As anyone with a passing interest on this site and YouTube channel know all too well, we’re huge fans of the Legend of Zelda series here at Gaming Reinvented. We cover glitches and mods for games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Speculate on content for upcoming titles and DLC. Talk about unused content from across the series as a whole…
And we love supporting other creators that cover the same topics too. Whether they’re Capt Burgerson and his amazing dungeon design analysis videos, the Bread Pirate and his facts, or Waikuteru and his mod and randomiser playthroughs, it’s always a joy to discover new creators and share their Zelda related videos with the world.
Which is why today’s interview is with another Legend of Zelda creator we’ve started watching in recent years. Another creator that goes above and beyond with their essays and coverage, and looks at games beyond just Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Yep, this time we’re talking to Triforce Times about their channel and work. They’re a familiar face here at Gaming Reinvented (who we’ve even worked with in the past), and they’ve put out some incredible videos in recent years, so they’re definitely someone we thought would make an interesting interviewee.
Let’s find out who they are and what makes their channel truly tick…
The Interview
With our first question of the day being a bit of personal background. Who are you? Who runs the Triforce Times channel?
Thanks for inviting me, it’s great to talk to you today. I’m Tom, I’m from the UK and I’ve been a lifelong Zelda fan. Recently I have started collecting physical Zelda games, and I’ve been on a DS and 3DS mission. I even picked up a 3DS console.
Why Triforce Times as a username?
Regarding the username, I wanted something that instantly said Zelda, so there is no confusion about what the channel is all about. I paired ‘Triforce’ with the word ‘Times’, as I was looking into old-school media (newspaper) plus I quite like the alliteration.
How did you get into gaming? What was your first game?
My Dad introduced me to gaming when I was a kid, we had an Atari console. I remember when the Nintendo Entertainment System released and he bought a launch version with Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. My Dad used to have lots of hobbies; one month he’d play games, the next he’d be painting model trains, or gardening. The NES was a gamechanger for me, that was my first experience of Nintendo and I’ve stuck with it ever since.
What ones are you playing at the moment?
Currently I am playing through The Minish Cap. I am going through the entire Zelda series in release order. I very recently finished Wind Waker (which was the first time I have played it from start to finish since it was released) – I loved it. Outside of Zelda recently I have been playing a little bit of Pokémon Pokopia. I’m really into Marathon, plus I check back in on Destiny 2 every now and again… although not as much as I used to.
Triforce Times is currently playing The Minish Cap
What was your introduction to the Legend of Zelda franchise overall?
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was my introduction to the Zelda series. We had a local game shop in our town, and I used to read the back of boxes and marvel at the games for hours. Zelda II had a gold box and gold cart, and this really drew me in. I played the game with my Dad, and since then it’s been my favourite franchise. I didn’t know at the time The Adventure of Link was so different compared to the rest of the series.
A Link to the Past then really cemented my love for the franchise. A school friend of mine imported a Super Nintendo with A Link to the Past and we got to play through that before it was released in the UK, as games back then were released at different times in different regions of the world. It was an incredible summer playing through A Link to the Past.
While Zelda 2 was Triforce Times’ first game, this cemented their love for the franchise
Do you prefer the 2D games, or 3D ones?
It’s a good question, and I don’t think I have a straightforward answer for you. I like both styles of games, and I think there are pros and cons to each. For me there is real magic in the classic top down games, but I think everyone’s favourite Zelda comes from when they are a kid.
You cannot deny the brilliance of the 3D games like Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and the most recent entries with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I recently played through the Oracle games and they were incredible – I loved the split focus, and they’re so different, with Ages being tough as nails.
Obviously Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom shook up the formula in many ways. Do you prefer the new setup, or the one from the older games?
I love Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. They are the perfect example of the Zelda franchise adapting to modern gaming, and recognising the classic formula was stale. My hope for the future is a combination of old and new; keep the open world, exploration and sense of freedom. But bring back some of the things that classic Zelda did so well – dungeons with identity, meaningful items/weapons, a better sense of progression and purpose.
They want way better dungeons than this in the next Zelda game
Regardless, onto the YouTube side of things now. What made you decide to create a channel?
I had been experimenting with content for a few years. I streamed on Twitch in 2017, started a podcast in 2019 which ran for approx 150 episodes, and I’ve dabbled in other YouTube channels. I took the lessons I learned from that experience and focused it all into creating Triforce Times.
And why about the Zelda series?
The Legend of Zelda was the first franchise I fell in love with, and I felt compelled to make content about it. I think it was April 2022 when I created the channel, and Tears of the Kingdom was coming out ‘soon’. I wanted to create a few videos in the build-up to Tears of the Kingdom, thinking I could then create videos about Tears of the Kingdom when it was released.
Either way, your videos changed quite a bit over time, with early ones being more news based. Was news the original focus of the channel?
When I started, the channel was focused on the build-up to Tears of the Kingdom. Breath of the Wild had such longevity, people were crafting videos about that game for years after the release. I was swept up in the hype of Tears of the Kingdom and just wanted to create videos in the build up.
Looking back at my early videos now, I went through the trailers for Breath of the Wild 2 (which Tears of the Kingdom was known as at the time), a review of the original Legend of Zelda, plus I started making Breath of the Wild tutorials to get myself into the mindset of creating tutorials for Tears of the Kingdom.
