The countdown to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is very much on, and in the run-up to the game's release Nintendo is taking a look back at Link's journey with the Master Sword throughout the series.
From what we have seen of Tears of the Kingdom so far, it's fair to say that the legendary blade has seen better days and, fortunately, all of those 'days' are showcased in a recent video published by @NintendoUK on Twitter.
The video recounts each time that Link has lifted the Master Sword throughout the mainline games from A Link to the Past all the way up to Breath of the Wild — discounting remasters, of course. There are six different entries to take a look at in the following clip reel, and we highly recommend watching it with the sound on for a hit of Zelda musical goodness (seriously, chills).
The Master Sword is such an iconic element of the franchise that we were somewhat surprised to see that TOTK will only be its seventh mainline appearance — but we suppose that all of those other swords (Phantom, Four, Lokomo, Gilded and the like) really do add up.
So, with it not being guaranteed that your first Zelda game was your first time with the Master Sword, we are curious to know when you first wielded it. Was it as far back as A Link to the Past, or did you not get a chance to brandish the blade until a more recent entry like Skyward Sword or BOTW? You can fill out the following poll to see how your sword experience matches up to everyone else.
Which is your favourite version of the Master Sword? Slash your thoughts in the comments below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments (66)
Weird to think the Master Sword has been in so few mainline games, but seeing that video brought back some sweet memories!
Not my first Zelda (OG Link’s Awakening) but Ocarina was my first time with the Master Sword.
I started on the NES and played the first five Zelda games in order. So, Link to the Past, back in the day.
First was Ocarina of Time. Favorite is Wind Waker; I thought it was cool we had to progressively unlock its' power.
Technically Super Smash Bros for me
A Link to the Past
I was just thinking, games that feature an incarnation Ganon or Ganondorf, typically feature the Master Sword.
Zelda 1 is an obvious exception to this, that had the Magical Sword instead.
Ganon appears as the true final boss of Oracle of Ages and Seasons, if you link and play both games. You can also obtain a Master Sword upgrade in those games, but despite the name it's not THE Master Sword, but an upgraded Noble Sword.
Link Between Worlds however, does in fact have the Master Sword in it, and wasn't mentioned in Nintendo's tweet or in this article.
A Link to the Past. While it isn't my favourite in the series (OoT has that crown) it will always hold a fond place for being my first proper Zelda game.
Results of the poll proves that most of us are 40 somethings.
A Link to the Past. Have been playing Zelda since the NES days as a 4 year old. This franchise is injected in my veins.
Also, ‘technically’ the Master Sword also appeared in the Oracle games.
Was Link Between Worlds a remake or a new game? If a new game, why wasn't it mentioned since it has the Master Sword in it?
Based on the results of the poll, I can now see why so many people on this site hate on BotW XD
Which was my first Zelda game, and I love everything about it, I hope TotK blows it out of the water!
@deafdood it was a new game in the same map as A Link to the Past.
And because Nintendo practically forgot …
@solarwolf07 so practically we can get to a similar conclusion that BotW is loved by ‘mostly’ newcomers who haven’t played a Zelda before. That makes a lot of sense as to why people tend to defend it and not see what is missing from it.
Most come from the Minecraft generation. Sigh
Either Ocarina of Time despite not owning it as I played it at a friend's house (although I'm not sure since I don't remember which parts of it I played) or, more likely, Wind Waker since it's the first Zelda game I've ever owned (funnily enough together with Ocarina, but the GameCube version in the bonus disk inside Wind Waker which I played and not finished - although I remember at least getting the Master Sword - after finishing Wind Waker)!
@Axecon If we count Smash then yeah, same for me in Smash 64!
@YoshiF2 Replace Link with another character in BotW as well as all the other enemies, bosses, and some weapons that are copyrighted, and it would still be a fun game. It is just a radical departure from the Zelda formula. I like it, but it's understandable that some people didn't like it; but I bet some would magically like the gameplay if it wasn't a Zelda game.
BotW was Nintendo's first attempt at an open world Zelda, and I can't wait to see how they improved upon it in the sequel because admittedly the open world was a bit bare and I did miss dungeons.
