Are Lynels the centaurs? Because I had one heck of a surprise confrontation with one while approaching Mount Lanayru:

Hey, somebody had to say it, right? :)

Holy guacamole, this game is mind-bogglingly good. Like, "I just smile almost constantly while playing it" good. And while the broad strokes are top-notch, and the game has the typical level of Nintendo polish, it's really the little touches that make me grin the most. The NPCs are so engaging, even when they are…

Will do.

I absolutely feel lonely sometimes. It's one of the more mysterious feelings, as it creeps up at truly random times. As for what provokes it… the easiest answer is when my wife goes out of town for her work, or I have to go out of town for my work. You get so comfortable and used to having someone around that you…

It's a little exhausting, right? Someone on here told me to just check in on it once or twice a day, so you don't lose track of things or lose touch, but that it's the constant engagement that provokes exhaustion and, eventually, disengagement.

(1) My week is going very well. I've been in a minor rut (nothing specific, just the way it goes sometimes) and that seems to have perceptibly shifted. I got a few ideas over the weekend to get more engaged with my work, so that's nice. I've been acting on those this week and, unsurprisingly, am experiencing more work…

Cool!

Me too.

It's shockingly good. Having played through the series in its entirety over the past two years after having largely ignored it for decades (exceptions include Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening), this game is one of the series highlights, if not the best execution so far of the series themes and mechanics. I think…

As an actual owner of the console, I can say that it's fantastic. No pixel issues, no scratching issues, and outstanding picture quality for great games on the go. I even intended to get a pro controller, but the included joycons were so good that I decided not to. It's got a limited pool of software (as most consoles…

I find the puzzle difficulty varies pretty radically. I've completed about 14 shrines at this point, and encountered at least one in which I couldn't solve the puzzle and two where I was outclassed by the enemy (near Hateno Village); I later returned to one of these latter shrines and succeeded in taking down the…

Good point! I did this in Zelda 2 as well, trying to level up Link's life and magic meters. And come to think of it, you sort of do it in Link Between Worlds if you're trying to gain enough money to buy new items. It's certainly a series that flirts with grinding, while never really committing to it.

I don't think anybody else writes as eloquently or as accurately about the Legend of Zelda as you. Thanks for putting these thoughts into words - as a historian/archivist, and a big fan of the Zelda franchise, I find its focus on history and tradition to be one of its most beguiling preoccupations. So far, I'm finding …

So it turns out I've been playing this game for about 6 hours, and I thought maybe 3 hours had gone by? I think this is actually the first time I've experienced what others have talked about, where they look at the clock and tons of extra time has gone by. Gosh, Breath of the Wild is as good as everyone's been saying…

Oh, this is one of the more insightful bits I've read on why game enthusiasts are so… particular about their reviews.

Happily, the community has already gotten on this - Wii emulation on PCs is surprisingly effective, and that's the way that I played Skyward Sword earlier this year (don't worry, I own a physical copy of the game!). Even if support is eventually discontinued by Nintendo, and we should assume it will be, classic games…

Irrational consumer hype update: I now have the Nintendo Switch in my house, and will be activating it momentarily. Holy crap, I'm too excited!

It's kind of weird how well that system works in Zelda 2, and how quick the series was to move away from it. Don't get me wrong - it's likely better that it did. Still, it is an intriguing path that worked but was abandoned. I suspect we'll say the same about Skyward Sword's motion-based combat ten years from now too.

I sure do!