Reception
Epona has received a mostly positive reception since her introduction in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Honest Gamers commented that the world of Ocarina of Time seemed to be designed for Epona, rather than the other way around. GameDaily listed Epona as one of their top 25 of Nintendo's gimmicks, stating that through Epona, Nintendo had provided gamers a means of enacting the childhood dream of riding a horse. They also mention that seeing Epona in Twilight Princess made them "squeal like fan boys". In fact, according to GameDaily the sight of Epona being revealed in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was enough to make some people cry. Indeed, due to the large number of fan requests for a young Link to be able to ride a young Epona, this feature was included in Majora's Mask. There was some question if the boat used for transportation in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The King of the Red Lions, was intended to be a replacement for Epona.
IGN compared the smooth run of the horses in Gallop Racer 3D to that of Epona in Ocarina of Time, saying that this smoothness in riding helped her win over the hearts of millions. Gaming Age gave similar praise to Epona, commenting that it was obvious the developers had spent a great deal of effort on her. He praised the improvements on her design since Ocarina of Time, as well as her animation. Before the release of Twilight Princess, IGN's Matt Casamassina expressed hopes of an expansion of horseback combat abilities available in Ocarina of Time. Gamasutra compared the relationship between Link and Epona to that of Wander and Agro from Shadow of the Colossus. Though he adds that while the cutscenes in The Legend of Zelda enforced the relationship between Link and Epona, the gameplay does not. He believes Epona is used more as a sidekick and game element than an ally, and that controlling Epona is merely an extension of controlling Link. Gamasutra also cited the reunion of Link and Epona in the future of Ocarina of Time as an example of a story-telling game mechanic, stating that after Link goes into the future and finds Epona, she does not initially trust him, but she remembers him once "Epona's Song" is played. He adds that this teaches players that even in a game with time travel, music is a constant. UGO listed Epona 15th on their list of "NPC Characters We Love Having By Our Side".
In an MTV vote for the best video game horse, Epona was named the victor based on the four judges including Ken Levine, Mike Krahulik, Leigh Alexander, and took second place in the readers' choice award. Listing Epona as her favorite, Leigh described her as a "legendary horse", and Tofuburger called her a "rockstar" and "full of awesome and win".
Read more about this topic: Epona (The Legend Of Zelda)
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