On a difference of eras and Fatigue-inducing epics:
My finish time for Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past was deplorable, my try count for each level equally unimpressive. But watching the credits roll, seeing a pillar of Japanese names of people I had no clue about, listening to the Zelda theme and seeing all of Hyrule prosper and Dark World restored to the Golden Land - I had never felt such elation in my young life at the time. I felt like I had really done those things. No 13-year-old has any real world analog for such a degree of accomplishment as saving two whole worlds, but Legend of Zelda gifted me with that sensation. I will never forget it.
In 2006 I played through Shadow of the Colossus. There are few games like it. If you have not played this game, I strongly implore you to. Anyway, I played through Shadow of the Colossus. When I got stuck, (which occurred often, damn you sword light beam, make me run full force into a mountainside...) I went straight to gamefaqs.com, read the solution, and moved on.
Now, that't not to say that I didn't suffer through Shadow like I did with Zelda. Shadow of the Colossus left something profound within me that lingers even now, like a brand on the soul.
But I have to wonder then, how a 13-year-old Chris would have felt if he had to endure the trials in Shadow of the Colossus without the instant gratification of gamefaqs.com. I have to wonder if that would have made the experience somehow more arduously substantial.
#personal #musings #masters #japangamestudies #criticalquestions #classicgames #inspirational