Hello! Welcome to Tandem Legends. My name is Shannon and my name is Joe. We are a podcast dedicated to playing and discussing Nintendo’s “Legend of Zelda” video games. Together we will play each of the 18 games in small story-related chunks, in the timeline order noted in the Hyrule Historia.
Currently we are discussing our play-through of Skyward Sword.
Before we get too far, we thought we should provide an overview about our Zelda experience and what this podcast aims to be.
We are not trying to guide you through each temple or dungeon, we can’t tell you where to get every heart piece, and we won’t be able to tell you every easter egg hidden away in every game.What we will do is talk about the setting, lore, gameplay, music, and characters of each Zelda game. We will attempt to highlight the uniqueness of each game and find the threads that tie them all together. Really, we’re just here to talk about the stories and characters we love, and we’d love to be able to talk to you about it too.. In fact, we invite you to play along with us!
Joe’s experience with “The Legend of Zelda” stems from playing “A Link to the Past” when he was 7, which felt at the time like it was way over his head. A few years later, he worked through playing “Ocarina of Time” and made it to the Forest Temple before stopping again. Since then, Joe has beaten 6 of the 18 current “Legend of Zelda” games: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Windwaker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild. Joe is eager to embark on the Tandem Legends project because – pure and simple – he loves all things Zelda and is excited to play and talk about it with others who share that interest!
By comparison, Shannon’s experience with “Legend of Zelda” is that of an observer – she grew up watching family play “Ocarina of Time” and “Majora’s Mask” and later watched friends play “Windwaker”, “Twilight Princess” and “Skyward Sword”. Watching others play Zelda games from a young age, Shannon is familiar with the overall canon and has come to appreciate and love the music and characters of the Zelda universe. But, she has never played any of the games herself because she hates puzzles (gasp!). Even so, the charm of “Legend of Zelda” has inspired her to play the games for the first time and share the journey with you! Perhaps she’ll grow to love puzzles after-all – stay tuned.
Skyward Sword Intro
In this episode we are discussing “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword”. Before we get into an overview of initial gameplay, let’s review the origin story for this game.
If you wait just 10-15 seconds on the Skyward Sword start menu you’ll have a great overview of the ancient history of the Legend of Zelda universe.
And here’s a brief overview:
A mysterious evil horde bursts from the ground and starts rampaging and killing people in their attempt to steal the Goddess Hylia’s divine power. The Goddess gets super mad and ushers her people onto a small piece of land and thrusts it into the sky and then fights the evil horde with the rest of the “land dwellers”, sealing them away and restoring the peace.
First, kind of an odd move to only save the humans, the whole relationship there raises some questions but maybe we’ll get answers later in the game. Hylia herself is a new concept! Apparently the original three goddesses of the Zelda world – Din, Farore, and Nayru – had something of a trusted companion after they got done with all that world building? Interesting addition! Hopefully the game will expand a bit more on this character as we keep going. Joe is willing to admit he’s a bit unsure about all this.. Though he’s a sucker for papyrus themed intros.
Skyloft – Part 1
In this first sequence of gameplay we see an image of a dark nightmare Pac-Man beast, a falling Zelda (or what we assume is Zelda), and a falling Link. A mysterious, melodic voice calls Link to wake-up.
Comedy Gold.
Link is woken up by a giant bird in his window which has a letter from Zelda in it’s beak. Zelda wants to meet with Link before the Wing Ceremony takes place. We go outside, meet a few characters, do some side-quest stuff, and chat with Zelda and Headmaster Gaepora.
In her excitement and enthusiasm Zelda throws Link off the edge of Skyloft. Link tries calling his Guardian Bird but nothing happens. Noticing that Link is facing utter doom, Zelda leaps off the edge of the platform and calls her own Loftwing to swoop down and grab him.
Learning that Link’s Loftwing is missing-in-action, we have our first primary quest: find that bird. We chat with a few characters, meet our rival, Groose, and proceed to explore the area. After a few interactions with Groose and a tip from a cowardly barrel-guy, Link obtains a practice sword and runs into a cave to battle some creatures and save his Loftwing from its cage.
Link takes part in the Wing Ceremony and wins, obtaining a Sailcloth from Zelda.</span
[Sidequests]
Fetch Mia from the rooftop of the Knight Academy for Professor Horwell
Move barrels for Fledge
[New Characters and Locations]
Zelda
Headmaster Gaepora
Professor Horwell
Professor Owlen
Pipit
Fledge
Henya
Groose
Kukiel
Loftwings
Mia the “cat”
Initially, we are amazed at the unique characteristics and style of each individual character in Skyloft which is expressed through both the design and music. Most notably, Groose is easily understood to be the rival of Link but is seen as a harmless, bumbling, pompous bully who just wants to win the affections of Zelda.
