The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

Video game symphonies and orchestral concerts are a really cool thing. They bring together people who are fans of video games, and appreciators of music, people who might not even play the video games whose soundtracks are showcased. I've been to a few concerts in my time, and I love them all.

A few weeks ago I went to see The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. It was a fantastic show, that was well organized, and all of the arrangements of the classic music from days of 16-bit graphics blew me away.I love The Legend of Zelda games, and talk about them often on this blog. Seeing, and hearing the music live was an amazing experience that I'm glad I was able to attend.

There was an enormous projector screen that showed Zelda game footage. There was a tidal wave of nostalgia and awe that washed over me as I heard the symphony and was entranced by the visuals of the classic franchise. I've seen other video game concerts before, but they didn't have quite the same resonance that this one did. The other concerts were either solely Final Fantasy music, or a smattering of games that I enjoyed, but never had the same kind of attachment that I have with Zelda. Suddenly, I got it, and it made the concert so much better. Every time a clip from a Zelda game that I played, which was most of them that were shown, came on the screen I remembered exactly where I was when I was playing it. It was an incredible feeling that made the concert ten times better.

The concert itself was great, I managed to get seats that were only two rows back from the stage. I could look at an instrument, and single out its sound, and hear it directly from the instrument itself. It was really cool. The compositions of Koji Kondo were rearranged to fit the orchestra stage, and it was amazing. The show felt more genuine than the last video game orchestra that I attended. The hosts, and the conductor were actual fans of the Zelda franchise, having grown up with them and appreciating them the same way that we did in the audience. It felt good to be among my fellow gamers, and go to something classy like an orchestra.

The really cool part of the concert, was that it was an actual symphony. Symphonies are a way of telling a story with the music and compositions of their composers. Zelda is all about the classic story of Hyrule, a story that we've heard time and time again. the feeling of seeing the video and hearing the live music was overwhelmingly wonderful. That night, I truly did go on adventure through the land of Hyrule. I was right there with Link as he fought Ganon, and saved the world, just as he always does.

I think that video game concerts are a good way to get video games out there and more widely appreciated. I know that that's making the argument for "video games need to be taken seriously", and while that's kind of true. I think that what I want to achieve is to have a mass appreciation for video games. Video games combine a multitude of different components from different mediums to create something of their own. Writing, orchestrating, art, gameplay, animation, and pretty much everything in between. The composed music of these video games, is something that sticks with us when we play video games. Music can be appreciated by anyone, regardless of whether or not they've played the video game, or games, that is being showcased.

And while video game can be appreciated by everyone, it can be recognized by the people who played the video games. Those people who play video games are those who spend most of their time doing just that. I may be a social recluse myself, but I know that when to be respectful of others and toward those who are performing a symphony. Here's where it must be said that in order for video games to be taken seriously, acknowledged as an art form, or at the very least appreciated, we, as gamers, need to grow up. We have grown up with these games, we have matured with these games. We should also be growing up as people. Growing up to be adults, or at the very least, be respectful individuals. Here's why I bring this up: during the concert, several people played the "last clap game". That is something that, even when you played it in grade school, was immature and just plain stupid. These people were at the orchestra, and they played the last clap game. This is upsetting and disturbing. I'm sure that a majority of the people that were playing this game were above the age of 7, and that makes it all the more worse. I'm not okay with this, and for good reason. However, the concert itself was amazing enough to wash away my disdain for this act of immaturity.

Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses is an amazing concert, that I recommend to everyone to go see. If I could, I would go see it again. Though, maybe I would see it a few rows back, my neck was kind of sore from staring up at the screen. Video game concerts of all kinds are a great thing, that can bring more people into this wonderful world of video games that we gamers inhabit. Plus, it gives me an excuse to dress up all fancy and sport a bowtie.

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The silent protagonist is an interesting trope that only exists within video games. I've heard some people say that it's so that the player can project themselves onto the player. Or that the developers didn't have the budget for voice actors. I don't know about all that, but the silent protagonist in video games, oddly enough, works. I've played a lot of video games where the main character, doesn't say a word, but ends up saving the day and even growing a bit.

