Tag: Ganon

Players Are Already Having A Blast Imagining Zelda’s New Copy Ability In Action

Since the announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, fans of the series have been expressing their excitement over Zelda’s unique gameplay. Chiefly, they are overjoyed about her ability to copy (or echo) items in the environment and use them against her enemies in battle.

Tears Of The Kingdom’s Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism

Echoes of Wisdom finally drops players into a mainline entry of the series as the titular princess. When Link goes missing just as he rescues her from Ganon, dark rifts begin to tear apart Hyrule, and Zelda just barely escapes them. With Hyrule’s typical savior out of the picture, it falls on Zelda to save her land and people, and she accomplishes this with the help of Tri, a fairy she encounters as all is falling apart. Tri grants Zelda the Tri Rod, which allows her to copy objects and other creatures in the world in order to navigate environments, solve puzzles, and carry out battles, and it looks great, and indeed poised for numerous jokes and in-game hilarity.

It all started when a clip of the game’s debut trailer showed Zelda copying a boulder, lifting it and throwing it at an enemy. Many fans noted the fact that in most Zelda games, Link has needed a bracelet that allows him a similar ability, and claimed that Zelda had been quietly getting stronger than her stalwart protector and savior.

Eventually, the memes about Echoes of Wisdom’s new copy ability got progressively out of hand. Many of the ones I saw within a few hours of the announcement poked fun at how Zelda might use a table or a chair in battle, akin to a professional wrestler. By comparison, Link has largely used more typical weaponry like the Master Sword, as well as a bow and arrow or bombs. The emphasis on furniture has spawned its own series of posts about domesticity and interior decoration. From there, things spiraled out of control until we hit the natural conclusion that the internet always escalates to: giving Zelda a glock.

But if I had to pick favorites, these final three are the pinnacle of the posts I saw. Sometimes, the internet can be a really funny place.

It’s actually been really joyous to see communities getting excited for what appears, on its face, to be a novel take on the beloved series. I feel my own fervor for Echoes of Wisdom being stoked with every bit of fanart or memes that I see folks posting online, so please keep it coming. This is the kind of energy I can get behind any day of the week. And yes, you’re all right, we should absolutely give Zelda a gun.

Moises Taveras

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June 20, 2024
The Week's Biggest Gaming News, From GTA 6 To The Game Awards

Gaming’s biggest night has come and gone, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all was just how little time devs were given to thank their family, fans, and recently deceased colleagues during their acceptance speeches. But before that, we finally got our first in-depth look at Rockstar’s GTA 6, the most anticipated game in a decade. Here’s your cheat sheet to the week’s biggest news.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading

GTA VI Confirmed Next-Gen Only, Skipping PC At Launch

Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku

Rockstar Games has confirmed that, at least at launch, the company’s long-awaited open-world crime sim, Grand Theft Auto VI, will launch on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 only, with no mention of a PC version. – Zack Zwiezen Read More

10 Years Ago, An Underrated Zelda Game Paved The Way For Tears Of The Kingdom

Screenshot: Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is often heralded as one of the best adventure games of the past 25 years. With the nefarious Ganon once again scheming to conquer the land, it’s up to Link to traverse through time, space, and yet another aggravating water temple to save the Kingdom of Hyrule. While the epic for the N64 is celebrating a major birthday this year, inspiring tribute mash-up videos and social media celebrations, another classic Zelda title is quietly celebrating a major milestone of its own. – Jen Glennon Read More

Steam’s Most-Hyped Zombie Game Is Out, And It’s A Dumpster Fire

Image: Fntastic

The Day Before kicked off 2023 as one of the most wishlisted games on Steam. Now, after endless controversies, the self-proclaimed open-world survival-horror MMO styled after The Last of Us is finally in Steam Early Access, and it’s getting panned. The first players to lay hands on the much-hyped zombie shooter are sharing footage of game-breaking glitches and leaving thousands of negative reviews. – Ethan Gach Read More

Return To Vice City In 20 Glorious Images From GTA 6

Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku

We knew it was coming. Heck, we knew it was mere hours away. But Grand Theft Auto VI is finally, truly happening for real, and we just got our first official glimpse of the game, thanks to Rockstar Games. – Jen Glennon Read More

