The Legend of Zelda-Quest 2-Downfall Branch Era of Decline Story 6-NES Playthrough
1Developer-Nintendo R&D 4
Publisher-Nintendo
Release date-August 22, 1987
Second Quest
After completing the game, the player has access to a more difficult quest, officially referred to as the Second Quest, where Dungeons and the placement of items are different, with stronger Enemies. Although a more difficult "replay" wasn't unique to The Legend of Zelda, few games offered a "second quest" with entirely different levels to complete. Interestingly, entering "ZELDA" as the player's name starts the Second Quest immediately.The Second Quest can be replayed each time it's completed.
Story
A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos.
In the midst of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being handed down from generation to generation, the legend of the 'Triforce'; golden triangles possessing mystical powers. One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. This army was led by Ganon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa.
Braving forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life from her pursuers. As she reached the very limit of her energy she found herself surrounded by Ganon's evil henchmen. Cornered! What could she do? ... But wait! All was not lost. A young lad appeared. He skillfully drove off Ganon's henchmen, and saved Impa from a fate worse than death.
His name was Link. During his travels, he had come across Impa and Ganon's henchmen. Impa told Link the whole story of Princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. Burning with a sense of justice, Link resolved to save Zelda, but Ganon was a powerful opponent. He held the Triforce of Power. And so, in order to fight off Ganon, Link had to bring the scattered eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom together to rebuild the mystical triangle. If he couldn't do this, there would be no chance Link could fight his way into Death Mountain where Ganon lived.
"Can Link really destroy Ganon and save Princess Zelda?
"Only your skill can answer that question. Good luck. Use the Triforce wisely.
Timeline Placement
According to the timeline revealed in Hyrule Historia, The Legend of Zelda takes place in the "Downfall" branch, which, as a whole, takes place after Ocarina of Time. After Ganon is defeated in A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages and in A Link Between Worlds where Link and Zelda recovered the Triforce from Yuga-Ganon, Hyrule entered The Golden Era, in which the wise Hyrule monarchs used the Triforce to govern the land. After the king's death and the attempt by the Prince of Hyrule to assemble the complete Triforce, Hyrule was lead into the 'Era of Decline'. The Prince of Darkness, Ganon was revived, leading to the events of The Legend of Zelda. Six years later, the events of The Adventure of Link take place.