@deafdood I totally agree. It is 100% a fun game (I did love it on release). But in retrospective, It’s just not a good Zelda game. But, that’s debatable. Let’s see how TotK does. I hope it’s good and brings back everything original fans have been asking for these past 5 years.
If not, I think Nintendo should go back to the drawing board and analyze their own formula once again.
Ocarina of Time was my first Master Sword, I never had a SNES or a N64. But I did play OoT on the GameCube when I got it as a bonus with The Wind Waker. (I got the sword in OoT first)
@solarwolf07 I absolutely love Breath of the Wild in its own right, but having played practically all Zelda games before and loved them I think it would be awesome if they combined the best of both styles (fingers crossed that Tears of the Kingdom will do that to at least some extent)!
A Link to the Past, but not until 1997*.
Took a punt on it from the local market (God I miss buying second hand cartridges from there), after having read so many guides and tips in NOM (I used to read it cover to cover whether I knew anything / was interested in a game or not).
*Longer story if you want it:
I think it was around this time. I'm sure I bought this for the SNES when I was at secondary school, which would have been from September 1998. But I'm convinced I bought this from our local market prior to OoT, but I know I got that at the Christmas of it's launch (which was 1998 also, right?).
I think it was secondary school as I was crushing on someone at the time, and named my character after them for some bizarre self-tortuous reason.
Link Between Worlds
I just noticed in the video that WindWakers sword doesn't have the 'hilt handles'. Is that explained in game or just a graphical oversight?
@Sam_TSM It's gameplay.
@Sam_TSM
That's a reason for that in the story, yes.
Skyward Sword also briefly has the Master Sword's hilt handles "folded in" until a certain part of the story.
For me it was Ocarina of time. I was thinking like this is the second sword till I got it.
@RupeeClock I remembered it from SS (mainly because I've played it recently, I was one of those suckers that bought a remaster for full price). Couldn't remember it in WW. Seems like I need another pre-TotK play through.
Ocarina for me. My first Zelda game was NES Zelda, but I don’t believe I played Link to the Past before the GameCube era, an era which gave some of us new avenues to play games we may have missed because our parents simply didn’t buy them.
Ocarina at a friend's house but a link to the past on the gba. Which I'm finally on the verge of beating for the first time!
A link to the past. What a powerful moment in a game back then. Ocarina of time is still my favourite version of it, the music the atmosphere, everything was perfect.
Wind Waker! Link obtaining the sword in Hyrule ruins and then having to fight his way through the unsealed monsters was ,and still is, the coolest.
I think my first “legendary” sword was actually the Four Sword in Minish Cap, however. I wish elements from that entry would return. Vaati was a cool villain.
I played Oracles before any of these, and the Master Sword does appear in a linked game. So yknow. But out of these, it was Twilight Princess on the Wii, and very soon afterwards Ocarina on the Wii VC.
I went on a date with the master sword in 1998. It went exceptionally well.
A Link to the Past, which is still one of my favourite Zelda games to date!
ALTTP all those years ago. Beating those 3 palaces and removing the sword in the forest thinking I was near the end of the game……Wrong
I remember getting my Super Nintendo that had a picture of Link to the Past on the box, and having to wait and wait for the game to actually show up in stores so I could get it. Granted, it was probably only a few months, but that's forever in kid-dom.
@RupeeClock Thanks for clearing that up for me about the Magical Sword in the NES Zelda. My first thought when I saw the poll was, "What about the last sword in Zelda 1?"
OOT in 1998. Despite having a SNES, I still didn’t really know about LTTP when I was younger around the 1992-1997 years, but after playing OOT, I then went backwards and played LTTP too. Sounds weird nowadays, since information is everywhere, but really if you didn’t know someone who had it or missed it in magazines, you could have easily missed a game.
A Link To The Past, but not until N3DS. Only Zeldas I'd played much of before that were the GBC ones, and I think I only finished Link's Awakening.
I didn't even finish ALTTP back on N3DS, but am working on it now, just working my way into Ganon's tower. Also finishing up BOTW before TOTK comes out, got the two higher difficulties of the Sword Trial left to go to get my master sword upgraded to maximum master swordiness.
A Link to the Past is my first Zelda game.
Ha, link to the past would be most similar to link between worlds right?
First was A Link to the Past. Favourite was Wind Waker because you could power it up.
