4.60

5

February 21, 2017

Collection of Promotional and Concept Art

First of all, if you're a die hard Zelda fan, nothing in this book is new as this book is essentially a collection of promotional and concept art for the series. If you been following Zelda from the beginning: seen all the game manual, read through all the Nintendo Power, Game Informer Magazine or have exposed yourself to all the advertisement through the years then nothing will pop-up and surprise you.

This book has maybe 25-33% more art than the Hyrule Histora. I say art, because aside from the small interview section in back there's barely any text describing the art aside from the character's name or what game it came from. There is an interview in back of the book, but it mainly discusses the art of Zelda rather than the lore. You will not get insight or commentary in terms of hidden story lines or about the Zelda timeline in this book.

You do get art from the entire series from the original Legend of Zelda to Zelda Twilight Princess HD or Zelda Tri Force Heroes. There are 3,4 pages dedicated to Zelda Breath of the Wild, but again just promotional art you have seen before.

Like the Hyrule Historia, the ink and paper quality i really good. Great coffee table book for when you have guests over or want to browse through it if a loading screen ever pops up.

Overall great compilation of promotional Zelda art through the ages in one location

4

Feb 14, 2019

My wife and I both dismiss Valentine's Day as a commercial holiday. When I got home from work yesterday, she surprised me with this. Luckily I'd gotten her a t-shirt with that caterpillar from the Labyrinth on it so I wasn't caught empty-handed.

The Legend of Zelda series is my favorite video game series of all time and I have fond memories of gazing at the art in the manuals and promotional materials. This book is treasure trove of Zelda art. It's a weighty tome at over 400 pages and I bet there My wife and I both dismiss Valentine's Day as a commercial holiday. When I got home from work yesterday, she surprised me with this. Luckily I'd gotten her a t-shirt with that caterpillar from the Labyrinth on it so I wasn't caught empty-handed.

The Legend of Zelda series is my favorite video game series of all time and I have fond memories of gazing at the art in the manuals and promotional materials. This book is treasure trove of Zelda art. It's a weighty tome at over 400 pages and I bet there are less than 4000 words in the entire thing, all occurring in an interview with artists on the series at the very end of the book.

Every page is packed with art. There are concept sketches, promotional art, box art, art from the manuals, even pixel art from the games themselves. Every game, from the original Legend of Zelda to the most recent game, Breath of the Wild, is well-represented. I don't have the Zelda II manual anymore but I think some of the art for it came from issues of the Nintendo Fun Club Magazine, the precursor to Nintendo Power. Is Nintendo Power still being published? Anyway, every character, every enemy, and even every magical item is depicted. I can't imagine a better source of Zelda art than this book. Four out of five Triforces.



...more

1

February 22, 2017

NO NEW CONTENT, FALSE ADVERTISING

FALSE ADVERTISING CONENT
THIS IS A REVIEW FOR ZELDA FANS
Description in detail below.

Negatives:
The description of this product I quote "including artwork from the upcoming The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild!" as one of it's main features. Out of the WHOLE book there is maybe 4 pages devoted to this "Content." And the content is ALREADY OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED ARTWORK you can find on the Breath of the Wild website. The description specifically says "rare and never before seen content". I flipped through the whole book and I've seen most IF NOT ALL of this "rare" content. This book is nothing more than a picture book of all the official artwork with absolutely nothing to contribute and no descriptions. Anybody could easily just print these photos out from online. SINCE ALL OF THE CONTENT IS ONLINE. As a huge fan I'm am absolutely disappointed by this buy and had I known I would've never ordered it.

My second biggest reason I've written this review is because this book is marketed almost as the 2nd official volume of the Legend of Zelda books. The 1st book I am speaking of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Hystoria which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. It has an amazing amount of content including lore, timeline explanations, illustrations, pre-game ACTUAL RARE artwork, and has a high amount of reading content. Obviously these two books are NOTHING ALIKE. It is COMPLETELY FALSE ADVERTISING to promote Arts and Artifacts with the same likeness as Hyrule Hystoria. One of the biggest reason I bought this book is BECAUSE it was advertised similarly to Hyrule Hystoria. IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING THIS BOOK FOR THOSE REASONS THEN DO NOT BUY.

Positives:
IF you go into buying this book KNOWING it is purely a picture book of a collection of the OFFICIAL artworks of all the Zelda games and do not care that there is no actual new coverage content of Breathe of the Wild, or descriptions, AND you DON'T expect this book to be similar to Hyrule Hystoria then this is a good buy. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
The only seemingly interesting "new" content this book has to offer is the video game designers interview in the back.

