The Legend of Tyler

In the December of 1996, my father received a gaming system called the Nintendo 64 as a Christmas present with several games included. He played constantly when he was home and I, being only two years old, would sit drooling in his lap, watching. My first several years of life I watched and grew up with the games. Once I had begun to develop more with my age I became enticed with the Nintendo, wanting to learn the controls and how the games worked. I played the game that captured my interest the most: The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. I spent my time learning the defined lines of good and evil and the significance of diversity. What I was able to learn from an aged game shaped my morals and who I am to this day.
In The Legend of Zelda, the main hero of the story, who you are, is Link. He is a young boy who is destined to save the land of Hyrule from an evil man named Ganondorf. These two main characters were chosen to each hold a third of the Triforce. The Triforce had three pieces, in which each represents a symbol. Link held courage, Zelda (not a large participant through out the story) held wisdom, and Ganondorf held power. The Triforce’s symbols, and how the character’s react to situations all portray an understanding of morals. You, the player who decides what to do, are taught what is right from wrong. Link is given decisions to help townsfolk, explore a dangerous map, or even just listen to what other characters have to say. You are only allowed to proceed with the game if you do what is right for other’s and be brave. I lived up to helping others and being kind, knowing that that is the strong and right thing to do. Then there was Ganondorf. Ganondorf tainted the power he was bestowed with, and became greedy for more. Ganondorf murdered, tricked, and destroyed many people and places through out the game, and being young had given me this fear of him and his wrong ways. I was able to learn how evil can grow from too much reign in life and only causes problems. I still remember the game in a way of how I can do better in life by being bold, kind, and caring, instead of taking advantage of people and becoming lustful for more.
There were several races that were acknowledged in The Legend of Zelda. There were the Hylians, Zoras, Gorons, Korkori, and Dekus. These five races all where shown as physically unrelated characters, but all had many things in common that showed me diversity. The Hylians where more human like, having more expansion through out Hyrule, while other races where designated to one district. The Zoras, graceful and kind creatures, lived only near the Hylian lake. The Gorons where strong, stubborn, and simple. They lived near a volcano in the rocky mountains where they would eat delicious rocks all day. The Korkori were small, weak, and hidden from the rest of the districts in a forest, while the Dekus lived in swamps and grassy lands. My mind separated each race from each other almost instinctively by the way each race had isolated themselves within their own lands. They all had problems that you, the Hero of Time, could only fix. In the end of the game, each race helps you to defeat Ganondorf in a final battle. I had learned the simple given fact that everyone should help one another, and as I grew older I realized that the game creators had given different cultures and races to show that working as one in society is a favorable community.
Today in the present, I still pick up a controller and play The Legend of Zelda. I enjoy the game exceedingly due to how it relates to me and my own morals. The Legend of Zelda is a powerful game that influenced me to how I am today and my decision making. I advise young children to learn what is right from wrong at an early stage so that they can grow up as loving, nice people in our world. They would all learn the same as I did, and I want to thank the creators of The Legend of Zelda for teaching me.Thank you.