‘Cadence of Hyrule’ Perfected Something Special About Zelda
Cadence of Hyrule instantly danced itself into the top spot for my 2019 game of the year contenders. I was expecting a casual offshoot to the Zelda universe, just a whimsical indie one-off. But after sinking several hours into the game, I not only think this game is a masterpiece representative of the potential of other Zelda titles, but that Cadence opens the door to some future Zelda spinoffs that can’t even be imagined yet. Cadence of Hyrule combines parts of Zelda lore, design, and gaming culture – namely speedrunning – in a perfect way that I don’t think anyone expected. And for me, it paid off dividends.
Until I joined Twitch, I was unfamiliar with most speedrunning, especially subcategories of the genre like randomizer runs. In these randomizer runs, the items of a game’s world are scrambled into a sequence that requires even the most familiar player to delve into their deep familiarity with the game, requiring them to strategize in real time what moves to make next both in terms of probability and pure instinct. I have spent many hours watching my friends compete in randomizer races while playing games from The Legend of Zelda series. It always amazes me how active each run is, and how a game that is decades old can still feel so new and alive each time you activate the randomizer.
When I picked up Cadence of Hyrule, I didn’t realize that each playthrough was procedurally generated, fitting snugly into the rogue-like genre. Though I think the idea of rogue-like games are a bit tired and oversaturated, I didn’t feel either of those thoughts while picking up Cadence of Hyrule. I began playing completely ignorant of the fact that I might be encountering a world that other players wouldn’t. I don’t think I would have ever noticed that this game was procedurally generated if not for the fact that I happened to read about it elsewhere. But as soon as I noticed that the game’s layout was random, it clicked.
The connection between randomized speedrunning and this kind of rogue-like, procedurally generated game fits hand in hand. The more I have thought about it, I wondered if one of the main reasons the developers of this game decided to apply their formula to the Zelda franchise is because they made this connection themselves. After all, this game actually had something to that effect in mind, blending the culture that keeps Zelda speedrunning alive dozens of years later and the kind of game that inherently has a kind of “infinite” replay value. For if each time you begin a fresh playthrough, you are greeted by a familiar yet undiscovered world, it’s almost like both players of Cadence of Hyrule and speedrunners of the randomizer genre are doing the same thing.
I began thinking about why the Zelda games are so popular for randomized speedruns in particular. One of the reasons that I can’t dismiss is the nostalgia and atmosphere of those games. I think for the vast majority of gamers, the Zelda franchise is something near and dear to our hearts. But most games lose their impact, lose their draw, when we’ve played them to the point of being able to predict them like that annoying friend who quotes a movie when you’re watching it for the first time. Zelda games are linear but it’s something most gamers want to keep engaging with, keep experiencing. It’s the kind of game world that invites you in over and again.
To take the atmosphere of the Zelda universe – and specifically, the visual analogy best fits A Link to the Past in the way Cadence has been skinned – and apply it to something that the gaming culture around Zelda games is already doing – randomized speedruns – just makes for the perfect formula. There is a niche audience that has organically developed a way to relive their favorite Zelda titles over and again, and now there is a mainstream (indie) title that provides a similar but pre-built experience for those players.
All of this was confirmed to me the moment I realized that the game has a built-in speedrunning leaderboard. Upon completion, you unlock a few game modes. As soon as I saw the leaderboards, the latent thoughts I had been having about randomness and procedural generation landed squarely on their feet. This game was explicitly designed with speedrunners in mind. I genuinely wonder if there is an explicit connection between the developers’ design and the randomizer speedrunning community.
While we’re on this thought, I want to bring to attention the use of music in Cadence of Hyrule. Music is a central gameplay feature of Cadence. This game is designed around a rhythm mechanic that requires all actions to be performed in synchrony to the beat in order to be successful. Again, the connection with the mainline Zelda franchise is glaringly obvious. I think back to how many Zelda titles rely on music as a core mechanic, the obvious trio being Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and The Wind Waker. As later titles like Breath of the Wild have scaled back music as a primary game mechanic, Cadence of Hyrule calls directly back to that lineage, which I think is a brilliant move. Maybe we don’t need to drag the mechanics of Ocarina into the next era of Zelda titles, but I think this design proved faithful to the Zelda series. This overlap filled a gap in the market that most people wouldn’t have even realized was there.
In thinking about this relationship between the main mechanic and music, it also occurred to me that this soundtrack heavily relies on remixed versions of classic Zelda tunes. I see these remixes as a metaphorical extension of this idea about randomness, procedural generation, and experiencing familiar things as though they were for the first time. Remixing delves into the realm of the uncanny, making us feel a kind of duality between “Oh, I remember this,” and “Wow, this is refreshing.” Especially in terms of this analogy between randomized speedruns and procedural generation, I can’t imagine a better way that this phenomenal soundtrack could have been produced.
Zelda games are nearly perfect and brilliantly designed and yet so many of us find pleasure in subverting the game’s intended path. Each randomized run is somewhat fresh, even though the assets are the same. Cadence of Hyrule learns that lesson from traditional linear Zelda titles and does something that I don’t think anyone asked for – but now that I’ve played it, I am eager for more. I hope Cadence of Hyrule serves as a success story for Nintendo, something that encourages them to continue taking risks by licencing out their beloved IPs to more indie developers who could use the chance to shine.
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