The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia

Product Description

The Legend of Zelda(TM) is one of the most successful franchises of all time with nearly twenty video games and thirty years of history, but it all started with a gold cartridge...

The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition honors the game that started it all by recreating the original gold cartridge as faithfully as possible. The book comes with a black polypropylene sleeve, lined with velvet flocking, and a scale instruction booklet with fun, theme-appropriate material inside.

The cover is a gold foil paper with gloss lamination and a spot gritty varnish. The details are embossed and debossed. It has gold gilding on the top and foredge, with black gilding on the bottom. This book looks and feels so much like the original cartridge you might find yourself blowing into the bottom before you open it!

This 328-page book is an exhaustive guide to The Legend of Zelda, from the original The Legend of Zelda to Twilight Princess HD. A comprehensive collection of enemies and items, potions to poes, an expansion of the lore touched upon in Hyrule Historia, concept art, screencaps, maps, main characters and how they relate, languages, and much, much more, including an exclusive interview with Series Producer, Eiji Aonuma! This, the last of The Goddess Collection trilogy, which includes Hyrule Historia and Art & Artifacts, is a treasure trove of explanations and information about every aspect of The Legend of Zelda universe!

Celebrate over thirty years of The Legend of Zelda with a heartfelt homage to the origins of this legendary franchise!

Top Reviews

Incredibly Stunning Book!
by MainelyRetro (5 out of 5 stars)
June 19, 2018

This book was absolutely worth the wait, I have been waiting on pins and needles since preordering back in November. The plan was to not break the seal but I couldn't help myself. I can't stop touching this book, as soon as you remove the book from the sleeve you feel the nostalgia with the rough, textured cover that resembles an old NES cartridge complete with shiny gold cover. The inside of the cartridge sleeve is lined with velvet flocking adds a nice touch. With a to-scale instruction booklet this completes this amazing bundle of nostalgia.

The book itself is very in depth with all the information and artwork from the past games that any Zelda fan can handle and then some. Unfortunately, you won't see anything from BOW here. When the release date was changed from April to June my assumption was that they intended to add the BOW content, it is a little disappointing it's not included.

Aside from cosmetic appearances the deluxe edition doesn't vary in content compared to the standard edition.

I had some serious concerns about how the book would be shipped since I've received enough Zelda books sent in envelopes via Amazon, resulting in many damaged books. Seeing a book shaped box inside the Amazon shipping box almost made me giddy. Packaged in it's own form fitting box, my book arrived in great condition.
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An Incredible Deluxe Edition!
by Dale R.,Top Contributor: Action Figures (5 out of 5 stars)
June 19, 2018

Dark Horse Books has done an exceptional job in making the Deluxe Edition of The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia. The book comes as a faux NES gaming cartridge that is sleeved in it's own video-gaming case; It accurately reflects the look and feel of the old NES cartridge. Upon removing the book from the sleeve, the cover of the book is textured with a gritty surface that mimics the original NES cartridge too. The left side of the book even has the smooth feel and raised bumps (in ladder formation) along the left-hand side of the book--it's an incredibly nice touch and it pays homage to the days of old for this incredible anniversary book. Even the sides of the pages are gilded, to give the book a nice shimming and polished aesthetic. The back of the book has a nice Caution label too, that was a cute touch to add.

The contents inside of the book is nicely laid out in clean clear text, with pictured examples of just about everything from a variety of sources. The book has an extensive bibliography from what sources all material inside is presented and included from. The book is divided into three sections that encompasses the entire The Legend of Zelda history: Historical Records, Database, and Archives.

One thing to note is that this book is translated from the original Japanese encyclopedia, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Encyclopedia, that was released March 1, 2017. As such, any Breath of the Wild (BOTW) material is abhorrently absent within, despite material from the game being credited on page #2 of the publishing credits. If BOTW material is covered in the book, I certainly don't see it at all.

I definitely recommend this book for fans of The Legend of Zelda, as this is a beautiful book that contains a plethora of wonderful information about all of the games. Everything is presented in gorgeous fashion to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of this iconic franchise.
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The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia "Deluxe Edition"?
by Anthony C.,Top Contributor: Anime (5 out of 5 stars)
June 19, 2018

I'll be honest with you folks, I never actually read or bought the other dark horse books of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia and The Legend of Zelda: Art &Artifacts but they are both highly rated on amazon, I do plan on getting them as well.
This deluxe edition is just a different cover for the Encylopedia. I do like how they indented in the hardcover itself to make it look like a old school cartridge with an old school cartridge sleeve... The pages themselfs have a gold trimming to it making the outer part of the book look all gold. Then there is also that extra bonus of that instruction booklet which I found nice but won't spoil (it's just 6 pages)
The content inside of it is basically a dictionary on everything zelda. It doesn't really explain the lore or the storys, the other two books did that already. What it does do is basically give definitions to all the zelda characters, items, and places. All very nice, tons of stuff to cover. Then it goes on to expand the lore of what was covered in The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, as well as having concept art, maps, languages, etc. And an exlusive interview. Overall pretty good for those hardcore zelda fans, even though most of these have been talked about in the previous two books already in terms of the artifacts and story in greater detail. But do note there is NO breath of the wild content here, I will explain why that is at the bottom.
If I wasn't a collecter but still a zelda fan who owns the other two books, then I would recommend just getting the regular version honestly. The deluxe edition sells itself on noglastia only, it's not really so much deluxe but rather a LIMITED edition version or COLLECTORS edition of the regular book would have been better wording because really an extra booklet isn't very deluxe. I would have honestly given this a 4 out of 5 because ya there is really nothing deluxe about this, but I can't say I hate it either... I do love my hardcover books. Shop smart, I always say.

