Originally Reviewed on GoodReads After having three previous adaptations that were pretty straight forward retelling the events of each game that they were meant to be adapting while throwing their own little spin on it the manga adaptation for The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons took things in a bit of a different direction. Instead of being a direct retelling of the original game it had more of an original take on the story that still followed the events of the game well enough to where fans would still be satisfied with it making it quite possibly my favorite entry in the entire series so far not just because of all of the same good stuff that the series has done already but also with the way that book handled characters character development personalities and all of that jazz making it the most enjoyable book of the bunch so far. But of course that was only just one part of the Oracle duology that had already been adapted so far so naturally the second part of said duology was going to be coming right around the corner to fit in with the rest of them and this second part did arrive to us in the form of the manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. Much like with the Oracle of Seasons manga I didnt really have too much of an idea on what to expect with this going into it because just like with the Oracle of Seasons game I too havent played that much of Oracle of Ages having played it once a couple of years ago but nothing more after that which is a stark contrast to Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask two games that I have played countless times over and over again to where I know them more then probably any other entry in the series. That in itself didnt matter too much to me though considering that this was a followup to the Oracle of Seasons manga which I had a blast with back when I read it so I figured that this manga was going to be just as good as that if not better although I didnt want to go in with too high of expectations. After all it has been a little bit now since I did read and cover that previous manga primarily due to real life events so who knows maybe I overhyped that previous entry whenever I did review it all those couple weeks ago. Regardless of that though I went ahead and went into this manga with high enough hopes and thankfully it did manage to deliver as we have ourselves yet another great manga on our hands here I wouldnt say I liked it as much as the previous entry primarily due to it just not being quite as entertaining or lovable as that one was for me personally but it definitely has plenty of strengths that help make this one stand on its own compared to its predecessor sometimes even standing over it in some cases which ended up making it so that I had a great time reading it either way. The story is great being yet another original take with elements from the original game sprinkled in while also taking things in a bit of a different direction both in terms of tone and story when compared to the previous entry which was a welcome change to see and one that I had a really good time reading even if I didnt like it quite as much as the previous story the characters are really good featuring plenty of different new faces along with some old ones most of which ended up being incredibly likable and fun to follow throughout this adventure including Link who is still just as great as he was in the last entry even if I would say the characters this time around arent nearly as strong as the last ones the writing is very solid all around doing a good job at getting across what is happening characters emotions and what the reader is meant to be feeling in each part despite how it is all typical of what you would expect from this kind of book along with the fact some of these lines can be cringe the art is still great not really changing much from that of the last manga but still looking just as good as ever so no need to go on about that and the action scenes are also great too being some of the best parts of the manga while also looking pretty good as well despite how some of these scenes can be admittedly brief which is kind of a letdown in some cases. But of course since this is a Legend of Zelda manga that means that it cant be devoid of any problems since we arent living in the best timeline which means that there are some problems that do hold it back from being my absolute favorite of the series so far. For one thing as per usual the story here that we get isnt anything too original or special at least when compared to other media out there so for those that arent into these kinds of stories or for those that were wanting a more direct adaptation of the original game rather then what we got here....... then youre weird but you will also probably have a better time reading something else instead. Not to mention as is tradition with this manga series there are quite a good amount of grammar issues to not to the point of it being absolutely atrocious but there were definitely a few more of these that popped up then I expected so that is kind of a bummer. And finally the one big thing that did make me like this less then the previous entry which isnt necessarily a bad thing but more so just a personal preference....... I just didnt really enjoy the story and characters as much as Oracle of Seasons. To fill you all in on whats going on here spoilers for an almost 25 year old book it follows Link trying to save Nayru as she is kidnapped and possessed by the evil Veran which ends up getting him sent back in time to where Veran has taken over the land and forced all of the people in it to build this gigantic tower for her. Here he ends up meeting his ancestor known as Raven who alongside with this secret village of civilians and a fellow teammate known as Ralph he teams up with in order to take down Veran once and for all and free all of their people from her evil reign of terror. It is a story that is simple enough when described like that but the book does a really good job at fleshing the story out letting it properly develop and leave an impact over the course of the thing to where it reaches a satisfying conclusion by the end of it even though again the events that happen in said story arent necessarily all that original. Honestly though I think I much more prefer what happened in the previous book where Link joined up with this wandering group of performers and had to save Din from General Onox while also meeting up with plenty of other fun and really enjoyable characters along the way but then again though that is just me. Both of these stories are great either way and Im sure they would be able to entertain and satisfy both Zelda fans and average readers alike. Overall despite not having much of an original story some grammar errors and a slightly less effective tale overall the Oracle of Ages manga is still yet another great entry to this incredibly solid series so far giving us more of what we loved from the previous adaptations while also taking the same route as the previous manga to make for yet another incredibly solid read from start to finish and I had a great time with it overall what with its slightly original and very fun story a really good set of characters that are paired with some solid writing the same great art as usual and plenty of great action scenes to be had all coming together to make for a great followup to that of the Oracle of Seasons adaptation. I would definitely recommend it for those who loved the previous adaptations in this series so far along with fans of the original game or the Zelda series in general as while you may not end up enjoying this quite as much as I did there is still definitely a lot to like and appreciate in here especially when compared to the source material that helps expand the stories characters and personality of the original game further then it had ever gone before which is more then I could ask for at the end of the day. Its too bad though that this is the last Oracle story that we are gonna have adapted because I totally wouldve read a lot more of these that star this version of Link. But no unfortunately we have to move on so I hope you all look forward to me bitching about how the next entry in this series or even the ones beyond that arent as great as these ones............. Im serious I may actually do that.