Joe notes that the characters in Skyloft in particular are designed to look like different birds! This theme is subtly illustrated in the Headmaster Gaepora, whose name and appearance is eerily similar to Kaepora Gaebora in “Ocarina of Time”, a friendly owl Sage.
I mean, kinda, right?
We are also intrigued by the immediate familiarity and pre-existing friendship between Link and Zelda, which could imply that this is the original “template” for the Zelda/Link relationship throughout the games.
Straight off we feel like the art direction of Skyward Sword is great. The stylized colors, textures, and character design all lend to establish a tone and feel that is very approachable. Adding to that approachability is the injection of humor, something that Joe felt had been lacking in the last major Zelda release, Twilight Princess.
Shannon and Joe have mixed feelings about the design of the Loftwings, which are based upon a real bird called a Shoebill. Shannon is won over though upon learning that Loftwings are designed with a Shiba tail: dog tail on a bird = awesome.
When Zelda wasn’t trying to throw Link off the edge of Skyloft, the primary challenge Shannon and Joe faced in the initial game-play was rooted in the Wii Motion Plus remote mechanics: flying is finicky and frustrating and tutorials are vague and short. Joe comforts Shannon with the knowledge that the Wii Motion Plus mechanic is heavily used in “Skyward Sword” but no longer used in games which come after.
Skyloft – Part 2
In the next sequence of gameplay, Zelda and Link, giddy from the excitement of the day, jump on their Loftwings and fly through the clouds together.
Suddenly a dark tornado appears and sucks Zelda and her Loftwing into it. Link attempts to chase after but the tornado knocks him back, making him fall unconscious. A mysterious glowing, floaty figure appears in Link’s mind and states “It’s time for you to awaken”.
Link wakes up to Gaepora over him, anxious to hear about Zelda’s fate and the details of the dark force that appeared. After Gaepora leaves Link to rest, we’re prompted to go outside through a VERY heavy-handed camera nod to the door. Link goes out and begins to follow the mysterious floating figure back to the Goddess statue where the goddess’ sword is waiting for him.
The floating figure is introduced as Fi, the spirit of the goddess’ sword. Gaepora arrives and we learn about the prophecy of the sword, the chosen hero, and the spirit maiden who all unite to bring a piercing light that will save the land and defeat the resurrected evil force.
The sequence ends with Link obtaining the Emerald Tablet and receiving the classic green tunic outfit.
[New Characters and Locations]
Fi
Keese
Blue Chu
Remlit (evil Mia)
Fi names herself the spirit of the goddess’ sword! Fi enters with new information and prophecy, pushing Link to take on the great quest with the “spirit maiden” to defeat the spirit of apocalypse on the surface.
Gaepora demonstrates a new, more down-to-earth human side which adds new depth to this sage-like authoritative character. We appreciate this added nuance and development in the canon of Zelda – again makes it more approachable and helps us feel connected with the story and characters in a way we don’t see often in Zelda games.
Why, Mia? Why?
As with most, if not all, Zelda games, Skyward Sword’s soundtrack is immediately engaging and really adds another dimension to the world. This is especially felt after Zelda falls through the cloud barrier and the music shifts to a more dramatic, somber tune. Shannon especially appreciated Fi’s theme playing while bashing an evil cat into oblivion (much to Joe’s horror). Joe also drew connections between the flying music in “Skyward Sword” and the sailing music of “Windwaker” – both equally triumphant and epic.
Joe’s only gripe with the music was the flat, empty-feeling treasure chest opening music – nothing compares with the tune from “Ocarina of Time”.
At this stage, Shannon is very hopeful and enthusiastic about what’s to come in “Skyward Sword”. But, is troubled by the barrier presented by the Wii Motion Plus remote mechanics and a little nervous about upcoming puzzles. These concerns are easily overcome though, thanks to the exciting quest we’re heading into!
Joe agrees that the Wii Motion Plus remote mechanics can be frustrating, a complaint that many Zelda gamers also voice. But, Joe is still very excited to play through all of the “Legend of Zelda” games with a refreshed and different perspective than he had when he was younger and is eager to give each game the attention it deserves. In fact, Joe had initially thought the prologue of “Skyward Sword” would be boring given how much he has played the first few sections. But, he has been pleasantly surprised to discover that the game is still engaging and exciting after an additional play-through – a great sign of how great this game is.
We also gave a shout-out to ExclusiveDesigns4You on Etsy where we got some sweet swag!
We have reached the end of our discussion this week on Tandem Legends. Thanks for joining us! We encourage you to play along and talk to us about your thoughts on Legend of Zelda. What do you think about this game so far? You can let us know by sending us a tweet @tandemlegends or commenting on this episode’s post below.
And if you like what you hear, leave us a 5 star rating and review on iTunes and Stitcher to help spread the word!
Please tune in to our next episode where we embark to the mysterious surface world.
Until next time!
The theme music for this podcast, Overworld, was created by Kevin Macleod of incomepetech.com, licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
