The Library -> Through the Lens -> Garrett ->
By Wind or Woods?*
Wind, a force of change that can be as calm as a bird or as powerful as a lion. The forest, a center of mystery and nature. Wind and forests are, if you really couldn’t tell, two very different things. Wind is an abstract concept; you can feel it but not see it, hear it but not taste it. The caress of a gentle breeze is one of nature’s many outputs of joy. A forest is definitive in its solidity; it has trees and bushes, all of which can be perceived merely through our senses. But can this same Abstract vs. Definite logic be applied to the Legend? Let’s find out!
I suppose we might as well go through the games chronologically by release, to bring some order to this chaotic world. Thus we will begin with A Link to the Past, because I haven’t the slightest knowledge of LoZ or AoL. ALttP is most definitely an abstract game. (Ha ha! Get it?) In it there are two worlds, the Light and the Dark, mirrors of each other. Shape-shifting persons abound, a quality present mainly in the puppet Agahnim. Link’s Awakening is by far the most abstract Zelda game out there. The overriding reason for this is that Koholint Isle is a mere creation of the Wind Fish’s dream.
Next in line we have Ocarina of Time. Let’s see, Link travels 7 years into the future and routinely visits the Sacred Realm (the Chamber of Sages, to be precise). While all of this does sound abstract, and it is, for a few other reasons (the tragedies of Ganondorf and the Sages, war-stricken Hyrule, and a few others) we shall call this game “a definite concept made abstract”. Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, is definite in that the imminent danger of the moon crashing into Termina and the way the game revolves around that concept (the people’s frightened and realistic actions, for example) makes everything feel down-to-earth (no pun intended).
OoA and OoS, coming right up! Perhaps you’ve never opened up your eyes to this, but the central concepts of these two similar games are extremely different. OoA is an abstract game, in it you frequently move from the present to the past and vice versa. OoS, however, involves only the (chaotic) movement of the seasons, a never-ending event right here on Earth.
To avoid dilly-dallying, let’s take out three birds with one stone! The entire Four Sword series (tMC, FS, and FSA) consists of abstract games. Let’s face it, folks, the Dark World, the Realm of the Heavens, floating eyeballs, the mini Minish, multiple copies of Link…what else could it be?!
Ah, here comes sweet tWW, sailing from a distant land. In that blesses game Link watches towers rise from beneath the waves and traverses an underwater kingdom. Abstract ideas, of course, but, then again, Link sails the Great Sea (on a talking ship, it should be noted…) looking for his sister (a very human motive) while collecting pearls, awakening Sages, and searching for buried treasure. That’s amazing, a game perfectly positioned at the pinnacle of reality and fantasy! Absolutely stupendous! After weighing many different elements, though, I have concluded that tWW is, at its core, an abstract concept made definite.
Well, we’ve learned a lot and have viewed the Legend from a new angle. So, until next ti--, wait, what’s that you say? Oh, of course, I’d forgotten all about that! What do I believe LoZGC will be, abstract or definite? Hmm…well, considering only what we’ve seen in trailers and screenshots, I’d simply say definite. However, when you weigh in the impossible-to-miss similarities between LoZGC and OoT, perhaps it will be another definite-made-abstract game? That would make it the opposite of tWW, too. Intriguing…
Despite what I’ve said, when the next game comes out in Q4 of ’05, it’ll be time for you to make the call:
By Wind?
Or Woods?
* This article is obviously out-dated, what with the references to "LoZGC"and all. However, this is it's final version, I believe, as in, it won't be updated! Thanks for not killing me! ^__^!