The Ocarina of Time Masterclass in subtext, by GoodBlood, is a brilliant exercise on critical theory that brings together widely diverse fields such as storytelling, Japanese folklore, environmentalism, and even psychology of childhood trauma and adulthood, to analyse the themes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time -one of the most influential video games of all time. These blend together to deliver a central message that the game is probably the saddest entry of the Zelda franchise; precisely because of how short we fall to notice, as it is laid out deep within the subtext of the writing. The presentation is gorgeous and the theoretisation is of highest quality -I particularly enjoyed the sad notes on shintoism and how its world resonates with the history of Japanese people and their culture. But it is the character analysis, the loss of the hero’s childhood, what makes it a completely unique piece of media analysis -at least for me.

I watched it two years ago, and I still think about it -with emotions, feelings and ideas that are still with me. Watching it again felt like the first time, which does not always happen. I recommend watching it, even if you are not familiar with the Zelda franchise, for a great example of conveying sub-plots in the context of storytelling. Or you can read it here, as the author made it available in text.

This ‘sadness’ expands and branches beyond this game into other titles of the franchise. For me, this has ultimately rendered Ocarina of Time unplayable as a mere instance of the Myth of the Hero’s journey. I am not exaggerating if I say that it has completely changed my view of this game and left me in a contemplation of the different depth levels the story speaks to me.