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https://nerdist.com/article/legend-of-zelda-35th-anniversary-legacy/
In 1986, an unnamed cave-dwelling old man spoke seven words that would go on to change worldwide pop culture forever: “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.” At that moment, a voiceless 8-bit adventurer received a sword at the beginning of his journey. Thirty-five years later, it seems the old man spoke to anyone who enjoys losing themselves in a video game. His gift was the medium-redefining Legend of Zelda franchise. While the series’ innovative gameplay and generational impact are worth appreciating on its anniversary, there is an arguably more impressive feat. Nintendo’s most adventurous franchise grew to ubiquity—and nearly universal acclaim—across the gaming landscape.
Nintendo
Nintendo’s triumvirate consists of a portly Italian man, a yellow mouse that channels electricity, and a sword-wielding elf wearing green. Mario and Pikachu are inarguably some of video games’ biggest icons. To a certain population, Link and Zelda are nothing more than spammy projectile characters in Super Smash Bros. As pop culture celebrates 35 years of Hyrule, however, apathy toward the franchise allows for examination untinged by nostalgia. Fandom is not a prerequisite for respect. You don’t need to obsess over Link, Zelda, and the rest of Hyrule in order to appreciate this intrepid franchise.
Shigeru Miyamoto—the creative mind behind Mario, Donkey Kong, and others—sought to imbue 1986’s The Legend of Zelda with the sense of excitement and wonder he felt exploring the Kyoto countryside as a child. This makes Link’s adventures through Hyrule perhaps Miyamoto’s most personal creation. Childhood sensations, such as the euphoria of discovering something new in your environment or the frustration of getting lost, are in the franchise’s very DNA. For those who aren’t diehard fans of the series, however, it is possible to push those intimate origins aside. And also to appreciate the contributions to the global zeitgeist that have made it so indelible for 35 years.
Nintendo
When The Legend of Zelda released in 1986, it fully utilized every technical advancement that video games had to offer at that point and provided an experience unlike any that had come before it. Before then, no console game allowed players to save their progress on the game cartridge and The Legend of Zelda’s battery-backed RAM storing completely changed the at-home gaming experience. Suddenly, you were able to play games over the course of days or months, across multiple sessions. This only added to the weighty, epic feel of Link’s adventure across Hyrule. People take it for granted, but a generation of gamers has The Legend of Zelda to thank every time they save their progress.
Nintendo
Over the years, Zelda games have explored the interactivity of their medium in ways that few others have. Modern AAA titles like The Last of Us and, more recently, Cyberpunk 2077 are heavy on plot, characters, and exposition which at times just makes them feel like interactive movies. Zelda rejected traditional storytelling techniques and, instead, presented a simple, trope-heavy plot and a voiceless playable character named after the link he represents between player and game. Legend of Zelda stories always boil down to some variation of Link saving some variation of Princess Zelda.
The game’s puzzles and dungeon crawling aren’t for everyone. Still, they provide an unparalleled way for players to insert themselves into the narrative. They can choose their own way to traverse through the world. Events in Zelda games don’t happen because you walk up to the correct waypoint and trigger a cutscene; everything that occurs results from players’ interaction with Hyrule and its denizens.
Phillips/Nintendo
One of the most under-appreciated watershed moments in Nintendo’s history came in the early 1990s. The company partnered with Philips Interactive Media to co-develop a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES. The add-on never hit stores. Still, the companies’ partnership did allow Philips to use Nintendo characters in some early CD-i games. Hotel Mario, Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon may be mostly lost to history, but the admittedly cursed FMV games represent a divergent point for the two Nintendo franchises.
Nintendo moved on from this licensing snafu forever playing it safe with Super Mario—the franchise most synonymous with the company. They only the kinds of highly polished, meticulously-designed titles fans have come to expect. This is why they remain gaming’s gold standard. The strange, charismatic spirit of King Harkinian lives on in the Legend of Zelda franchise, however. Nintendo continues to prove they aren’t afraid to take bizarre, sometimes gimmicky swings with those titles.
