We’re coming to the end of the Dark Age here, with a game I heard of shortly after Twilight Princess came out and was surprised that two new Zelda games came out so close together. Now I know there were nearly two years between them (and Minish Cap was first), and five others in the four years between Majora’s Mask and Minish Cap, so… well, it seems less weird now. Anyway, what do I know about this game? It’s the last released and first chronologically of the Four Swords Trilogy, meaning I’m expecting origins for Vaati and the Four Sword. “Minish” is pronounced to rhyme with “finish,” although for a long time I said “mine-ish”; this is one case where I changed my pronunciation to match the official one after learning it.
“A long, long time ago…
when the world was on the verge of being swallowed by shadow…
The tiny Picori appeared from the sky, bringing the hero of men a sword and a golden light.
With wisdom and courage, the hero drove out the darkness.
When peace had been restored, the people enshrined that blade with care.”
The short story reel is illustrated by stained glass pictures, which is a nice touch. The hero is recognizable as an incarnation of Link, and one of the people enshrining the blade may be a Zelda. The monster seen in the “swallowed by shadow” picture is a pig demon, evocative of Ganon even though this is set before his rise in Ocarina of Time. (So the backstory could make a future Zelda game.) The manual goes into more details of what came after the previous hero saved the day, but it’s all stuff we’ll get to by time the game starts, so I’ll cover it as it comes up.
The game starts long after the backstory, on the day Hyrule celebrates the Picori’s help with an annual festival. Zelda visits a village near the castle to ask the Master Smith if his apprentice/grandson, Link, can accompany her to the festival. Link’s still asleep – of course he is, it’s the start of a game – so Master Smith calls for him to wake up. Link comes downstairs to find Zelda waiting for him. They catch him up to speed on Zelda’s request, and Master Smith asks Link to do him a favor and deliver the sword which is to be presented to the winner of the festival’s tournament. Master Smith also tells Link not to let anything bad happen to Zelda, which would be enough of a curse even if Zelda doesn’t immediately pipe in saying nothing bad is going to happen.
The festival turns out to be a special one; the Picori only appear in Hyrule every hundred years, and details like that only come up when the once a century event is about to happen. The Picori are said to only appear to good children, and so some kids express skepticism about whether they even exist or are just a fairy tale meant to encourage children to behave. When he’s not talking to people to learn what’s going on, Link’s following Zelda around as she darts between attractions at the festival. She eventually wins a contest, and instead of a “stone” (heart piece) or “gem” (red rupee), she chooses a “teeny-tiny” shield as her prize (despite the contest runner trying to talk her into one of the others), and gives it to Link.
As they go to the castle, they’re attacked by a Business Scrub, so Link has a chance to show off with the shield. Once Link reflects a nut off his shield to hit the Scrub, the Scrub decides he’s not getting any business done at the festival anyway and takes off. Link and Zelda continue on to the castle, and Link gives the sword to Minister Potho. Zelda leaves to get ready for the presentation, saying she had a good time. Potho invites Link to stay for the ceremony, and explains about the Picori Blade, which seals evil in a chest, and the tournament’s champion will be invited to touch.
The champion of this year’s tournament is a mysterious stranger dressed in black. If that’s not a giveaway that things are going to go bad, his name’s Vaati. He declares his intention to take the chest’s contents, and effortlessly swats the guards away when they try to stop him. He blasts the blade, breaking it and opening the chest, and monsters pour forth. Zelda asks him why he’s doing what he’s doing, and he blasts her, turning her to stone (but only knocking Link out of the way). To his disappointment, the chest is empty with the monsters gone, but he knows he can find what he’s looking for eventually, so he teleports off to begin his search.
When Link finally recovers, he’s in the castle. Master Smith, Minister Potho, and the king are in the throne room discussing what to do next. The King decides that the best course of action is to approach the Picori about repairing the broken blade, but the Picori only appear to children, so Link gets volunteered to act as the messenger. He’s given the broken Picori Blade, and since Vaati clearly wasn’t interested, he gets the Smith’s Sword, too. The soldiers are sent to search for Vaati, while Link is told the most likely place for him to find the Picori is Deepwood Shrine in the Minish Woods, where humans and Picori used to meet. Master Smith gives Link a map, with the Minish Woods marked on it. Link leaves to begin his quest.
Next: Link completes his outfit.
