| Helios said:
Food for thought: What do you guys think about the motifs of Link sleeping at the start of (virtually) every game, and the fact that Zelda is always the one who, directly or indirectly, instigates his journey? |
I personally have grown fond of the typical startup. I'm not sure why but I find something magical about the idea of a simple individual having his world turn lopsided and doing what he feels he must do to set things straight for the sake of those he loves, himself, and eventually a lot more.
Now this is where I feel that Ocarina of Time is a bit of an oddball. Whereas many other Zelda titles have started off with kidnappings or the general loss of a close relative for whatever reason (In reference to Twilight Princess, A Link to the Past, Wind Waker), or in other case being abruptly tossed into a whole other world or land (Majora's Mask, Phantom Hourglass etc.) and ended up seeing Link journey on to find who he is searching for or look for a way back home; Ocarina of Time started with a number of events that ultimately changed his life forever from the start.
Nightmares plagued his slumber at first, but there were more to the repeating dreams then he knew. A new and special friend in Navi. Being tasked with ridding the Great Deku Tree of a horrible curse. The revelation that he was not who he thought he was, being informed by the Great Deku Tree that he was in fact a Hylian. The eventual death of the Great Deku Tree. Now, though he was told by the Great Deku Tree to seek the Princess of Destiny, I always believed the aforementioned truths were what truly set Link on his own true journey of discovery, and it just was not as simple as Go and meet Zelda, to which Link just obliges.
Link's world was thrown upside down, the mundane Kokiri life he lived up to that point was all he knew, but now everything was different, everything - even himself - had changed in the snap of a finger. Nothing would ever be the same again. But why was it like this? Why was the world once ravaged by wars so terrifying that his own mother was forced to leave him in the well-being of a spirit who guarded a sacred forest cut off from the rest of the world? Who were those same characters that tormented his dreams again and again, and what did they mean to him? What about the land beyond the forest was so abstruse that he was only now entrusted with a guardian fairy? For what reason had the Great Deku Tree been cursed, and taken away from from this world, from the children who loved him, solely because he refused to hand over a prized possession? All of the answers, and more, were out there, beyond the forest, deep in the great lands of Hyrule. That is where Link would find out the truth, and seeking out Princess Zelda - the final bed of wisdom handed to him by the Great Deku Tree - was of course his only lead and the best course of action. Link wanted answers, and by god he was going going to get them. No man, fortress, beast, Stalchild or supernatural being was going to get in his way. At least, this is how I saw the intro to Ocarina of Time, and I remain captivated by it to this day.
On the topic of the Wind Waker: I will have to agree with your own and especially Khuutra's thoughts. Unfortunately I cannot offer more to the subject beyond that outside of my questioning of the gods motives and their relationship with their own world and Ganondorf: Exactly why do they not feel the need to get themselves directly involved with the affairs of their world unless a hero is absent. And when such is the case, why is their course of action to cause calamity to the world they created? Do they not have the means to dispose of Ganondorf themselves? Perhaps - and bear with me on this one - they are just taunting Ganondorf? Trying to keep what he want's just out of reach, possibly as a cruel punishment for taking the Triforce of Power? Seeing as he presumably cannot be finished off for good?
How technical is your game?
