Release the doves and pop the champagne because someone has transcribed The Legend of Zelda timeline from Hyrule Historia, a 274-page art book celebrating the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, that features concept and promotional art from throughout the franchises' lifespan, including historical information on the games and the characters. Gamers can be at peace finally knowing the truth behind the chronological order of how the games should be played out.
Last week on December 21st, to cap off the celebration of Link's 25th anniversary, Hyrule Historia hit store shelves in Japan (¥3,255/$41), and since then images have been sprouting up all over the place. The only problem here is that those who have been posting the images do not know how to speak/read/write Japanese. Luckily for us, one gamer has transcribed a particular YouTube video that focused in on the the official timeline for The Legend of Zelda. A Photoshop document of the timeline has been created in English to help those who would like to know how each game paves a path to set up this glorious franchise.
Many helpful Japanese gamers have uploaded pictures and videos of Hyrule Historia, making everyone stateside very jealous of its release. The video below hosts a 23-minute long preview of the art book, and those of you who dabble in Japanese may find it very insightful. At the 4:55 mark, the video gets into the timeline, giving a full picture of how the events of The Legend of Zelda unfold.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W77ry6Srx_I
After that video had been published online, video game translator GlitterBerri went to work jotting down all that had been revealed into a working English translation. GlitterBerri created a rough Photoshop copy of the timeline, and with the help of another Zelda fan, remade the Japanese timeline in English in a more aesthetically pleasing version. Click on the image below to enlarge the image and get the full high-resolution version:
This timeline makes a very interesting conversation piece for any gamers at the dinner table. Many have speculated that after Ocarina of Time, the series' timeline had split into two separate chains of events. Now we can all see that there is a third alternate universe that has been laid out after the events of OoT. If a Zelda spin-off game should occur, would it skew the very fabric of the timeline, or could it be made to coincide with the events of current timelines?
Ranters! Does this timeline of events make sense to you, and who's ready to start playing The Legend of Zelda all over again from the beginning of the timeline to the end?
There is no official release date in the US or other countries for Hyrule Historia.
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Source: GlitterBerri [via Kotaku]
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