Hey! Listen! One of the most anticipated games of the year, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is released today in the UK! And I am personally about to slash at a chicken with excitement (and then get the hell out of dodge).
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Zelda series! And Skyward Sword looks like it’s going to be a spectacular celebration, with early reviews raving about it, promising that the game is, “Bubbling with new ideas but mindful of the lessons laid out by its predecessors.” It presents new incarnations of Link and Zelda, who this time live on an island floating in the clouds until Zelda is pulled down to the world we sort-of know, with Faron woods and other well known areas. The gameplay is said to be innovative and works spectacularly with the Wii system, and the graphics look stunning! While we won’t know until we play it ourselves, this game looks like it’s gonna live up to the hype!
What I love about The Legend of Zelda is what whenever I play the games, I don’t feel like I’m doing something “wrong,” hogging my little brother’s consoles and playing his boy-games like Need for Speed or Pokemon (which, as it happens, I also kinda like). Even though the protagonist of the series is male, there is something about the feel and style of this game that makes it appeal to both males and females, and the Zelda games have been my favourites since I was in my early teens.
In the series of games, I primarily play Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. Both games stand out to me because of their incredible graphics, their open gameplay and especially their rich storylines. While there’s definitely an enjoyable hack-and-slash quality to both games, and while the dungeons sure are scary, more than anything I love playing Zelda because I want to see what happens next. Link (who doesn’t speak) goes to incredible places and meets all these interesting characters, and all the side quests and little comedic interludes really bring the different incarnations of the Hyrule realm to life.
And then there is Princess Zelda herself, a great female heroine in her own right. While she was hardly present at all in Twilight Princess, in Ocarina of Time, Zelda plays a prominent role behind the scenes and rises to incredible strength and prominence, and finally helps Link destroy the evil Ganondorf – given that you have enough hearts and potions to make it through the fight, that is!
The universes of Zelda are so rich, so bright and inviting, and their stories so engaging, that they draw me in. I can’t wait to play this new game, because this is a series of games that as a geek girl, I absolutely love. And I don’t even think you need to be a geek to love it!