rynling: (Terra)
Thank you Ganondorf <3 (via the Age of Imprisonment trailer)

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I really liked Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Maybe this was because it was the pandemic, but I played that stupid game for close to two hundred hours. I'm usually the sort of person who's like, "the story and atmosphere are just as important as the gameplay," but in this case. 100% of the appeal is gameplay. The story is inconsequential; I just want to swing around a samurai sword. Hopefully while playing as Ganondorf.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
Yesterday evening I was thinking about how much I love Echoes of Wisdom, so I started a new game.

The initial problem I had with Echoes of Wisdom is that the first two hours can be rough. Thankfully, I think Nintendo might have added some quality-of-life updates in a patch. Here are three big changes:

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I don't think Echoes of Wisdom is supposed to be a difficult game, so it's nice to have these artificial barriers lifted.
rynling: (Gators)
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If I'm being honest, though, I'm totally onboard with the idea of Link being evil. Like, not just a primal force of chaos, but actively evil. That would be super fun to write. Also he and Ganon should fuck about it.

But first I need to get over myself and finish the fic in front of me. Wish me luck, I guess.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
One of the problems I’m having with a multichapter fanfic WIP is that I have trouble writing Link.

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I can write Link in an AU where he isn’t out hunting non-government-approved “species” of people for sport. Canon compliant Link is a monster, though.

The problem with trying to work through Link’s character in fandom spaces is that people will come out of the woodwork to share political opinions that I really wish they’d keep to themselves. It’s intense, not to mention demoralizing. And worst of all, it doesn’t help me with this stupid fanfic.
rynling: (Terra Branford)
once upon a bang
https://bsky.app/profile/fairytalebang.bsky.social/post/3lclbxs2cic2j

Introducing our first all-fandoms bang! Create brand-new works incorporating elements from fairytales & folklore.

I think I will, actually.

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rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
I want to draw a twelve-page nonfiction minicomic about Koroks.

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rynling: (Terra Branford)
Now that I finally have time to sit down and play Echoes of Wisdom, I’m really enjoying it. It’s a cute and clever little game, and I enjoy being able to play as Little Kid Zelda exploring Hyrule.

I maintain that the first two hours of this game are rough. Zelda can’t damage enemies effectively, and she dies quickly. In addition, there are too many gameplay verbs mapped onto too many buttons, and it takes a while to get used to the constant menu scrolling. Thankfully, all of these issues disappear with time, practice, and a modest number of upgrades.

If nothing else, it’s nice to take a break from the doom and gloom of the world at large and escape into Hyrule, where problems are easily solved and everyone wants to help you succeed.

Malice

Oct. 5th, 2024 08:32 am
rynling: (Ganondorf)
The basic premise of my Modern BotW AU fanfic novel Malice is that Zelda is romanced by one of the Blight Ganons. It's taken a human form for plot-related reasons, and it retains some of the memories and personality of the original Ganondorf, but it's still a big messy scary monster.

While editing An Unfound Door, I wanted to reference how I wrote the Blight Ganon in the first four chapters of Malice, when it's almost completely inhuman. I thought this would be a chore, but I got sucked into the story and ended up reading 50k words of it last night.

The novel is surprisingly good, and that's distressing. I'm afraid that I might have been a much better writer in 2021. It's possible that I might have been a better artist, too. Goddamn it.

Read more... )
rynling: (Ganondorf)
Echoes of Wisdom opens up a bit after the first dungeon, but the menu tax only gets worse as new objects and enemies are introduced all at once.

Moreover, while I understand the Pokémon battle appeal of being able to choose the exact perfect monster to fight another monster, the AI of all of your summoned monsters continues to be shit. More often than not, the only viable option remains to summon a rock and toss it.

There continues to be an inappropriate density of monsters on the overworld, and my Zelda keeps getting caught in situations where she can't immediately defend herself, takes three hits, and dies. Resources are extremely limited, so you can't just spam potions. I play FromSoft games for fun, so I don't mind dying, but it's somewhat disheartening to see "Zelda is finally a playable character" getting the crap beaten out of her.

