The Legend of Sharid: Outcast Turned Emperor

The Legend of Sharid: Outcast Turned Emperor (in Europe: The Legend of Zelda: Sharid Nemico del Mondo) is an action-adventure game with RPG elements, sequel to The Legend of Sharid: Hyrule Gone Cyberpunk.
It's the second game in the Sharid spin-off series of The Legend of Zelda, which will end with The Legend of Sharid: New Era (in Europe named The Legend of Zelda: Sharid Riformatore del Mondo), which depicts Ganondorf as a tragic authoritarian socialist hero struggling against global capitalism, a liberator who is forced to use violence to maintain freedom.
It focused on Sharid Khansari (now named Ganondorf Khansari) maintaining stability in his kingdom, after he is framed for a murder of a feminist activist, who also happens to be a lesbian, named Maisie Amon (she was only killed for being a foreign agent), as such, the "international community" (The World Peace Organization) condemns the Hyrule Socialist Empire as a "rogue state" and foreign powers back pro-Gallant militias against Sharid, who, as he's struggling, has fully taken the name of Ganondorf. As Sharid's Khamsin Force is framed and accused of having violated human rights, the successor of Ganondorf explores dungeons in order to protect his nation from its destruction from outside and inside. 
Its main theme is how accusations of racism, totalitarianism and everything else are used to slander the name of a great nation which resists against globalization and capitalist lobbies, especially how "women's rights", "LGBT rights", "minority rights" are often used as casus belli to discredit an opposing power. 
This game is set in three different nations: after a prologue in Hyrule City, Sharid roams various nations to fight the Domnitsan cyborg black ops unit called Seven Pleiades. 
This game brings back magical musical instruments, absent in the first cyberpunk game. In this case, Sharid can play a synth called Merzbow Synth (a Twili artifact, containing the soul of a Twili named Masami Akita), which allows him to use a magical, reality-shifting music known as Black Noise, working like songs from Ocarina of Time. 
== Gameplay ==
The gameplay of this game is largely the same as its direct predecessor and similar to less open-ended Zeldas such as Twilight Princess.
== Plot ==
It's been two years since the Hyrule Socialist Empire has been proclaimed, since Link has left Hyrule to travel the world as a swordsman, and since Sharid prevented the merging between the Twilight Realm's capital Tokyo and Hyrule City. It expelled Gallant Corporation and alongside al-Haqsam and the Shan-Raznik Empire, formed an alliance.
Ganondorf Khansari (originally named Sharid), leader of the Khamsin Special Force (which specializes in counter-espionage, killing foreign agents and also dealing with the supernatural), has found out that a student at Aonuma High School, Maisie Amon, works as a spy for the Great Republic of Domnitsa. As such, he exposes her espionage activities and kills her. Maisie reveals an artifact from the Twilight Realm/Tokyo, and uses it to control a Gohma, an arachnid monster that was once fought by Link. 
However, at the Great Triangle Summit in which the three most powerful nations in the world reunite (Republic of Domnitsa, Kingdom of Gladion and Republic of Zamis), Domnitsan president Arnold Rydberg (a close ally of the late Matthew Gallant) says that New Hyrule is denying human rights (spreading a lie about women being discriminated against just because the Red Empress Haruka, a woman herself, banned abortion, and another lie about the fact that the Khamsin supposedly persecutes gays, which it doesn't, and especially refers to new Hyrule as a totalitarian regime) and promptly declares Hyrule a rogue state against which the Great Triangle must wage war. The Law of Life and Family that socialist Hyrule had made (which forbids abortion, encourages people to have children and taxes people who don't, and condemns surrogate maternity as objectification of women) is mentioned by Rydberg as a homophobic and misogynist law, and the other two powers agree that New Hyrule should be sanctioned. 
Meanwhile, inside new Hyrule, the former Gallant supporters (and former Red Dragons) have converged into the Unicorn Battalion, an anti-socialist terrorist group backed by Domnitsa. Ganondorf gathers information about their hideouts in order to protect his nation from them.
== Dungeons ==
* Underground Ruins: A set of ancient ruins underneath Hyrule City, accessible from an expressway still in construction. Ganondorf surveils the ruins in order to look for the Domnitsan spy Maisie Amon. Its boss is Psy-Gohma, the Mutated Arachnid, an ancient monster living in the ruins, mutated and controlled by Maisie through a monster-controlling device that's a piece of Tokyo technology. 
== Characters ==
=== Playable and party members ===
* Ganondorf (Sharid Khansari)
* Yoshiko/Ghirahim: Yoshiko lost all the scanned abilities but in exchange she's evolved from a Fairy AI to a full Ghirahim reincarnation, able to use all of Ghirahim's dark power. In her new body, she looks like a cross between Cia from Hyrule Warriors and Ghirahim, and uses a katana and dark magic.