Still, it’s clear that more editorial/opinion based videos did better, like essays about older titles. What made you change tact there?
Yes, you are right. Given I have been playing through the older Zelda games I’ve also been making videos about them at the same time, and I found that these videos did really well. Games like A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, even the original Zelda 2. With YouTube it’s often about experimenting. If you are lucky enough to find something that resonates with an audience, then stick with it, and build upon it and iterate.
You also posted a few tutorials too, and some of those did quite well. What made you decide to move away from that sort of content?
I really enjoy making guides. They are valuable for the audience because they are solving a problem, and they are valuable for you as a creator, because if you can get the timing right, they can become evergreen – with people coming back to them again and again.
I made a ton of tutorials when Tears of the Kingdom released and I still see a bump in views these days around Christmas time as many new Zelda fans are experiencing the game for the first time. I also made some tutorials for Echoes of Wisdom. They didn’t do as well, but that’s OK…. They’re still fun to make.
One thing I find interesting is how varied your coverage is, with lots of videos about the older Zelda titles. Do you deliberately try to cover lesser mentioned Zelda games?
I try to experiment with different types of videos to see what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes I will create something that I love, and it does very badly. Sometimes I’ll create a video and it’ll take off and the reason doesn’t seem very clear to me. YouTube continues to surprise me on a daily basis.
And uh, how do you decide on what to cover in general?
It’s generally a combination of what I am playing at the time, or if recent experiments have gone well then I may double down on that topic. For example, at the moment I am working on a series of videos related to Zelda mysteries. I try to experiment as much as possible with different types of content, then when that runs its course I’ll try something else.
What’s your favourite video so far?
The recent video I made for Zelda’s 40th Anniversary was a good one. I asked the community what their memories were of the Zelda series and how it impacted them or their lives, and I got so many amazing responses.
Any you feel didn’t work too well?
I have so many examples of videos that didn’t work well. Early on I tried this concept called The Zelda Game Club. The idea is fairly simple; we (members of the Triforce Times community and I) would play through a single Zelda game from start to finish. We’d check in every week and discuss what we played. For example, I would set a point to stop at and then gather comments from the community and read them out as discussion points. The videos didn’t do very well at all.
It’s a large time commitment for the audience, and probably better suited to a live stream or let’s play. It’s still a concept I would like to bring back in the future, but the format definitely needs work!
How are you planning to cover the next game? Like that Ocarina of Time remake people are suggesting?
I imagine I’ll make guides for Ocarina of Time Remake (if it gets confirmed). It’ll be interesting to see what Nintendo do with the game – will it be the same or will it be different? Either way, I’m looking forward to playing it and making content related to it.
Regardless, you’ve had some very successful videos over the years, with a few hitting view counts in the hundreds of thousands. Did you expect that?
Looking at my top 5 videos 3 of them are Tears of the Kingdom guides, then the other two are related to A Link to the Past. I’m really glad the Tears of the Kingdom guides helped some people. It continues to amaze me people turn up in large numbers to listen to me talk about A Link to the Past. I never expect large numbers, but it’s great to see topics I am personally passionate about resonate with the audience.
Why do you think your channel has resonated with people so far?
I really don’t know. I’ve recently switched things up to more long form videos that seem to be working for the audience. Perhaps it’s the variety within Zelda that I talk about – the mixture of guides, theories and nostalgic content. Whatever the reason, I’m very thankful that people turn up and watch or listen to me talk about Zelda. If I could show the kid version of me I would be doing this years later, he would be amazed.
Is this your full-time job? Do you want it to be at some point?
No, it’s not my full-time job. I work 9-5 on something else. Never say never related to YouTube full-time, but right now it’s my spare time hobby, or passion project. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like as a full-time job, but it’s a risky business.
Are there any other types of videos you want to make in future?
I’d like to try live streaming again. I did have a short run on Twitch in 2017. Somehow, I ended up learning to speed run Super Mario Odyssey. My most successful stream was Breath of the Wild. I’d love to give that a try again.
How about other creators you’d want to collaborate with?
I do enjoy working with other YouTubers in the Zelda space. I’ve recently worked with Hyrule Gamer, Little Bean Green and CaptBurgerson. I’m pretty open to working with anyone if the topic is The Legend of Zelda.
Finally, what advice would you give someone looking to start a YouTube channel and why?
My best advice would be to just start and stop thinking about it. Your first videos aren’t going to be very good, but you’ll learn a lot from the process of starting. Try to keep a schedule, whether that’s once per week or 3 times per week, choose a schedule that works for you and try your best to stick to it. Try to lock down the best quality audio and video you can, invest in good equipment at the right time for you. Practice makes perfect, don’t stress if it’s not perfect right away. Don’t give up, it takes time to build up a community and momentum. If your latest video isn’t your number 1 performing video, don’t worry about it…. Move on, you never know what’s going to happen with the next one.
Makes sense to me. Gotta stop putting all your faith into a single video, and assuming you’ll become a big shot overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was any successful YouTube channel.
Still, thanks for the interview! It was really interesting learning about your YouTube channel and gaming experiences here, and we’re excited to see what sort of content you put forward in the years to come.
Regardless, what are your thoughts on Triforce Times? Are you a fan of their channel and work? What questions do you wish we had asked in the interview?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, or on our Discord server today!