The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (Wessel)

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is a multi-ending chapter book based on the video game of the same name. It is a companion to the Oracle of Seasons book by Craig Wessel book. Despite some small differences in the story, it generally follows the plot of the video game accurately. In the center of the book are eight full-color pages of official game artwork.

The book is fairly short and skims over many events in the game, covering only four dungeons out of eight, the freeing of Nayru, and the final battle against Veran. The skipped dungeons are mentioned, but not described in great detail.

Like in the Oracle of Ages manga by Akira Himekawa, Oracle of Ages is shown to be the second game chronologically in the Oracle series, preceded by Oracle of Seasons. Although it is based on a canon game, the book is generally regarded as non-canon.

Differences

Although based on the same adventure, the plotlines of the game and the book differ slightly.

  • Link speaks quite frequently, like in the Oracle of Ages manga by Akira Himekawa. He also seems to have a mean streak, laughing at the Tokay who eat the Ember Seeds.
  • Blue Stalfos is called Death Stalfos.
  • The Maku Tree is the one who informs Link of the Tune of Ages.
  • Depending on the reader's choice, Ancient Tomb may become the seventh dungeon, while Jabu-Jabu's Belly may become the eighth.
  • The Maku Tree does know the location of Ancient Tomb, unlike in the game.
  • The Maku Tree is the only guardian of Labrynna, and not Nayru.
  • Veran leaves only after the Maku Tree has dissapeared. This may be a continuity error.
  • The Maku Tree knows that the Rolling Sea is inside Jabu-Jabu, whereas she does not in-game, only that it is inside a big fish.

Trivia

  • In the book, Moosh is the animal companion which Link meets.
  • The spot art of Link at the top of each page uses Oracle of Seasons-specific art (Link holding the Rod of Seasons, etc.), despite this book being based on Oracle of Ages.
  • Later editions of the book change the Maku Tree in the cover artwork to the one from Oracle of Seasons.[2]

Bonus Artwork

References

  1. "Publication year(s): 2001"[1] , Copyright Clearance Center, retrieved May 17, 2021.
  2. "Interestingly, Scholastic made a rather bizarre change to the cover in later editions of the Oracle of Ages book. The 2003 edition features the male Maku Tree on the cover instead of the female Maku Tree, despite the fact that only the female Maku Tree appears in Oracle of Ages." — Rod Lloyd, Looking Back at the Oracle of Ages Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Book , Zelda Dungeon, published February 24, 2021, retrieved May 17, 2021.