Will Ever Be That Good AgainNostalgia

"You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood … back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame … back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time – back home to the escapes of Time and Memory."

– Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

The book You Can't Go Home Again, is about the relationship between a man and his hometown. After writing a book about his childhood experiences, the main character makes the decision to revisit the place of his youth. But as it turns out, when you write a tell-all book filled with a bunch of gossip about your neighbors, it's kind of a bad look. Likewise, the town has changed so much with time that it doesn't feel recognizable anymore. So he spends the rest of the book wandering the world, commenting on how weird and different his home feels. "Ah, sorry, friendly neighbor, despite you always being kind to me, I'm going to use your deepest secrets as filler for my novel that will make me ludicrously rich and famous. But I'm sure we'll still be friends, right?" No…the answer is no! Because, of course, it is! You convinced them to hate you! You fool!

Lack of moral backbone aside, the character's sensation towards his hometown is the real major crux of the story. It's about nostalgia and how one can long for something that you can't return to in the present, either because the thing no longer exists or because you've changed too much to see it in the same way. People talk a lot about nostalgia, and when they do what they usually mean is reliving a piece of their past that they had a warm connection to. That sort of "Ah, I remember this good thing!" and that's it; a very surface level feeling.

Remember the thing? Here's the thing! Give the money!

But nostalgia is more of a bittersweet sensation; a combination of happiness at the positive memory and sadness that you can't return to that time and place of joy. Nostalgia isn't just the feeling of recognizing something you used to enjoy from a happier time. It's the reminder that something made you happy once before. But, now things are different. You're different. And you can't go back. It's a sensation I think a lot about (hence the whole -stalgia bit in the name), and today I want to talk about a true work of art that captures that sense of nostalgia perfectly for me.

I'm, of course, talking about The Legend of Zelda!

The Legend of Zelda series is based on a fantasy adventure game that released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. You play as Link, a young child, who stumbles into an adventure to save the Princess Zelda of Hyrule from the evil pig wizard, Ganon. The original game was so successful Nintendo released a sequel game under a year later, and have published dozens more over the past three decades. The series has been considered one of the best and most beloved in Nintendo's roster, treated with the same reverence as Mario, or, I don't know, F-Zero. You know, F-Zero? It's that sci-fi racing game series where you travel at ludicrous speeds, pushing the very boundaries of what a gaming console is capable of, and where even the slightest mistake can mean catastrophic failure? It's the future of racing!

THE FUTURE OF RACING!

Look, I know no one really cares about F-Zero, but maybe if Nintendo thinks they do, they'll give it a remaster, or even a new title! Wouldn't that be great! #FZeroOrBust! Please, Nintendo, I have a need for incredible speed, and you won't return my emails!

Anyway, did I mention there's an evil pig wizard?!

Look, I know he doesn't always appear as a giant pig, but you gotta sell the audience on a hook, and I literally can't think of a better one than "defeat an evil pig wizard."

Currently, Legend of Zelda has released nineteen games in the series, and up to thirty if you're willing to include spin-off games. There are several comic books and a cartoon series too. From the outside, it can be hard to quantify what exactly holds the series together. What makes a Zelda game a Zelda game? The series has been traditionally known for puzzle-filled dungeons and boss fights. The games regularly challenge you to explore and master all of the tools at your disposal to overcome your obstacles, stressing creative thinking, and quick reflexes. Many areas are hidden or blocked off, requiring you to go out into the world and find the missing tool you need to keep progressing. Each game usually contains a multitude of collectible power-ups hidden behind breakable walls or only unlocked by using the right tool in the right spot. This ends up making exploration a huge subconscious emphasis because getting more hearts makes harder encounters a bit more manageable.

Additionally, each game focuses on some sort of quest. It's usually to save the Princess (Zelda) from some kind of nefarious villain (Ganon). Still, sometimes it can merely be more recreational activities like fishing, sailing on talking boats, or absolutely crushing his best pal Mario in a friendly game of go-kart.

When it all melts away, even these two boys have a carnal desire to burn rubber and reach speeds yet unknown to man PLEASE ANSWER MY EMAILS NINTENDO

Legend of Zelda is a lot of things and can mean different things to different people. Sometimes the player wants to really dig into the story and complete the main quest of the game. Sometimes it's more about simply exploring the world, meeting the denizens of the various areas, and messing around with side quests. When Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the series, remarked on his inspiration, he spoke about his experiences as a child exploring the forests and hillsides of his childhood home. His desire for the game was to let players explore in nature just as he did in his youth; to forge their own adventures. Each Zelda game contains these aspects of puzzle-solving, dungeon crawling, and exploration to some degree. A trinity of forces, or tri-force , to use a term I just now coined, are the main foundation of the franchise. And yet there is a fourth aspect of the Zelda series, afourforce. And that "secret ingredient" is the loose connection between each title, the nostalgia for the series itself by each game.

