The Tale of a Boy and His Hat — Let's Play The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap!

Hello fellow Internet dwellers, and welcome to Let’s Play The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

This is a game I hold very near and dear to my heart. It also may or may not be the reason I now wear glasses. See, when I first got this game, I played it for three days straight because I had the fortune of having a three-day weekend at the same time it was released. I played it all the way through the first time while not really going for any of the secrets (and this game has quite a few of them, mostly linked to medallion-like trinkets called Kinstones) and once I finished that playthrough, I immediately started a new file and powered through it while scouring the world for every last secret with the help of my trusty Official Nintendo Power Player’s Guide�. Then, once that file was done, I started yet another file because I just hadn’t gotten enough of the game. Every time I played, I made it harder on myself. Whether it was skipping Heart Pieces and freebie Heart Containers or only using certain weapons, you name a possible way to go through the game, and I can guarantee you I have done it.

What I’m trying to say is that I have quite possibly played this game longer and in more ways than most people.

The Minish Cap wasn’t my first Zelda game. In fact, if I’ve got my numbers correct, it was my ninth. Either way, it’s safe to say that it is one of, if not my absolute, favorite Zelda. Why? Because it took a number of elements I like about the Zelda series and mashed them up into one game. It has the excellent art style of The Wind Waker (albeit tweaked ever so slightly), it has the top-down gameplay of the older games in the series, it involves my favorite non-Ganon villain and even gives him a decent backstory to boot, and it’s on a portable system.

But if you were to take a glance at the box art, you wouldn’t see the dirty little secret this game hides from you and that’s the fact that it was actually Capcom that developed this game with oversight from Nintendo. For those of you that don’t know, Capcom made both Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages as well, so if you enjoyed those, there’s no reason you wouldn’t enjoy this one as well. Yet while I hear a few praises given to that duo of games every now and then, this game doesn’t seem to be as highly regarded as others in the series.

Being the underrated gem that it is, I’ve begun to look at it as The Little Zelda That Could, in a way. It had a number of factors working against it upon its release: The DS had just been released three months before in America, it had the art style of The Wind Waker which, at the time, was reviled simply because of its look, and it had to endure the apparent stigma of being developed by Capcom and not Nintendo. Well, I’m here to say that the art in this game is pretty damn amazing and perfectly suited to a top-down Zelda, and that Capcom can indeed make a good—no, amazing—Zelda game (with Nintendo’s guidance, of course).

This game even went through the trouble of explaining something that we take for granted in the series. What is it? I guess you’ll have to stick around to find out, won’t you?

But before we get to that…


If you’d rather see this hatless little guy save the world with a name more interesting than Link, you might want to think about suggesting something better. Six letters max.

I always name Link "Octo"

And you should too!

Name him Felix. No reason, I just like the name.

I say you name him "otcO" just to spite Octo.

Because it is the anti-Octo, you see.

Fun Fact: tricking me to say that out loud will send me back to my native dimension.

And then poor DemoWeasel will be stuck doing your updates! Forever!

Exactly!

So, for poor DemoWeasels sake, go with Octo.

In every Zelda game I name Link Rolo. I have no idea why.

I liked this game quite a bit, but never beat the last boss. I'm looking forward to vicariously re-living the game.

Link's walk cycle in this game sort of looks like he's frolicking daintily across the fields. Let's name him Sue.

You can make just about everyone who talks to him impersonate Foghorn Leghorn by naming him I say. Quite fun, that.

I'm gonna vote for Ashton. Link may not have a couple of dragon heads sticking out of his back and fighting with each other, but he does have a bird-faced cap bossing him around.

Call him I say.

This is the only option. The only option, I say.

Hey, I just started playing this the other day. Now I probably won't ever finish it.

This sounds like a dandy option to me.

Name him God.

Hatlas

The only thing I really remember about this particular Zelda is that the Boss BGM is kind of cool. The rest of it is kind of this huge blur.

I also vote for I Say, but if there's a veto on that one then I suppose Hatlas is also good.

1-2-3-4-5-6

Blondy
Blondi
Blonde

FOREVER!

Name him Lunk, in honor of a certain group of unemployed spacefarers.

I am using my powers as LP writer to veto I say. I wanted names, not phrases.

Aw, I was just about to vote for that. I'll go with Hatlas

Anybody else think that was actually Snake's real name on the Simpsons, because they were kids and didn't pick up on it?

This, for hi-jinks!

EDIT: you don't get to veto the Hivemind! The hivemind vetoes you!

My, someone's a Kiljoy today.

Fine.

Indeed.

Since there's no puppet character in this game, let's use his actual name! (Though this was still my second choice after I say.) How about O.Lawd?

If its good enough for an island, its good enough for the green clad fellow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isay (I'd vote for Iosaigh but its 7 letters )

Edit: Okok, a vote for Gae (or Gáe if Minish Cap handles special characters), since really our green clad fellow here always turns into a weapon of monster destruction by the end of the game.

Well, you're just a barrel of fun.

I stand by Lunk.

Call him Dunce.

Looks like Hatlas wins it. I should be able to get the first update done by Monday.