How Polaris in Hamburg is becoming a "Zelda" quest for me
Actually, I want to discover new things at the Polaris gaming convention. Instead, I feel overwhelmed by the many impressions. Only a self-chosen 'Zelda' quest changes my visit to the fair.
Where to first? To the stages where people are crowding? To the numerous artist booths? Or should I try out a tabletop game? I am standing in the middle of the Polaris in Hamburg and don't know where to start. There is something to discover everywhere, but nothing really draws me in.
Usually, I sit at my desk at home and write. I have little experience with the hustle and bustle of a large trade fair. On this rainy Friday in early October, however, I am at the gaming and cosplay fair Polaris together with Michelle and Kim. My plan: just see what interests me.
But the longer I walk through the halls, the clearer it becomes to me that this plan isn't working. I have hardly any idea about Japanese pop culture and tabletop games. I find cosplays interesting, but I lack the points of contact. I am completely lost.
Until I unexpectedly stumble upon a quest and set off on the trail of «The Legend of Zelda». In doing so, I not only find many things worth seeing but also travel back to myself.
«The Legend of Zelda» becomes my quest
But back to the entrance of the fair. I don't know where to go. There is just too much going on. As a child of the eighties, the retro flea market on the first floor comes just at the right time. Old consoles and games are piled up here. I immediately feel comfortable.
It gets even better when my gaze gets stuck on a black booklet with a golden logo. It lies somewhat hidden on a shelf behind a retro booth, almost as if it were waiting for me. I don't even have to read the lettering to know what I am seeing: the official strategy guide for the N64 game «The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time».
Well, that's something. The game ranks right at the top of the list of my absolute favorite games, along with «A Link to the Past» (Super Nintendo). I am incredibly excited about the «Ocarina of Time» remake that will be released in a few weeks. I even took vacation time for it. Furthermore, I am traveling to Stockholm next year to experience the «Zelda» soundtrack orchestra live for the 40th anniversary of my favorite game series. In short: I consider myself the biggest «Zelda» fan in the world.
I have owned the strategy guide for «A Link to the Past» since the nineties. The copy for «Ocarina of Time», on the other hand, I am seeing for the first time at the Polaris. I ask the booth owner if I can take a look at the booklet. "Sure," he says, pulls it out of the protective sleeve, and hands it to me. The booklet is not a rarity, but a nice collector's item that evokes memories of the game. Sigh.
I flip through it a little and ask about the price. "99 euros," says the seller. Phew. I am a huge fan, but still a person of reason. For all my love: the booklet is not happening.
But now I know what I want. The fair gives me a quest, and I accept it. The Polaris becomes my game world, and I set off on a «Zelda» search. The goal is to take a nice souvenir home with me. I don't know exactly what that should be yet. The main thing is that it touches me.
My journey through the «Zelda» world
Now my real-life open-world game «Polaris» is running better. I feel like I did back in «Ocarina of Time» when I first left Kokiri Forest and suddenly the Hyrule Field lay before me. I have finished the tutorial. Now I am pursuing a goal.
I am now taking a closer look at the booths I only glanced at before. I also have no inhibitions about approaching people about «Zelda» items. Every find makes me happy. I discover a few games and special editions that I had long forgotten or didn't even know about yet.
For example, I have never seen the «Hyrule Edition» of the Nintendo 3DS XL from 2016. That doesn't surprise me, because I was never a big fan of Nintendo's handhelds before the Switch. However, I find this golden edition with the large crest really pretty. As a student, I would have lacked the spare change for it back then anyway.
I am also very happy about «A Link to the Past» in the black-and-gold box. I bought the game in the red-bordered «Super Classic Series» box, which I didn't like as much even back then. Unfortunately, I didn't find the version with the black border in the mid-nineties when I had finally saved up enough pocket money for the SNES and the game.
Fittingly, I find a Super Nintendo console with a custom skin in the «A Link to the Past» look at another booth. I still love the artwork for this game to this day because it makes the world seem larger than it could technically be.
