4/5 stars.
ebook, 159 pages.
Read from July 23, 2020 to Aug 2, 2020.
Most people who know me know that I love video games, what most don’t know is that the Legend of Zelda games are my favourite. It was Ocarina of Time that first got me hooked on video games when I was 13 and it is a game that I haven’t stopped playing since. Since I adore the series so much I follow a variety of fan pages on social media which allows me to get any news related to the series as well as interesting discussions and memes. It was on one of these pages that I found this book.
You can read a copy for yourself from this site: https://zelda.gamepedia.com/Development_of_The_Legend_of_Zelda
My understanding is that a student wrote this book for their thesis and due to all the copyright restrictions from Nintendo had to make the book free to read in order to share it. Having said that, this book doesn’t read like a thesis and is accompanied by beautiful images and graphic design that highlights different aspects of Nintendo’s history and the Zelda games giving it a really enticing and professional look.
The book talks about the humble beginnings of Nintendo and the main people that helped shape the company it is today. It also goes over how it had to adapt to the changing game markets not only as technology changed but as its target markets changed, as the West and Japan desired different styles of games. The main directive of the book is the development of the Zelda games and how their story was created and how its game play developed over time and with technology. The book includes interviews, in-depth research and references to give a highly accurate timeline of the creation of the Zelda series, with each chapter dedicated to each of the major Zelda releases.
I found I was the most interested the Zelda games that I loved the most, obviously, but I found that the few games I wasn’t bothered about not as engaging which, is likely not the author’s fault. My favourite aspects of this book was learning how the Zelda series came to be, what inspired it, and especially about the people who have shaped and made it the loved series that it is. I would recommend this read to anyone who is interested in video games and has a love for Nintendo or the Zelda series.
The Pluviophile Writer 