In A Link to the Past.
''When did you first wield the master sword?'' On a personal note, I would have to ask the young lady who took my innocence! If we are talking Zelda, then Link to the past way back in the early 90s.
This is an interesting survey… I’m not sure, but it may give a peek into Nintendo Life’s core demographics.
Technically the Master Sword was in the first game, just with a different name.
At least that's my canon.
@YoshiF2 I've been a fan since the beginning, and I loved BotW. There were a few things I missed from previous games, but on the whole I enjoyed it immensely.
Link to the Past. Yup, I'm old. I was even planning to comment "I first got it back when it was called the Magical Sword on NES". Which I guess I did go ahead and comment.
Is senility already setting in...?
Umm, does the upgraded sword in NES LoZ count? Maybe it's just a proto-Master Sword... That would be my first. Really did a number on those octorocks, tektites, lynels and gleocks.
Got a Super Nintendo in ‘94. The big game we wanted was DKC. But Zelda came with the system. What a time!
Definitely A Link to the Past.
I was around when Link to the Past came out, but I didn't actually play through the whole game until later in life. So it's Ocarina for me.
A Link to the Past. The Lost Woods track is still a gem to this day.
@Teksetter
"Umm, does the upgraded sword in NES LoZ count?"
"upgraded sword"?
The first home console I got to own as a kid was the N64 and my first time wielding the Master Sword (and first Zelda game) was Ocarina of Time. That game spawned my deep love and appreciation of the series that has continued on well in to my 30s! I didn't get to play A Link To The Past until years later when the game was released on the Wii Virtual Console.
I didnt have a Nintendo console until the n64 (had a mega drive, master system and saturn) and my first Zelda game was links awakening which iirc didnt have the master sword so i voted OOT.
My first Zelda game was the very first one back in 1988, though I guess the Master Sword didn't exist in that one yet, so the answer is A Link to the Past whenever it was that it came out. Couldn't have imagined as a little kid in the eighties that 35 years later I'd still be playing Zelda games and still get just as much joy out of them.
@JimNorman It may be too late to amend the article/poll now but TOTK will actually be the 11th mainline appearance of the Master Sword. The list is missing the below games which are all included in the Zelda timeline's plot and aren't considered spin offs:
Oracle of Seasons
Oracle of Ages
Four Swords/Four Swords Anniversary Edition
A Link Between Worlds
The Oracle games contain a new Master Sword, but considering Nintendo's own tweet missed two appearances of the usual Master Sword, I don't think they were being very thorough and all ten appearances should have been included.
@Sam_TSM You mean the crossguard?
@Mario500
Umm “silver sword?” “Magic sword??” I haven’t played the game in over 30 years and don’t quite remember. Getting old rots. I think memory and vision are the first things to go… 😅
OG LoZ back when it was called the magic sword. That was the first time. Let's call a spade a spade shall we?
Link to the Past (also my first Zelda). Can’t wait for TotK though!
Link to the Past was my first. Recently went back and played through the game on NSO and man, the game ages like a fine wine.
Link to the Past not long after it came out. Think I got it for my birthday and then was off school ill (genuinely!) for a week and beat it. Loved it. Then over the next week a friend and I managed to get all 20 hearts (which I think is all the collectables in the game?). Good times.
@Mario500 @Teksetter It's called "Magical Sword" in the original Zelda as @RupeeClock has already mentioned along with much more information so I recommend checking that comment!
@JohnnyMind
"REGULAR SWORD"; "WHITE SWORD"; "MAGICAL SWORD":
https://archive.org/details/TheLegendOfZeldaCollectorsEditionOfficialPlayersGuide/page/n7/mode/2up
@Mario500 Exactly! By the way, thanks for the link to that guide!
Ocarina of Time was my first time getting my hands on the Master Sword. I did go back later and play A Link to the Past on the SNES. I had to grow up a little bit more to really get into games like The Legend of Zelda.
LttP for me, but I wonder if Nintendo (in their minds) have retconned the Magical Sword from LoZ to be the Master Sword... The thought hit me with them putting the Master Sword on my 8bit Link Amiibo's back...
ALTTP for me, but I played it on the Wii U Virtual Console lol
Tap here to load 66 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...