In summary, the false advertising and excruciating lack of content to bring to the table should make this book worth $5 dollars. It is ridiculous to advertise this in comparison to Hyrule Hystoria. They are no where near on the same level. Just to clarify I am not trying to be mean but this is my honest opinion that this book failed in content and in advertising and essentially scams buyers like myself who are serious Zelda fans.

5

February 21, 2017

For every fan

Absolutely awestruck on the size of this thing. I expected a repeat of Hyrule Historia and that certainly is not this. 400+ pages of gorgeous artwork and a fantastical trip down nostalgia lane. Some of this artwork I haven't seen since I was a kid in Nintendo Power. Worth every penny.

3

June 10, 2017

A great showcase for the series' art

As an art it's pretty fantastic. It's an excellent showcase for all the art that has been drawn and painted and published throughout the years for all the games in the franchise. It's even got a (small) section for Breath of the Wild! Nevertheless, I WAS expecting more written content, as in interviews or explanations regarding the creation of these pieces, or the history of the games' artistic development. All it's got is an interview with a group of Nintendo artist near the end; it's pretty informative and entertaining, which makes the fact that there isn't MORE of it all the more disappointing. I really like The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts, but I can't deny I was expecting more.

4

March 16, 2017

A solid tribute for any Zelda fan.

I enjoy this book quite a bit. The book features many high quality pages from the past three decade history. Some of the highlights include draft sketches of famous box art which gives a unexpected insight on the process of making these great covers. Many iconic illustrations make their appearance and look great.

I have two gripes with the book which are mostly minor compared to everything else this book has to offer. Some posters are printed over two pages where the seam hides predominate details (SNES master sword scene in particular) and I was hoping for less box art and more concepts and sketches, thus the "artifacts" of the books title was a little thin.

5

February 21, 2017

It's so big!

If you're wondering how big this book is, it's large and in charge. 400 massive pages of art and an interview in the back. The quality of the book is excellent as well, which is also why I'm so surprised it is so cheap. Worth every penny. If you like Zelda; get it. If you know someone you're close with who likes Zelda; get it as a gift. A holy tome of artwork spanning the history of the series is something every fan should see!

5

September 3, 2017

Better than a hard copy, can see the beautifully amazing art work on the go, where ever you are. Don't have to worry about damaging a hard copy, can view double page illustrations with ease and can zoom in, to an actual larger size than a hard copy. The art work in this book is stunning, a must for ...Full Review

2

February 23, 2017

If you already own Hyrule Historia, you don't need this book.

If you already own Hyrule Historia, you don't need this book. I was so excited for this, and as I finished going through it, I became very disappointed. It is about 97% repeat art that we've all seen dozens of times, and maybe even more if you own a copy of the Historia. The Breath of the Wild content is only a few pages, which is fine, but if that's why you're buying it, I'd say save your 30 bucks.
The pages of this book literally look like I took Hyrule Historia and got rid of the text. That's it. Nothing new.

The one kind of cool feature is at the end of each game's section it has a page filled with the various icons used in your inventory in the game. Kinda cool but not really worth the rest of it.

5

Apr 25, 2017

As someone who loves Legend of Zelda and has a background in art, I really loved this book. It was fun to see how the style has changed from game to game, and read the interview at the end with some of the illustrators to learn why. I also liked comparing which monsters and characters carried over to different games and how their look changed as well. I would have loved for publication to occur after Breath of the Wild because the new game is by far my favorite, and is absolutely beautiful too.

4

Apr 15, 2017

For serious Zelda fans! If you have "Hyrule Historia", then you will love this book also. Really liked the timeline of all the Zelda games that have been released over the years and the cool box art that was used for each game. Liked the different sections that feature the friends and enemies you encounter from each game--some of the detail in the artwork is just awesome! There is also a brief interview in the back of the book with various artists who have contributed their talents to the Zelda For serious Zelda fans! If you have "Hyrule Historia", then you will love this book also. Really liked the timeline of all the Zelda games that have been released over the years and the cool box art that was used for each game. Liked the different sections that feature the friends and enemies you encounter from each game--some of the detail in the artwork is just awesome! There is also a brief interview in the back of the book with various artists who have contributed their talents to the Zelda franchise. ...more

5

July 22, 2017

If you like the Zelda franchise even a little bit

If you like the Zelda franchise even a little bit, this book is a must have. It's so big and heavy you could literally use it as a weapon! XD

Every page is filled with gorgeous art from ALL of the Zelda games and there's even a decent interview portion in the back featuring the creative minds behind them.

