I got back into playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker tonight and was up far too late playing. The reason I had stopped playing before was that I was just overwhelmed. There was all this pressure and stress because there was so much to do and I didn’t know how or where it all was.

Specifically, it’s the fucking wide-open ocean that does it to me. The whole world is a sea, divided into a 7×7 grid. Each of these 49 squares has it’s own island. Some are big islands with lots to do, dungeons or big quests to accomplish for the main game, but there are a lot of little tiny islands with secrets and bonus power ups, pieces of hearts etc. A lot. And really, it’s overwhelming for me. When they set me out to sea, I feel like I should be ignoring the main game and just exploring each area of the ocean, hitting every little island and getting whatever treasure is there. Except sometimes you can’t get these things until later in the game when you acquire certain new items or weapons. But how do I know if I have to wait until I get some future power up or if I just haven’t figured out how to do it yet. So stressful!

So as much as I really really like playing the main Wind Waker game, as soon as I finish a main part (a dungeon, boss, whatever) and they set me sailing (which takes forever, btw, and is super boring, especially when they give you 3-4 quests in a row which all involve sailing somewhere to just stop off for 30 seconds before you have to sail back across the world again), I start to lose interest because there’s SO much on the wide-open ocean that I feel I should be doing, apart from the main story.

I mention it here with the Wind Waker, but I’ve found it in a lot of other games, too: I have to get the gold star. Or three gold stars. Or finish it with 100%, and every heart piece and bomb upgrade. It’s just overwhelming.

That’s the reason why I got so close to the end of both Beyond Good and Evil and Metroid Prime without finishing either. I got sick of the “hunting for every last power up before the final level” game. It really isn’t fun but without every last fucking power up I’m concerned that I’ll be underpowered for whatever the final battles may be.

But I’m trying to not let it kill the Wind Waker for me. I keep telling myself that anything necessary for me to beat the game will be made known to me. Extra bag space to carry more bombs? More hearts of life? I’ll just have to be a better player and beat it without all that extra stuff. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it more without the added comfort of an extra 4 hearts of life.

Because really, as nice as it is in a game to feel no pressure or concern during a boss battle because you know you’re overpowered - it’s a lot more fun when the outcome is uncertain; When you have to put in effort and be damn good to beat it.

It’s just a lot more rewarding.

too much fun