Within the last few years, I have been blessed to be able to share my love of the Zelda series with my daughter. Time brushing our teeth is often accompanied by theory videos by popular Zelda theorists. Bedtime stories occasionally take the form of the Zelda manga (but not the Twilight Princess one because it’s too scary). Despite being surrounded by the Hyrulean fantasy, it wasn’t until this year that my daughter started playing one of the games on her own.
In the leadup to the release of the Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch, there was a palpable sense of excitement between my daughter and I. I think part of it was the dramatic, anime-inspired reveal trailer. The diorama-like, toy-style visuals were another big selling point. Despite all the excitement, I figured that my daughter’s trajectory with the game would be pretty similar to what it had been with other games in the series: she would watch me play but not want to play herself. That’s why I was so happily surprised when she asked me if she could play on launch day.
As she started up the game, I wondered if she’d get stuck trying to find the sword or other small, early tasks. She blew past my expectations though and easily found the sword. When I expressed surprise at how easily she had found it, she sassily reminded me that she’d seen videos on YouTube of people finding it lying abandoned on the sandy Toronbo Shores.
My heart was a little worried as she approached the Mysterious Forest because in other games she played, she often grew anxious when confronted by enemies; occasionally, it would cause her to quit playing the game altogether. How would she feel when confronted by the Moblins in the woods?
As she entered the forest, a nearby Moblin’s ears perked up, and it approached her menacingly. At first, she ran away, but a few minutes later she approached again with her shield at the ready. As the Moblin ran towards her a second time, it bounced off her shield with no damage done. Seeing that happen emboldened her. She began to charge the Moblins, bashing them with her shield. Once she realized that she could combine the shield with her sword, I knew that I had a little Moblin slayer on my hands.
Souce: Zelda Wiki
Soon after, she ran into the cheeky raccoon who spoke of his sensitive nose and allergies to dust and powder. Once she’d traded the toadstool to the witch in exchange for some Magic Powder, she rushed back into the forest, but her progress was soon halted by the blasted raccoon. Now, my daughter loves all animals, even going so far as to suggest that potentially dangerous ones like wolves would bow down and be her friends as if she were a Disney Princess when she was younger. Because of this, I was surprised when she became enraged at the masked mammal blocking her way. After a few minutes, she turned her eyes towards me, asking for help.
I didn’t want to just give her the answer because I like to encourage her to figure things out for herself, but I also didn’t want her to become discouraged. I put on my best teacher hat and asked her questions that would lead to the answer.
“Did the raccoon say anything important?” I prompted.
Her eyes scrunched up as she thought back to her first encounter with the raccoon. As the lightbulb flashed in her head, she triumphantly whispered in a knowing tone, “His nose is sensitive to dust.” She quickly threw powder right into his muzzle and watched as he bounced all around the screen before turning back into Tarin. With that, my daughter had solved her first Zelda puzzle.
Source: Killa Penguin
My daughter never did make it all the way through Link’s Awakening. She did make it through the second dungeon, struggling a few times and needing me to quickly take her back through the dungeon to the boss, so she could try again. Other games like Pokemon Shield distracted her, but I know that even if she never finishes Link’s Awakening, we’ll always have the Mysterious Forest.
