There’s a magic to Nintendo games. A magic that somehow transcends time, allowing for one to boot up one of their games from practically any decade since the Japanese company has been making them and find that the game still holds up. Whether it’s the music, or the easily accessible yet interestingly complex game mechanics, or the eye-catching visuals that spark this mystifying feeling of joy combined with nostalgia, Nintendo games always have a special something that separates them from their contemporaries. It’s this very separator that leads me to have an “itch” every few months; a specific yearning to play not just just any game, but one specifically made by Nintendo. I’ve had this yearning throughout the years and have found myself scratching this “itch” by booting up one of the company’s most iconic franchises: The Legend of Zelda.
I’ve likely played a dozen Zelda games up till now. “Played” is the operative word here, because aside from a handful of titles, I’ve never actually seen the credits of most of the Zelda games I’ve played. It’s been a trend throughout my gaming history, one that I’m not proud of. It isn’t for a lack of trying, either. Once I became privy to this trend of mine, I did my damndest to try and finish whatever Zelda game I would pick up next. I had some success, A Link Between Worlds being one; Breath of the Wild being another. But I’ve also been unsuccessful, particularly of late where it seems my playthroughs of Tears of the Kingdom and Wind Waker are unfortunately going to be off to the abyss of abandoned video games; where they will be met with their brethren, Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword, to name a couple. Mind you, it’s not like I’m simply playing a handful of hours of these games and then chucking them off due to boredom. No, some of these titles – like Ocarina of Time – I’ve played just shy of reaching their final bosses.
Linearity
It’s odd because every Zelda game I’ve played I’ve liked; quite a bit, actually. I even consider Breath of the Wild to be in my top five of all time. But therein lies the crux of the issue. Breath of the Wild, for all intents and purposes, isn’t a “traditional” Zelda game. It’s a game that deviated from the series quite jarringly in terms of its design approach, allowing players to explore the world however they saw fit. It took the essence of what the very first game on the NES was trying to do and realized it to a modern scale. The result was an experience unlike anything I’d ever had before. A sense of true adventure and wonder that was propelled by remarkable world design that pushed players to discover the unknowns. This hands-free design is what I felt was missing from my experiences with prior Zelda games. Whether it was Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, or Skyward Sword, there was a linearity to the design of every Zelda game. A linearity that had me go from dungeon to dungeon, power-up to power-up, and boss to boss; all of which at one point became fatiguingly repetitive.
It’s interesting because Nintendo uses this design structure in some of their other properties, like Mario and Metroid. However, every new power-up you get in a Metroid game opens up vastly new pathways in prior sections of the map, pushing you to constantly rediscover old areas. And Mario’s constant introduction of new platforming mechanics coupled with breathtakingly creative visuals keeps everything fresh and exciting. With older Zelda titles, every dungeon simply felt like its own bubble that didn’t interact with the rest of the game. I may have had a great time within a dungeon and would be thoroughly impressed with some of its design elements, but there was never anything particularly exciting mechanically or narratively that pushed me to want to head over to the next one. This might be why Link Between Worlds was the first “traditional” Zelda game I completed because of the simple yet ingenious mechanic of merging with the 3D walls, which created incredibly fun and satisfying ways to traverse the dungeons as well as encounter enemies. Beyond that, its audiovisuals were so striking, akin to that of a Mario, that I simply needed to keep seeing what more the game had in store.
Narrative
I mentioned that one of the aspects not propelling me to the next dungeon in a Zelda game was its lack of narrative heft, and this frankly has always been a sticking point for me when it comes to this franchise. Because for me, story is king. A bad game with a fantastic story can almost always turn that experience into a great one. Spec Ops: The Line is a very subpar mid-2000s third-person shooter, but its story, character writing, and poignant themes of war and trauma make it one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve ever had. The Witcher 3’s combat is incredibly underwhelming – at times even frustrating – but its story, characters, and world-building skyrocket it into my top three games of all time. The stories of Zelda games have never resonated with me. Mostly because so many – if not all – of their stories rely on the classic “Hero’s Journey” narrative beats, which simply does nothing for me.
Thematically, some of the games do some interesting things. Ocarina of Time using Link as a vessel to tell a story of adolescence and the cruelty of aging is conceptually very interesting. However, these themes, some of which can be intriguingly dark, are never fully explored on a character level. Even when some NPCs (like Dampe the grave keeper from Ocarina of Time) could have the potential for deeper character moments, exploring these themes on a more substantive emotional level, they don’t. This is doubly true for our elfin protagonist, Link, whose every iteration in every game is frankly bland and uninspired. It’s no wonder these games are titled The Legend of Zelda, because at least Zelda has some iota of personality whereas Link simply meanders along, cycling through one of his four facial reactions.
I doubt I’m ever going to stop playing Zelda games. Because just like almost every other Nintendo property, there’s something innately special about these games. I only hope that Nintendo can bring on some proper writers to give these games that narrative “oomph.” I would also love it if they could find ways to introduce new design elements for their traditional Zelda games that keep things consistently fresh–which if the trailer for Echoes of Wisdom is anything to go by, I think they’re doing just that, and I couldn’t be more excited.
