The Zelda Cast

Strap in for a long show, because this week Andy and Al are talking about the INTRO’S to each Zelda game! Shamelessly stealing from our frenemies the Tier Force Heroes , we go through game by game and assign a tier ranking to the into of each game. What even constitutes as an intro? What goals should a great intro accomplish? Are we giving any leeway for game manuals? How can we love the long intr...

After a week off sick, the gang are back together to answer your fan submitted questions! We asked you to head to Twitter and give us questions, and you delivered big time! Has the fervor around the Zelda timeline died out in recent years? Is there any way the corpse shown in the sequel trailer is Demise? Are the days of new, top down Zelda games over? What’s a way to mix breakable weapons and cla...

Unfortunately, Andy and Al both managed to come down with Covid, so they weren't able to record a new show this week, but fret not! We didn't want to leave anyone hanging, so we dug into the Omega Metroid Podcast archives for a never-heard-before episode featuring Andy and Zelda Dungeon's own Rod Lloyd breaking down what they would want to see in a potential crossover between the two Nintendo fran...

Good day, good day, and welcome to yet another show where we still don't know anything about Breath of the Wild 2 or when the next Nintendo Direct might be. It's not all bad news though, as this week, we participated in Linktober's Zelda Creator Con and had a really fun show, debuting a new segment called Zelda's Percentages. The premise is simple: we read a statement and then assign a percentage...

Welcome to the Zelda Cast! This week, we are laying down some heavy predictions for the as-of-yet unannounced Nintendo Direct that we're presuming will slot in the usual E3 time frame (if E3 was happening this year, that is). Andy and Al argue about whether or not it's finally time for Nintendo to pull the lid back on Breath of the Wild 2 and completely show us what this game is all about, plus, h...

To everyone that's been following the Zelda Dungeon podcast for the last four an a half years, we've got some news for you: the podcast will be undergoing a name change! Four and a half years ago when I decided I wanted to revive the Zelda Informer Podcast (that's going waaay back!), the hip and happening thing in the Zelda world was The Champions' Ballad, the last piece of downloadable content fo...

Recently, we ran a staff feature asking our writing staff what one specific thing Breath of the Wild 2 could do that would make the 6 year development time worth the wait. Answers varied from having a playable Princess Zelda to introducing a Dark World to featuring underwater exploration to an emphasis on Malice and its origins and much, much more, so this week, Andy and Al dissect each answer and...

If you've listened to the Champions' Cast even a little, you probably know that The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is Andy's least favorite Zelda game, so this week, we asked YOU to send us questions about the 3DS title for us to unpack. In addition to explaining why Andy thinks Tri Force Heroes is a bad Zelda game, the gang answer questions like what did they think of the totem mechanic, what...

We’ve got a special show for you this week as we catch up with Andrew Shouldice, the lead developer of Tunic, a game we called on this very show “ maybe the best Zelda-like game we’ve ever played .” We pick Andrew’s brain about the origins of Tunic, how the project started, how he met his collaborators, the state of Canadian indie developers, what other games inspired Tunic, the manual concept and...

This week, we had some scheduling snafus that lead us to not being able to record a new episode, BUT instead of taking the week off to relax, recharge, and sip Pina Coladas, we're instead releasing an episode from the vault, one of our best shows, where we are ranking all of Link's showdowns with the King of Evil himself, Ganondorf! Joined by the amazing Mallo Photography , we get talk all things...

With absolutely nothing going on in the world of Zelda, Andy and Al spend this week answering some of the Daily Debates the Zelda Dungeon Writing Team have come up with, and the conversation is fantastic! How long is too long to wait for a sequel? Does that Breath of the Wild 2 footage look a little too good for the Switch? How are choosing as our party if we can pick any Zelda NPCs to back us up...

You know how much we love us a good Zelda-like game, and with Breath of the Wild 2 being delayed, there was no better time for arguably the greatest ever Zelda-like game to grace our consoles: Tunic! The cute adventure of a little fox on a lonely island wears its inspiration on its sleeve and offers an incredibly dense, challenging, fun, at times obtuse, nostalgic adventure all at the same time. T...