Overwatch 2’s Latest Mercy Skin Sparks Fan Backlash

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2 season eight begins today, December 5, but Blizzard showed off its new skins, events, and latest tank hero, Mauga, before kick-off. And the sentiment from players about the skins for season eight has been mixed—Baptiste’s formal wear is a standout, but it’s sandwiched between some real stinkers and an unremarkable Mythic Skin. But one cosmetic has stood out for all the wrong reasons: Mercy’s Year of the Dragon event skin. – Kenneth Shepard Read More

Everything We Saw At The Game Awards 2023

Screenshot: The Game Awards / Kotaku

2023’s The Game Awards just wrapped. Did you watch it? Well, no worries if you missed it (or had something better to do) as we’ve rounded up every major game trailer and world premiere you could want to watch in a single sitting. So if you’re looking to check out a new trailer or catch up on all the games that were announced this year, you’re in the right place. – Claire Jackson Read More

Alleged New GTA 6 Leak Is Already Causing Pandemonium

Image: Rockstar Games / Kotaku

A seven-second TikTok reverberated across the internet over the weekend, after it claimed to show the “first look” at in-game footage of a city in Grand Theft Auto VI, the open-world blockbuster whose official trailer is just a day away. Frantic speculation about whether the footage was real or not ensued, including unverified rumors that the leak involved a Rockstar Games developer’s own kid. – Ethan Gach Read More

Report: Bungie Will Lose Independence Within Sony If Destiny 2 Fails Financial Goals

Image: Bungie

While Sony acquired Destiny 2 maker Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022, it repeatedly claimed the creator of Halo and other hits would remain an “independent subsidiary.” Now IGN reports that if Bungie’s sci-fi MMO keeps failing revenue targets, Sony could dissolve its existing board of directors and take full control of the roughly 1,100 person studio. – Ethan Gach Read More

Sega Exec On How Cloud-Based Services Are The New Game Demos

How Cloud-Based Services Are Like The New Game Demos

The creative director of the studio behind Sonic Dream Team shares his thoughts on the future of mobile gaming

Every Change In Cyberpunk 2077‘s Last Big Update

Image: CD Projekt Red

After a long and tumultuous road, Cyberpunk 2077 appears to be getting its final major update today. The sprawling patch includes a new ridable metro system and more romance options, as well as a host of other tweaks, changes, and additions. Unless it ends up breaking something big in the game, consider patch 2.1 Night City’s last overhaul until Cyberpunk 2 arrives a decade or so from now. – Ethan Gach Read More

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December 9, 2023
Tears of the Kingdom Fans Think They See Link’s Well-Endowed Package

Image: Nintendo / Kotaku / loonathemoon

Recently, a couple of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players experienced an unexpected but funny jump scare. And no, the jumpscare had nothing to do with the game’s imposing villain, Ganon. It was apparently the jiggle physics of the hero of Hyrule’s crown jewels. Or at least what looks like it. Yeah, it’s gonna be one of those kinds of explainer blogs, so buckle up.

Skyward Sword HD Revisits The Stumble That Led To Breath Of The Wild

Earlier his week, Twitter user Dahffodil uploaded TotK gameplay clip of Link falling to his knees with the Pulitzer Prize-worthy caption “link balls jumpscare.” Folks, the screenshot of what could seem like Link’s dangly bits can only be compared to the bulge attached below the waist of Clone High’s JFK. That thang is thanging. To make matters all the more cinematic, a fellow Twitter user named Kyra replied with a video of Link getting rag dolled to the ground, causing his balls (?) to sway in response, like two large burlap sacks full of shock fruit. You can see what I’m talking about below.

Link’s package has been myth busted (unfortunately)

The screenshot and clip of Link’s danglers quickly went viral collectively garnering over 50,000 likes and 9,802 bookmarks on Twitter, for research purposes of course. The attention led Dahffodil to mute their post so as to not have their phone vibrate its way to the center of the Earth and challenge Ganon to a boss battle itself. While many online have made their voices clear on the topic of Link’s “jiggle physics” being the only valid use-case of the feature in video games, it turns out that Link’s swingers aren’t what they appear to be.

Iconoclasts creator Joakim Sandberg revealed in a quote retweet that Link’s clackers aren’t nads at all but the results of a graphical hitch after Link’s got rag-dolled in Kyra’s video.