Nintendo
The franchise’s exploratory spirit is apparent from a meta level, too. Through its developers’ desire to test the medium’s potential limits and push video games in new directions. For example, 2007 saw the release of the Wii Zapper, a gun shell peripheral for the Wii remote. Yet, when making the pack-in game for this unremarkable piece of video game history Nintendo didn’t dare risk tarnishing its perfect plumber’s image. Instead, it was Link who would explore the Wii Zapper. The pack-in game Link’s Crossbow Training is a prime example for how Nintendo is willing to take experimental risks with The Legend of Zelda that the company won’t take with other properties.
Other examples of The Legend of Zelda being used to promote and explore Nintendo hardware include the Wii Motion Plus as a requirement to play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and the Sheikah Slate in Breath of the Wild resembling the Wii U gamepad or Nintendo Switch, depending on the version.
Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda hasn’t only been a trial balloon for Nintendo hardware. Creative risks have also come to define the franchise. A pair of 2019 games exemplify the adventurous spirit that people outside Zelda fandom can appreciate. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch is a remake of the 1993 Game Boy game of the same name that features a retro-modern, dioramic art style that’s unique within the series.
Even bolder is Cadence of Hyrule—a crossover with 2015’s popular rhythm-based roguelike Crypt of the Necrodancer. Cadence allows fans of the series to incorporate its legendary soundtrack into the game’s actual gameplay; it’s a unique experience that represents how Nintendo’s most critically-acclaimed franchise isn’t afraid to be unabashedly quirky.
Nintendo
Everyone knows that Frankenstein isn’t the name of the monster; Ratatouille isn’t the name of the rat; Zelda isn’t the name of the sword guy in The Legend of Zelda. Perhaps most impressive about the idiosyncratic franchise is the way its adventurous spirit pervades pop culture. 35 years of The Legend of Zelda has given everyone some kind of familiarity with iconography like the triforce, and Ocarina of Time’s popularity is why a whole generation knows what an ocarina is in the first place. You don’t need to play a single Zelda game to reap the continued benefits of the beloved series.
The post The Enduring Legacy of THE LEGEND OF ZELDA appeared first on Nerdist.
In 1986, an unnamed cave-dwelling old man spoke seven words that would go on to change worldwide pop culture forever: “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.” At that moment, a voiceless 8-bit adventurer received a sword at the beginning of his journey. Thirty-five years later, it seems the old man spoke to anyone who enjoys losing themselves in a video game. His gift was the medium-redefining Legend of Zelda franchise. While the series’ innovative gameplay and generational impact are worth appreciating on its anniversary, there is an arguably more impressive feat. Nintendo’s most adventurous franchise grew to ubiquity—and nearly universal acclaim—across the gaming landscape.
Nintendo
Nintendo’s triumvirate consists of a portly Italian man, a yellow mouse that channels electricity, and a sword-wielding elf wearing green. Mario and Pikachu are inarguably some of video games’ biggest icons. To a certain population, Link and Zelda are nothing more than spammy projectile characters in Super Smash Bros. As pop culture celebrates 35 years of Hyrule, however, apathy toward the franchise allows for examination untinged by nostalgia. Fandom is not a prerequisite for respect. You don’t need to obsess over Link, Zelda, and the rest of Hyrule in order to appreciate this intrepid franchise.
Shigeru Miyamoto—the creative mind behind Mario, Donkey Kong, and others—sought to imbue 1986’s The Legend of Zelda with the sense of excitement and wonder he felt exploring the Kyoto countryside as a child. This makes Link’s adventures through Hyrule perhaps Miyamoto’s most personal creation. Childhood sensations, such as the euphoria of discovering something new in your environment or the frustration of getting lost, are in the franchise’s very DNA. For those who aren’t diehard fans of the series, however, it is possible to push those intimate origins aside. And also to appreciate the contributions to the global zeitgeist that have made it so indelible for 35 years.