Midway through the first dungeon, Zelda unlocks a phantasmal sword fighter form, but it only last for five seconds. The worst thing is that, for those five seconds, the game is actually fun. I resent that this fun is withheld from the player, and also? I resent the implication that it's not actually Zelda wielding the sword, but rather the spirit of Link who's temporarily possessing her body.

I really want to like Echoes of Wisdom, but it's needlessly frustrating and not very enjoyable to play.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
My initial impression of Echoes of Wisdom is that it's extremely cumbersome. It's lovely in its own way, but I'm not sure I'm having a good time playing it.

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My frustration regarding the gameplay of Echoes of Wisdom mirrors my frustration with Tears of the Kingdom. Namely, I don't appreciate how the elements of gameplay that could be interesting and special (such as Zelda being able to summon objects) are deliberately transformed into annoyances by quality-of-life issues (such as endless menus). Honestly, the gameplay is so troublesome that it's difficult to understand how Echoes of Wisdom is meant to be fun for its ostensible target audience of younger children.

And you can't even pet the dogs smh.

Castaway

Aug. 31st, 2024 07:59 am
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
Castaway
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2564860/Castaway/

Castaway is a tribute to Link’s Awakening whose story campaign takes about 35 minutes to play. This campaign functions as a tutorial to the game’s Tower Mode, in which you have one life to climb 51 simple and static floors with very few health drops and no permanent upgrades. Tower Mode is not for me, but the story campaign was a pocket of pure and unadulterated joy.

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Whether this tiny game is worth $8 is debatable, especially if you’re not interested in speedruns or gauntlet survival challenges. I love Link’s Awakening beyond all reason, so I was happy to put down the money to support indie developers while spending 45 minutes in nostalgia heaven. Still, it would have been nice if Castaway had more substance.
rynling: (Mog Toast)
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I understand the concept of spoilers. Really I do. I love being amazed and surprised and delighted, and I love the thrill of discovery. Still, I can't help but think that the "spoilers" for a ninety-minute movie and the "spoilers" for a 40+ hour open-world video game occupy two different ontological categories.

ETA: Sorry, I don't mean to go on about this. It's just that there are so many interesting aspects of the story and lore and gameplay of Shadow of the Erdtree, and I'm looking forward to the conversations I encounter on podcasts + YouTube + Reddit moving beyond base-level inflammatory discourse. I want to get to the good stuff.
rynling: (Gator Strut)
During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, Eiji Aonuma introduced an upcoming Legend of Zelda title, Echoes of Wisdom. In this game, you play as Princess Zelda, and your job is to rescue Link using a magic staff called the Tri Rod, which can summon various objects onto the game map. This ability allows Zelda to solve navigation puzzles by means of Animal Crossing style furniture placement. Zelda can also fight enemies by tossing these objects at them, and then she can summon defeated enemies to fight alongside her.

For reference, this is a normal reaction: Echoes of Wisdom looks like a sweet little game that might be fun to play.

This is my personal reaction: I’m a big fan of 2D Zelda games, and I loved the Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch. The dungeon-building minigame in Link’s Awakening was flawed, but it had potential. I’m very excited to see this potential realized in its own dedicated game, and I think it’s marvelous that Zelda gets to be the hero of this game. Given that the Switch is nearing the end of its lifecycle, Echoes of Wisdom seems like an interesting experiment with the series formula that might lead to even more intriguing experiments in the next mainline 3D game.

This is my after-dark reaction: So Zelda fights Ganon herself, you say. So Zelda can apparate an infinite number of beds, you say. I wonder how many beds Zelda has to go through before Ganon is defeated, if you catch my meaning.

