Did you ever purposefully play a game the way it wasn’t intended? Say, you would start up a file of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just to go to Arbiters’ Grounds to have those little bugs swarm all over you, using a bomb to blow them off of yourself, and using the sinking sand to make an exit? Just me?
Alright, that last example was a bit specific, but I’m sure plenty of us have played a game and, instead of completing the objective at hand, you goofed around and did everything but the main quest. I’m looking at you, Breath of the Wild players. But that was me as a 12-year-old — especially when my friends were over.
We would often play Zelda games together, but we also played a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee. They only played video games when they were with me as they did not have any of their own, so they weren’t great at the actual fighting involved in the game. However, that didn’t stop us from enjoying the game to it’s fullest potential.
We were a creative bunch, always finding new ways to enjoy the things we loved. These characters were near and dear to our hearts, and we found ourselves roleplaying as them often. One day in particular, we were creating a goofy love scene between Link and Zelda on the Temple stage.
I was playing as Link and my friend was playing as Zelda. Usually I would play as Zelda, living out my childhood fantasy of being able to confess my love for Link, but she really wanted a turn and so I complied. The dialogue that poured from the two of us was cornier than a poorly made soap opera, and we loved every second of it. Of course, like every good (or bad) soap opera, there was a dark plot twist ahead.
We were hamming things up, getting dramatic and sad, playing off of the characters taunts, and idle motions. We were by the leftmost edge of the Temple’s top layer, by that little gazebo (that’s what it’s supposed to be, right?). I can’t remember what lead up to it, but suddenly, Zelda turned to the cliff’s edge and looked back at Link.
“And now Link, I must bid you farewell,” my friend spoke for Zelda, “as I take Lover’s Leeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaap!” Zelda jumped off the side as she screamed all the way down before that beam of light appeared with a crash as she fell off the stage. The two of us were laughing like idiots, repeating the line over and over as we jumped off the Temple’s edge until our lives ran out.
We’d continue to do this in future playthroughs of the game, showing more of our friends, thinking we were the funniest people in the world. I even got creative with it, making a new plot twist where we would jump off the cliff together, and then I would recover to the bottom tier of the stage — which absolutely blew my friends’ minds that I could do that with my 12-year-old skill. To this day, if I ever jump off that edge for any reason, whether it be to trick my friends that I’ve fallen or I’ve actually fallen, I always shout that I’m headed for Lover’s Leap.
I usually try to incorporate some sort of message or morals to these throwback stories, and honestly, there isn’t much of one to this. All I can say is, enjoy the moment. Even if it’s something as silly as this, remember the good times. Make new traditions. Goof around. Enjoy your friends. Jump off of cliffs. No, wait, don’t do that last one…