Half Life's Gordon Freeman is among the most famous of mute characters. Half Life 2 is my favorite of the series, and by far an improvement over the original. I think that Gordon Freeman is a realy good example of a silent protagonist because you, as the player, are right there with him on his crazy journey through City 17. Gordon Freeman is allegedly a theoretical metaphysicist, though we don't really know because he doesn't talk about it, or anything for that matter. However, what we do know is that he's a pretty damn good shot and a great person to have on your side in the midst of a firefight. In Half Life 2, Gordon Freeman is recognized as a hero by many of the resistance members fighting against the alien race that has enslaved most of the human race. When he first arrives, nobody really knows who he is, what he's done, or if he even exists. As players go through the game, fighting the Combine and making some headway in the fight for the resistance, he is recognized as a champion of the human race. People's spirits are lifted by his very presence. Gordon Freeman brings hope to the hopeless, and has become a confident fighter. He's grown, and changed, by the actions that he's done,  he has evolved as a character. And he still doesn't have a thing to say about it.

Link, of the Legend of Zelda series is another famous silent character who saves the world on a regular basis. In Ocarina of Time, Link grows from being an outcast in his village to being the Hero of Time. The game starts off in Kokiri Forest, a magical place where all of its inhabitants are eternally children. Each child has their own fairy, except for Link. When the winds of destiny blow in Link's favor, his adventure begins. Facing terrible monsters and solving riddles of the ancients, Link overcomes all adversity that faces him. Link later acquires the Master Sword, the "Blade of Evil's Bane", it is now sealed that Link is the one to vanquish evil from the land of Hyrule. Link grows to an adult, the world has changed, and evil still plagues the land. Link is still not yet ready to exterminate the purge the dark forces from Hyrule, he must undergo more trials, and cure the land before he goes straight for the head of all evil. When he finally arrives at the final trial, Ganon's Castle, Link is ready, he has faced so much, he has grown, he has changed, and so have you as a player. The Legend of Zelda has a way of presenting itself, that makes it seem as though players are going on a grand adventure. Both Link and the Player face the same adversity and they both grow in overcoming their fears of dark, scary places that they must enter. Link shines as a character who doesn't talk, because the game design allows the players to use Link as a vehicle to travel through the world of Hyrule, that's why they let you name the character before you start your adventure. So that it is the players name that is chanted through the streets when all has been restored, and everything is right in the world. Because it was they, who saved the world.

Sometimes, the silent protagonist can be something of hate and malice. Hotline Miami's main character is silent, and does what he is told by mysterious messages left on his answering machine. He doesn't say a word, he doesn't emote anything, all he does is kill. The very thought of a stranger wearing a rubber animal mask, not saying a word, and swiftly walking towards someone with weapon in hand sends shivers down my spine. It's a scary thing, and it doesn't waste any time. If a villain talks, he usually ends up monologuing or making some kind of overly dramatic scene. Hotline Miami's main character is a quiet and efficient killer.

Voice acting in a game can really create the character in a video game. It's not just that they have things to say, but it's how they say it. Nathan Drake, with his snarky one-liners, Joel, of The Last of Us with his stand-offish demeanor and cynicism, Ezio Auditore and his evolution from a young man living in comfort to becoming a master assassin and uncovering the truth of his ancestors. Giving the characters a voice is a fantastic thing because it really does bring that character to life. Jak, of Jak and Daxter, was a silent protagonist in the first game, but suddenly got a voice in the latter two games. The voice fit the character and the circumstances that he found himself in. The tone of the games had gone from bright and sunny to dark and dingy. Jak and Daxter will remain as one of my favorite franchises and Jak, with his new voice will also be one of my favorite characters.

Whether your characters have voice or no, getting a chance to be that character, and walk around in their world, in their shoes is something phenomenal. While the silent protagonist may be something that we only see in video games, and it may be a strange concept, but it works to our wonderfully unique medium.



Who are some of your favorite silent protagonists? Who are some of your favorite vocal protagonists, or voice actors? Let me know in the comments!

Going down....

