Is the new Zelda worth it? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
Seeing as I have a YouTube channel called Gaming Theologian (And I’m looking for a video editor if anyone’s interested) and seeing as my planned PhD route is the study of video games and Christianity, I figured I would write on the newest Zelda. So is it fun? Is it worth it?
I have played the Zelda franchise from the beginning. I got the original Legend of Zelda back in 1988 for Christmas and I have played the overwhelming majority of games in the series. (I have missed some of the handheld ones) Link was always a hero of mine growing up. Interestingly, there’s a lot of Christian symbolism in the games and even a picture you can find of Link kneeling before a cross.
So yeah, it could be canonical that Link is a Christian.
This is the first game in the series where Zelda is the protagonist. On the timeline, it looks as if this could be the first game in the series as your character and the kingdom doesn’t seem to know who the hero wearing the green tunic is. He does get captured and Zelda sets out to rescue him.
I don’t consider it woke to say that a female is the hero. This has been part of a long tradition of characters like Samus Aran and Lara Croft. That being said, I am also pleased that nothing in the game indicated a “girl boss” persona. There was no indication that Zelda was an incredible character simply because she was a female. There was nothing to indicate Link was a complete moron because he’s a male. As it turns out, Link is still a hero in many ways through the game, but I won’t say how it all works out because spoilers.
This is refreshing because Nintendo could have easily gone the whole DEI route and I’m pleased that they didn’t. Zelda also has a unique style in that she doesn’t fight directly. She’s joined by a companion called Tri who enables her to create echoes of things she has seen and enemies she has defeated, starting with easy enemies beaten by throwing rocks, and then learning to summon those to beat greater enemies.
Hence, the game focuses much more on strategy than it does on combat. There are plenty of puzzles that Zelda has to solve and a wide variety of echoes she can use on her journey meaning the player has much to think through. I strived to use as little of the internet as I could and I only looked up one thing the whole time.
Is it fun? Definitely. There are plenty of side quests and other adventures you can go on and plenty of characters you can meet that will remind you of other games in the series. This one seems to me most similar to Link to the Past. I also saw some events happened that got me considering ties to the sequel to that, A Link Between Worlds.
So if you’re planning on getting it for your “kids” for Christmas, go ahead. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it. Oh. Make sure that they do get a chance to play it and it’s not just you the whole time.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)