Nintendo
When The Legend of Zelda released in 1986, it fully utilized every technical advancement that video games had to offer at that point and provided an experience unlike any that had come before it. Before then, no console game allowed players to save their progress on the game cartridge and The Legend of Zelda’s battery-backed RAM storing completely changed the at-home gaming experience. Suddenly, you were able to play games over the course of days or months, across multiple sessions. This only added to the weighty, epic feel of Link’s adventure across Hyrule. People take it for granted, but a generation of gamers has The Legend of Zelda to thank every time they save their progress.
Nintendo
Over the years, Zelda games have explored the interactivity of their medium in ways that few others have. Modern AAA titles like The Last of Us and, more recently, Cyberpunk 2077 are heavy on plot, characters, and exposition which at times just makes them feel like interactive movies. Zelda rejected traditional storytelling techniques and, instead, presented a simple, trope-heavy plot and a voiceless playable character named after the link he represents between player and game. Legend of Zelda stories always boil down to some variation of Link saving some variation of Princess Zelda.
The game’s puzzles and dungeon crawling aren’t for everyone. Still, they provide an unparalleled way for players to insert themselves into the narrative. They can choose their own way to traverse through the world. Events in Zelda games don’t happen because you walk up to the correct waypoint and trigger a cutscene; everything that occurs results from players’ interaction with Hyrule and its denizens.
Phillips/Nintendo
One of the most under-appreciated watershed moments in Nintendo’s history came in the early 1990s. The company partnered with Philips Interactive Media to co-develop a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES. The add-on never hit stores. Still, the companies’ partnership did allow Philips to use Nintendo characters in some early CD-i games. Hotel Mario, Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon may be mostly lost to history, but the admittedly cursed FMV games represent a divergent point for the two Nintendo franchises.
Nintendo moved on from this licensing snafu forever playing it safe with Super Mario—the franchise most synonymous with the company. They only the kinds of highly polished, meticulously-designed titles fans have come to expect. This is why they remain gaming’s gold standard. The strange, charismatic spirit of King Harkinian lives on in the Legend of Zelda franchise, however. Nintendo continues to prove they aren’t afraid to take bizarre, sometimes gimmicky swings with those titles.
Nintendo
The franchise’s exploratory spirit is apparent from a meta level, too. Through its developers’ desire to test the medium’s potential limits and push video games in new directions. For example, 2007 saw the release of the Wii Zapper, a gun shell peripheral for the Wii remote. Yet, when making the pack-in game for this unremarkable piece of video game history Nintendo didn’t dare risk tarnishing its perfect plumber’s image. Instead, it was Link who would explore the Wii Zapper. The pack-in game Link’s Crossbow Training is a prime example for how Nintendo is willing to take experimental risks with The Legend of Zelda that the company won’t take with other properties.
Other examples of The Legend of Zelda being used to promote and explore Nintendo hardware include the Wii Motion Plus as a requirement to play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and the Sheikah Slate in Breath of the Wild resembling the Wii U gamepad or Nintendo Switch, depending on the version.
Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda hasn’t only been a trial balloon for Nintendo hardware. Creative risks have also come to define the franchise. A pair of 2019 games exemplify the adventurous spirit that people outside Zelda fandom can appreciate. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch is a remake of the 1993 Game Boy game of the same name that features a retro-modern, dioramic art style that’s unique within the series.
Even bolder is Cadence of Hyrule—a crossover with 2015’s popular rhythm-based roguelike Crypt of the Necrodancer. Cadence allows fans of the series to incorporate its legendary soundtrack into the game’s actual gameplay; it’s a unique experience that represents how Nintendo’s most critically-acclaimed franchise isn’t afraid to be unabashedly quirky.