A good or bad gimmick can elevate or detract from a game, and the Zelda series is unique in that every single game has a distinct, unique gimmick associated with it that makes them ripe for examination! This week, we're diving in and discussing what's worked and what needed improvement over the years with Zelda gimmicks; Dual worlds are a favorite staple, but maybe stylus or motion controls weren'...

Get ready to rumble, because this week the gang are talking a little Smash and a little Zelda, and specifically, what the best stages to play on are. Is Temple still the favorite and what makes it such an elite stage? Are Bridge of Eldin and Gerudo Valley just a little too boring to be great? Is N64's Hyrule Castle "Zelda" enough? Was Breath of the Wild's representation in Smash Ultimate below ave...

With last weeks disappointing yet somewhat expected announcement of the delay of Breath of the Wild's sequel, the gang get together to discuss their thoughts and reactions. Is this the most disappointing Zelda delay yet? Are Nintendo just saving this game for new hardware? Is there something deeply flawed with Nintendo's developmental process? What was up with that busted Master Sword in the trail...

This week, we're giving some love to an often overlooked and underappreciated game in The Legend of Zelda: Adventure of Link! Okay, maybe it's not all love, but we do answer all of your questions about the game and come away with some really engaging discussion! What're our favorite spells? Did the XP system help or hurt the game? What were our favorite bosses? Did we like the random encounters on...

Definitive Ranking returns for the first time since summer 2021, this time examining arguably not only the greatest Zelda game, but the greatest game period - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! We're taking a look at the classic 10 categories that make up any great Zelda game - the controls, the dungeons, the story, the music, etc. - and ranking them on a scale of 1-5. Come play along as we sho...

It's that time of year again where MUSICAL MARCH MADNESS makes its triumphant return! As in years past, the gang go through the bracket and decide each matchup until the field of 64 has been whittled down to just one final champion. Some of our picks this year were surprising even to us, to make sure to tune in, as we also discuss whether we should vote for past winners or let new songs win, the d...

We are nothing if not topical here on this show, so we decided we would hop on the biggest bandwagon of the last couple months and challenge each other in a game of Zelda themed Wordle! We made a few tweaks to make the game a little more accessible for listeners and out our spin on the popular word guessing game. Andy and Al face off in a game of wits to see who can guess the correct word! Come pl...

And now, time for something a little different! We’re transforming the show into the Pokémon Cast this week, as we give our thoughts and in depth review of the new open world, Breath-of-the-Wild-esque Pokémon adventure Pokémon Legends Arceus! We go over how the new open world format feels, the new mechanics used to catch Pokémon, and how the game is the perfect blend of classic games, Pokémon Go,...

We finally made it to a whopping 200 episodes! There are so many people to thank, so many friends we’ve made along the way, but all that is for another day! Today is about competition, and we’ve got both of Andy’s podcasts facing off against each other in a trivia contest! 20 Zelda and 20 Metroid questions await the combatants, each of varying difficulty, so if you think you know the answers, come...

We finally got a Nintendo Direct, and while it was mostly awesome, the absence of Breath of the Wild 2 loomed large over the proceedings. We break down what exactly we think is going on with that game and when we think it will be fully revealed, and then spend some time breaking down the rest of the games shown off. Splatoon 3, Triangle Strategy, Advance Wars all look awesome, and the new titles r...

February is here, and you know what the means: it's the month of loooove, and we are getting a bit salacious this week as we take a look back over the years and rank all of the various love interests that Link has had over the years. Are we #TeamZelda or #TeamMipha? What was the first true romance for Link? Does Link show any romantic affection for Tetra or Midna, or are they just business partner...

You know those things that happen during the course of a Zelda game that just make you smile? Well we're diving deep into those moments in our show today to discuss what our favorite (and least favorite!) Zelda tropes and reoccurring elements are! Everything from Link beginning the game asleep to the Dead Man's Volley to companions to trading sequences, all the way to box art, reusing old bosses a...

In a somewhat darker twist on our All-Star Team episode from a few weeks back, the gang are now picking their LEAST favorite themed dungeons in the series, which is not as easy as you may think! We pick out the dungeons that make us cringe, from the intro dungeon, to ice themed, to water themed, to mini-dungeon, all the way to the final dungeon! Come listen to figure out our thought process, what...