He throwing it back fr fr ◑﹏◐
Gif: Nintendo / Kotaku / loonathemoon

“It’s funny looking, but y’all do realize this is the torso moving down and clipping through the blue cloth creating the illusion of jiggle, right? Nintendo didn’t put in ball physics,” Sandberg wrote. “If the blue cloth wasn’t there you’d see the whole torso bouncing while bent down.”

Personally, I choose to believe that producer Eiji Aonuma sat TotK developers down and stressed the importance of pushing the Nintendo Switch to its graphical limit by assuring that the Link’s sack had the physics of a wrecking ball. Life is what you make it, after all.

Isaiah Colbert

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July 18, 2023
Who Are The Mysterious Zonai Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Fans Can’t Stop Talking About?

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is almost here, and from the looks of it, the enigmatic faction called the Zonai may play a big role in the sequel after mostly existing in the background of Breath of the Wild. If you’re feeling like you’re walking in on something or like you missed a big plot beat in the last game, don’t worry. Despite a lot of theory crafting over the years, even the biggest Zelda fans don’t have a lot of concrete details as to who or what the Zonai were. But let’s break down what we do know and why fans think the Zonai are being primed as a key player in Tears of the Kingdom.

Skyward Sword HD Revisits The Stumble That Led To Breath Of The Wild

What do we already know about the Zonai?

In Breath of the Wild, the Zonai are described as a tribe that no longer exists within Hyrule, but their nature is seemingly up for debate within the game’s world. They’re described both as a savage tribe of barbarians, as well as powerful magic users who worship animals, specifically Farosh, a water dragon that can be found in places like the Gerudo Highlands. Traces of their existence are visible in places like the Zonai Ruins in the southern area of the map, with long-abandoned architecture hinting at their reverence for Hyrule’s wildlife. In the lore and art book The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion, it’s revealed the animals prominently featured in what’s left of the Zonai’s home reference the three pieces of the Triforce: a dragon for Courage, an owl for Wisdom, and a boar for Power. Beyond the animals, the Zonai also have their own crest resembling a spiral, which is seen on architecture associated with the tribe.

Beyond that, Link can acquire a Barbarian armor set in Breath of the Wild believed to be worn by members of the Zonai long ago after navigating specific labyrinths implied to have been built by the tribe. While it all fits together, much of what we know about the tribe is speculation fostered by the game’s ambient storytelling. It’s a very minimalistic, FromSoftware-style approach to world-building and largely rewards those who want to explore the game’s big world. However, it might be paying off for all of us in Tears of the Kingdom.

Nintendo of America

Why do fans think Tears of the Kingdom will involve the Zonai?

Theories that the Zonai would be a major player in Tears of the Kingdom have been prevalent since the game’s reveal in 2019 because of the focus on the spiral motif central to Zonai architecture. However, the connection is much more concrete now thanks to the most recent gameplay showcase. During this stream, Nintendo revealed the Zonai are tied to the events of Tears of the Kingdom through a piece of loot. In the 10-minute gameplay trailer, Link defeats an enemy in the floating sky islands, and it drops an item called a Zonai Charge. The video doesn’t linger on the item, but it clearly has the same green energy seen to power the machine-like enemies Link is fighting, the (broken) seal around Ganondorf seen in the original trailer, and Link’s corrupted, glowing arm.

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Will we meet the Zonai in Tears of the Kingdom?

Given how quiet Nintendo has been regarding Tears of the Kingdom’s story, it’s hard to say whether or not Link will actually come across a member of the Zonai tribe. Given the group seems to have been entirely gone from Hyrule in Breath of the Wild, with the only information we have on them coming from theories and their remaining architecture, it seems most logical that the Zonai have been wiped out or have gone into hiding. But even so, their technology and magic are still present and causing trouble for our hero in Tears of the Kingdom. All that being said, it’s not entirely out of the question that some may have survived and have been waiting for the events of this game to reveal themselves. The series is also no stranger to time travel, with it being a key pillar to games like Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Ages. So there’s a chance Link could come face-to-face with the Zonai during their prime, but that’s not confirmed.

Wait, how does Twilight Princess play into all this?

