← Back to context

Comment by hyperhello

9 hours ago

What’s the word for trying to do cluster analysis on what is actually randomly distributed data? The games do have obvious similarities and sometimes refer to each other, but they’re independent events.

27 comments

hyperhello

Reply
xnx  9 hours ago

Nintendo now maintains/updates an official timeline: https://zelda.nintendo.com/about/

  • bspammer  9 hours ago

    Sure but that's a retcon. They didn't have this in mind when they made the games.

    • tarsierscripter  7 hours ago

      I have been playing Zelda games since the late 80s. I have never felt the need to try to weave a cohesive timeline out of the entire series.

      Instead, I view the games as a combination of re-imaginings and direct sequels. However, the games really are not story-driven enough to care which one is which. Any of the games can be played standalone or in any order, and it doesn't matter.

      In my view, the story of these games is mostly a pretext and the real reason is the gameplay. Some of the games lean a bit harder into the story angles, and they really suffer for it (too many cutscenes make those games frustrating to play).

      1 reply →

  • yieldcrv  3 hours ago

    this is more so a corporate acquihire of fan fiction writers

    Zelda canon was never that deep when each game was written

    writers had no secret timeline or their own deep interest in the prior writers rendition

    they have a loose setting and other people that chose the writer to have near complete license to do whatever they want with it

    and even that’s a negotiation, writers often have their own backlogged story already that they adapt to existing IP retroactively

    whatever it doesn’t matter, I’m just surprised people are actually spending energy on this for this franchise. If this is what “fun” looks like now, it’s fine

InsideOutSanta  9 hours ago

I'm pretty sure Nintendo itself said at one point that they don't have a clear chronological order and may not tie into each other properly, even though they later retconned an order.

Still, it's fun to try to figure out how the puzzle pieces might fit together even though they came out of different boxes.

  • SubiculumCode  8 hours ago

    I've only played a handful of these games .. but do they work together as a theme or story progression or are they, as I suspect, pretty much independent rehashes with no real relationship other than making money and appeasing fans?

    • pjerem  8 hours ago

      I played most Zelda games of the last 30 years.

      To the exception of TOTK, I _never_ noticed any link (hehe) between different titles. I know there are some references, but I never catch them.

      Even Majora's Mask, which is an official follow up occurring months after Ocarina of Time have a totally different story to tell that don't even try to continue the OoT story and is more just another completely independent story barely in the same universe.

      I love the Zelda games, I consider myself a fan. But they are just that : good games. Each of those games do have interesting stories to tell, interesting universes to visit, but the overall "franchise" lore is totally uninteresting.

      And honestly I don't think it's something bad, it means each game is free to go where it wants, and every game is free to have an universe as rich as it wants.

      I see Zelda totally like I see mario : it's just universe codes, not a real lore. Nobody cares if Mario Galaxy happens before or after Mario 64 or Super Mario World. Zelda is the same for me. And that's cool.

      1 reply →

    • esperent  8 hours ago

      > no real relationship other than making money and appeasing fans

      That's a very cynical and dare I say Hackernews take. You could also, less cynically, see them as unique pieces of art that have managed to carve a space in a field where, by necessity, a lot of money is needed to create it (AAA games).

      Tears of the Kingdom is art. It's a beautiful, simple fairytale told through the medium of a huge open world game and there's something unique in being able to embody that story for so many hours. I haven't played any other Zelda games from the past ~20 years but if they're similarly artful (and by all accounts they are) we don't need to be cynical towards their simplicity or the fact that they're variations on a theme. Pretty much all human art (and business) is, after all.

      1 reply →