Gadgetory

you think by now that Nintendo would be done putting out new 3d assets and you would be wrong because Nintendo is now just released another special edition 2d s XL they cannot get over this idea and the newest one is this Hylian Shield design right here now why are they releasing this one I don't know there's actually no special occasion whatsoever this is not an anniversary this is not a game coming out they kind of announced it in line with kind of leading up to e3 that's kind of a setup I guess but it really just seems kind of like a for the heck of it design Nintendo wanted to release a special edition Zelda 2d SXL and I'm for it because this is a really good-looking 2d s Nintendo has been really upping their special editions lately when it comes to the DS line at least I mean last year we got the Polka ball which looked great more recently we've got the Pikachu and this is definitely going up there with one of the better designs let's kind of take a look at this guy so this is based on the Hylian Shield from Zelda franchise one of the more kind of recurring items across it and the quality in this guy is really nice not just because of how they have like the design and how just clean it looks but you can even see here that with all the metal bits well you know metal all the steel design looking parts actually do have this kind of metallic sheen to them which gives a really cool kind of color design to this whole thing personally I really love the overall color aesthetic of this I think the kind of steel silver look they have on the outside matching with the blue and just a little bit of red and gold looks really nice the only part of this that looks a little off-putting to me is they also have a couple random brown accents it's on the shoulder triggers and also the power button I think the logic here is that in some depictions the Hylian Shield does have like a wood and back behind all the steel so that's where that Browns coming into play but it kind of seems like an unnecessary additional color I think you could have kept those just being the same kind of blue as all the accents going on here and it would have looked better but it doesn't ruin the overall thing I mean the top aesthetic here is awesome on the inside we're still focusing on that blue and grey we're not using the metallic sheen of the steel but you're getting that kind of lighter gray on the buttons darker traditional grey on the sticks and then that navy dark blue right here which looks really nice you know overall with its color choices and that metallic finish on the silver and gold parts I gotta say this is easily one of the best looking to DSX nails they've released I'm kind of debating my head right now whether I like this or the Polka ball more I really like the kind of just concept of the poke a little tedious but this one's just overall look and feel is fantastic something about the system I really like - is that this is kind of a sign of a recent trend Nintendo's been doing the special editions where they have very specific themes in mind because there have been a lot of Zelda special edition systems in the past I mean it's probably the highest number alongside with Pokemon and normally there's kind of this default idea of black and gold use gold trim in places you have the Triforce did a very sort of generic approach that's kind of just Zelda overall where is this one there's a very clear specific theme in mind which is recapturing the design of the Hylian Shield and that's part of what really works well for anything is because it gives you this kind of idea of a specific item because the hila - does a very recurring item in Zelda's history it first mates appearance in Ocarina of Time wears one kind of the first games that you can actually see an in-depth look at linked in what he's using they did have a previous kind of concept art design link to the past that looks similar but ocarina of time is really where this kind of overall aesthetic was solidified and we've seen it in basically every 3d Zelda game that has an adult link along with one appearance in a 2d game which is a link between worlds the game this happens to be bundled with so that works out really well now the exact design of the Hylian Shield has varied a little bit game to game but the general aesthetic is all here you have the steel outline for the shield itself little metal accents and the two most important symbols are this Triforce right here up top which is you know one of the biggest symbols from the series and below that you have the Hylian crest which in a period of time it was kind of just a design they threw together and they're like yeah that's what the royal family crest looks like and in later games of the series Skyward Sword specifically they gave it a little more meaning by saying that this is kind of a fusion of two other symbols the goddess crest which was in that game and it's based on the red loft wing that you would ride in Skyward Sword and kind of formed the basis of what this design looks like now this did start in ocarina of time they did not use it in of the older games there was one like I said that was kind of similar and linked to the past but that only showed up in concept art in the game you just saw that you had a blue shield not exactly descriptive and before even that in older Zelda games you can even see on our pixel pal right here the actually features design that had a cross symbol which of course they kind of removed it over time for pretty obvious reasons removing religion from the game and focusing instead on more just the hardcore fantasy elements it was really interesting but the system to me is kinda what I was saying earlier that you would think they'd be kind of done with DS's by now especially with how successful switch has been and how yeah there's still some 3ds launches happening but it's definitely starting to get near the end of its lifecycle but at the same time it's kind of smart really I think Nintendo's really relying on this idea that if you make a cool enough looking special vision like this guy right here you're gonna have diehard fans that still want to grab one and you're gonna have those people who didn't necessarily own a DS got in on the switch fell in love with some games like for instance breath of the wild and they see a design like this see it's a cheaper system and maybe they want to tap into that kind of larger older library especially because this one does come bundled with one of the best Zelda games in my opinion link between worlds which you know is a pretty old game now it came out back in 2013 but it is an excellent 3ds title and anyone that's a fan of Zelda should definitely try that one out so this is just a cool little way of celebrating that franchise