I hate the Forsaken Fortress. Actually, I hate any forced stealth sequence that doesn’t at least give you the option of choosing to fight if you just can’t take the plodding around anymore. Right up there on my list of levels that I don’t want to play again is Toon Link’s initial foray into that cursed fortress. For all of the vitriol that bubbles up in my heart after just thinking about it, this location also paradoxically brings a smile to my face.
After months of impatiently waiting, The Wind Waker had finally released in 2003, and I was pumped, to say the least. In addition to having a new Zelda adventure to cherish, I also found myself blessed by a new two-player quest: dating my future wife. We weren’t really into the party scene, so the majority of our dates consisted of such classic activities as going to dinner, playing miniature golf, and watching movies. Knowing how obsessed I can become with new games and especially Zelda ones, I was careful to balance my time between joining Link on the Great Sea and hanging out with my girlfriend.
I had just settled in with a soda and The Wind Waker, all ready to take on those Moblins and get my sister back. I was ready, or at least, I thought I was. Several trips to the Forsaken Fortress’s jail and many, many curse words later, I heard the doorbell ring.
I got up to answer it, leaving Wind Waker spinning since I assumed I’d be right back. It was my girlfriend. She’d gotten off of work early and decided to surprise me. Any time I could see her was something to cherish, so I told her that I just needed to go save my game, and then we could go someplace. Honestly, a break from that frustrating fortress would probably be a good thing.
As I picked up the controller and went to save, she sat down next to me on the floor, rested her head on my shoulder, and told me that I should just keep playing. With her cuddled up to me, I sure didn’t want to get up now, but at the same time, the salty language of the Great Sea was still sitting sourly on my tongue, and I was worried about what my girlfriend would think if she saw me getting frustrated by something as trivial as a video game.
With some reassuring from her, I continued my journey. As Link tiptoed past Moblins, his little toon brow beading with sweat, I held my breath. Just stay calm. You can do this. The controller rumbled as a Moblin swung his head suspiciously towards me. A curse sat, loaded on my tongue like the readied cannons of Tetra’s pirate ship. No. There’s no one here but us barrels you pig-faced freak! There’s certainly not a plucky, wide-eyed kid-turned-adventurer.
From my shoulder, a sleepy voice asked, “Why are you sneaking into this castle?” Such a simple question had such a dramatic impact on my day. Talking through what was happening calmed my nerves, and I didn’t visit the cel-shaded cell again that day. She followed up her initial question with others: “Why don’t you just hit them with your sword?” and “What the heck do you mean you don’t have a sword?” As I continued to play, the way that she kept asking questions and responding to each new development in the quest washed the sour, salty taste of frustration from my mouth, and left me only with the sweet taste of sharing something new with someone new.
It’s such a small moment. A boy sitting next to a girl while playing a video game. It’s barely something someone should remember, and she probably didn’t think anything of it, but fifteen years later, I still remember this moment because with each calming question, she was sneaking her way further into my heart.
