30 Years of Zelda

This year marks a significant gaming milestone: It is the thirtieth anniversary of the Legend of Zelda franchise! Yes, way back in 1986, a game called Legend of Zelda touched down on the NES and introduced us all to a character who isn't the one in the title.

I myself am delighted by this. Whilst I may have been late to the Legend of Zelda party I still have many fond memories of playing Link to the Past (you never forget your first Zelda game!) and I still acknowledge it as a personal fav. I may have gone off Zelda in recent years but I still hold the series in high regard.

But here's a thought: The twentieth anniversary of the Zelda series, 2006, gave us Twilight Princess - and, in the player guide I got (don't judge me!), it's revealed that the Princess Zelda in that game is  twenty years of age. A little meta joke to be sure but it does raise an interesting question: Would that make the Princess Zelda, in the upcoming WiiU game, thirty?

It may make for a bold idea for a Legend of Zelda game having a non-teenage/young adult Link and Zelda but that seems doubtful: After all, this is Nintendo and Nintendo aren't ones to readily challenge their 'family-friendly' image.
I mean, on one hand having an older Link and Zelda may make for a more 'adult' game (witness the star of Red Dead Redemption John Marston) that may address some issues well beyond what the Legend of Zelda series has tackled previously - but the series is, and always will be, one for kids.

You're the Voice

Still truckin' through Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

I will admit I am disappointing that this isn't fully voice acted. Sure there are sound bites in the combat sequences but it is kind of frustrating that these characters otherwise only speak in text. Okay, so maybe there is a lot of dialogue in this game but some of it is real gold and it's shame to not hear it spoken.
Besides, considering how Stephanie Sheh seems to play a lot of cutesy/moe roles, it be hilarious to hear her voice say something like this:

Ten Years Gone

I was going through some old files recently and I came across this:

Ten years to the day....

Your Goose is Cooked

Still trucking through Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

A point of interest: I really enjoy the cooking mechanic this game has. For the uninitiated, it works like this: You obtain a food of some kind and when you eat it, the recipe on how to make it will be entered in your recipe book. Thus, by obtaining ingredients throughout the game, one can make any healing agents/buffs anytime and anywhere.
I've never seen anything like this before and believe you me, I liking it a lot :)

Castle has Crashed

Lately, in between my progress through Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, I've been playing Castle Crashers.

This is not my first time playing Castle Crashers - Previously it was something I played at my friend's place on his Xbox. But now, I have Castle Crashers on Steam and I'm going all the way through it.
Currently I am playing this with the same people I played ESO with. Funny thing to say: It's like we traded well realised, immersive worlds for cartoonish graphics and general absurdity.

Of course this only solidifies Castle Crashers' reputation as being one of, if not the, best multi-player games in existence. However compared to the previous multi-player games, Castle Crashers has been something of a change of pace: Previously, in this group, I have been the lowest leveled. I've lagged behind everyone else who are well ahead of me and, despite my best efforts, I can never catch up and/or keep the pace. But with Castle Crashers, it's the exact opposite: I am well ahead of everyone else in the leveling department. I suppose this can be attributed to the fact that I was the only one who started with a controller (as opposed to to a keyboard), but it does make a welcome change that the guy who was behind everyone else suddenly came out in front (Steven Bradbury anyone?).

Only drawback is that everyone tends to gang up on me in the Princess fights, making me the first one to go down but still.....

The Sky's the Limit

As promised, I've been playing a lot of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky lately.

At time of writing, I'm eleven hours in and I've cleared the prologue.

This is going to be a long game.....