point of your adventure. But now that they seem to be plunging us into a much darker world and have given us so many unanswered questions, I reckon its time to dial the narrative back up and give us a bit more of a beefy story to go with our hell exploring.

7. Change in characters

Slightly vague subtitle, but here’s what I mean. As I mentioned beforehand, Breath of the Wild is full of colourful characters that populate the towns as well as the general landscapes, from merchants to adventurers and shield-surfers to Beedle (I love Beedle). And for the most part, these characters all want to help you along on your journey by giving you helpful advice or sending you off on quests to find more shrines. And while I’m not saying this sequel should do away with all helpful NPCs, I do think there should be fewer of them. When designing new towns and settlements, they could give us the odd helpful citizen here and there, but for the most part, how would the inhabitants of this forgotten underground place treat Link? I think it would add to the atmosphere really well by having some of the characters that populate the world deliberately unnerve Link when giving him advice or telling him something helpful and then mocking him at how ineffectual he is at completing his quest. Or if they really want to go a bit overboard, they could even have occasional encounters where talking to the wrong NPCs can end in a random fight, in the same vein as the disguised Yiga in Breath of the Wild. But of course, you don’t want to only populate a world with characters that hate you (that’s what MediEvil is for), so some form of guide would maybe be a welcome addition. If not Zelda (I would definitely welcome the idea of her being along for the ride, though I fear it would take away some of the nerves if you have Zelda as an anchor of familiarity), then perhaps the ghost of a Sheikah from thousands of years past that never agreed with what his tribe were doing or was responsible for something in his life that he now deeply regrets and he can’t pass on until Link helps to finally defeat the real Ganon. Who knows what they’ll do with the characters, but as long as they leave Navi and Tatl back on the N64, pretty much anything will do me.

8. Keep the stamina wheel

As much as I’ve bleated on about everything I want them to change or add in, this is something I most definitely want them to keep. The core gameplay, while I can’t imagine them really changing it, is integral to the sandbox world they created. Having Link be able to sprint, jump, climb up literally anything is what gave players such a sense of freedom; being given this whole massive world to explore and being able to access absolutely all of it. And while I’ve talked a lot about how much I’d like this sequel’s tone and approach to narrative and a bunch of other things to change, this game absolutely needs to keep the same sense of unabashed freedom we had in the first game. And the most integral part of that freedom was the stamina wheel. Short segment I know, but that’s all I really had to say on that one. Let me climb things, Nintendo.

9. Switch up the monsters

In Breath of the Wild, there was an excellent balance of amazing new designs for old favourite monsters, as well as a whole host of new ones (the guardians and the moldugas getting a special mention here). But I reckon what this sequel needs is some brand new monsters to add to the pile; a larger variety of monsters to encounter out in the wilderness would enrich this new darker world we could be exploring to no end. Also, while I really loved all the main story bosses in BotW, I feel as if a larger design variety of story bosses would benefit this sequel. Imagine the potential for whatever ancient monsters are down under the castle to give Link a hard time and what kind of an epic fight is Ganondorf going to put up when we finally get there?? Just as a little idea to throw out there, maybe undead Sheikah will make an appearance as an enemy, woken from the dead and forced into Ganon’s service after being infected by malice. And hey, the Yiga Clan never really got full closure! Yeah Link gets rid of their leader, but the Clan is very much still alive and kicking by the time of Calamity Ganon’s death, so perhaps they’ll play a central role once again now that Ganondorf seems to have come back into the picture. What would make the Yiga even more menacing is if this were their plan all along; knowing that Link very well could defeat Calamity Ganon and then, after retaking the castle, be drawn underground to free the real culprit. Nobody knows what direction Nintendo are going to take with any of this, other than ‘it’ll probably be kinda spooky’, but I am way too excited to find out.

Got any cool ideas or theories of your own? Anything you want them to add or take away in this sequel? Drop it down below in the comments! I’d be v interested to hear if you have anything to add. Thanks for reading and let’s hope the wait isn’t too painful!

#zelda #link #the legend of zelda #loz #botw #breath of the wild #botw 2 #nintendo #botw zelda

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pixelgrotto · 7 years

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The potential of a blue tunic I remember when Breath of the Wild was first revealed in 2014, one of the first things that caught my eye in the trailer, aside from the huge world, was Link’s different attire. Instead of his usual green fairy boy tunic, he was decked out in a blue outfit and a hood. Nintendo had been teasing a “blue Link” for a while now, first testing the waters with his Wind Waker shirt and then the long anime scarf he wore in Hyrule Warriors. But they’d always stuck to the green garb in the end, because Nintendo is a traditional, conservative company comfortable with traditional, conservative things. Breath of the Wild was supposed to be something radical, though - an upgrade bringing The Legend of Zelda into the 21st century with modern game mechanics. I didn’t know for sure if the Big N would pull it off, but I thought that perhaps the blue tunic was a start, and I was optimistic in my impressions as the years went on.

Fast forward to 2017, and I finally beat the game about two weeks ago after four months of regular playing. I came as close to “100%” that I’m willing to go, with 155 hours under my belt, all 120 shrines found and the Trials of the Sword DLC completed. I only found 110 Korok Seeds, but that was more than enough, and at the moment, BotW owns the title of the second most time I’ve devoted to a first playthrough of a single-player game. (Number one still goes to The Witcher 3, which stole a staggering 215 hours from my life. Maybe BotW will get there when its next DLC pack comes out.) We’ve reached the point in BotW’s life cycle where we’re past the time of copious praise and now in the era of contrarian think pieces, like one that was published by Destructoid two days ago, entitled “Breaking down why Breath of the Wild is highly overrated.” And there’s a lot of stuff in that article, as well as in the complaints of other people on the internet who didn’t love the game as much as the enthusiast press, that makes sense. This was Nintendo’s first open world project, and while they clearly studied what makes the genre tick, they picked up a few bad habits along the way. The weapons break far too much, yes. The side quests, with the exception of a few like Tarrey Town, are forgettable and a far cry from anything in The Witcher 3. (In fact, a huge majority of the quests are little more than “find me 10 of this” affairs, straight out of World of Warcraft’s game design guide…in 2006.) The 900 collectible Korok Seeds business is extravagant and seems like Nintendo splurging on a lazy design trope, and much ado has been made on how the 120 shrines across the map could’ve been consolidated into something like 50 or 60. Speaking of the map, pretty much every negative review calls it “soulless,” and it is in some ways. It’s a bit too big, with certain regions like the jungle feeling half-baked. And while the game does feature cute towns, the people residing in them are largely simplistic NPCs who never seem to act like Calamity Ganon is a threat lurking around the corner…which is maybe due to the minimal (though charming in its own fairy tale way) plot, which is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible in order to give the player more options. But Zelda was never really a series like The Witcher, which focuses strongly on story. Zelda’s always been gameplay-driven, and for every flaw that Breath of the Wild has, it did three or four things with its mechanics that made me forgive. Clearing a Bokobolin camp by lighting the ground on fire to create a updraft, sailing into the air via paraglider, shooting a bomb arrow into a crack of their cave to ignite powder kegs and watching everything go BOOM in a massive explosion is thrilling the first time you do it and stays thrilling 100 hours in. Fighting Lynels, who initially seem frighteningly OP but become both manageable and farmable over time, is a rush that almost feels like it’s from another franchise entirely…a certain franchise with a name that begins with D and S. (Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna say it.) And while portions of the game’s map are underdeveloped, I’ve got to give a shout-out to the Gerudo region. I’ve normally lukewarm on desert areas in games, since I don’t really like deserts in real life. But with changing temperatures that force you to swap between different outfits in the day and night, giant desert worms hidden under the dunes, sand seal surfing (!!!) and an entire town filled with women who are not only the most interesting NPCs in the game, but are also all non-white and with surprisingly varied body types, Gerudo’s one of the best parts of BotW.

