Support NeoGAF

[LakeOf9]

so. I have been playing zelda since botw. gotten into it more with totk and decided to play the older games a bit too. I like all of them.

I also have gotten more into Nintendo stuff in general in the last few years. so there is a nintendo forum I have started to read (just read, not post on, I try to avoid console specific communities because the discussions get soooo bad) for ideas on what games to play. and then I come across this bullshit:

what the fuck is this? I thought this series was like final fantasy or persona, where all the games are standalone stories but have cute references to each other. in fact I was specifically told that tears of the kingdom is the first real sequel in the zelda series so I always thought the games dont connect to each other. but what is this? what is this kingdom hearts tier shit? how is anyone supposed to keep track of this?

please at least tell me this is a fan made thing and not an actual real thing, because how can you follow along with this nonsense?

 

[RoboFu]

*/where have you been int he last 20 years/*

Some weirdos made such a fuss because their brains couldn't understand the concept of " EVERY ZELDA IS A NEW STORY" that Nintendo got some intern to throw together some BS timeline.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Imagine caring about Zelda's plot

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

 

[Barakov]

Yeah.....they never should've made that timeline.

 

[Puscifer]

Does it really matter? That timeline is kinda meh when you consider you can literally start at any Zelda and just go from there lol

 

[swaffles23]

Nintendo never had a timeline in mind when making the original games so now it's just a giant convoluted mess they threw together

 

[ReBurn]

I think that's a timeline

 

[Success]

Terrible post title, now I see why mods lock threads.

Well done OP, you baited me into posting.

EDIT: For those wondering, the original thread title was something so terrible that even I had to make a "wtf op" post. Thank you mods for changing it to reflect the class of NeoGAF thread titles.

 

[Fuz]

Probably the dumbest idea ever to come out from Nintendo.

 

[buenoblue]

Are we live?

 

[Fatal Chuck Yeager]

what games to play. and then I come across this bullshit:

That timeline was an appeal to deranged fans that Nintendo decided to make official and now they can never take back. When it first came out Nintendo staff were getting harassed iirc.

 

[GymWolf]

Zelda is nintendo's kingdom hearts.

 

[LakeOf9]

I think that's a timeline

This is not a timeline, this is time vomit

I have played five Zelda games, four of them were in completely separate branches of this bullshit, at that point why even bother

 

[Skifi28]

Are we live?

 

[MAtgS]

what the fuck is this? I thought this series was like final fantasy or persona, where all the games are standalone stories but have cute references to each other.

Yes & no. Most Zeldas are standalone enough to enjoy them without needing too much backstory, but that doesn't mean the backstory ain't there. The connections & callbacks are always there.

The problem is how weird Nintendo got with it over time (pun not intended). Link to the Past was a prequel to the first 2 games (hence the name) & then OoT was a prequel to LTTP, supposedly setting up the events of LTTP. But I guess because of how damn popular OoT was at the time, Nintendo decided to have the subsequent be follow ups to it, effectively tossing the continuity that existed prior to the side.

That OoT has a couple of time paradoxes in it's plot served as the ammo for Nintendo to rationalize this shift.

in fact I was specifically told that tears of the kingdom is the first real sequel in the zelda series

That is definately not true & whomever told you that was a massive idiot. Like literally the 2nd game in the series was called Zelda 2 & continued after the first one.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

 

[GreenAlien]

I have played five Zelda games, four of them were in completely separate branches of this bullshit, at that point why even bother

Tears of the Kingdom und BotW are not on a separate branch. They are happening during the Era of Chaos. (is what I believe from that graph..)

 

[-Zelda-]

Are we live?

 

[Captain Toad]

so. I have been playing zelda since botw.

Wow. That long? Long time, hardcore Zelda fan right here.

 

[diffusionx]

Nintendo essentially canonized internet fandom autism

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Are you like new to Nintendo games or something? Pokemon recommendations now not knowing this.

 

[LakeOf9]

Are you like new to Nintendo games or something? Pokemon recommendations now not knowing this.

Yes? My OP literally says that?

Wow. That long? Long time, hardcore Zelda fan right here.

I literally say in the Op I started recently

 

[linko9]

OP, your interpretation is more or less what the creators of the games say, so just stick with that. Of course some games are obvious sequels, but beyond that just don't worry about it.

 

[March Climber]

Yeah.....they never should've made that timeline.

You would have to delete Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Link’s awakening, Link Between Worlds, 4 Swords, minish cap, Skyward Sword, and BotW.

…and I’m sure I’m missing a couple more.

 

[Fbh]

As I see it they are all standalone games (aside from direct sequels like BotW --> ToTK).
The whole timeline stuff has always felt like something they made for the annoying obsessive fans that that just couldn't let it go and kept pestering them.

Either way it's pretty irrelevant.

 

[D.Signal]

at this point is pretty much like fast and furious, the next one unluck enough to make the next sequel must come up with a more ridiculous story than the previous one, enjoy the games by itself don't mind too much about the timeline.

