A Hyperlink to the Previous and a Breath of One thing New

With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Hyperlink is again in Hyrule, however issues aren’t fairly what they was once. Numerous communities throughout the land have been reacting to the modifications fairly otherwise. Over in Kakariko, for example, unusual ring-shaped ruins have fallen from the sky, and people aren’t certain what to make of it or the right way to proceed.

Hateno can also be present process change, forcing its inhabitants to rethink the village’s core id and its future. That is epitomized by dressmaker Cece and mayor Reede, who’ve very totally different visions of what’s going to serve their beloved settlement finest. “Workforce Cece or Workforce Reede?” is one in every of Tears of the Kingdom‘s extra memorable questlines, and it parallels the franchise’s personal negotiations of conference and alter inside the fashionable gaming panorama.

Cece, Reede, and the Destiny of Hateno Village in Tears of the Kingdom

Inhabited by the humanoid Hylians, Hateno Village is comparatively small, and in Breath of the Wild, it’s proven that the standard inhabitants primarily depend on agriculture. The village returns in Tears of the Kingdom, although issues have modified barely.
Most of the villagers now not put on their common rags, however as an alternative sport mushroom-inspired outfits designed by Cece. Although the designs could seem odd at first, it’s obvious that they’ve caught on. Even outdoors of Hateno, Hyperlink repeatedly spots Hyruleans carrying colourful mushroom hats.

Cece’s forward-thinking vogue advantages Hateno by bringing in a youthful crowd. Sadly, battle arises, as not all people is on board with the sudden change. Some residents are traditionalists, and they’d a lot want issues stay as they had been. That is comprehensible, as traditions usually have deeply rooted causes for his or her existence, even when they aren’t overt. They’d reasonably see Hateno identified for agriculture than vogue.

Hateno Village’s Mayoral Election and the Nice Resolution

The battle reaches a peak throughout the quest titled “The Mayoral Election“. Cece needs to guide the village right into a way forward for mushroom-inspired vogue. However, Reede needs to retain the agricultural heritage of the village. The 2 seem diametrically opposed at first, however upon nearer inspection, Hyperlink discovers that their ideologies aren’t as incompatible as they initially appear.
Cece can’t totally flip her again on Hateno’s traditions, and she or he is secretly in love with the village’s greens! Equally, Reede claims to be a traditionalist, however he privately acknowledges the advantages of innovation. Therefore, he has clandestine plans to staff up with Nack and get the youth excited about agriculture by creating new pumpkins primarily based on Cece’s designs.

When election day rolls round, their secrets and techniques are revealed, and the 2 understand that they don’t must be enemies. As a substitute, innovation and custom may be balanced to result in one of the best advantages of each. As Reede concludes, the “finest solution to hold Hateno Village vibrant is to work collectively to mix conventional tradition with new concepts”. The lesson is a poignant one, and it addresses points which have surrounded the brand new period of The Legend of Zelda.

Is The Legend of Zelda on Workforce Cece or Workforce Reede?

When growth for Breath of the Wild started, it looks like Nintendo was pondering deeply about methods to brighten up and innovate the franchise. The reasoning behind this isn’t difficult. As iconic The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma defined in 2013, “issues that don’t change with the instances are going to get misplaced.” It very a lot appears that there was a powerful Cece-esque philosophy of wanting to attract in a contemporary viewers. In the identical interview, Aonuma additionally admitted that he hoped to “get extra folks into Hyperlink.”

However, there have been actually loads of Reede-esque components to the sport, and regardless of the drastic format change, it’s firmly rooted within the franchise’s historical past. For example, the non-linear gameplay that characterizes Breath of the Wild hearkens again to A Hyperlink Between World‘s design. Fairly than solely leaning into custom or clawing for innovation, the 2 philosophies are harmonized.

The fixed dynamic balancing of each custom and innovation can also be seen in Tears of the Kingdom, albeit in a bit extra refined type. As soon as once more, there are many components from the franchise’s previous offered. Most strikingly, the floating islands peppering Hyrule’s higher areas is not going to be a brand new sight to anybody accustomed to Skyward Sword.
Moreover, the Temples of Tears of the Kingdom have been drastically impressed by previous The Legend of Zelda titles. As artwork director Satoru Takizawa has defined, “the 4 Divine Beasts had been the dungeons within the final recreation, they usually shared related designs. This time, the dungeons are big and every carry their very own regional appear and feel, similar to conventional The Legend of Zelda video games.”

This doesn’t imply that Tears of the Kingdom has foregone innovation. As a substitute, it has leaned additional into what Nintendo has dubbed the “open air” style, which is one thing Aonuma has claimed would be the new format for the franchise going ahead.

Very similar to Hateno Village, The Legend of Zelda has needed to renegotiate its id, and it’s not all the time clear what the proper path ahead is. In the long run, because the inhabitants of Hateno uncover, neither Reede’s nor Cece’s philosophy will result in success in isolation. As a substitute, a fragile mix of the 2 is important, and when it’s struck, the result’s an expertise as impactful as Tears of the Kingdom.

Smangaliso Simelane

Freelance Author – Smangaliso Simelane is a author with a ardour for all issues associated to video video games. He has been writing about video video games since 2020.

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