So if you haven’t figured it out by now, I enjoyed the game very much despite its flaws, and while it’ll take some time to determine if it can outclass the impact that Ocarina of Time had on me in 1999, I do think that it lived up to my expectations. Above all, I like how it went back to the franchise’s roots, essentially re-creating the feel of Zelda 1 (an early example of an open world game) with a new coat of paint inspired by Hayao Miyazaki. By doing this, BotW effectively broke the “eight linear dungeons with items doled out in-between” formula that the series had become so reliant upon over the last few years, and as someone who quickly becomes bored with formula, such a change was gratifying to experience. (Heck, I know I’m in the minority here, but I never really played Zelda for the dungeons and puzzle-solving in the first place - I played it for the series’ sense of adventure.) Yes, just like that Destructoid article mentioned, there are plenty of things that Nintendo needs to refine, but if they combine all of the good parts from BotW with a few less shrines, a more intimate world, the side quests of Majora’s Mask and the characterization of Wind Waker, we should have some darn solid sequels coming in the near future.

And to go back to the blue tunic, my initial thoughts on giving Link an aqua appearance turned out to be right after all. The blue tunic is not only unique and contemporary; it’s also a tangible representation of BotW moving in a different direction from its peers. Furthermore, since it’s Link’s new default, it pulls off the cool trick of making his green getup, which is unlockable via Amiibo or by clearing all 120 shrines, seem “old school” in a good, desirable way, rather than a tired, traditional one. It’s a reinvigorating new look for new times, in other words. Blue to stand out from the green wilderness that Link explores in-game, and blue to differentiate Breath of the Wild from its predecessors as a bold beginning as fresh as sea breeze.

I say…bring on the blue. Art courtesy of Nintendo.

#pixel grotto #favorites #video games #the legend of zelda #zelda #zelda no densetsu #breath of the wild

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thegeminisage · 7 years

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zelda blogging which is so deeply super spoilery, possible the most spoilery it’s ever been, so if you haven’t THOROUGHLY explored the central-north part of the map DON’T read it

aww some of these gerudo wear glasses! love it

i like the music here too but i kinda wish it had been the same melody from oot ; ;

omg riju is tiny!!! is she still young?!

aww her relationship with buliara is sweet they obviously care about each other a lot

AAAAAH THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT MY SWORD lmao maybe i should have gone to get it after all

oh my god a sand seal that gives you words of wisdom for food

ooh i get a free accessory for giving this lady some flint...hmMmMMmMMmmm

topaz i guess bc i'll probs need lightning protection soon? but no, i'm getting a helm...

haha sapphire to go with link's eyes?

ruby bc the flame armor is the ugliest and i wanna wear something else? LOL

went with sapphire iin the end MAY I NOT REGRET IT...

ooooh i shoulda been saving my gems....Dang

i mean, at least i have the 10k i need for the great fairy, but there's so much cool stuff here and i can't bUY ANY...

ah no i did get some opal and amber earrings :3

swim speed up and the ithers are just extra defense

"apparently the accessory maker and the teacher of the relationship class were both in a tragic love triangle, and now they are both single" nintendo this is an all women society please give me lesbians i BEG of you

ok, i need 1 ruby and 5 topaz to finish buying one of everything here. i'll remember

hahahahaha "you've gotta take your time when selecting gems and voe" wise words, lady

omg i found a bar but im too young to drink. nice, nintendo

lmao you can tell one of the ladies you're over 100 and she doesn't believe you dxkfjhg

ok so the hideout of the yiga clan is apparently to the northwest of here so i get to RIDE A SAND SEAL or surf behind one i guess. tbh im a little worried i'll break all my shields :/

i got a gerudo one that i really like!! goes with my scimitar and golden bow!

aww can i not wear accessories along with normal armor...? that sucks

LOL SEAL PUNS the options when talking to the sand seal lady are full of em im dying

wow i can't get this shrine unless i wind sand seal races which i can't do with the divine beast out LOL

jesus those sandstorms look so huge and terrifying...especially since i know they'll disable my map

i wanna explore but tbh i better just stick to the plot and away from those bad boys

oh JESUS i went to an outpost where they're monitoring the beast and it's. so big. and so loud and big and. so scary. oh my god, it's huge

oh FUCK i got too close and it started targeting me so i ran away and thankfully it stopped...definitely gonna take it easy on the exploration if i can help it

oooh no no no why is the air turning green out here...dnw dnw leave me and my map alone!!

uh, and where is my fucking seal...? i left it right HERE

ugh i had trouble mounting the one from before when i stayed in the monitoring outpost do they like leave if you stay gone a long time...? fml

awww this old gerudo never found the lovers pond ):

ugh i see so much stuff i wanna check out but im too scared to get off the seal for long :/ ESPECIALLY if i get stuck in a storm i'll want a way out

oh wow the air is so hot here even my gerudo outfit is useless

tbh, maybe that's a good thing, if i'm eating food i can wear armor with actual defense...much as i love these clothes they're great for getting your ass kicked

ok no seriously WHY does everyone from the yiga clan drop bananas..............

i know that everyone talks about how cool it is that this game just plops you down in the world and lets you figure it out for yourself without hitting you over the head with the instructions

but i just found a bow and some torches in a circle of lit torches with some obviously flammable banners nearby, so

i found the missing gerudo soldier!

"all i've ever seen them do is patrol and eat[in red text] bananas" LMAO WHATS THE DEAL MY DUDES

theres some bananas here on a table wtf do i do throw them at them?? lmao

OMFG LOL IT WORKED

dude pranced right over to it and pocketed it lmao

nooo i missed a chest...maybe i can get it on the way back out ;_;

LOL I FOUND AN ENTIRE ROOM FULL OF BANANAS

this is so funny dkjfgh fck

urgh i wish i could just...snipe them from here. it'd be so EASY

im actually not even totally sure which direction to go, im all turned around

ok, one stationary guy at the door maybe i have to move him?

NOOO I FUCKING FELL THEY SAW ME

i couldn't even fight they one-shotted me and mipha's grace didn't kick in! that isn't fair at all

at least i can get the chest i missed

lol and i cant save in here. perfect.

ok yeah im gonna have to look it up bc as far as i can tell this room has no exit all the hallways just circle back around into it

apparently i CAN fight them...? they're just really hard?

this walkthru is so unclear lol there's a hidden door i can find with magnesis on the right-hand wall WHICH RIGHT...

WAIT fuck i finally see the exit

ah ok. wrong room for the hidden door.

master kohga!! he just...knocked himself out with his own attack. lmao ok

fuck this is SO FUNNY he is so funny

i love it even his bones cracked

isn't what he used to be, apparently

wow this is a boring fight he has a lot of hp and he's so far away the only way i can attack is arrows

and now arrows aren't working anymore...? obviously i'm doing something wrong

maybe i can reflect the rocks back at him

ok google says to drop his things on his head

HAHAHA HIS SPECIAL ATTACK FAILED

this undertale naruto motherfucker im crying i love him

"pretty soon you'll be gone! and not just from my line of sight!" i'm CRYING

fuck the ball rolled on top of him and made him fall

"COWARD! I SHALL BE REMEMBERED!!!"

what a fucking legend i'll never forget you master kohga i promise

aaaand thunder helm retrieved

but i gotta rescue that missing gerudo!

ah good her cell is empty!

lol im skipping sooo many shrines rn...i'll come back to them later i swear

oh NOOOO i got a memory!!!

urbosa the prankster!!! witht he power of lightning at her disposal!! protective of princess zelda!! i'm dying!!!

also im sad so zelda's sealing power mjst be what she used to seal ganon away but apparently in the past she couldn't make it show up for her whole life...?

aw no poor riju the helmet is too big on her

(give it to meeeee)

ok it's time for the divine beast bit but before i do jack or shit im going to upgrade my armor as much as possible rn

ugh you can't enhance the gerudo clothes...geez

FUCK YES HERE WE GO!

aaah riju is talking!!! i always get so surprised!!!

i did it!! tbh i had a really hard time keeping up with her...a dash was too fast but regular speed was too slow

