Every time a fantasy world is well-realized, people clamor to know more about it. Think about the obsessive devotion fans have to understanding the history of Middle-Earth, Westeros, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They spend years dissecting every little thing that promises even a hint of information about their favorite fictional worlds. For some people, that world is Hyrule.
To see the dedication people have to the world of Hyrule, you only have to look at the energy spent trying to piece together a rough understanding of the timeline of the Zelda games. For every release, fans have attempted to understand how these games relate to each other. Like when Breath of the Wild saw one writer at Geek pull as much context from the demo as he could. Or this nine page guide released on Twinfinite. Or this nearly hour long fan theory video that includes everything up to its release in March of 2016.
We now have an officially released timeline (and a later update), but reading it feels more like a crash course in relativity at a PhD level combined with a world religions class. There are separate timelines, time travel, mystical forces, deaths, resurrections, something called “the convergence,” and a dozen different eras you have to keep track of.
The point is, there’s a huge need for explanatory materials in the Legend of Zelda universe, a need the Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition should hopefully fill. It has everything you need in a standard encyclopedia, with information on characters, gods, goddesses, monsters, enemies, and items of magical and non magical sorts. It also includes elements of a game guide, with maps, concept art, screen grabs, and helpful hints.
But for the truly obsessive, the encyclopedia expands on the popular Hyrule Historia, covering more about the lore of the game world and an in-depth interview with Eiji Aonuma, the Legend of Zelda Series Producer. Plus you get all the flashy aesthetic stuff. The book comes in a protective velvet sleeve, and looks just like the original golden game cartridge. They even tried to faithfully recreate the feel of the original cartridge. It’s a beautiful piece of Zelda history and is a excellent way to honor the more than 30 year legacy of the game series.