Nintendo
Everyone knows that Frankenstein isn’t the name of the monster; Ratatouille isn’t the name of the rat; Zelda isn’t the name of the sword guy in The Legend of Zelda. Perhaps most impressive about the idiosyncratic franchise is the way its adventurous spirit pervades pop culture. 35 years of The Legend of Zelda has given everyone some kind of familiarity with iconography like the triforce, and Ocarina of Time’s popularity is why a whole generation knows what an ocarina is in the first place. You don’t need to play a single Zelda game to reap the continued benefits of the beloved series.
The post The Enduring Legacy of THE LEGEND OF ZELDA appeared first on Nerdist.
Watching the third chapter in the To All the Boys saga, Always and Forever, the expectation is one of diminishing returns: How often can you throw a wrench into the dreamy mechanics of the perfect high school couple and be moved by their solving it? I imagine the challenge of writing its finale, Always and Forever, was finding yet another conflict that is threatening enough to spark genuine drama but benevolent enough not to undermine the anchoring characteristics of its two stars, Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), as two aggressively adorable, thoughtful, well-intentioned lovers.
Fortunately, the Michael Fimognari-directed To All the Boys: Always and Forever strikes that balance by facing the couple against the natural evolution an any high school romance: choosing a college. When college prospects give Lara Jean and Peter different options, the two have to decide how to navigate their love for each other with making the right choices for themselves as individuals.
Such an organic conflict allows both Lara Jean and Peter to remain perfect–almost too perfect–as the big-hearted duo you’re cheering for and paves the way for one of a few anchor moments that make the film memorable. Different from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and its sequel P.S. I Still Love You, this one sets itself apart as a travel movie as Lara Jean’s family visits Korea and returns to Portland just before Lara Jean and her senior class take a trip to a pre-pandemic New York City. Always and Forever leans into the beauty of Seoul and New York, which would have been endearing enough on their own under normal circumstances, but are made even more charming during a time where most of us have lost the wonder of seeing new places for the first time.
It’s ambitious in how much story it fits in–there’s Lara Jean’s father (John Corbett) and his relationship with Trina (Sarayu Blue), Kitty’s newfound interest in boys, Lara Jean’s relationship with her sisters, and more–and while so many moving pieces take effort to make a cohesive narrative, they weave together effortlessly. Prior groundwork saves us the need for rehashed character introductions, and instead allows the movie to tie up character arcs for not only its main characters, but lend attention to some secondaries as well, from Lara Jean’s dad to her best friend, Chris (Madeleine Arthur). The only new character introduction is Peter’s absentee dad as an attempt to deepen Peter’s personal arc, which I’m not entirely convinced was necessary, but is also restrained enough to not do harm.
Its focus on family dynamics is one of the most fulfilling features of the series that puts a relationship in the context of a full world that surrounds it. We see Lara Jean and Peter mature towards this post-high school crossroads in their lives, but also what that maturation means for Lara Jean and Trina, or Lara Jean and her sisters, or Lara Jean and her own career. As Lara Jean unexpectedly begins to fall in love with New York City, you can’t help but feel it’s another natural and worthy love–she’s a dreamer and a writer, and the city wouldn’t take much to lure her in and make her question a future with Peter versus one where what might be best for her life might mean a future without him. For viewers, a few adventures with NYC’s food scene and stealing a pink couch and dragging it onto the J train with some new friends are more than enough to drive home the feeling of being young in New York.
As the series closes, the highest praise I can offer this film–and the ones before it–is that you want to spend time with its characters. The perfectly measured stakes and aspirational romance arguably come second to the enjoyment of seeing Lara Jean, her family, and her friends showing the best of what youth, family, and relationships have to offer. For many of us it was already a welcome escape from an often harsher reality, but as LJ travels to find her place in the world, Always and Forever may be a more satisfying escape than even the first time.
Find all of Jordan Calhoun’s Rotten Tomatoes-approved movie reviews at Jordan Calhoun at the Movies.
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The post ‘To All the Boys: Always and Forever’ is a Fitting Final Chapter appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.