Like most of the possibilities discussed here, the connection between The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Tears of the Kingdom is still speculation, but fans believe they’ve found connections between the Zonai and the Twili, who were introduced in Twilight Princess. Breath of the Wild incorporates several tribes and species from the series’ lifetime from the Sheikah to the Zora. The Twili, however, are notably absent, but given the similarities to architecture and magic seen in Tears of the Kingdom and that of the Twili, fans speculate that the Zonai could be the original race that was turned into monsters by Zant in Twilight Princess. There are even some breakdowns of iconography and sigils throughout Breath of the Wild that do closely resemble imagery in Twilight Princess. It’s all theory crafting at this point, and Breath of the Wild itself doesn’t do much on its own to directly make this possible tie-in apparent. So don’t feel like you completely missed out on a potential connection. This is all fan interpretation, for now.

Whatever the Zonai are, it does seem like they will be at least part of Tears of the Kingdom’s larger setup. Whether we actually meet one remains to be seen, but we’ll find out when the game comes to Switch on May 12.

Kenneth Shepard

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April 7, 2023
Zelda Producer Plays Tears Of The Kingdom For 10 Mins, And The New Stuff Looks Wild

Zelda fans have been starving for anything they can get, any crumb they can catch, and it seems like Nintendo is finally taking pity, rewarding them with a 10-minute gameplay trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

During the gameplay snippet, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma says through a translator that Tears has changed the world “in many ways,” including pieces of Hyrule that float high in the sky, or “sky islands.”

Tears of the Kingdom new abilities means less climbing

Link can reach these sky islands through his new “recall” powers, which alters an object’s movement, or “ascend,” which allows Link to pass through ceilings in a path of twisting turquoise light. The recall power lets Link take a giant boulder that fell from a floating island back up to said island like a cool rock elevator. And ascend means you no longer have to always scale the sides of mountains, keeping an eye on Link’s stamina meter while you do it.

Another new power “fuse,” lets Link combine two objects, like a branch with a boulder, and use it as a unique weapon—a hammer, in this case. “Ultrahand” is what Link will use to construct those vehicles we’ve seen in previous trailers.

Tears of the Kingdom weapon fusing

Fuse seems to be one of the game’s most versatile new powers, letting Link attach almost anything to anything to improve and alter its qualities. At one point, for example, Link attaches two fans to a raft to turn it into a sort of rustic speedboat. You can also attach objects to your arrows to increase their utility, including a hunk of meat. The term “meat arrow” is currently all over our Twitter timeline, as Zelda fans rushed to wonder what they can do with such an arrow in Tears of the Kingdom.

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Other surprising reveals include breaking weapons (in the trailer, it’s a branch that breaks, for realism) and a fresh enemy, the Construct, which looks like a stony robot.

The Zonai in Tears of the Kingdom

The lengthy gameplay trailer also appeared to accidentally confirm the presence of the Zonai, a prehistoric tribe in the Zelda universe whose ruins dot Hyrule. During the gameplay, we see Link collect something called a Zonai charge from a fallen Construct. It’s unclear what they do just yet, but it certainly has fans excited to see how much Tears of the Kingdom will explore their lore.

This is what I would call a big meal. Before today, we had a very narrow idea of what the highly anticipated Breath of the Wild sequel would contain. Existing trailers revealed that the game—Nintendo’s first $70 game (pro tip: it will be cheaper if you use a Nintendo Switch Game Voucher to purchase it)—looks even more fantastic than BoTW.

“Hopefully it runs okay on the aging Switch hardware,” Kotaku senior reporter Ethan Gach wrote at the time of the reveal.

Good graphics are a nice thing to have, and a nice thing to see demonstrated before you in a Nintendo trailer, but it isn’t something you can run with. Past trailers have provided a general sense of what the hell is going on: Zelda isn’t sure that Link will be able to handle the latest threat, but he also gets to fly through the sky on a hulking hoverboard and what appears to be a hot air balloon, so who’s really winning?

But it wasn’t enough for fans to sink their teeth in. They’ve been subbing facts for wild dreams, theorizing that Tears will feature the first speaking Ganon, some sort of lost soul mechanic. They also surmised that the game would have homing arrows, which today’s trailer confirmed…you just need to fuse your arrows with squishy yellow Keese Eyeballs to make it happen.

Today’s trailer, which continues to show Link and his verdant world at its best and adds even more gameplay mechanics to the ones previous trailers revealed, is hopefully only the start to Nintendo preparing to open up the flood gates of cold, hard Zelda information. It doesn’t have much time, anyway—the game releases for Switch on May 12.

Ashley Bardhan

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March 28, 2023