AAH URBOSA IS TALKING TO ME ;_;

ohhh wow it's really walking around while on it

oh man. it's so big. it's so big

oooh you rotate the insides of this one!!

i get the feeling now i should've done more shrines in this area afterall, they have the same sort of electricity theme and they would've been good practice

okay that was...easily the hardest beast so far

i had to use a guide TWICE and i could barely understand the instructions, PLUS i got two terminals by sheer dumb luck

oooh boy okay a lightning boss im assuming here we gooooo

LMFAO i suck so much at this urbosa was like "there is valor in dodging"

thanks zelda i missed your captain obvious statements

geeeeez i just barely got it

oh EW that never gets any less gross

ohhh my god

"I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD OF HER" B Y E

oh my gOD?

she mentioned nabooru from oot BY NAME holy SHIT this continutity between games!!!

and "calamity ganon once took on the form of a gerudo that makes this all the more personal" jesus fUCKING christ

i feel so bad for ganondorf the man like

he didn't ask for this shit anymore than link or zelda

and at least they get to win most of the time he always loses and even when he does win he's hated, his win brings ruin

where's the fic where the only way to end the cycle is to become friends with him huh

or like, frankly: the true enemy isn't ganondorf but the evil that takes hold of him

when does he get to be the hero and fight it and smash it to little bitty bits!

oh lord and the blood moon as soon as i get back

do people like, see these towers popping up and beasts moving around? does it scare the shit out of them or make them hopeful?

anyway i hope now i can explore with less sandstorms

oh boy time to ride into a sandstorm gee i sure hope i dont get lost

LOL and first thing i run right into a camp of enemies just bc i was trying to stay in a straight line!!!! jesus

lovely! i am now hopelessly turned around in a sandstorm. i literally don't even know which way i came from

my sand seal is also STUCK lol

ah i passed through it! i'm right where i need to go!

omg I FOUND THE LAST GREAT FAIRY

i'm. i'm 500 short. oh my god

nothing i can't earn with 10 minutes of cooking, tho

huh...? she only asked for 1k...?

i could've SWORN i read someone asks for 10k at one point!

god what if i've been MISINFORMED all this TIME

ooh this one is orange and green

FUCK "i know what you're thinking...can't we just skip to the part where she enhances my clothes?" FUCKING PLAYED

holy FUCK just found my first molduga...i have to KILL one of these for a quest? jesus christ!

ohhh that actually wasn't too bad at all once i figured out the strategy...i've had more trouble with lynels and hinoxes

i'll be honest, the interactive map take a bit of both fun and "work" out of exploring...i look at empty areas and don't wonder "ooh whats over there" but think "ah i can just glance at that bit"

which should make me feel like my Pure Enjoyment of the game is being compromised, and i guess it does a little, but

i wasn't kidding when i said the need to explore was a bit compulsive so it's mostly a relief

ah from up here i see the sandstorm...i think it rotates around the desert? so, it's very possible to avoid and survive even if you do get stuck

anyway i missed several shrines but the quests for them are so complex and i am so Sick

of the desert. even worse than rain tbh

now the question is what to do next: master sword or rito beast

lowkey wanna wait until i get all four beasts before the sword, but

i know you do all four beasts and then ganon and that's it, so if i got the sword then it wouldn't help me for long

plus i'm a little tired of fighting the temperature and changing gear/eating food all the time, so......i guess i'll go check out the forest

maybe i'll see dinaal! i've only seen him once from veeeery very far away

im getting aaaaawfully close to hyrule castle i Dont Like This

lmao every time i catch sight of the divine beasts in the distance, the fact that i can SEE them from THIS far away, blows my fucking mine

they are SO BIG

im getting a much closer look at that flying thing and i'm almost CERTAIN it's a divine beast

just. jesus christ. so BIG

ohhh my gosh i can see the giant pink tree from here *_*

or maybe it's brown, maybe the deku tree is dead lmao

lol straight up skipped the bottomless bog and the enemies at the bottom bc i glided in from death mountain

whoa this tower has rock all over the top??

ah maybe it's so i can't glide to the big tree in the middle lol

not the lost woods if i don't get lost!

lol jk i got on top of it and there was a super cool sword here

aww rauru hillside...im sad

BRO im in the lost woods but its just playing the maze shrine music, i was so hopeful for saria's song

zora's domain having the same music set me up with false expectations t b h

omg if i go too high i die!! i can't follow my higher-ground instict here!!!!!

which is pretty cool but if all i have to do is wander around these woods with my map ON to find the master sword i am gonna be disappointed

even gerudo desert turned it off sometimes

ohhh okay if i wander off the path i also die i can't just go wherever i gotta follow torches i guess

mkay i googled it bc i got stuck and couldn't see anymore torches and it's wind direction! neat

see i feel a little bad about not figuring that out for myself but like...it's not Fun to die over and over bc you can't solve a puzzle. so #realgamers can shut the hell up lol games are for fun

the ember thing is SUPER clever tho and like i know this game is so like, praised bc it stops holding your hand, but i would have appreciated a TINY obscure hint

i did get as far as carrying a torch but i thought maybe i was burning off the fog or smth

omg i found korok forest!!!

there's my sword

said "oh" out loud

kinda wish the quest had been more, idk

but.

mmm not yet. not yet. i'll talk to some koroks first

haha and the very first one tells me to go get the sword all right all right

man. i always remember now that fi's been in there since the ages of skyward sword, sleeping

tbh i kinda miss her

even though she's way more annoying than navi could ever DREAM of being

for all we complain about compaions, they're a zelda staple and it feels lonely without them

i know not having one makes for a stronger game, i do, but...

really though. the master sword quest was SHOCKINGLY easy. i know i looked up the ember thing but geez it's the first truly disappointing this about this game

and my brother told me they made you work for it lmao but that was. not even close to Work. i've had more trouble at bokoblin camps

like. fucking weak. tbh. i'm so sad like i can't believe this game let me down

OH MY GOD

I TRIED TO TOUCH IT AND THE MEMORIES OVERWHELMED ME

and like at first i was like "ok if link gets his memories back with the sword i'll give them that, that's pretty sick"

AND THEN THE GREAT DEKU TREE STARTED SPEAKING

AND IT WASN'T LOST WOODS MUSIC BUT IT WAS FOREST HAVEN MUSIC

and i straight up burst into tears

"i have watched over hyrule since time immemorial" i know i know i was there i know i missed him so much one of the very first major zelda characters i ever knew i know technically he hasn't been there since the very beginning but he was my beginning

and i didn't even think i cared about him that much emotionally but i also welled up the first time he spoke old hylian in wind waker

oh god link's not WORTHY of the sword yet yes okay i'm here for this i knew this game wouldn't let me down

idk why i never considered the big pink tree might be the deku tree like i joked about it just a few minutes ago but i didn't seriously consider it so i was so surprised

and all the koroks running around and i know i KNOW they used to be kokiri it's almost like i came home, Really Home, the forest was where link began for me, not hyrule proper, he was always a child of these woods

ohhh my god i gotta mop up my face stream is soon!! jesus fuck

oh god now he wants me to pull it again

what if i'm not worthy? what if i am?

i don't have long left to play but i CANNOT leave it here, jesus christ

okay. i'm gonna try. i gotta try. courage!

oh my god it takes your LIFE?

and he said enough when i was down to my last quarter of a heart!! i'm gonna cry i was so close link tried so hard but he wasn't ready yet

i could eat food to max out my hearts but where's the fun in that........

ok. ok. i need to. step back a moment. fuck.

there's hestu! oh my god buddy you finally made it home!! me too pal me too

im gonna save and quit here before i talk to him tho bc like. i gotta stream. but Wow. god Damn

I KNEW THIS GAME WOULDN'T LET ME DOWN!!!!

