ToTK taught me to cheat my way through classic Zelda games

Until very recently, the Legend of Zelda games never clicked with me. I used to say it was because I hated puzzles, but now I know that wasn’t true. I actually found them too hard because I died all the time, but that’s a very embarrassing thing to admit when you make your living from video games.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom changed my mind. A lot of that is due to the flexibility of the game itself — you can build wacky contraptions, customize your weapons using abundantly available consumable items, rewind time to move objects, and zip upward through rocks and buildings in a flash without keeping a fretful eye on your stamina gauge. Or you can do none of those things! I played Tears of the Kingdom sporadically over the course of many months, which I suppose is how most people play it, and probably how it is best enjoyed. I liked messing around with rockets and ticking through shrines, but I never saw myself actually finishing the damn thing. I mostly putzed around doing sidequests — restoring Lurelin Village, resolving the mayoral election in Hateno, or taking off all Link’s clothes to see people’s reactions.

It was months before I even attempted one of the temples. Once I did, I became very comfortable with dying a lot, largely because Tears of the Kingdom’s autosave is generous and keeps you from losing too much progress. Then it clicked: If you’re dying a lot, you’re doing it right. In that respect, Zelda has shaped games like Elden Ring and Hades far more than I’d previously realized. But Tears of the Kingdom is far more indulgent than those games, too. If you’re having trouble with a boss and you don’t have the right armor, just bring a dozen meat skewers with you. Or use the ascend ability to jump up his butt and whack him in the head. A cheap win counts just as much as a hard-fought one.

Having vanquished Demon King Ganondorf, I was feeling bold enough to revisit A Link to the Past on Nintendo Switch Online, which I’d abandoned partway through a couple times before. My new-age Zelda skills were serving me pretty well until I got to the Dark Palace, a dungeon populated with infuriating, bouncy little jerks who can knock you into a pit when you swat them with your sword. Zelda was not as generous in the SNES era as it is now, and when you die in a dungeon, you usually end up back at the entrance — you’ll keep all the treasure you’ve collected and any doors you’ve unlocked remain so, but it’s still a huge bummer. Retracing my steps was seriously beginning to grate on my newfound zen detachment to the concept of dying in Zelda.

That’s when I remembered Switch Online’s suspend function for emulated retro games: just hold the top trigger buttons, and you’ll be able to scroll back to a few moments earlier. (Functionally, it’s a lot like the rewind feature in the Forza Horizon games, which has inspired some spirited debate among players.) Is it cheating? Absolutely! But it’s also perfectly in keeping with the rule-breaking design ethos of Tears of the Kingdom, so I don’t feel the slightest pang of guilt using it occasionally. Wandered right into a boss’s projectile? Roll it back! Bumbled into a pit of spikes? Take a mulligan!

Image: Nintendo

Now that I’m free to take silly risks in A Link to the Past without fear of losing progress, I’m enjoying the experience so much more — and developing a new appreciation for how many elements of the Switch-era games have been part of the series’ DNA for decades. The relatively tiny SNES Death Mountain still looms over the green forests of Hyrule, the humblest hint at the vertical vastness of the Switch games. I thought the zaftig fairies were a recent addition, but it turns out they’ve been there since 1991. The Zora have been lending Link scuba gear all this time, too.

It’s no secret that Switch Online has an impressive selection of retro games. But it wasn’t until I revisited A Link to the Past that I appreciated just how clutch that suspend-and-rewind function can be. I’m not the only one who feels this way — over on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, there are a ton of folks who say the suspend function has allowed them to more fully enjoy older titles. It’s easy to forget that it’s there at all, but it really can ease the friction that comes from getting reacquainted with old-school control schemes and design conventions. I don’t think this will be the last time I cheat my way through saving Hyrule.