And for half the regular retail price you can not beat it. It's awesome. :)

5

February 21, 2017

The Legend of Arts and Artifacts

The art in this book is fantastic! Even though most of it may be just simple character pictures you can find on the internet, the clear and organized versions of these pictures are beautiful to see as is. Over THREE DECADES worth of Zelda art! No matter where you started with the series, seeing some of the art is sure to bring a feel of nostalgia to your heart!

My only complaint is that I wish the book had more notes and sketches for each game. Some of the pages just felt a little bland and left me wanting so much more to look at. I was hoping to see some early concept art for characters for each game, but it appears to only have finished concept art. Otherwise, I was very pleased with this book.

3

Mar 11, 2017

I wish there was more information in it, but the art is fantastic.

2

Apr 01, 2017

I thought this book would talk about the idea behind the designs in the video games, but it's just pictures of the art and items in the games with no commentary.

4

May 13, 2017

I'm not sure how much I have to say about this book, because there's not that much that can be commented on. There's no text in it at all other than the names of the characters depicted or the game the art comes from for almost four hundred pages at the beginning, with the first artists' notes not appearing until page 399. Those notes, about the appearance of Link's motorcycle for the Mario Kart 8 DLC, are the only notes next to any illustration in the book.

I can point out some art I liked, I'm not sure how much I have to say about this book, because there's not that much that can be commented on. There's no text in it at all other than the names of the characters depicted or the game the art comes from for almost four hundred pages at the beginning, with the first artists' notes not appearing until page 399. Those notes, about the appearance of Link's motorcycle for the Mario Kart 8 DLC, are the only notes next to any illustration in the book.

I can point out some art I liked, though. The best is the Wind Waker art on page 62 and 63, with the woodcuts of the history of Hyrule leading to the victory of Ganona nd the failure of the destined hero to appear, and the stained-glass window depicting Link standing in front of Hyrule Castle and Princess Zelda in the background. I know that there was a lot of controversy at time about Link's appearance in Wind Waker--that it was too cartoony, that it was kiddy, that Nintendo was making stupid baby games for stupid babies--but I thought and I still think that it looked great when I played just after it came out. And hey, that art holds up worlds better than a lot of the "realistic" games released in 2003. It turns out that having a consistent art style is better than always chasing the bleeding edge of graphics if you want your game to stand the test of time.

Page 42 has a beautiful illustration of Ocarina of Time-era Link riding Epona through Hyrule Field which looks like what Ocarina of Time looked like in my memories rather than what it actually looked like when I replayed it in January. The field looks as expansive as it felt at the time and Link is staring off into the distant horizon as he rides with purpose from Lon Lon Ranch. It really captures what it felt like to play Ocarina of Time when it first came out.

There's another good character illustration of Link and Epona on page 154 and 155, with Epona especially being impressive.

I only got a third of the way through Twilight Princess before we moved to Japan and I never picked it back up, but I really liked the illustration of Link and Wolf Link on page 268. They're facing each other, Link away from the viewer and the wolf toward, and both are craning their heads to the viewer's right. It provides a nice synchronicity.

It's not quite the same art, which is why I didn't label it my favorite, but there's a section beginning on page 382 with pixel art from the first three Zelda games.I learned from this book that Zelda in the first game will wear a dress the same color as Link's tunic and that Link's swimming animation in A Link to the Past requires 18 frames to cover all possible swimming directions. I love pixel art and it's all beautifully labeled and presented against a black background, so even though the art in the rest of the book is beautiful, I have a soft spot for the ending.

Not quite the full ending, though, since the book ends with an interview with Wada Takumi,Takizawa Satoru, Nakano Yusuke, and Haruhana Yoshiki, all of whom were artists in various capacities on the Zelda series. This is the interview that revealed that Link was redesigned in Ocarina of Time to appeal to overseas audiences and his look was based on a famous actor (probably Leonardo Di Caprio, but unstated for legal reasons). There's also a note I really liked about detail and how traditionally bombable walls are visually distinct in some way, but if everything in the game becomes highly detailed and full of clutter it becomes impossible to distinguish important targets. That's why Wind Waker's art was scaled back and simplified, to prevent that from happening.