LMAO I LIED JK im playing a bit more after stream

i talked to the trial korok and "do all the shrines here, it's based on the trials the legendary hero himself did" im crying!!! thats some History!!!

oh my god the koroks are so CUTE??

oh no this is so precious they've been waiting for him

sdfgsfdg "nooo vegetarians everywhere nooo that's my face" i wish i had thought to taka e a snap of that but i cant get him to say it again

aw omg they set up little stores and they only have one of many items please please i'm so proud of them

they set up a little bed for me!! they don't even want my money to sleep there!! i'm sleeping in a tree again, just like i was in oot ;____;

tbh it's so fitting that i did the scary mysterious thing of trying to pull the sword at night and i'm meeting the koroks in the brightness of day

i saw a shield resting on this rock and i had a tiny heart attack like OMG THE HYLIAN SHIELD?!?

ok. ok. i did the trials. i'm gonna see if i can get the sword now??

lol i have the same amt of hearts im not leaving to find a goddess statue and i was trying to boost my stamina anyway but maybe the food boost will help? unless they dont let me use it, we'll see

aaah no it DOESN'T omg

well, maybe one more heart container will do it...?

ugh i don't wanna go back and do the desert ones

me: already fast-traveling

Great, A Sand Storm, Just What I Wanted

fuck i stopped by town and there's a secret club that sells gerudo clothes for men

LOL why.........do they think dudes will feel weird looking pretty? come on

they said there's a high demand so i choose to believe there are lots of gerudo transmen. anyway back to the forest i got two more heart containers i pray it's enough i was SO CLOSE before

I DID IT FUCK I ALMOST DIED BUT I DID IT

IM GONNA CRY JESUS CHRIST

ZELDA SEALED THE SWORD

she's been fighting 100 years and she has so much faith in link

more importantly she heard the sword speak to her im crying fi is in there fi and zelda/hylia meet again

her smile is like the sun, i would do much to feel its warmth upon me again ME TOO PAL im weeping my poor brave daughter i promise i'll save her i promise i promise

it's almost 7am but that was worth it. that was W O R T H I T

#this was hands down the best part of this game for me so far #like it's all been fantastic but this section hit me the hardest in the feels #personal #loz blogging #botw spoilers #so many big giant spoilers #huge ones!!!!

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heartofhryule · 7 years

Text

Heart of Wisdom - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - T*T good and bad. lots of off screen death. But we get a new friend!

WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff��. minus Lana.

______________________________

Heart of Wisdom - a Tale after Hyrule Warriors | Chapter10 - Smoke in the Distance

Zelda’s heart was soaring as she all but ran with Link down the halls of Snowpeak Keep to find Volga, Impa, and ask how to find a Sage. They’d scrambled around to get dressed like excited children at Wintertide, and the excitement hadn’t faded.

Their secret intimacies had done precisely what she’d hoped, as she’d slept wonderfully and instead of the attack she’d endured dancing behind her closed eyes, it was Link that greeted her thoughts any moment she let her mind wander. And tonight, or… this afternoon if she was lucky, she would give everything in love, appreciation and affection to the soul hers longed for. Her Hero.

The moment they came into Volga’s study, where the servants had said he and Impa were speaking, the energy began to syphon her newly found joy. She instantly knew something was wrong. “Impa?” she asked, her pace halted, though she did not let go of Link’s hand.

Volga sat behind a small but nice wooden desk, Impa standing in from of the fire in the spartan, but nicely appointed study. Volga was not wearing his armor, but still dressed head to toe in reds and orange - his tunic embellished nicely with flame motifs and gold thread. Impa was in her normal blue and silver, the on shoulder of her jumper that was usually down to free her sword arm was up and the only real added deail was a long, blue, leather coat. The Sheikah was not accustom the the cold weather.

They both looked up to Zelda’s voice to find the Princess and Link standing just inside the doorway, Impa’s face impassive. “Close the door,” she bid softly.

An invisible hand gripped Zelda’s heart as Link closed the study door, squeezing her hand. His face was set seriously, braced to endure whatever bad news was about to come, but Zelda had a far, far worse feeling she could not explain.

“What’s happened?” Link asked, his voice even and low. Her brave knight.

Volga and Impa shared a look, Volga lifting a letter from his desk and standing. Walking around he offered it to them, Zelda taking it to read and holding it so link could too. However, it did not take long to determine that the letter was not for her. Despite being addressed to General Impa in the care of the Baron of Snowpeak, the letter was for Link.

The steward Impa had assigned wrote about how a villager from nearby to Hyrule Castle had shown up, bloodied and nearly dead saying they’d been attacked by a group of Gerudans, but from the North. They were lead by whom could only be assumed as Griffin, and they had laid waist to all men, women and children… save the one survivor to take the message to the Castle. Specifically the message; “Darkness comes for The Hero and his Goddess.”

Hand over her mouth, Zelda realized slowly that the village in question was the village in which Link had grown up. He was an orphan, but the village was his family. They had raised him as a community, and personally all gathered the rupees needed to purchase his gear and passage to Hyrule to become a knight. Zelda knew this as she had already sent missive to them that Link had proposed and there would be a royal wedding.

Watching his face carefully as he read the letter again, she did not let go of his hand, nor did she move. His jaw was clenched and the muscle in from of his ear was jumping. Blue eyes shining as tears began to form, he looked up to Impa, taking the letter from Zelda and crumpling it in his hand. “When?”

“Yesterday,” Impa answered flatly. She was also clearly angry on his behalf, but she was keeping her temper.

“How?”

“Magic,” Volga grumbled. “There’s no other way they could have made it so far in less time than we made it here. And I saw the man disappear before me eyes.”

“What did it look like?” Zelda asked. Volga’s eyes narrowed as if he didn’t quite understand the question, and Zelda held up a hand. “The purple fire and darkness - or black lightning. Was there any trace of it.”

“There was a red flash,” Volga nodding, now understanding her purpose. “If I’m not mistaken-”

“It was the Triforce of Power,” Impa and Zelda said in unison.

“So he can use the Triforce, but may not yet have Ganon’s full power,” Impa added.

“The Master Sword is still in place.”

“Does it matter?” Link snapped, but did not raise his voice. “He killed innocent people… children.” His voice cracked with the last and Zelda’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Children he knew, had helped raise. People, innocents and children that he loved.

“No,” Zelda said, coming to stand in front of him and rest her forehead to his. “No, it doesn’t matter. Not anymore. He has gone far enough it no longer matters if he is Ganon.”

“He is,” Link hissed through clenched teeth, but was also resting his head to hers.

“I know. But it doesn’t matter if he knows any longer. We should return to the Castle. There is much preparation to do.”

“I’m going to find him.”

She’d been afraid of that. He was angry, understandably. She was angry and she’d never met any of his kin. But tearing off alone was not the answer. Trying to think of a way to say as much without hurting him, it was Impa that spoke.

“Link,” she said gently, “If that is what you truly desire we can make it happen. However, may I point out that while I am General of the armies, and Volga has already offered to return to Hyrule Castle with us, neither of us are the Goddess’s Chosen Hero. We stand no true chance of protecting Zelda if the full might of Darkness strikes our weakened defenses at the Castle.”

“I fear this is what he wants,” Volga supplemented. “To draw you off. He’s made it very clear that Zelda is a target. Drawing you off for revenge may be his plot.”

Zelda shivered at the idea but stilled her heart best she could. Looking up to meet his eyes, she spoke just for him. “If you feel you need to, I understand and will give you everything I can to see you off and back to me safely.”

Gears turned in his mind, she could see him thinking. His gaz dropped, and he reached out to crush her against him into a hug. “No, you’re right, Impa. Volga. We are the bearers of the Triforce. The Goddess’s chosen ones. We are stronger together.”

“And if you are with me,” she added, letting a bit of her own anger seep into her words as she hugged him, “Then eventually he will come, because Volga is right. If it’s me he wants, let him come. We will strike him down again.”

“And again,” Link muttered into her hair.

“In this life and beyond.”

“Forever.”

***

The ride back to Hyrule was faster than it had been there. The storms had passed and everyone had their own horse. There had been no further discussion necessary on the matter of urgency. Their wedding was going to have to wait, and while a part of Zelda was sad for that, it was entirely necessary.

