MORE ZELDA 64 GAIDEN INFORMATION AND SCREENSHOTS

It really makes me feel good about Zelda to see that this whole Zelda: Gaiden thing is becoming a reality. Recently at Nintendo's Spaceworld in Japan, a 50% completed demo of Zelda: Gaiden was available for play. The new Zelda 64: Gaiden takes off where Zelda 64 left off, in Links youth a short time after he returned the Master Sword back to the Temple of Time. According to IGN64 this is the prologue of the game. I don't know if they made this up or it is something that is actually said in the game, but in any event here it is:

One day, deep in the forest, Link encountered a stranger wearing a mysterious mask. Without as much as an explanation, the unusual fellow stole the pony young Link was riding, his beloved Epona, and escaped through a doorway into a warped dimension. Link of course quickly followed and soon found himself trapped in a strange, yet oddly familiar world full of familiar faces. But while the landscape may have looked familiar, one thing was clearly different: In the sky above loomed a gigantic moon, slowly falling down onto this world...

"In a few more days, this world will end." So spoke those living there. Even as they waited, time passed mercilessly. "If you can find the masked one, you may find a clue to saving this realm."

And so Link embarks on a new adventure to halt the setting of the moon on this strange world and to find his way back to his own land.

This whole alternate dimension thing makes me wonder just what it is really, an annex of the Dark World?, a dreamtime of dark thoughts made manifest by incorporeal entities?, or maybe a manifestation of the Golden Land. Then again the whole game could be just a monitary capitalization on the success of Zelda 64 and has nothing really to do with the overall history and plot of the Zelda games which would be a total bummer for us HARDCORE purist Zelda fans. The Idea of the Moon falling down to destroy Hyrule sounds kind of cool, but...didn't we already see this in Final Fantasy VII? Strange...The coincidence is just too close for comfort. Just for the record, you better believe that when I get Zelda 64 Gaiden, I'm going waste time and let the moon fall and kill everyone just to see what happens. Will NIntendo actually show things being destroyed? Or will they chicken out and make the game have an "E" rating and just say "Game Over" We'll see.

From what I've learned this alternate dimension of Zelda 64: Gaiden is intended to reflect very similarly the surroundings of Hyrule. The characters that Link met in Hyrule in Zelda 64 will be altered to become eviler darker versions. This whole thing make me reflect on many episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine that followed the same premise. Perhaps Miyamoto watched the episode where Commander Sisko was inadvertently beamed into an alternate "evil" dimension where Gul Dukat was leader of Terok Nor and Major Kira Nerys was an ally of the Cardassians. The same thing also happened to Captain Kirk in the Original Series episode Mirror Mirror. I hate to burst Nintendo's bubble but this is not an original idea. How they work with it will either make or brake this game.

Zelda 64: Gaiden items are solely based on Masks that actually transform Link into a specific Hyrulian Creature. For instance, Link can turn into a Goron by wearing the Goron Mask. (Gee, big deal!) As a Goron he can lift heavy stones and turn into a little ball and roll around really fast. With a Zora Mask he can swim for infinite amounts of time (Platinum Scale Anyone) underwater and glide gracefully though the water. He also can become (I don't know what possesed them to do this) a Deku Scrub. As a Deku Scrub link can shoot nuts from his nose and float to areas he otherwise wouldn't be able to get to. Perhaps the better part of transforming Link is getting the ability to play each creature's corresponding musical instument like bongos for the Goron, a bone guitar for the Zora, and some kind of Horns for the Deku Scrub. These are just a few of the many masks/transformations Link can make. For instance, oddly enough, he will be able to turn into a Gerudo. (I think their taking the genderbender liberty a little too far this time) What that one does, I have no idea.

According to Miyamoto Zelda 64: Gaiden promises to make full use of the N64 4MB RAM Expansion pack by enhancing the richness of the ambient graphics. Apparently the guage at the bottom of the screen represents the time left before this meteor crashes into "Anti-hyrule" All the controls and play system of the game will be identical to Zelda 64's. So far no news regarding whether Link actually gets new weapons has been released. It seems this time Link can use the bow and arrow as a child and ride Epona.

There will be many new environments for Link to explore in Zelda 64: Gaiden, like a swamp, a snow covered area, a new village with a large clock tower that counts down to doomsday, and an enchanted forest (hopefully different than the Lost Woods) The added memory of the RAM Pak will allow the N64 to display more enemies on screen at a time, and more detailed elements in the gaming environment like higher resolution textures applied to surfaces and surroundings.

The Triforce. Those words have impowered gamers to go on endless searches to no avail in Zelda 64, but will Zelda 64: Gaiden grant Link posession of the sacred relic? If the game takes place in some kind of alternate time-space continuum than feasibly Link could obtain the Triforce without upsetting the circumstances of the prior game. Perhaps Link uses the Triforce to divert the trajectory of the approaching errant moon at the end of the game. If Miyamoto's been paying attention to the internet then hopefully he's seen how much gamers and Zelda Fans across the world want to do something cool with the Triforce.

Although this is a bit premature, I'm getting the idea that Zelda 64: Gaiden is going to be the "oddball" of the series (kind of like Super Mario Bros. 2) and will more than likely leave a Zelda fan with more questions than answers. This may not be a bad thing, and will more than likely create many unique puzzles for gamers to decypher. I really hope that Miyamoto takes the series on a rather bizarre tangent with a darker more macabre Hyrule where terror exist within each shadow and around every corner. This will definitely pique older gamer's interest and broaden the plot dynamics of the series. We'll just have to wait and see just what this game has to offer. If I learn any more big news, I'll be sure to pass it along to Odyssey of Hyrule visitors. Expect a full walkthrough of this game when it is released in America.

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