* Masatoshi Higuchi (Zant): Higuchi is an android from Japan/the Twilight Realm. He had fought the original Link, then awoke his memories as the Japanese human Masatoshi Higuchi (the reason why he went psycho). 
=== Non-playable and villains ===
* Masami Akita: A Twili/Japanese, his spirit inhabits the Merzbow Synth, allowing Ganondorf to create reality-altering songs called Black Noise. 
* Arnold Rydberg: President of Domnitsa. He declares the Hyrule Socialist Empire a rogue state and wants to wage war against it.
* Maia/Maya Kate Olsen: Leader of the Pleiades, a special black ops unit of cyborgs. Her Subarchon Blade is the Avici Zanbato, a heavy blade which controls fire and which can summon a giant phoenix-like monster for Maya to ride.
* Electra/Elettra Olsen: Second in-command of the Pleiades, younger sister of Maya, a very frail-bodied cyborg girl, with great intelligence, strategic skills and ability in hacking and controlling machines. Her Subarchon Blade is the Xolotl Magatama, a tomoe-shaped jewel mounted on her forehead which allows her to control electricity, hack machines, and control a humongous snake mecha remote-controlled by her through her mind.
* Alcyone/Halcyon Graham/Haru Shion Kurayami: A member of the Pleiades, who is a Twili/Japanese covered by an armor which hides his face (and formerly a loyal servant to the Gallant family). Haru Shion Kurayami, under the false name of Halcyon Graham, was the one who brought Japanese technology in Domnitsa and, alongside Daniel Gallant, was the creator of the Pleiades project of cyborgs armed with Twilight Realm/Japanese technology. Halcyon Graham's Subarchon Blade is called Cocytus Mirror, it's an octagonal mirror he keeps either on his back or wears on his left arm as a shield, and not only does it give him an ice shell similar to Blizzeta and allow him to freeze things, but also allows him to distort space and create black holes and constructs of darkness and raise ice zombies.
* Celaeno/Selena Lovato 
* Taygeta/Taijet Li: A master of the martial art Shiwuquan (Military Fist of Death). Taijet is an anti-communist deserter who has fled from a land known as Katay, who was taken in by the Pleiades. As he's extremely strong without cybernetic modifications already, his Subarchon Blade, a combination of cybernetic nerves and an armor, called the Chronos Neuralink, amplifies his strength even further allowing him to reach supersonic speed and manifest blades of light to extend the reach of his Shiwuquan martial art. 
* Asterope/Asterion "The Minotaur" Omotoso: Son of crime boss Hiromu Omotoso, having lived in Domnitsa where he was the leader of the Domnitsan branch of the Red Dragons (and working as an informant for the Domnitsan intelligence in the criminal underworld). He's out to avenge his father Hiromu's death. His Subarchon Blade is called Gaia Breaker, it's two gauntlets and a ball-and-chain which also serves as a hookshot. 
* Merope/Maisie Amon
* Merope II/Link Zimmermann/Matthew Gallant: Most recent member of the Pleiades. He's not an actual cyborg, only a human in a hi-tech device, and refuses to use a Subarchon Device, as he only uses a normal katana and rifle. He's not mute because he's actually Matthew Gallant (which has taken control of Fi) possessing Link's body through his Shogun form which has been mutated into Twilight Shogun (and in fact, when not in his Shogun armor, he never talks, hinting he's Link). He, in his Shogun form, is the final boss, after which Matthew dissolves forever, taking the Master Sword/Master Arms and Fi with him, so that Hylia herself will declare Sharid an enemy. In the post-credit scene, he's revealed to be still alive but swordless, and Sharid lets him go as Link roams the world again. 
== Soundtrack ==
The soundtrack is based on styles such as techno, nu metal, pop punk or darkwave, but also the kind of pop and rap that was popular in the 2000s, to fit with the cyberpunk/2000s-themed world. A lot of the songs are similar in style to Metal Gear Rising's soundtrack, especially Maya's theme, "Fenice" being similar to "Red Sun", theme of Sundowner. Giorgio Vanni returns as the main singer. 
The theme song of Alcyone, "Kori no Kagami", is sung in Japanese. 
Noise music pieces sampled from the actual musician Merzbow's songs are played when the player plays the Merzbow (the player only has to play six notes, then the game continues on its own to play pieces from real Merzbow music).
== Trivia ==
* Link's name is never spoken in this game (as Ganondorf knows Merope II is him from the start but calls him Zimmermann), as he's been built up as the main villain in the final game of the trilogy.
* Link being not mute in this game is a sign he's possessed by Matthew, as Link became mute when Sharid shot him in the previous game.
* The game is directly inspired by Metal Gear Rising.