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Past Zelda games empowered players by giving them the ability to shape the world, which is exactly why Skyward's puzzles seem so uncreative in comparison -- they're mostly tied to the game's motion-control input, rather than the inspired tools of Zeldas past. Even the series' day/night cycle has been excised in Skyward Sword, replaced with a binary option (the equivalent of a virtual light switch) used to solve a handful of side-quests in a shockingly small number of locations. The former ability to tinker with so many elements of Hyrule gave this fictional world a certain sense of veracity; in comparison, Skyward Sword comes off as a look-but-don't-touch Zelda museum.
Nintendo released a book to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Zelda series titled 'Hyrule Historia'. The book contains artwork, designs, and information. It also contains the hotly debated timeline of the series - except this time it's 100% official. In the early 2000s Nintendo of America released this timeline - complete with a warning that this was only their interpretation and the actual timeline remains open to debate. Translator Dan Owsen wanted to upload a draft but Nintendo Japan requested them to cancel the plan - as despite having an official plan in Japan they want to keep the speculation and theories running for the fandom.
The book is currently available in Japanese only however a fan translation has begun. Below is a translated version of the official timeline provided in the book:
[Nintendo 2011, Hyrule Historia, Shogakukan, Japan.] [translated and uploaded via Historyofhyrule.com]