There has always been something genuinely unsettling about going downward in video games with me. When I was young, I lived in a house that had a creepy basement, as did we all. I was scared of the dark, the things that went bump in the night, and the creatures of the shadow. That basement embodied every one of those fears. It was dank, dark, desolate, and all kinds of scary. Yet, I still had to brave that basement to get to what I desired: my Nintendo Entertainment System. Eventually, I overcame my fear of that basement, and I realized that there was really nothing to be feared. During the summers I would spend with my dad, I would actually spend time in his equally scary basement. My dad had a Super Nintendo. He also had The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past. I would later realize that it's one of the quintessential Zelda games to be played, but back then, it was the thing that would bring back all of those fears of going downstairs into my creepy basement.

Recently I was reading on Kotaku, an interesting article discussing this advertisement. In the article, there is a line discussing the "threshold" that players must gather up the courage and cross in order to save the world, or complete their objective. "Traversing the known to the unknown requires you to cross an important threshold: fear." It is true that we cross into the unknown when we play video games, but often times, we go across that threshold with a casual stride. Perhaps this comes from my old age and experience with video games, but games seem to have lost that appeal. I don't like to get scared, but I like overcoming fears. I love games that give me that sense of overcoming something, and gathering up that courage to achieve my quest. Because the bad guys aren't the only enemy in that game. It's also myself.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past, and many other Zelda games that I've played, helped me to overcome my fears. They've helped me journey into that unknown without fear. In Zelda games, players take control of Link, just a young and ordinary lad, who also happens to be the holder of the Triforce of Courage. It's really become clear just how much they push the whole courage aspect of Zelda. Every single dungeon in Zelda is a force to be reckoned with. Each one has a momentous sense of being and terror. These are landmarks, filled with mystery, evil, and monsters. The player acts as a light in that darkness. It is dangerous to go alone, and that's what makes Zelda such a brilliant and fearful affair.

Often times in the dungeons, the player must travel downward. Going down a flight of stairs in Link to the past has a sense of foreboding danger. The player couldn't see what was on the other end of that staircase, and Link went off screen. Who knows what could happen? Traveling deeper and deeper into the depths of an ancient and evil temple, further into the dark, that has meaning, and danger. That's something that requires a lot of courage to undertake.

The Legend of Zelda is a great series that is very important to the video game industry on the whole because of subtleties like these. Games just aren't scary anymore. There are the Dead Spaces, and the FEARs, and some kind of gorefest, but they all have the same thing, which is just gore, and jump scares. That's not scary, it's just disgusting. There's no set up, or meaning to it. It's just an insignificant and pointless scare. There's nothing to overcome. In games like those, you just survive, which is exhilarating in its own right, but I feel as though there isn't a take away from those kind of games and experiences. Zelda is a game that instills fear in the player, but in a way that presents a barrier. Players have to knock down this barrier, and when they do, they feel as though they have accomplished something. They've grown, as a person in a small way.

Zelda is an adventure game, and that means that players get to explore, and experiment, and interact, and discover. I feel that most adventuring games these days don't quite capture those elements of discovery and wonder in the way that Zelda does. Skyrim is a fantastic game that captures those elements of discovery quite well. The first time that you come across a Dwarven Ruin, or a Draconic Tomb, and it's a wonderful feeling of adventure and discovery. Yet, because of the modern format of games, discovery is relegated to an aspect of completion. There's no sense of wonder to it, or even wander for that matter. Skyrim is enormous and has lots and lots to offer, but it just doesn't seem to carry as much weight to it as Ocarina of Time. While the overworld of Ocarina of Time seems like a subdivision compared to the entire country of Skyrim, there seems to be a lot more at stake. In the world of Skyrim, folks don't seem to care much if the world is coming to an end. Sure they talk about it, but the game itself doesn't really seem to care whether or not the hero of the story goes off and joins a guild of thieves or revives a terror of a league of assassins. I know that's what the game is for: just doing stuff, but nothing really takes precedence. I'd think that I should take issue with the whole "world ending" matter, but instead I just raise my arms up in excitement and fight them for the fun of it. Killing a random dragon doesn't affect the outcome, or force any progress, it's just another random battle which has been tailor made for me and my character.

While this has been a bit of a rant comparing Zelda games to others, I think that the point still stands that games don't let the player be afraid anymore. They don't build up an illusion of insurmountable odds that the player has to face not only that, but also themselves. Gamers these days rarely have to gather up courage to take on the challenge that lies before them. I haven't felt that threshold for a very long time, and for as much as I dread it's presence, I honestly kind of miss it.