20 Fascinating Facts You May Not Know About ‘The Legend Of Zelda’

OK it's not often I post listicles but honestly this was p good so why not. The most fascinating imo was this:

You originally started with the sword. It’s one of the most indelible sequences in gaming — Link tromps into the first cave he sees and encounters an old man who tells him “It’s dangerous to go alone!” then gives him his first sword. Well, up until fairly late in development you started with that sword in your inventory.

So, why was the sword given to the weird old man instead? To make the game just a little more confusing! Nintendo focus tested The Legend of Zelda before release, and most players complained that the game was confusing or that they kept getting lost. Rather than “fix” the game, a cranky Miyamoto insisted on changes that made the game even more complex and confusing, including starting the player off without any means to defend themselves.

Miyamoto’s logic was that making Zelda perplexing would force kids to share information with their friends and foster a sense of community around the game, and it worked! Anyone who spent any time on playgrounds during the 80s knows The Legend of Zelda was consistently one of the most discussed games.

I suppose everyone has heard how the beginning of Super Mario was supposed to be this marvel of communication and teaching how the game world works. Well it turns out Miyamoto also had the opposite idea.