It's a quick read unless you're poring over every illustration looking at every detail, but a worthwhile one. And there's no timeline ridiculousness so it's automatically one up on Hyrule Historia. ...more

5

Nov 28, 2017

This book is hard to review because it is almost completely artwork. If you're interested in seeing art from the Zelda games (and they're all covered here up until Breath of the Wild) then you're going to really enjoy looking at the book. The image quality is high and the book is really nice-looking. The only potential reading is an extended interview with the artists behind Link's design in the back. It is detailed and a fitting tribute to the people behind this awesome series' art. For the This book is hard to review because it is almost completely artwork. If you're interested in seeing art from the Zelda games (and they're all covered here up until Breath of the Wild) then you're going to really enjoy looking at the book. The image quality is high and the book is really nice-looking. The only potential reading is an extended interview with the artists behind Link's design in the back. It is detailed and a fitting tribute to the people behind this awesome series' art. For the price, this book is excellent and sure to please any Zelda fan. I like it better than the previous book put out by Dark Horse and am happy to have it on my shelf! ...more

4

Jun 03, 2018

The bit of reading is at the end where the Artists that have been part of these pictures share their experience and thoughts of the whole process. It's good to know about some of the things I wondered about regarding some characters' designs are covered on that interview!

This is a love-letter kind of picture book where you find all the art that has covered The Legend of Zelda over the past 30 years up until the first pictures of Breath of the Wild.

4

Jan 27, 2018

An absolutely gorgeous volume! It collects 30 years of the most amazing Legend of Zelda artwork! This is primarily a book full of artwork, though I wish it had more text about the art. A must read for every Zelda fan, but I wouldn't say a must purchase.

5

Apr 10, 2018

A great little title to browse through if you enjoy The Legend of Zelda franchise or are a fan of good art and animation. I hereby give this book 5/5 hearts trust me you're gonna need them. A great little title to browse through if you enjoy The Legend of Zelda franchise or are a fan of good art and animation. I hereby give this book 5/5 hearts ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️trust me you're gonna need them. ...more

5

Feb 05, 2018

If you are a fan of the *Legend of Zelda* (Zelda no Densetsu) video game series, like I am, then you will love this book. This artbook showcases wonderful art from all the games.

5

May 20, 2017

Fantastic art, loved it. They could have peppered the commentary throughout the book rather than keep it all in the end

4

Jul 18, 2018

It's simply a chronological collection of artwork for the game. It's incredibly striking and amazing reference material. Though my friend has pointed out that it's missing an image of Midna's true form, like come on guys, not even 1 ??

5

Feb 22, 2017

4.5/5 stars ~

Thirty years worth of full-color Zelda art on high-quality pages, plus a few pages of creator interviews. It makes a nice set with The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. It also doubles as a bludgeoning weapon because IT IS HEAVY -- dual-wielding bludgeoning weapons if you have both books.

My only complaint is it doesn't have art from Super Smash Bros. or Hyrule Warriors. I know those games were collaborations, but technically so is Mario Kart, and they featured a few pieces from that 4.5/5 stars ~

Thirty years worth of full-color Zelda art on high-quality pages, plus a few pages of creator interviews. It makes a nice set with The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. It also doubles as a bludgeoning weapon because IT IS HEAVY -- dual-wielding bludgeoning weapons if you have both books.

My only complaint is it doesn't have art from Super Smash Bros. or Hyrule Warriors. I know those games were collaborations, but technically so is Mario Kart, and they featured a few pieces from that game but not the others. ...more

2

Mar 05, 2017

Deep in my soul, I knew I was lying when I purchased this book. I said to myself: surely, this book will have some substance. It can't be as disappointing as Hyrule Historia. Yet, here I am, seven million pages of artwork later, without having learned more than a few things here and there. There are no descriptions, explanations, clues, cultural tidbits - nothing of note, really - to be found in this book, but for the brief interview at the back. And, the interview is really interesting only in Deep in my soul, I knew I was lying when I purchased this book. I said to myself: surely, this book will have some substance. It can't be as disappointing as Hyrule Historia. Yet, here I am, seven million pages of artwork later, without having learned more than a few things here and there. There are no descriptions, explanations, clues, cultural tidbits - nothing of note, really - to be found in this book, but for the brief interview at the back. And, the interview is really interesting only in a few parts, in which they discuss where certain artifacts took their inspiration. Were I the interviewer, this would have been the bulk of the interview, but it seemed only an afterthought, and an unimportant afterthought at that. In summation, this is a pretty book, but it is only a trinket; there is nothing substantive within its pages, which have about as much depth as a thimble. ...more