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TLDR: I would also like monster friends and a wizard staff that magically assembles Ikea furniture.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
The Whispers of Hyrule
https://thewhispersofhyrule.carrd.co/

The Whispers of Hyrule is a fan zine dedicated to exploring the various forest folk that reside in the lands of Hyrule and beyond throughout the Legend of Zelda franchise and their footprint on their world.

This zine is still in the interest check stage; but, given that its theme rests comfortably on a bed of moss at the perfect intersection of my niche interests, I have already written pitches.

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I'm so excited about all of these ideas that I'm not going to wait to be accepted (or rejected) to start writing the stories. In fact, I've already commissioned an illustration of the Saria story and a comic adaptation of the Ganondorf story, and I'm keeping an eye out for someone to draw the Deku Princess for me. I'd love to participate in the zine if given an opportunity; but, at the same time, I think this is what people mean when they say "embrace your strangeness and write for audience of yourself and three other sickos."
rynling: (Ganondorf)
Yesterday afternoon I gave a short lecture at SUNY Buffalo on Nintendo's "Blue Ocean Strategy" and how industry trends and the constraints of console technology shaped the art direction of the Legend of Zelda series. Trying to summarize the stories of the games in a sentence was difficult.

For example, I couldn't say...

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rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
I signed up for the March of the Koroks art event hosted by the Zelda Creators group on Discord, and I was thinking that this would be a good opportunity to study Disney-style character design, like so:

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The idea behind this type of "cute" creature is that their bodies are essentially little beans. I'm not a superfan of Disney, but this is a really fun (and quick and easy!) way to draw. Maybe, in terms of how I originally studied character design... anime was a mistake?
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
Korok Costume
https://nekoaq.com/products/korok-costume

This is a series of photos of a grown man wearing a Korok leaf mask over a spandex bodysuit, which you can purchase for yourself if you have $45 and a strong stomach. I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason I find this intensely uncanny and disturbing.

I think, if you really wanted to put together a Korok costume, this would be the way to go:

Hooded Cape: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1549305817/korok-hooded-cape-cloak-tloz-halloween
Mask: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1574205739/korok-mask
Leaf Bag: https://www.etsy.com/listing/995482796/elven-leaf-cross-body-bag-fabric-fairy
Seeds: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1455736109/korok-seed
Shorts: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1497649840/funny-korok-mens-boxer-briefs-funny
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
Rauru vs Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6auC37SPQqU

I hear people talk about how the story of Tears of the Kingdom doesn't fit together, and I agree with everything they say. At the same time, I think every Zelda game makes perfect sense if you play it with the understanding that the implicit subtext is "Ganon's Messy Divorce." I am not wrong about this.

Not Wrong

Nov. 21st, 2023 05:51 pm
rynling: (Gator Strut)
Tumblr decided to be cute with a tag autocorrect and ended up making an intriguing casting suggestion.



I have an immense level of apathy for the director of the Zelda movie, and my hopes are not high. The hosts of the Dark Souls podcast suggested that the movie could at least strive to be genuinely bad, perhaps by virtue of an all sex offender cast, with Kevin Spacey playing Ganon. I mean, sure. Sounds legit.
rynling: (Terra Branford)
Photos of the Kingdom: Filling the Stable Frames
https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/13w3sz2/totk_photos_of_the_kingdom_filling_the_stable/

At each of the stables in Tears of the Kingdom, the proprietor will ask you to take a photo to fill a large frame on the wall. With one tricky exception, most of their requests make perfect sense, and it's fun to run around finding the perfect shot of each landmark. Your reward for completing the individual photo quests is a low-level type of food, and your reward for completing the entire sequence is five slices of carrot cake. This isn't an interesting or useful quest unless you play Tears of the Kingdom primarily as a wildlife photography simulator. That is what I do, and that is why I love this series of sidequests.

What this person on Reddit has done is to create a short travelogue of their adventures in stable frame photography. It probably won't make sense to anyone who hasn't played the game, but I really enjoyed reading it. Video game travelogues are the best.

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