To all the fandom, that has encompassed the many, many years, that the Legend of Zelda has graced our home consoles. To all the fandom, that has enjoyed each iteration of a new Zelda game, with fervor and gusto. To all the fandom, who has no clue, what is happening and in what order, since they began playing the great series known as ‘Legend of Zelda.’ To all the fandom, who first played an Legend of Zelda game, and thought the guy in the green, was Zelda, and to finally find out, he has a better, more badass name of Link! My fellow, Zelda fandom, our many prayers have been answered, and we have been award with the Tome of Truth… the Tome dubbed, Hyrule Historia!
The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, is an comprehensive guide first outlining the complete history and timeline of the series since its inception all the way up to Skyward Sword. The book explains everything that is known from the games and comics. The details are rather amazing of what some have missed and some people have made certainly ascertained from playing the game. As you read through the book, the timeline is broken down into a beginning timeline, until the timeline diverges into three separate branches, depending on the route of the hero, Link takes, given his failure leading to one, and his success being broken into two, each explaining the events during each era.
The introduction of the book is an preface written by Shigeru Miyamoto, going over the start of Legend of Zelda with his small team, and then into current day,where, he describes the making of Skyward Sword. I won’t give too much away about what he has to say in the first, but it gives you his mind set over the course of making each and every Legend of Zelda game. It also gives you a sense of awww, that many stories and characters, and over the years others, have fostered such an amazing story and stable of characters. After the preface, it goes into the artwork and decisions on how the characters would look, the reasoning behind certain details, certain aspects of the story and the flow as well. Additionally, seeing some of the characters that didn’t make it into game, or the pre-game designs of the characters, is simply astounding, how many changes they took before becoming final.
Which brings me to the artwork, and the artwork, in the Historia, for Legend of Zelda and its lore, is second to none. The crisp lines, the style and concept and final versions of Link or Zelda throughout each game, is simply weird to see the stages, but knowing the end result is always amazing. And with each drawing or concept drawing, you also get the notes that were left as if we, the reader, are a part of the process of selecting final image of the characters and stages. Additionally, you get at the end of the Historia; a 25pg manga following Link on an adventure… I won’t spoil anything, but its a great read.
The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, is a must have for any fan of Legend of Zelda, as well as a person just interested in the story and lore, without playing any of the games. But now, why wouldn’t you want to play any Legend of Zelda game, hmmm? The art allows you to reminisce over previous games played with more information on the events played out during and off screen. Allowing fans to appreciate the series as a whole even more, and wonder where the series will go from here on out. So I reiterate, Legend of Zelda fandom, GO OUT AND BUY THIS TOME! And make it your coffee table book!
This is an awesome book. Loved reliving all the Zelda memories.