Legend of Zelda is somewhat unique for a series from Nintendo in that you're exploring the same spaces. Unlike Mario, whose antics might be loosely tied together in some semblance of a "canon" history, they all more or less take place within their own pocket dimension. There is no "Mario timeline" insomuch as that series is more episodically disconnected. Any stakes or continuity is reset by the end of the game as Mario inevitably saves the day. The Mushroom Kingdom of the Mario series is ill-defined, which is perfectly fine for what it is. Mario doesn't need a continuity, or a set of stakes to heighten the dramatic tension. Mario is just a fun platformer where you're a goofy plumber saving a princess, and its lighter atmosphere has always been part of the charm of that series.

Legend of Zelda, on the other hand, feels enriched by its lore. In each game, you play as Link, but it's seldom the sameLink. While the world is the same, each game takes place hundreds if not thousands of years separately from the other ones, with the main characters being either literal reincarnations or merely spiritually similar characters who fill the same role. The tone and stylings of the games may change between each title, but at the end of the day, you are still Link, and you are still saving Zelda from Ganon. However, these repeating events and locations are rarely featured in the plot.

You don't actually have to care about the story of a Zelda game to appreciate these overarching connections. Much of the worldbuilding across the series is more evocative then expository. There are vague references to a "Hero of Time" and a "Princess" and "Dark Wizard" from the past. But, these are only ever presented as vague prophecies or legends. No, if anything, the game focuses on reoccurring imagery and tone, often reusing geographical concepts or even pieces of music to evoke places from past games. Music is a massive aspect of the series and is one of the strongest throughlines for the entire franchise. "Zelda's Lullaby" is an evocative song that is referenced or used whole cloth in at least thirteen games in the series, and that's just one of many songs or leitmotifs. Legend of Zelda is much less interested in saying, "Hey, remember this place from another game? Here it is again!" and more interested in saying, "Do you remember how you felt when you were there?"

These references are merely echos of the previous games, and I'd argue they're more for the player than they are to enrich the world. There is no real story reason to evoke the same designs, considering the carryover between games typically has little to no game-specific plot repercussions other than to trigger an emotional reaction in the player. I can't tell you how many times I've traversed the various local of Hyrule. Hyrule Castle, the Zora Domain, Kakariko Village, Death Mountain; these are all more feelings then they are physical locations to me. They're never exactly the same, but they carry with them this sense that I've been here before. Entering into a location that I just barely recognize from a different game I played a decade prior is nostalgic. The Zelda series is enriched by nostalgia in a way few other games are.

This may not be the exact same castle in two different games, but it evokes its memory.

So, how exactly does a 1940 novel about the disillusionment with small-town Americana have to do with a video game series from Nintendo? Actually, a lot. It's not a direct 1-for-1, but it's there. And to get into it, I'm going to need to talk about Breath of the Wild.

One of the first things you do upon starting Breath of the Wild is discover the Temple of Time. This building has been a longstanding location throughout the series, and its mechanical function has been to allow the player to travel through time to varying degrees, depending on the game. Function aside, though, the Temple has always had this sense of grand majesty to it. In the first game where it appears, Ocarina of Time, it was this vast looming temple on the outside of the bustling Hyrulian market. The streets are empty leading up to it, and the joyful ambient music of the marketplace dies completely. Once you enter it you're greeted with this booming gregorian-esque chant and a large empty room with light streaming through the windows. It gives off the air of a cathedral, a magnificent place of reverence deserving of respect. Within the game itself, the temple served as a place of monumental importance. Unlocking it allowed the player access to the time travel mechanic, which opened up the second half of the game, and the player would find themselves returning to this temple again and again. Even after traveling into the post-apocalyptic future, the temple always remained pristine and untouched.

The Song of Time gives this moment weight.

But, when you find the temple again in Breath of the Wild, it has become almost unrecognizable. No longer a place of reverence, the building is falling apart, and one of the walls is entirely missing. Most of the stonework has become covered in moss, the earth retaking the land it was built over. The atmosphere is quiet, and forlorn, as a light piano plays a broken rendition of the once-powerful chant that echoed throughout the temple. Listening carefully to the theme, you can find that it is, in fact, the same song but with literal chords ripped out, echoing the temple's broken state. In the back of the building stands a solitary shrine to the Goddess of Hyrule. It's the only remaining sense of importance this building has. While in previous titles that had a dilapidated or ruined temple, the mechanics of the place allowed the player to turn back time and see the temple once in a form identical to that in Ocarina of Time. There are no such mechanics in this game. The temple remains shattered and abandoned. After a time, when the player discovers other shrines they can use for the same purpose, they might never return to this place again.