It was still overcast when they reached Hyrule Castle in the middle of the next day, and they wasted no time heading inside to summon the war council. Upon reaching the throne room, Zelda’s curiosity had been peaked to see who it was that Impa trust enough to Steward the throne in their absence, and at first her eyes refused to make sense of what they were seeing.

Her pale skin was grey-ish green, a compliment to the glowing magic geometry on her black robes. But her fiery orange hair, exotic eyes and devilish smile were unmistakeable.

“Midna?!” Link declared and picked up his stride.

The Princess of Twilight stood from the throne grinning as she stepped down the dias and stood, waiting on them to reach her. Sitting into her hip, she crossed her arms over her chest and chuckled. “You were expecting…?”

Link was the first to reach her, and they embraced companionably, Midna coming over to hug Zelda next. “How is this possible?” Zelda asked in wonder, but could not hide her joy.

“It’s been what, a few weeks since you two saw me?” she asked pulling back, her eerie voice still echoed in a lovely manner. “For me, it’s been hundreds of your human years. Twili aren’t immortal, but we’re certainly more long lived than Hyruleans.”

“Wait… so Twilight…?”

“Is still there. Always has been.”

Link shook his head. “But how… are you here? Twilight was sealed from Hyrule.”

“You think I can’t fix one stupid mirror in 300 or more years?” she snorted, but there was a twinkle of laughter to her eyes. “Thanks, bud. Good to see you too.”

“Midna arrived and told me you two were in danger, and that Ganon had returned,” Impa explained, stepped forward.

“I was spying,” Midna shrugged. “I do that whenever the Hero and Goddess are back. Just incase they need me again. Like now. I also dreamed of Lana,” she added with a sneer. “She kept crying it was all her fault, and boohoohoo woe is her and blech!” Midna shuddered as if to shake something unsavory from her shoulders. “Well I certainly couldn’t have a repeat of that dream, and if Darkness was making an encore which is unusual and not supposed to happen, then I figured ‘Hey, I can be an ace in the hole!’ So, here I am.”

Despite her distaste for Lana, Zelda was smiling. After all they’d been through both recently and in previous lives, Zelda reached out to touch her friend’s arm. “I’m glad you’re here, Midna.”

The smile Midna gave was mostly in her eyes, but Link slugged her gently in the other arm. “Nice of you to join the party. Again.”

“Maybe if we all make it through this, I’ll stick around for the wedding too.”

“Wait how did you-”

“Uh, spying? Remember?”

***

Link stood on the balcony outside the room he was coming to think of as ‘their’ room. Zelda was washing up from their journey inside before the war council convened. He had stepped outside to keep his hands to himself as they were somewhat in a hurry. Also seeing her healing bruises reminded him of all the other reasons he was going to kill Griffin slowly and painfully if given the chance.

His village. His home. The closest thing Link had ever had to a family. Gone. The one survivor, a young man name Lucas who he’d helped raise, who he’d watched as a child and helped train with the hopes he could also one day be a knight, remained in the infirmary. His wounds were so severe it was taking many potions to heal him. His home burned to the ground, his beautiful Goddess, his to be wife had been violated.

Griffin would pay. Ganon would die.

Delicate hands came around his waist. He’d been so lost in thought he’d not heard her come up. But she was gentle, and resting her cheek between his shoulder blades so he’d not been startled. Her touched eased him - he was still angry, but he could turn his thoughts from loss and murder when she was consoling him.

“We’re going to have to get the Master Sword,” he said softly.

“I know.”

“If he’s not Awakened yet, he will be when that happens.”

“...I know,” she said more softly as if her mind had been running in the same circles as his.

“I’m going to end him. For good, if I can.”

“I have one condition,” Zelda whispered, turning him around in her arms to face her. “I want a piece of him. I don’t always… I can’t always help. But this time, I want to.”

The look in her eyes was one of anger, hurt, and every inch of the abuse and shame he’d inflicted on her mind. Link’s blood was hot, but he gave her a smile, hands rubbing her arms. “Damn straight,” he affirmed. “No one deserves it more than you. And if I have my way, this will be your last chance.”

It wouldn’t be, not really. They both knew that, but they could try and waylay it as long as possible. They shared a smile, and knew they were thinking the same thing. But it was time to go. The War Council was waiting.

#zelink #legend of zelda #hyrulw warriors #hwzelink #zelda #link #facfinction #fanfic #heart of wisdom #impa #volga #midna

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thelastpitchbender · 6 years

Text

Memory | Chapter 2

Summary: Link must relearn how to be a Champion before he defeats Calamity Ganon – but first, he needs to stop setting fires and backflipping off of cliffs. It’s too bad that his attempts to be a responsible hero keep getting interrupted by dumb things like owing people money, remembering hardly anything about who he is, and Yiga Clan assassins trying to kill him.

Rating: T for language, violence, dark stuff, and dumb, bad humor.

Read on: FanFiction | AO3

Chapter index here.

Chapter 2

In Which Link Tries to Pay His Debts

Link and Princess finally reached Woodland Stable just before dawn. He hadn’t trusted himself to stay on the horse at a gallop when he was so hungry and exhausted, so he had left the pace up to Princess and hoped that the horse would make some kind of noise to let him know if there were any monsters around.

Link was startled out of his half-asleep state when Princess came to a halt. Panic shot through his mind. He fumbled behind him for the handle of the claymore.

But the Goddess had been with him. He blinked blearily, recognizing through a haze of exhaustion that they were at the stable. Smart horse. That was why he hadn’t simply traveled to the nearest shrine with the Sheikah Slate. Princess was too valuable to leave out in the wild. He would have to be returned to Princess Zelda when Link finally destroyed Calamity Ganon.

About to fall asleep on his horse, Link lost his train of thought. A good thing, too. Else he would have started dwelling on the Calamity and on Princess Zelda. He was just being stupid, he thought scornfully. The blood moon always put him on edge and made him overly emotional. He needed to sleep.

Somehow, he managed to stumble inside the stable, where the owner Kish was reclining on a chair, yawning. “Oh, hey, Link,” he murmured, glancing at the other sleeping patrons. “Your usual?”

Link just yawned and nodded. Kish gestured to the bed behind him. He would doubtlessly force the twenty rupees out of Link when he woke up.

His sleep was pleasantly deep and dreamless, but when he was dragged out of unconsciousness by some sort of commotion outside, his eyes were crusted shut and there was a foul taste in his mouth. “Fi’ more minuss,” he mumbled into his pillow.

A loud shriek startled him fully awake, setting his heart racing. Link bolted upright and snatched up his guardian sword, looking wildly around the inside of the stable.

Nothing. There was no one to be impressed by the sword, either. Link huffed and peered out through the open doors of the stable at the shadows cast by some nearby trees. It was around noon.

The shriek sounded again, and Link wanted to laugh. Oh. It was just an obnoxious bird in one of the surrounding trees. His paranoia born of being a warrior wasn’t always helpful, it seemed.

Just as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, his muscles screamed in pain and seized up, and his stomach let out the largest grumble he’d ever heard from it. Link took in a sharp breath and wondered if he shouldn’t just go back to sleep and let the world carry on without him. No moblins, no starvation, no Calamity Ganon. Sounded perfectly agreeable to him.

Then his stomach grumbled again, and he decided that there was to be no more sleep anyway until he ate. He may have been blessed by the Goddess Hylia, but he was still a mortal Hylian. A poor, sore Hylian, endlessly abused by his destiny.

Someone owes me for all this,he thought decisively as he sheathed the guardian sword and strapped the claymore to his back. I want a royal chef at my command. Perhaps at a small estate somewhere around here. He thought for another second. And a dog. I want a dog.

Link hobbled out of the stable and glanced around. It was a beautiful day outside. Shifting patterns of shadows dappled the ground as leaves rustled in the breeze. But the stable grounds were curiously empty, he noted with an uneasy frown. The paths around the front of the stable were undisturbed, the covered crates to his right were unbroken and unmoved, but there was no one around, not even on the wooden deck to his left. Even Kish was absent from his typical place behind the counter.

