zelda – Oliver D. King

Episode 1 – Reconciling the Maps

It has been my opinion that the creators of Breath of the Wild didn’t just throw in certain Easter Eggs to other games on the map, but that they actually tried to reconcile all the previous world building into one comprehensive map. It only makes sense, now that the game developers have said Breath of the Wild is the inevitable outcome of all three timelines. Allowing for ruins is a great way to do this and there are some obvious locations for us to find: such as Lon Lon Ranch and Arbiter’s Grounds.

But I think there’s more.

Before I go further, we need to fix a problem. This first post on this series is simply to reconcile the maps. As we do this we’ll need to exercise some creative freedom, as I’m sure the developers did the same. Nothing will be perfect, but there’s enough evidence to show that the developers made an effort, if imperfect. For now, we’re just going to stick with the major console games: specifically Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, and Breath of the Wild. Later, I’ll bring in some of the 2D maps later.

Continue reading “Finding Secret Locations In Breath of the Wild From Previous Games” →

Random and Fandom, Review

7 reasons why Skyward Sword is NOT the best Zelda game ever…

April 4, 2013 Oliver D. King

Anyone who gets to know me quickly finds out that The Legend of Zelda is probably my favorite video game franchise of all time. I haven’t in any way played ALL the games in the franchise, but I’m pretty familiar with the major ones. I’ve played through most of the original Legend of Zelda and Link’s Adventure, though I didn’t beat either of them probably because I was too young and ADD to put up with the frustration. I played and beat Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess multiple times. I came close to beating Majora’s Mask, but something came up and I never got back to it. I’ve never played Wind Waker, but I know a lot about it because I’ve completed most of its direct sequel, Phantom Hourglass, and Wind Waker is on my radar to get for the WiiU this fall.

I’m also a fiction writer, and fantasy is my first love. It’s the story and mythology of Zelda that really draws me in. There’s something captivating about these stories, something I’d like to emulate one day in a novel.

Recently I finally completed Skyward Sword. I know people have been raving over this game, raving that it’s probably the best Zelda game ever. That’s quite a tall claim. In fact, I firmly do NOT think it even comes close to the best Zelda game ever. At best, I’d rank it as #3 or 4. And here’s why…

Continue reading “7 reasons why Skyward Sword is NOT the best Zelda game ever…” →

My writing journey

Using a “Straw man” plot in fiction. What’s your opinion?

June 22, 2011 Oliver D. King

I posted a status about this on Facebook yesterday, but I didn’t get the kind of response I was hoping for. So here’s my attempt at a larger audience…and an opportunity to explain myself better.

I want to know what you feel about the use of a “Straw man” plot in fiction. If you’re unsure of what I’m talking about, I’ll explain. I’m not sure if this technique has an official term in literary circles…but “Straw man” is what I’m calling it. The term comes from the informal logical fallacy of the same name. Wikipedia describes the “Straw man” fallacy as:

“a component of an argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent’s position. To “attack a straw man” is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by substituting it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the “straw man”), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.”

How am I applying this to fiction? A “Straw man” plot is a fake plot used in the exposition to mislead the reader. When the real plot comes into play, the fake plot is completely discarded as irrelevant. A “Straw man” plot usually ends with a “WHAT THE!” moment, blowing the reader’s mind and perception of what’s happening, and skews the story in a totally unexpected direction. The “Straw man” plot is never mentioned again. This is not the same as having sub-plots or plot-twists. Sub-plots continue on, and usually have some significance to the overall story. A plot-twist is an unexpected change to the current plot. A “Straw man” plot is fake, insignificant, and tossed aside in favor of more important things.

I haven’t been able to think of any books or movies that have pulled this off. Please let me know if you can think of any, because I’d like some examples. But one of the best examples I can think of comes from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess video game for Wii. At the beginning of this game, Link is asked to deliver a special sword to Hyrule Castle. He goes through a few rudimentary training exercises, and a short adventure in preparation of this journey. And just before he leaves…a black portal opens up in the sky, everything is thrust into a dark twilight-dimension, and Link turns into a wolf. WHAT THE! Forget delivering the stupid sword to the castle. The world now has bigger problems. This “Straw man” plot is never mentioned again. In fact, the only connection to it is that Link later goes back to his home village and steals that sword so he’ll have something to beat up monsters with.

So what do you think of using the “Straw man” plot? Does it work for you or not? Can you think of a movie or book examples that have succeeded using it? Can you think of movie or book examples that have bombed using it? And would you consider using this in one of your own books? What’s your opinion?

-odk