I played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, a world building game by Nintendo that’s rated everyone ages 10 and older. I played the game on Nintendo Switch but it’s also offered on Wii and Wii U.
In Skyward Sword, the game invites the player to care more about the world by showing a narrative space through the experiences of Link, a player character that takes on the personas of being a protector, explorer, and restorer of the peace and health of the natural world. Link’s ultimate mission is to find and rescue Zelda who had suddenly gone missing. This narrative is driven forward with the use of formal elements like player’s role as protector, having core objectives of helping others, and creating a setting that showcases the conflict between good and evil – lush green and fiery desserts. Through Link’s relationship with supporting characters, rescue missions, and journeys through contrasting environments, players build empathy and a call to action towards the real world they live in.
Through Link’s one-on-one interactions with supporting characters, players gain a sense of allyship towards marginalized groups and build personal, emotional stakes. Using a combination of embedded and enacted narrative elements, the creators use supporting characters to deliver side quests and conflicts through dialogue with Link. Through resolving these quests, Link rescues kidnapped children and frees vulnerable characters from the evil ogres. While exploring the Skyloft for items and trade stores, Link is approached by townspeople who express concern for the missing girl. Multiple supporting characters directly speech to Link about this matter, naturally building urgency and a sense of responsibility. As it’s a human-to-human interaction, the player feels more personally connected to finding the missing child and more attachment to the quest. Therefore, no matter how urgent it is to find the missing Zelda, these one-on-one interactions make the missing child side quest seem more pressing.
While exploring different sky islands and hubs to find Zelda, Link also builds relationships with Kikwis, a vulnerable character species who cower at the sight of an ogre. Through interactions with these characters, Link takes on the role of protector and invites the player to also commit to protecting these shy characters. Kwikis express fear through crying, squealing, and hiding from the ogres and strangers. Though there is dialogue that explain who the bad guys and good guys are, the visual design of these supporting characters make obvious who Link should protect and who Link should fight. The ogres, or Bokoblins, are red with horns and pointy teeth – mirroring real life beliefs about what devils, monsters, and evil characters look like. Visually, these characters are the embodiment of corruption and disorder in the sky world. This choice intentionally uses elements of evocative narratives to hint to the player the objective through the space and design of the game and its supporting characters. On the other hand, Kikwis are blobby shaped – similar to the shape of an exaggerated penguin. Their actions and their appearances easily invite the need for defense, making them a key supporting character in developing Link’s protector and restorer personas.
The game uses the setting, conflict, and player role formal elements through its representation of evil and good in its environment. The game’s special design contrasts lush, green, nature with dry, scorched ruins. The green and lush spaces in the Skyloft are tied to quests for item-finding, interactions with townspeople, and dialogue with Kwikis. On the other hand, the red ruins are tied to spaces dominated by the devilish Bokoblins. This choice uses the evocative narrative to foreshadow the types of interactions and objectives the player should expect. Further, it not only mirrors the real life contrast between corruption and peace, but it also mirrors the critical and immediate needs towards environmental protection. The dry wastelands reflect the degrading health of the Earth – the scarred and lifeless areas that were wiped out by wildfires. These choices intentionally use the player’s real life context to evoke a call to action within the game space but also in real life, a call to protect and prevent further environmental deterioration.
Though the game applies strong narrative and formal elements to build a sense of responsibility for the player, the physical design of the supporting characters encourage stereotypes. For example, Kwikis are round, blobby, and soft. They are labeled as timid and defenseless – characteristics that are further fueled by their nervous behavior in constantly looking for hiding spots. Link, on the other hand, has sharp facial features and a more defined build. His character’s image connects with sword fighting and flying through the sky while piloting a large bird. This dichotomy reinforces body stereotypes that label certain body types as weak and in need of saving in comparison to body types that are capable and heroic. The game’s use of character design reinforces social expectations on the agency and capability of specific body types.