It was just his paranoia, he reassured himself. There was no reason to believe that everyone was in danger all the time. Well, besides the tinyproblem of the Calamity. But that was different. Still, Link found himself unable to fully relax.

Link’s gaze was eventually drawn to several crisp, bright red apples just sitting out on a stack of crates, ready for the taking. Who did that? Everyone at the stable knew Link would eat them all. He made a beeline for the apples, stomach clenching painfully, trying in vain not to seem tooweird about it.

He’d snatched up an apple and taken a massive bite, luxuriating in the delicious, juicy sweetness of its flesh, when someone shrieked his name from behind him.

Link whirled around. “Whuh?” he yelled through a mouthful of apple, a bit flying out onto the ground, right hand going for his sword.

He had to look down before he saw Shamae, a girl of about five or six who shared the same braided dark hair and wide eyes as her older sister Breen. “Did you bring more balloons?” Shamae asked. Her voice had only one volume: loud.

Link had to pause for a second to choke his mouthful of apple down, then he grinned broadly. “You bet I did. Killed a bunch of octoroks just for you.”

Shamae squealed in delight. “Let’s play with them!” she shouted. With much more enthusiasm than Link felt.

But he only shrugged, unable to stop himself from feeling at least a little bit pleased that Shamae liked him. He liked most kids. They were fun. “Sure, let’s do it,” he said.

Link patiently herded the little girl back the way he had originally come, pausing for a second to glance at two figures on the road headed towards the stable. One of them was clearly Beedle; the traveling salesman’s silhouette looked just as round and bulky as ever. The other was less distinct. Probably some average traveler.

“Hey, let’s prank that guy,” Link said, pointing the traveler out to Shamae. “We’ll spook him with flying barrels when he gets here.”

Shamae hopped a bit and clapped her hands. “Let’s make the barrels fly way up high!” she shouted.

Link grinned. “Okay, but we gotta be quieter. And we should hide behind that tree.” He pointed at a tree that stood on the opposite side of the wood deck, alongside the shore of Pico Pond. Shamae nodded her head vigorously in agreement. Link picked up one of the barrels clustered around a table and carried it over to the fence. He was about to toss the barrel over the fence when he heard Kish calling out to him.

“Link, did you pay me yet?” The stable master was making his way over to him from the direction of the pond.

Shit.He owed Kish more than just the 20 rupees from the night before. He’d racked up a tab from the several nights he had spent here. Especiallyfrom that night he had splurged on the extra nice bed.

Dammit, he knew that had been a poor use of his money.

Link surreptitiously slipped his hand into his wallet. He had only the purple rupee he’d gotten the night before and another red rupee. He owed Kish a hundred rupees. And he knew that Kish knew he was coming up with excuses not to pay it.

Kish was close enough for Link to see his raised eyebrow, and he panicked. “One second, I gotta talk to Breen first,” he blurted. He pressed the octo balloons into Shamae’s hand and barreled past the stable owner without bothering to look at how angry he probably was.

The best place he could think to go was the shrine across the pond, and soon enough, he spotted Breen sitting in front of it. Link strolled over to the shrine at the other side of Pico Pond, trying his best to seem casual. The shade cast by the reddish, craggy cliffs ensconcing the pond and the pleasantly cool breeze whispering through the trees were a welcome relief from the midday sun. He’d started to sweat under his tunic and greaves. Sky blue was not a good color to get sweat stains on.

Breen’s eyes flicked to him when he was about twenty feet away from the shrine, and she gave him a halfhearted wave.

Before he could stop himself, Link blurted out, “Dinraal’s fire, who died?” Wait, what if someone had died? Goddess, his big, stupid mouth–

Breen’s eyes widened, and Link hastily backpedaled. “Oh, Goddess, I didn’t mean that, I’m so sorry – “

Breen cut him off, a slight glimmer of humor in her eyes. “No one died. You’re fine.” Her good mood was gone as quickly as it came, and she turned her gaze out to the pond again.

Link hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to her, leaving a healthy few feet of distance. He watched the blue glow of the shrine reflected and rippling in the clear waters.

“It’s my dad,” said Breen, voice barely above a whisper.

Link started slightly. “What?”

“I told him that I want to travel around Hyrule. Or take a trip to Lanayru, at least,” Breen said. “He said it was too dangerous.”

Link had to agree. If Breen knew how to fight, if she was willing to accept the risks, then he wouldn’t mind, but he was much better equipped to fight monsters than she was and he still had trouble. He then glanced over at Breen, who seemed on the verge of tears. Link instantly sobered. “I’m sorry,” he said uncertainly.

“My dad said I’ll be taking over for him one day,” Breen sniffled.

He couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to be that trapped. If her father told her that her role in life was to own a stable, was there no other way for her? Her destiny wasn’t to – Oh. Maybe he understood better than he thought. Maybe he did understand what it was like to feel trapped by a destiny he felt ill-equipped for.

He made a decision. He would help Breen get to Lanayru.

Link jumped to his feet, prompting a panicked look from Breen. “You’re not going to fight anyone, are you?” she cried.

Link gave her a lopsided grin. “Only monsters.” He then jogged off back toward the stable, quickly throwing together a plot in his head that may or may not have been insane. Spotting a soldier’s spear leaning up against a rock, he surreptitiously grabbed it. It was cheaply made, meant more for frightening off a bokoblin than for actual heavy combat, but it would still be useful. He liked spears.

The traveler was almost to the stable. Link realized it was Molo, the guy who always wanted to loot Hyrule Castle but couldn’t find the courage to do it. He was wearing his usual expression of casual disinterest. Beedle was in the process of setting his massive pack down on the ground, and watched them with some interest. Kish was nowhere to be seen yet, thank the Goddess.

“Hey, Molo,” Link called out. “I have an idea.”

Molo looked at him with a frown, pushing his blond hair back from his face. “I can’t really right now – “

Kish was heading around from the back of the stable, and it was obvious when he’d seen Link from the dark expression on his face. Link briefly prayed that Mipha wouldn’t have to see him getting beaten to death by a stable owner.

“You keep saying that you want to go to Hyrule Castle, right?” Link asked, loudly for Kish’s benefit. He roughly grabbed Molo’s arm and dragged him away from the stable, into the sparse forest across from it. “You still need that cash and cachet, right? Well, I can help you take care of the cash part. As long as you help me.”

Molo pulled himself free, rubbing his arm and giving Link an aggrieved look.

“Look,” Link said quietly. “I don’t know how much you know about Breen’s traveling ambitions, but I’ve seen enough of Hyrule to know that she should see it too. Safely, of course,” he amended. No need to mention that he wanted to avoid Kish’s wrath.

Molo sighed, internally warring with himself. “Fine.”

Link clapped his hands. “Good. There’s a camp of bokoblins a little bit down the south road. We strip their camp of anything useful, including bokoblin fangs or guts, and then we sell everything to Beedle. Easy enough.”

Molo looked at him aghast. “That’show you make your money?”

Link just shrugged. “Cash and cachet.”

Molo let out a sharp breath. “Right as always, bud. Let’s do this.”

“How do I look?” Link asked Molo, his voice muffled by stiff fabric.

Molo hesitated. “And just where did you get that? Don’t get me wrong, it’s super cool and all, but…”

Link adjusted the bokoblin mask on his head so he could actually see out of the eyeholes. “It’s a bit of a long story,” he said in between adjustments. “I got it from this guy named Kilton. Looks funny. Has a flying monster-themed shop that’s only open at night. He uses his own currency called mon. I also bought a moblin mask from him.”

Molo peered at him. “I think you’re making that up, bud.”

“No! I – “ Link sighed. “Never mind.”

“Do you think that’ll fool them?” asked Molo as he strapped on his broadsword and shield.

Link nodded solemnly, the mask’s snout flapping as he did so. “Bokoblins are very, very stupid monsters.”

Molo looked unconvinced, but didn’t press any further. “So let me get this straight – the plan is that you infiltrate the camp and steal all their weapons. And I’m hiding behind that tree over there.” He pointed at the tree.

