Editor's Note: We've all been through breakups and handled them in different ways. Brett's technique, though, may be the best. It also reminds me that I need to finish The Minish Cap! -Greg
I'm in the midst of a painful breakup with my live-in girlfriend. The reasons why are complicated, but the end result is this: She's moving across the country, and I'm left feeling like a flattened Goomba.
Some people cope with these kinds of situations by stocking up on Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey and firing up the Lifetime Movie Network. Others bury their head in work like an ostrich hiding from danger. Me? I'm going to stick a copy of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap into the GBA slot of my DS and press Start.
Why Zelda? For starters, The Minish Cap has been gathering dust in my drawer for over a year now, and I'm trying to cut down on my backlog. But mostly I'm turning to The Minish Cap because spending time with a Zelda game -- even one I've never played before -- feels like hanging out with an old friend.
I already know what's going to happen: A bad dude will come to Hyrule, cause some general mayhem, and steal Princess Zelda. It'll be up to me, a little boy in green, to save her. Along the way I'll hack, slash, boomerang, and blow up a familiar menagerie of enemies. There will some standard RPG tropes, but the game will never get too hard or complicated. Evil will exist, but it'll be benign. No real harm will come of it. The world of The Minish Cap will be safe, comfortable, familiar.
In other words, it's exactly what I need.
Above all, I'll explore. That exploration is what I love best about the Zelda series. Plenty of games -- especially RPGs -- allow you to wander the world, discovering items hidden behind bushes or inside chests. But few do it so well. Like Metroid, Zelda teases you with areas you can see but can't access until you have the right equipment, making it really damn hard to put the game down. You always want to play for just a little bit longer, so you can get that new item and find out what lurks behind a waterfall, or underneath a suspicious-looking boulder.
Now, I'm sure that my desire to traverse every last pixel of Hyrule is an excuse to ignore realities I can't bear just yet. I'm OK with that. In fact, I need it. Every Kinstone I fuse, every heart container I find is a small but merciful suspension of time, like seconds gained after hitting a checkpoint in a time trial, postponing the inevitable so I can gather my thoughts.
When I do end my vacation in Hyrule, and the truth of my situation floods in, I hope it doesn't hurt as much. I hope the raw edges of my feelings will have dulled. I hope that my time with the game will allow me to gain perspective. I know I will be a sad and hurt man over what happened. But, after slaying Vaati, I won't emerge a defeated one.
And if Zelda somehow doesn't do the trick, I have a backup: Red Faction: Guerrilla. Swinging a sledgehammer on Mars like a space-age John Henry is guaranteed to get me smiling again.
What games have gotten you through tough life situations?
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Comments (10)
Now that I've gotten the congenialities out of the way, I have had several games pick me up from tough spots in my life. Last year, I had spent the better part of the Fall semester at my university worshipping a girl who lived in my residence building. In January, I finally got the nerve to ask her out. She shot me down. I consequently moved into Azeroth full-time. I played World of Warcraft for about 14 hours a day, for two weeks. Hardly constructive or romantic, but it got me through!
And thanks for the high compliments! Your work ain't too shabby, either. Since I'd like read more of it, try not to get hit by any more cars.
If you like that sort of game, it's good for depressions. Tactic-y, but not too hard. A few cool things to discover. Interesting classes to unlock.
Luckily it was just those two months
And Brett, if you make it to the Bitmob gathering Friday night, I'll buy ya a beer.
