First of all, there’s nothing wrong with crying. On the contrary, crying is beautiful. It’s one of the most sincere and spontaneous demonstrations of human emotion.
But I don’t cry much. I don’t know why. I just don’t.
I’ll give you an example: I’m thirty-three years old, and, until this day, only one movie has made me cry: “Central do Brasil” (“Central Station”, Brazil’s contender to the 1999’s Academy Awards).
Again: there’s nothing wrong with crying. I wish I had cried more in my life. It would certainly have helped to get through some hard times and would have made the good times even better. That’s why I think The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has played such an important role in my life. After all, this game has made me cry for the first time while playing a video game.
After completing Divine Beast Vah Ruta, I decided to take the trip to the Tabantha Frontier and visit Rito Village. I started from the tower. Following the trail, I crossed Kolami Bridge, admiring the beauty of Tanagar Canyon to my right. After arriving at the Rito Stable, I witnessed that colossal structure and saw Divine Beast Vah Medo flying around it. I was there at last.
But I was not prepared for what came next, not even a bit.
As soon as I stepped on the first small bridge crossing Lake Totori, a beautiful melody started playing.
And that was the moment I froze.
“Wait a minute… Is that the song from Wind Waker’s Dragon Roost Island?”.
My heart started pounding.
Suddenly, I was transported to 2003. I saw my fourteen-year-old self playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on my purple GameCube after arriving from school, siting on my old bed in my parent’s house. You know, the good old days — back when life was just fun and games, with no bills to pay or things to be concerned about. I saw myself navigating the Great Sea and arriving at Dragon Roost Island for the first time. That song, that beautiful song.
And then I started crying. A lot! I remember even having to put the joystick away to wipe the tears.
Some days later, a friend of mine who is a psychologist explained to me what happened: it’s a thing that most people will experience at some point in their lives, called emotional catharsis.
Hearing Breath of the Wild’s “Rito Village Theme” made me “travel” back to my adolescence and experience a burst of repressed emotions. They came out in the form of tears. Mostly tears of joy, representing memories of some of the happiest times in my life. But also some tears of sadness, from remembering how much simpler were the days before growing up and having to face “adult life”.
Many things can lead to a situation of catharsis. Experts say that creating or viewing art, writing, exercising, or simply talking to a loved one can trigger powerful emotional bursts. In my case, it was music. The first notes from Rito Village’s theme made me travel almost fifteen years in time and reconnect with my younger self, and that became something I’ll always remember fondly.
It’s been almost five years since I’ve finished Breath of the Wild. I never made a second complete playthrough. Like many Zelda fans, I’m eagerly waiting for the sequel, but from time to time I power up my Switch and wander through Hyrule to visit some special places — Rito Village is one of them, obviously.
The emotions felt were not the same from the first time I played the game, but I guess that’s how life works, right? I’ll never be that boy playing the purple GameCube again. And I’m not that guy who cried a lot while playing Breath of the Wild in 2017 either. I’m not even the same person I was yesterday.
Life goes on, and we live new adventures every day. Like Link, we must face our daily challenges with courage and determination, becoming better persons and creating memories worth remembering.
I hope that, in fifteen years from now, when I’m much older and maybe wiser, I can power up my Switch and take a quick trip to Rito Village. Maybe I’ll cry a little, but that’s alright. There’s nothing wrong with crying.