“Right,” Link said.

“And…you pass all of the weapons to me.”

“Also right.”

“And thenwe attack them.”

“You nailed it.” Link adjusted the mask again. It kept slipping down his face. He imagined it looked much like he was melting, and that was not conducive to being sneaky.

“Isn’t there…a better way to do this? Like, can’t we just jump out and kill them like normal people?”

Link frowned. “You could.Or you could do it the fun way.”

Molo thought for a second, and then nodded. “You’re right, bud. If I can’t learn about different combat strategies now, how will I ever survive Hyrule Castle?”

“That’s the spirit,” Link said. He pulled out the Sheikah Slate and studied the bokoblin camp from their position among the trees. The camp was right out in the open, next to the road. They had a couple of lookout platforms, but only one was manned. (Monstered? Link filed that one away for further contemplation.) The rest of the bokoblins looked like they were having some sort of feast celebration around the main campfire. Link’s stomach grumbled loudly upon catching sight of the heaps of grilled meat the bokoblins were tearing into. “Ugh,” he muttered.

Molo glanced at him. “What is it?”

“I’m hungry,” Link groaned, aware he sounded like a whiny kid but unable to stop himself.

“Well, then why don’t you – stay with me here – kill the monsters now, before all the meat gets cold?” Molo’s tone of voice dripped pure sarcasm.

Link very much wanted to argue with that, but he opened his mouth, then shut it again. “Fair point,” he conceded.

Molo abruptly shoved him out of the woods, hissing, “Good luck,” at him. Link staggered a few paces, then caught his balance, unsure of what to do next. Should he try to imitate a bokoblin’s bow-legged gait? But then Molo would mock him forever. This was a true conundrum.

Link settled for a slow normal walk towards the fire, but doubts started to cloud his mind with every step. What if Molo, the wannabe Hyrule Castle looter, was actually right? What if this actually was a really, really stupid plan? What if –

A blue bokoblin’s gaze settled on Link, whose every instinct screamed attackas a sudden burst of fear hit him. He forced himself to keep walking, and the bokoblin turned around, uninterested. He let out a breath he wasn’t fully aware he had been holding. He had no reason to be scared, he told himself. He could easily take on this camp by himself.

He sat down by the campfire, leaning against a log, and eyed the bokoblins warily. They weren’t…screeching, necessarily, but the noises they were making were still shrill, if at a lower volume than normal. Was this how they communicated? Link found himself overcome by morbid curiosity as the bokoblins all chittered at each other while making hand gestures.

After a little while, it seemed to be one bokoblin speaking and gesturing at a time, with the others sometimes interjecting with loud screeches and a bizarre hopping dance that Link could only interpret as the monster equivalent of knee-slapping laughter. He began paying more attention to the hand gestures, given that he had a slightly better chance of interpreting them.

The bokoblin across the circle from him was…bludgeoning something to death? That seemed about right. Now it was stabbing something with a spear. The bokoblin dropped to its knees and actually did a pretty good imitation of a terrified Hylian, which got the other bokoblins all excited and making too much noise. And then – oh. Oh, Goddess. He really hoped that wasn’t what he thought it was. That was disgusting.

It was like watching a fully-functional Guardian patrol its territory, spider legs moving about. Link couldn’t look away.

The monster storytime continued around the circle for quite a while, and when Link was certain he wouldn’t get murdered at some point, he finally had the presence of mind to inch his way over to the weapons. They were propped up against another log perpendicular to his, about ten feet away. The bokoblins were engrossed in another elaborate account of pillage and murder and didn’t notice when Link slowly got to his feet and picked up a boko club, which had been “enhanced” by way of strapping fangs and stones to a hunk of wood with fraying bits of rope.

Link hesitantly walked backwards, then glanced back at the tree line, where Molo was waving him forward with an impatient gesture. Link looked back at the group of monsters, heart pounding in his ears. He was admittedly much more nervous than he should have been, and he wasn’t quite sure why. Was it the audience? Link shook his head, dislodging his doubts like spider webs, and gently tossed the club to Molo, who fumbled at it for a brief moment. Link cringed, seeing in his mind’s eye the reactions of the bokoblins when the club thudded to the ground. But Molo managed to snatch it back to his chest, and Link let out a breath.

He crept back to the fire, feeling somewhat more confident by now. He was about to reach for a broadsword leaning against the log when he realized that the eyes of the bokoblins were on him.

Link froze. The bokoblins were not moving, apart from some twitching ears.

For one brief, terrifying second, Link was absolutely sure the monsters were about to rip him apart with their bare hands.

Then the striped one, the leader of the group, flapped its arms impatiently.

Link blinked. Did it…want him to tell a story?

Some of the blue bokoblins started shifting around, and Link made a decision.

“Um…” he muttered under his breath as he cast around in his mind for a suitable story to tell. He had always been terrible at charades every time the children of Kakariko or Hateno asked him to play.

He gestured around at the camp and then mimicked the monster imitations of Hylians, hoping it would convey the point. The bokoblins nodded sagely.

He pretended to stab at a Hylian with a spear, which got the bokoblins chattering in approval. Link grinned under his mask, and stumbled backwards while fake sobbing, falling on his ass after a few steps. He rolled his arms to mimic the action of falling off a cliff, bouncing repeatedly on the way down. The monsters all screeched in laughter, dancing around the fire in their clumsy way.

Link let out a relieved breath. Goddess, he could not believe this. No one else would, either.

Then he noticed one bokoblin who was not joining in on the party. It was watching him closely, head tilted. Link could almost see the question mark above its head as suspicion dawned on its face. Link’s blood ran cold.

The bokoblin suddenly screamed, pointing at Link. The other monsters stopped, heads snapping to face him.

“By Hylia, this better not be the way I go,” Link muttered.

The bokoblins charged, and like that, Link was surrounded.

He panicked. Mipha had healed him just yesterday, and he didn’t have the energy to summon her spirit again. He was still running on fumes, half an apple the only thing in his belly, and as monsters around him pointed spears, leveled clubs, and threw rocks at his head, Link did the only thing he could think to do in the heat of the moment.

He dropped into a crouch, hearing a shriek as a stone aimed between his eyes flew and hit another bokoblin instead. He planted his palm on the ground and screwed his eyes shut. His breath came out in gasps. He felt the earth below him and the sky above, felt out the movement of the air around him, and repeated his usual mantra. Please, Revali, don’t be a jerk this time.

The very air exploded into motion around him, tearing his bokoblin mask off, and he snapped his paraglider out and let the wind yank him into the sky. Link spotted Revali’s pale green outline flying circles around him as the angry and confused monsters dwindled below them.

“Whatwas that monstrosity you were wearing just now?” Revali asked, pretty damn casually for such a near death experience.

Link leveled a glare at him. “It was working,” he hollered past the gale that was carrying him up.

Revali gave him the perfect amount of side-eye and tilted his head up just so, conveying casual arrogance, and he opened his stupid mouth –

And then he was gone. The wind halted, and Link was suspended above the camp.

Link sighed, feeling oddly bereft. Time to get back to business.

The physical distance had brought mental clarity as well, and Link realized that with Molo hanging around, it was best to play it safe for now. He folded the paraglider and went into freefall, pulling out his royal bow and nocking a bomb arrow with practiced movements. There was little need to aim when the monsters were all in a clump, waiting for him to come back down; the bomb arrow found its mark.

Link pulled the paraglider out again, letting the force of the blast and the ensuing updraft from burning grass buoy him. Most of the monsters were staggering about, dropping burning weapons from scorched hands. It looked pretty ugly down there, and Link readied round two to put them out of their misery.

But as he drew the bowstring back, he spotted a Hylian running around the camp and hacking at monsters. He did a double take.

Just what in the name of the Goddess did Molo think he was doing?

A furious hiss escaped through his teeth. Link hastily stowed the bow and pulled out his soldier’s spear, angling his fall for a blue bokoblin before he could hit the ground and break all his bones.