Recommendations - If you liked this book, then look foward to the upcoming breath of the wild book because as I mentioned before this book actualy has nothing about BOTW but instead they are making a whole book dedicated to only BOTW. Also as well as a mario encyclopedia if your into that kind of thing, and their final fantasy books that are also coming. All done by dark horse books so you should already know what to expect.
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It's dangerous to go alone. Take this!
by David D. Seevers (5 out of 5 stars)
December 21, 2018

I first saw this in a bookstore and the $80 price tag was a little too high for me. However, when I found it on Amazon for about $30 cheaper I bought it without hesitation. As a Zelda fan and a retro gamer, this book fits in well with it's beautiful NES cart design. It was actually the NES sleeve that sold me on it. When I opened up the box and looked inside, there was a lot more than I expected.

The book itself is designed wonderfully! Even if you don't want to read it (for some reason) it just looks fantastic. The scale to an actual NES cart is almost exact. You can tell that a lot of work and design went into the way that it looks. The content of the book itself is great as well. Everything from how the games were designed to lore is included. There are full-color pictures and I haven't found a single page that hasn't caught my eye. As someone who loves video games and video game history, this book just makes me so happy.

Also included is a "manual" for the book, just like what you'd get in a boxed NES game. The whole thing just feels like a collector's edition. My Zelda collection would not be complete without this book.
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The aesthetic of the book is absolutely amazing. I can't congratulate Dark Horse Books enough on ...
by Halifax (5 out of 5 stars)
July 22, 2018

The pages could be blank and it would still be more than worth the cost. Thankfully, the pages are actually full of interesting information about the games. The aesthetic of the book is absolutely amazing. I can't congratulate Dark Horse Books enough on this.

It's definitely an encyclopedia; it isn't a large storybook. I love having a reference book to look up information about the series, though. You can look up info about items, enemies, locations, characters, and even the games themselves.
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Photos don't do this justice. It's the size of an encyclopedia; because it is.
by Kodack (5 out of 5 stars)
May 20, 2019

Maybe the fact it is styled off of an NES cartridge caused me to guess it was on the smaller side but I wasn't prepared for what was delivered. The box it came in was big enough to house a laptop and it weighed several kilos and inside, pristinely packaged safely, was the most gorgeously bound book I have ever owned. From cover to cover, even the gilded edges of each page, the book is gold upon gold; it is a treasure to behold. Every square inch of it's exterior surface is gilded and brilliant.

The sleeve is made of a similar material as an actual NES cartridge and I have little doubt it will protect the corners and cover of the book for many years. Something tells me it's not something many people are going to keep filed away in a bookcase though. This book begs to be shown as a centerpiece.

Inside, the book is well bound and constructed in a similar fashion as an encyclopedia. It's binding is robust and I don't expect it to show much wear even with heavy use. Even the edges of each page are pristine and cleanly cut with no lines or uneven edges as sometimes happens in modern print books. In short, the book is perfect in every way.

Once you get past the cover and start judging the book, it's broken up into several sections including historical, and a database of characters and items.

The book even has an instruction manual on the outside of the box, in the same giant sized scale, but familiar shape of an NES game manual. It helpfully advises not to immerse in liquid, or store next to any pots which may be shattered.

The art work is top notch and pays homage to the beautiful artwork of the early NES instruction manuals. Half of the fun of owning The Legend of Zelda on the NES was looking at the manual and the maps. In my pre-adolescent mind, the instructions artwork showed me how the game was actually supposed to look, rather than how the limitations of the system could display it. Using my imagination as I played the game, the blocky stand ins for mount doom, became craggy mountain peaks and the overworld became a fantasy theme park cover ocean, sea, and air.

This book is like an NES manual, taken to fantastic lengths, and penned with the most fantastical artwork and writing that any gamer could ask for.

Well worth the $35. Buy these while you can because I can see these only increasing in value for many years to come.
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The best edition!
by Beckersly (4 out of 5 stars)
August 15, 2018

4.5 stars! I got this as a gift for my husband. He loved it and I did too. The book and holder really are just like a giant nintendo game cartridge. It's a beautiful book that will be cherished forever. It did come with a few scrapes and unwanted bends though, not sure if that was shipping issue or just production issues.
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The presentation alone is worth it!
by Juan Arango (5 out of 5 stars)
June 26, 2018

First of all, the book is beautiful to look at. From the cover to the content within it. It is simply eye catching and colorful. The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia divides its content so it is easy to follow. From Traditions and History of Hyrule to Life & Culture and Monster & Demons. The only downside is that it does not include any info regarding Breath of the Wild, but do not be disappointed. This amazing book is filled with content that will make you love the Hyrule lore even more.
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WORTH
by ELLE W (4 out of 5 stars)
March 5, 2019

Wow! Truly excellent! The design of the book is extremely clever and they definitely did not skimp on details (except if they are trying to make it look exactly like a game cartridge they forgot to include the image of the screws -- either 3 or 5). I knock off a star because, as a Zelda fan, I obviously already own Hyrule Historia and a great deal of this book goes over character and timelines. I was hoping the book would have more history of development/gaming history rather than Zelda Universe history. But I suppose it wouldn't be an encyclopedia if it didn't try to cover it all! Definitely 4.5 stars for sure. It's jam packed with info. Excellent layout. I will be showing it off prominently on my display case.
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Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition
by Phantom3793 (5 out of 5 stars)
October 6, 2018

This encyclopedia is a great addition to any Zelda fan's collection. It has a lot of info on the series. It is a good book to read for anyone that is bored or curious and want to learn the many different enemies, items, and other in game related things. I recommend it. Plus the hard cover of the book is awesome looking as well. It has a nice gold color to it. Also, it's based on the gold edition of the 1st Zelda game for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

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