The Legend of Zelda: Time's Menagerie
From Zelda Wiki.org
Non-Canon Information! The following article or section is not Zelda canon, and shouldn't be taken as such.
| The Legend of Zelda: Time's Menagerie | |
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| Developer(s) | Credited to Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Credited to Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Undyingnephalim |
| Release date |  TBA |
| Platform(s) | PC
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 Guide/Walkthrough at StrategyWiki |
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The Legend of Zelda: Time's Menagerie is a sequel to the fan made zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage. It features an all new enhanced engine of its predecessor and replaces the old static frontal battle system with a new fully animated side-battle system.
A demo of the game was released May 3rd, 2009. A second demo showcasing the first two dungeons was released July 14th, 2009
Contents |
Plot and Setting
Spoiler warning: The following contains key plot or ending details.
Much of the plot of Time’s Menagerie remains unknown, only a brief bit has been revealed in the first two demo releases. The game opens up right at the ending of it’s prequel The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage, after having battled a chaotic transformation of Saria and survived the explosion of what appeared to be her death. Link, Liyer, and Mido awaken from the blast to find Saria still alive and the rest of the party members missing. Mido quickly retreats, leaving Link and Liyer to fend off Saria for themselves. Instead of attacking them, Saria’s violent behavior suddenly stops and she attempts to communicate with Link, asking him to help her regain control of her rage. Suddenly Saria’s crystalline body explodes, revealing that it was only a form of cocoon. Saria is reborn in a new form, and after a very brief chat she again loses control of her powers and darts off. The player assumes control of Link and Liyer as they scour the ruins for anyone else that survived the fight against Saria.
Along the way they encounter Zaleen, Darunia, and Annara. After leaving the ruins, the group stumbles upon Saria fighting off hundreds of Hylian soldiers. After she successfully defeats the army, Mido appears before her and asks if she will let him help her regain control of her powers. Still trying to get a grip on her sanity, Saria instead turns around to engage Link. Soon Liyer stops the battle and challenges Saria to a one on one fight. After a very brief dual, Liyer manages to jump onto Saria’s head and impale her face with her dual daggers. Saria violently collapses and explodes in a titanic blast as the screen fades to black.
Soon after, the ending sequence that played after the credits in The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage commences once again. Evaleen and the mysterious figure in blue robes once again mention a vague plan to destroy the Sages. Where’s the Fallen Sage simply ended after that line, in Time’s Menagerie the mysterious figure turns to address a group of mechine-like creatures to find and locate the Hero of Time and bring him back alive. The screen fades out once again to show the Time’s Menagerie logo and the date “2010.”
In the second demo release the plot that takes place during the game's first two dungeons is revealed. The first dungeon known as the Monastery of Dawn is played through from the perspective of Link. He, along with Liyer, venture through this dungeon to find it's master, Goht. Instead the various guardians of the dungeon attempt to stop their progress even after Rauru, the Sage of Light, intervenes and joins Link. Eventually the heroes do make it to Goht but he denies them their wish to speak with the being that trapped Link and Liyer in this realm: Demoko. Demoko's origin is then revealed by Rauru to be the first sage ever created by the Goddesses whom abandoned him for feeling he was a flawed creation. After eons of plotting Demoko is finally ready to strike back at the Goddesses for abandoning him. The second dungeon known as the Shrine of Jabu is played from the perspective of Mido; Link's rival. He and Zaleen are venturing through to find one of three Goddess Pendants, though the reason for this is not revealed in the demo. Eventually Princess Ruto joins Mido and Zaleen and it is discovered that Zaleen's brother Neighleth, a twisted hybrid of an Octorok and Zora, has been spreading his offspring and building an army. He also has the Goddess Pendant that Mido is looking for, so he deems that Neighleth must be destroyed. After fighting off the dungeon's boss, a Bigocto Broodmother, does Mido, Zaleen, and Ruto catch up with the twisted Hybrid and make short work of him.
Gameplay
Time’s Menagerie utilizes RPG Maker XP, the same system the Fallen Sage ran on. Gameplay is typical of most 16-bit RPG’s where the player builds a party, levels up, and uses tactics to survive turn based battles. What differentiates Time’s Menagerie from it’s predecessor is a new fully animated battle system. Such a change was a response to many complaints about how The Fallen Sage’s battle system was too boring and static. Time's Menagerie also features animated portraits of characters during dialog, another complaint that was addressed from the Fallen Sage.
Characters
- Canon Characters
Link - As in The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage, it is likely Link serves as the primary protagonist once again. It is unclear as of now what role he specifically plays.
Saria – Transformed into a powerful crystalline creature, Saria has lost most of her sanity and is at conflict with herself as she tries to regain control of her rampant Sage powers. It is unknown if she survives Liyer’s successful impalement.
Mido - A key manipulator in The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage, Mido appears to have been in whole or in part responsible for triggering Saria’s transformation. He quickly retreats after awaking at the start of the game but later attempts to reason with Saria alone. He mysteriously vanishes once again after he fails.
Darunia - Returning from The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage, Darunia survived the explosion at the game’s conclusion. He displays a growing rage and shows obvious frustration at Saria’s titanic breakdown.
Rauru - A new character to Time's Menagerie, Rauru has been confirmed to be playable in the game's second demo. He serves almost as a combat healer, able to deal significant damage to enemies while healing the party.
Princess Ruto - A new character to Time's Menagerie, Princess Ruto has been confirmed to be playable in the game's second demo. She replaces Zaleen as the game's healer and uses many support abilities to augment the party's abilities.
- Non-canon characters
Liyer - Once again Liyer seems to have returned for a staring role. She again displays great hatred for Saria and successfully impales her face after a one on one dual.
Zaleen - Zaleen returns once again only to reveal new traits of his character. Once found he gives up the guise of a healing priest and makes known that he is in fact a proficient assassin.
Annara - A bounty hunter from Ordona Province, Annara also survived the ending explosion. Despite the devastation she retains a calm and carefree attitude through her appearance.
- Villains
Demoko - It has been leaked on several forums that the mysterious blue robed figure from the ending sequence of The Fallen Sage will serve as the main antagonist in Time’s Menagerie. He has been identified as Demoko in public concept art. In the second demo of Time's Menagerie he has been revealed to be the first Sage ever created by the Goddesses of Hyrule. The three felt that he was a flawed creation though, and thus they abandoned him in favor of other life. Much of his identity still remains largely unknown.
- Characters that have not reappeared
Several prominent characters that were at the final battle against Saria have not made appearances in the brief demo of Time’s Menagerie. These include General Kazakk, the astronomer Felonius, and Princess Zelda. It is unknown if they survived the ending explosion.
Development and Ownership
Though it is a fan made game like it’s predecessor, full credit is given to Nintendo once again. The game is not being sold for profit, and is only being shared as a tribute to Nintendo's Zelda series.
Demos
- On May 3rd, 2009 a half hour long demo of Time’s Menagerie was released. It can be downloaded here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/h0ivfi
- On July 14th, 2009, a second two hour long demo of the first two dungeons was released. It can be downloaded here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ysjis5
Soundtrack
With the exception of a few tracks, the majority of the soundtrack of Time's Menagerie is being composed by Monarchy One. The soundtrack can be heard for free here: http://www.imeem.com/people/g0lvfTL/playlist/FiVEHLk0/the-legend-of-zelda-times-menagerie-soundtrack-music-playl/
Trivia
- The title song, “A Menagerie in Time,” is a remix of the Temple of Time song by Bezo. The lyrics in latin are: "Sempre aeternam tempus aedes"
References
1) http://www.zeldadungeon.net/FG.php
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