He jammed the spear through the bokoblin’s neck but held on, letting the momentum carry him forward in an arc until he hit the ground rolling as the bokoblin crumpled.

Link tried in vain to pull the spear back through the corpse’s neck, but the spearhead had gotten snagged on the spine or something and he couldn’t pull it free. There was a blur of movement in the corner of his eye and –

Molo was standing there, gasping out ragged breaths with his bloodied broadsword in hand. A red bokoblin was bleeding out at his feet.

Link stared mutely for a second, and then whirled around to eviscerate a blue bokoblin that had been trying to sneak up from behind.

Link let pure instinct carry him through the rest of the fight, cutting down weak and burned monsters with clumsy swipes of the claymore. Exhaustion dragged at his limbs and narrowed his vision to a tunnel, and he half feared that he would not make it out this time.

He tripped over a discarded boko club and fell to his knees in the dirt. He couldn’t get back up again. Link closed his eyes, letting the din of the battle fade away. He felt curiously empty.

Zelda, forgive me.

Something hit his shoulder, and he nearly sprawled forward onto the ground. He couldn’t help thinking that it had been a good run. If the literal incarnation of all evil was too much for him, well, was that really his fault?

“Bud!” Molo was yelling, Link eventually realized. “Please don’t pass out on me. I’m not carrying you back to the stable.”

Link made a vague gesture with the little energy he had left.

“Help me out here,” Molo said irritably.

“Meat,” Link groaned.

“Ah,” said Molo. “You do look pretty wiped.”

Link wanted to scoff at “pretty wiped,” but he settled for snatching the meat out of Molo’s hands when he retrieved it. As he scarfed the burnt meat down, he started to feel a little bit better. “Blessed by the Goddess Hylia with an infinite stomach,” he vaguely remembered being called before. One hundred years before. The memory was as distant to him as Princess Zelda was now.

“Naydra’s scale, you seem really out of it.” Molo was also tearing into a hunk of meat, casting the occasional concerned glance his way. “What happened?”

The Calamity happened,Link wanted to reply sourly. But that was a whole new chest of rupoors to open, and Molo would never believe him.

That wasn’t a chest he wanted to open, frankly. It was better that he buried the memories. Better that he forgot the burning and the death and the utter hopelessness that still crept up on him once in a while.

Link scowled. He’d spent the whole afternoon trying to forget about the blood moon and the fears and anxieties that came with it, and now this stupid fight had to go ruin things again.

“I was supposed to eat yesterday, and I never did,” Link said instead of what he was thinking. Well, it wasn’t a lie.

Molo raised an eyebrow at him, clearly wondering just how stupid he was. Better stupid than about to give up and leave Hyrule to ruin, Link thought, kicking at a pebble.

“Hand me another piece, would you?” Link asked Molo, gesturing at the dwindling pile of roasted steak. The meat was unseasoned, but surprisingly well-cooked and flavorful for such a primitive campfire. Although that might have been his hunger talking. He could eat the most disgusting of dubious foods if it meant it would bring him back from the brink of passing out.

Molo complied, staring at him with wide eyes. “Wait, when wasthe last time you ate?”

Link just shrugged, his mouth full. His energy was coming back in leaps and bounds, and now Molo was the one who looked exhausted. When Link had finished, he jumped to his feet, declaring, “We’ll be rich men by the time we get back to the stable.”

Molo gave a dubious look at the scattered fangs and horns that had been left behind when the bokoblin corpses had vanished in a burst of sickly purple smoke. “You think?”

Link hesitated. Maybe this hadn’t been as good of an idea as he thought it was. His “send Breen to Lanayru while also paying Link’s debts” fund was not getting off to a good start.

Molo huffed, clearly understanding Link’s dilemma. “Don’t forget I saved your life, bud.”

Link forced a smile. “Oh, well, I was going to give some of the money to Breen anyway. I don’t know if she told you about her traveling plans…”

Molo propped his head up on his hand. “She did. I guess I can consider this a noble effort at fundraising. What else are friends for?”

Link’s smile faltered. Friends.He had friends. Didn’t he? Breen was a friend. The ever-enthusiastic Prince Sidon was a friend. But he couldn’t hear the word without seeing blurry images of Daruk clapping him on the back, Mipha cradling his arm gently as she healed it, or Princess Zelda’s sunny smile. Those memories were lost to time immemorial now, alive only in his mind. He couldn’t think about his friends without thinking of all the bloodshed and death that surrounded them, or of how he barely remembered them at all. Link weighed potential responses on the spectrum between sincerity and sarcasm. None seemed like a good fit for what was really going through his mind. He chose to remain silent.

Molo apparently hadn’t noticed Link’s angst. He was shooting him annoyed looks as he gathered up dusty fangs and claws. Link groaned and rose to join him, muscles still screaming in pain.

Link and Molo made short work of the camp, clearing it of all potential valuables and dumping them into a burlap sack Molo had brought along.

When the sack was full, Molo tied it off and thrust it at Link. “Apparently, you’re all better now, so you get to carry it,” he said, deadpan but with a slight bit of envy in his voice.

Link made a face as he held it at arm’s length in a delicate grip. It smelled much the same as he imagined man-pig Ganon from the legends to smell: not good. It was unfortunate that bokoblin guts sold for a fair bit more than their claws. He would have to take a long, long bath in Pico Pond when he got back to the stable.

The pair followed the dirt road back to the stable in companionable silence. But that silence wasn’t going to last very long, Link realized as Molo cleared his throat.

“Uh…So that wind thing? What was that? And, uh, how did you do that?” Molo asked.

Uh oh. How in the world was he supposed to explain this in a way that didn’t make him sound crazy?

Seconds ticked by. Molo raised his eyebrows, expecting an answer.

“Well, you see…” Link rambled. “Uh, I saved this spirit, and he let me use his power. The wind thing you just mentioned.” Close enough.

“Couldn’t what’s-his-face the Rito Champion do that?” Molo asked thoughtfully, as if trying to recall a childhood bedtime story. Actually, Link was sure that was exactly what he was doing.

Ooh, Revali would lovebeing called what’s-his-face. Link would have to remember to tell him that the next time he called up a gale.

“What’s so funny?” Molo muttered.

Too late, Link realized he was chuckling. “Revali would be so angry with you right now,” he said before he could stop himself.

Molo frowned. “Revali who?”

Link snorted. “The, uh, spirit. Who gave me the wind thing. I know it sounds ridiculous.”

“Not as ridiculous as you pretending to be a bokoblin,” Molo shot back.

“Hey, it worked! They really liked my story!”

Molo shook his head. “It waspretty funny,” he admitted.

Link grinned, good mood restored. He found himself admiring the surroundings, marveling at how even with the kingdom of Hyrule in ruins, the wilds could be so pristine and beautiful. He supposed that the relative lack of Hylian interference was part of that, but he could see Hyrule Castle through the trees, see the dark corruption wreathing it, and he wondered if any of the wildlife noticed it at all. Life went on, he thought, as he spotted a deer watching them from the trees and songbirds flying above them.

But the influence of the Calamity was very real. Link felt the same uneasiness he always felt around enemies sweep over him, and he threw a hand up. Molo and Link both froze. They were just around the corner from the stable. The birds were silent, unnervingly so.

And then he heard a scream, and the crash of breaking pottery.

Link broke into a sprint, hearing thudding footsteps offset from his own as Molo followed behind. By the time he rounded the corner, he had an arrow nocked and at the ready, pointing toward the first enemy he saw.

Figures clad in red jumpsuits were prodding Kish toward the stable’s entrance with a vicious-looking sickle. Breen and the old man Ashe were already tied to the posts that supported the stable’s walls. A couple of the assailants turned to look at Link, sunlight glancing off the ivory masks that covered their entire faces. The blood-red upside down Sheikah eye glared at him in place of an actual face.

The Yiga Clan.

“Ha, I knew it!” Link yelled.

#fanfic #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #memory #link #molo #woodland stable #bokoblins are fkn dumbasses #goddammit yiga

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