Before we start today, I'd like to introduce you all to someone. She should be to your immediate right there, drawn to life by a dear friend. Meet Anna Michelin. She is a character I created, a character who has thrived and survived three National Novel Writing Month competitions so far. She was being written about when this resumed Nintendo Project started. In a sense, she has been lurking throughout the project this entire time. Funny, that, considering why I'm mentioning her. Anna Michelin is a historian, a woman with an intense love for the history of her planet and her family. She has other qualities that made her one of my favorite characters to write for, but it's her love of history that make me mention her now. That and I needed a punchy opening paragraph. Lord knows I stretched out the word count a little while I wrote for Anna in Nanowrimo, and those tricks never really leave you. Anna is our thematic link today. We must deal with folklore and history today, in 8-bit form. A legacy, and some legends. There's one other quality that set Anna head and shoulders above others in my mind. It was her desire for exploration. With access to future technology, she was able to visit her own family history directly, and learn by experiencing it first-hand. In that regard, you could say that she was blessed by a spirit. The spirit of Endless Adventure beckoned her, and its siren call is faint but audible even now. Let us see what the legacy of adventure has for us.-1.png)
Ah yes. Legacy Of The Wizard. A cute little title with a double meaning lost on many, especially at the time of release. One reads it and presumes a prior legacy of some mythic wizard from a time long forgotten, a legend of spellcraft and sorcery that continues on into the present day. In a land that did not exist in 1987, it was called Dragon Slayer IV. Part of a series called Dragon Slayer. Our fourth game came to the land of opportunity that was North America and changed its name, though it left some of its familial pride intact for anyone who wanted to look. It was also made with the assistance of Falcom, a company well-versed in the serene siren song of Endless Adventure. Legacy Of The Wizard is a quest, make no mistake. Its world is vast. We will talk more about vast worlds and Nintendo carts once we fully reach the shrine of Endless Adventure... but for now, bear witness to the scope of this legacy. To put things into perspective, my one voyage into this dread labyrinthe turns out to have been about 15% of this place. That was with one character. To succeed in this adventure is to use the bonds of family, and take each member to different spots of the labyrinth. Anna, being a woman with strong ties to her own family legacy, would approve of these folks. I know it because I write her, and to write her is to know her. This adventure would require much dedication, a willingness to spend untold hours charting out the twists and turns of this place, learning who can go where and what to find. It is not a bad game. Just one that someone cannot just jump into and enjoy. Legacy Of The Wizard is demanding, and I respect it just a bit for that. Not enough to bring myself to map out this dark place in full, but much more than I do for some of the games we have covered.-1.png)
Now for the land of legends. We will be dancing in this playground for quite some time, so sit and listen to Anna. She's found an interesting tome about a ghostly white lion. Two parents, inspired by the legend, set off for endless adventure. They never returned. Were they unprepared, or was the adventure too great for them? Either way, their daughter Maria set off for her own endless adventure, and found herself in a brave new world. The legend reminds one of the legendary Erdrick, or Loto as the historic translations later knew him as. Maria, however, was different. Erdrick drew his strength from his own experiences as an adventurer, and was rumored to have grown stronger as he survived deadly encounters with monsters. Maria, on the other hand, drew her power from the world of Valya itself. Hope. Courage. Dreaming. These are the virtues that Maria was rumored to have used to overcome her adversaries... or so it says here. Legends are curious things. She may even have been able to summon forth other beings to battle alongside her, and assist her in her fight. I like this lady. She sounds like she was a true warrior of Valya, a mythic heroine lost to the fog of legend and folklore. There's another legendary woman like that, and her tale will be told in due time. A legend for the space age. This tale would be worth the dedication to research, to sift through. I am curious as to what happened to Maria. Aren't you?
What a curious legend to close things off for the day. The legend of a man named Kage. He came from a land that did not exist, with minimalist colors and tossing throwing stars at enemy ninjas. Someone had kidnapped a lady he cared about. This is impetus enough for Kage to go on a killing spree, tossing the throwing stars with impunity. Lightning flares in the background as Kage is let loose on his rampage, a blood-soaked beast in red from distant lands. I am not as enthralle by this tale. It is mindless and a little repetitive, and frankly reeks of something... odd. Ye ancient beast of fear and dread, GREED. How do you fight something that is eternal? The eater of worlds, and of currency? The starter of wars? You simply do not. Here, then, lies our hero Kage. Cut down in his prime by precise throwing stars from the enemy. Aimed perfectly, mind. Some ninja of despair has been waiting, and just as Kage finishes his jump... in the moment before he notices the counter attack, he is nicked. He falls. He falls again and again. Kage could not climb the tower, and the dread beast GREED held sway over all... but this is not how it should go. Look. We have arrived at the shrine of Endless Adventure. The gravity of this place is massive. Historic. Its pull alters everything around it, as well as everything to come since. Time and space are drawn towards this place, as she floats above the cosmos, her white dress billowing in the wind as she gently smiles. She is Endless Adventure. She is the Goddess Valya. As she gives me a warm smile, I can feel it. I feel the call of the wild. I feel adventure. As I feel it, she begins to tell me of another legend, one I thought I knew before now.It is time to be regaled about the legend of Zelda.
By the way guys, Frez writes books. Can you tell?
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