A special discovery awaits me at the next booth: a limited bundle with the Game Boy Advance SP in the golden Hyrule design and the game «The Minish Cap». The seller wants 400 euros for this bundle. The RRP was around 130 euros. I am amazed – because I own this limited edition myself. My parents gave it to me for my birthday in 2004. Actually, they always viewed my love for games with suspicion, but here they wanted to give me a real treat.
They succeeded. Nevertheless, «The Minish Cap» was just a handheld game for me and not one of the "real" games for a TV console. After playing through it for the first time, the Game Boy quickly disappeared into a drawer. Over time, I even lost the power adapter.
When I see the bundle at the Polaris, I realize how much I underestimated the gift. It is not just a limited edition of my favorite game series – but it shows me that my parents understood back then, despite their reservations, how important this hobby was to me. Now I want to open the Game Boy and start the game again.
I ask the seller if he happens to have a suitable power adapter. He doesn't. A pity. But never mind, then I'll just order one. I'll find out in a few days if my Game Boy still works.
An unexpected encounter with the Skull Kid
I spend more than an hour at the booths of the retro flea market. Then the rest of the fair awaits me. With my main quest in mind, I scan the many exhibition booths. «The Legend of Zelda» is truly no fringe phenomenon: some artists who offer their works in the Artist Gallery are also inspired by it. The artist Reyhan, who mainly draws motifs inspired by ancient Egypt, has a great penchant for «Zelda» fan art.
I am particularly amazed when I see a young man with torn clothes rummaging in a large bag somewhere lost in the tabletop area. Next to him lies a mask that I recognize immediately: the eponymous mask from «The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask». What an unusual encounter: I have never seen a Skull Kid cosplay before, and the man seems younger than the game from the year 2000.
I approach him and ask how he came up with the idea for the costume. Due to the ambient noise, he probably didn't understand my question correctly and instead explains to me how he made the mask: It comes from a 3D printer, and he created the virtual model himself. He is not so satisfied with the painting, though: the colors don't come out as strikingly as in the original.
He also made the rest of the costume himself. It was particularly important to him that the result didn't look like it came fresh from a clothing store. That's why the garment has holes and stains, which actually makes it look much more authentic. In any case, I am impressed and ask if I can take a photo. Putting on the headgear and mask is not that easy, however. I am already afraid that a plastic part will break, but in the end, everything fits. The cosplay is really well done: it is closely based on the game template but adds its own details.
Completion of the main questline
Buoyed, I stroll on through the artist and tabletop hall after my encounter with the Skull Kid. Then the next quest pops up: colleague Kim sends me a blurry picture. He is already on the move in another hall and has discovered two official «Zelda» books from Nintendo at a booth.
There are several of these books, which contain, among other things, the timeline of the entire game series or information and artwork on individual games. They are beautifully designed and contain many pretty illustrations. I already have two of them, Hyrule Historia and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Official Book. But I don't know the books that Kim discovered yet.
Curiously, I ask him where he saw them. A precise description of the way follows: "B7 Gate 8 right then Cyberdome and right there is the shop." I accept this quest. Hall B7 and entrance 8 are easy to find, and the Cyberdome area is also hard to miss. But "right there" there are no coveted «Zelda» books, only merchandise from the YouTuber Gronkh. The photo also gives no clues as to how the booth is designed. I walk through the entire hall several times, wish for a minimap with a target marker, and doubt my (and Kim's) mental health. The quest design is definitely capable of improvement.
In the end, I do find the booth and buy the book Art & Artifacts. And it does not disappoint. On over 300 pages, it gathers numerous beautiful illustrations from the history of the game series. In addition, there is an extensive interview with the Nintendo artists who designed the artwork.
For fans like me, the book is a treasure. And the appropriate reward for my «Zelda» quest at the Polaris. My anticipation for the remake of «Ocarina of Time» has certainly grown even more. But the most important discovery of my search was not a collector's item. It was the memory of how much these games mean to me and how much they have accompanied me to this day. The fair overwhelmed me at first. With my own quest, it became a place full of personal discoveries.
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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