 

[JimboJones]

It's there if you want it but you can feel free to ignore it as it's not important.

 

[Hardensoul]

Timeline doesn't matter. Just think of it like a Multiverse. With time travel, they can really reset whatever there was of the time lines. Also the main characters are reincarnate and story is retold in the future.

Just enjoy each release individually.

 

[Captain Toad]

I remember being in awe when thry first "officially" released this.

It didn't take long to realize the people who actually made the games, such as Miyamoto, himself, had no such timeline when making the games and that is just fan fiction from people who happen to have the power to call it official.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

something about a bird's dream

 

[Synless]

I love the timeline.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Figuring out the tineline in Zelda is like figuring out the timeline in Power Rangers.

-It automatically puts me in high alert around you

-It's possible, but the amount of work it takes doesn't match up with how much of an idiot you feel like.

-Everyone who cares is a blubbering fool.

-I've invested in both before.

-My heart is a blackened husk and I am alone.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

It really exists so weirdos can argue about it online. But clearly Nintendo has never actually cared about a timeline. They're just new stories every time with Easter eggs that reference previous titles, not a REAL timeline.

 

[spons]

The Zelda timeline is the gaming equivalent of flat earth theory. An amusing prank, but nothing more than that. God bless the people who take it seriously though.

 

[GigaBowser]

I donts follow all that timeline crud who cares my friends

 

[yurinka]

I always saw the Zelda games as standalone stories that are remakes of the same base story: the yound hero Link saves the woman in distress (almost always Zelda) from the evil Ganon/Ganondorf in a fantasy world (typically with a forest as main setting, with caves and dungeons.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Skyward Sword it's also sort of meant to be an origin story. It's sort of explains how Ganon came to be and why he keeps reappearing. It's a little confusing even.

 

[Ozzie666]

Is the Phillips CDI version on that chart? It's obviously a very important piece to the timeline.

 

[Sojiro]

I think I glanced at this once and said fuck that. Nintendo should never have even bothered to make this, and I bet at the end of the day they regret doing it. As far as Zelda games to play, just try them all imo (aside from the CDI ones, or at least go in knowing they are fucking awful for some laughs). Not saying you have to play them all to completion, but I would suggest trying them in their order if nothing else just to see how the series has morphed over the decades. There really aren't any Zelda games I dislike of the mainline games, but I am not sure how you feel about going back to play older games, (especially stuff for the 8bit and 16bit eras) but if you don't like a particular game skip it and move on.

If you do end up going back and trying them all, I am curious how you will view Zelda II the adventures of link, I really like that game and personally enjoy it more than the first, but I know that is not a popular opinion lol.

 

[Danjin44]

Who cares? If there is a timeline or not its not all that important and you can still enjoy each individual story without worrying about it.

Both Drakengard and Nier clearly connected but you can play Nier Replicant without knowing anything about Drakengard, heck you can even play and enjoy story of Automata without every playing Replicant.

 

[NikuNashi]

Thanks to whoever chaged that thread title.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Dude I have only played Minish Cap and even I knew about this.

I don't know. I like lore videos making sense of it all. Indirectly gives me good ideas for my own makebelieve novel.

 

[Robb]

I wouldn’t think too much about it. Especially after BotW/TotK where they’ve just buried that timeline in what they call ‘the ancient past’.

I’d say the Final Fantasy mindset is more fitting outside of direct sequels.

 

[Kataploom]

Nah, some people just want to overthink in very important stuff like... a videogame timeline... then Nintendo gave those people gasoline to make their brains burn once like 12 years ago and they've been mentally fapping ever since.

They seem to cry these days because "TOTK shit all over the timeline" and because Aonuma told them to put the game "wherever you feel it fits" tho...

Edit: Oh, some games are canonically sequels of others, like MM after OoT, TP after MM and PH after WW though, but in general, those games were never intended to be in a single timeline, they're all isolated universes as they were created, then ducktaped to attend the overthinkers.

 

[RickMasters]

Check link out tho!….. He’s lived quite a life.




He can’t be any older than 22. If I were to take a guess, he still don’t have facial hair!

 

[Kamina]

I thought this series was like final fantasy or persona, where all the games are standalone stories but have cute references to each other.

They basically are stand alone, however, some are direct sequels to other (OoT to MM, BotW to TotK) and some are heavily referring to the previous ones (TP and WW to OoT) this prompted speculations about a general greater timeline, which nintendo kinda confirmed. But there are many holes of course.

 

[skit_data]

 

[Noxxera]

I guess it does. Is that the official Nintendo confirmed graph? I believe they've confirmed the timeline. But yeah I wouldn't bother looking into it unless I'm super hardcore Zelda nerd. Which I'm not.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I'm glad the consensus is to treat this published timeline the way that Plinkett treats secondary materials

And don’t any of you f--s tell me that it was explained more in the novelization or some Star Wars book. What matters is the movie. I ain’t never read one of them Star Wars books, or any books in general for that matter, and I ain’t about to start.