The Song of Time, again…but broken.

Breath of the Wild is a game that uses nostalgia in a unique way for a Zelda game. While most titles feature references towards the aspects of past games, Breath of the Wild really attempts to utilize all of nostalgia's flavors. Where all of this kicks in is with the game's plot. In every other game of the series, you begin as the plucky mute hero thrust into an adventure to save the kingdom. But in Breath of the Wild by the time you start the game you've already lost. The entire game takes place 100 years after the main conflict has ended, and, uh, hate to break it to you Link but Gannon wins this one. It's only after the game begins that you realize you've been Rip Van Winkled, and now it's up to you to fix the effects fromyour failure that's been stagnating for a century.

A bit less pig wizard and a bit more….pig cloud. The sacrifices we make for success.

Breath of the Wild is filled with ruins. The experience with the Temple of Time merely acted as an introduction to the state of the world, filled with broken remnants of a past before Ganon's destruction. While many of these ruins are merely meant to portray the broken towns and buildings of Hyrule before Gannon's rampaging minions tore across the kingdom, many are meant to evoke specific places from Zelda's history. Lon Lon Ranch, where I remember winning the horse race against the dastardly Igno in Ocarina of Time, is desolate and fallen apart. Not even its name is left behind, and you can completely miss it amongst the rest of the demolished stonework and busted fenceposts if you aren't familiar with its identical design from the earlier game. The only thing that remains is the dusty trail where I raced down Igno so many lifetimes ago. Sure, many games have had ranches in the past that evoke Lon Lon, hitting that surface level of "that memory of the thing you used to like". But this one is different. It's not an easter egg, a clever wink and a nod to the player that the developers are handing you a fun reference to let you know they love the Zelda series too. These ruins make me feel sad and lonely. They make me feel nostalgic.

To think, it was here where I once discovered THE FUTURE OF RACING!!! RELEASE F-ZERO FOR THE SWITCH, NINTENDO!!! I KNOW YOU'RE LISTENING!!!!

One of the primary ways Link recovers his memories is by traveling to specific points on the map and reliving them, which is relayed through a cutscene. While many of these scenes are simply to provide exposition about past events, a lot of them are just Link chilling with his pals. And you learn a lot about Link's relationship with Zelda, too. Despite being the literal namesake of the game, so rarely does the player actually get to watch Link and Zelda interact. But in the game's present all of Link's closest friends are dead, and Zelda is trapped until Link is able to defeat Ganon. The entire game is filled with these memories drenched in dramatic irony; here are all of these charming characters brimming with optimism that they're going to defeat Ganon and become the heroes they were destined to be. But, no. They fail. It's one of the first pieces of the story we're told in-game. And yet I looked forward to these moments anyway, because despite knowing their story was over I wanted to spend more time with these characters. I felt the same way I assume Link would; happy to relive these moments with loved ones, but sad at the inevitable tragedy that preceded the start of the game. And the game knows how important this is to the player's experience. While all of these memories are completely optional to finishing the game, you can only experience the full ending if you've seen them all.

Breath of the Wild, with all of its tragedy and sense of loss and emptiness, could have been a real disheartening slog. But so much emphasis is put on looking forward while appreciating the nostalgia for the past. The Temple of Time and Lon Lon Ranch may only exist as an echo in this game, but there are new shrines and ranches to discover. And when you encounter the spirits of your fallen friends, they cheer you on and lend their strength to help you finish your journey. Breath of the Wild remains wholeheartedly optimistic. The game is brimming with vibrancy and dynamic experiences and wonder. It truly is an adventurous game, emulating the joy that Shigeru Miyamoto felt exploring his childhood forests and hillsides. While some critics bemoaned the dramatic changes between Breath of the Wild and previous Zelda games, most hailed Breath of the Wild as the game that saved the series.Breath of the Wild is a nostalgic game, both internally and externally. It appreciates and mourns its past, but it does not let the past keep it from moving forward.

One of the first videogames I ever played was the Gameboy edition ofLink's Awakening, andOcarina of Timewas the first video game I ever actually beat. I'll never forget how ecstatic I was over accomplishing something that felt monumentally challenging at the time. The Legend of Zelda was one of the big reasons I fell in love with games to begin with. But, as I got older I stopped playing the new games when they came out. I had changed, and I couldn't go home again. Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game to make me feel nostalgic for my childhood, not simply because it brought me home, but because it reminded me of why I fell in love with these games in the first place.

Do you really remember me?

Also, there's a sick motorcycle you can get with the DLC. 10/10. Game of the Year.

THE FUTURE OF RACING

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Source: https://neonstalgia.com/2019/12/19/you-cant-go-home-again-loz/

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