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The Legend of Zelda - A Complete Development History
This book is meant to serve as the most complete, insightful, and historically accurate account of how The Legend of Zelda series began, the changes it went through over the years, and why those changes were made. It highlights how market conditions and the minds at Nintendo influenced the development of each Zelda game, both from a creative and business standpoint. It is based on hundreds of developer interviews and behind-the-scenes materials, as well as a sound understanding of the games industry.
Available on (in the website or PDF format download):
https://zelda.gamepedia.com/Developme...
Available on (in the website or PDF format download):
https://zelda.gamepedia.com/Developme...
159 pages, ebook
Published May 26, 2020
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 7, 2020
Read v1.3
A really interesting read. A four-year examination and cross-referencing in the development history of one of the most well known game franchises out there. Originally designed to be just a wiki page, but also expertly transformed into a PDF file that looks like a professional book.
This work gives interesting insights in the development decisions behind Zelda games, with some references in "irrelevant" things at first glance, but that 100% affected the franchise down the road. It uses a lot of promotional and interview material that, used together, shine a light in deeper discussions and thought-processes.
The only downside I can give this, is that it tends to say multiple times the same things in places, but it is understandable since each chapter is set up as an autonomous piece that the reader might want to read alone or out of order, so they need to know about some specific things, even if they have been stated multiple times before.
All in all, a really worthy read for any Zelda fan out there, who wants to take a peek behind the scenes!
A really interesting read. A four-year examination and cross-referencing in the development history of one of the most well known game franchises out there. Originally designed to be just a wiki page, but also expertly transformed into a PDF file that looks like a professional book.
This work gives interesting insights in the development decisions behind Zelda games, with some references in "irrelevant" things at first glance, but that 100% affected the franchise down the road. It uses a lot of promotional and interview material that, used together, shine a light in deeper discussions and thought-processes.
The only downside I can give this, is that it tends to say multiple times the same things in places, but it is understandable since each chapter is set up as an autonomous piece that the reader might want to read alone or out of order, so they need to know about some specific things, even if they have been stated multiple times before.
All in all, a really worthy read for any Zelda fan out there, who wants to take a peek behind the scenes!
August 27, 2020
4/5 stars.
ebook, 159 pages.
Read from July 23, 2020 to Aug 2, 2020.
Review at The Pluviophile Writer: https://bit.ly/2ED9Hm8
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/Developme...
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 gameplay 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.
ebook, 159 pages.
Read from July 23, 2020 to Aug 2, 2020.
Review at The Pluviophile Writer: https://bit.ly/2ED9Hm8
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/Developme...
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 gameplay 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.
December 10, 2020
Each chapter is a little formulaic, but there were enough behind-the-scenes stories and concept art to keep my attention, which is impressive because... I’ve never played a Zelda game before.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews