Oh, not that I mind. Being a lover of video games myself, it pleases me to no end that Namine, of her own accord, asks to stop into Gamestop whenever we visit the mall.
Namine pays little attention to the games that come and go. She knows what she likes, though, and some time ago she had the opportunity to try out the Lego Marvel Superheroes demo. This prompted her to ask me to download the demo on our PS3, which we have had a great deal of fun playing.
Today, the Gamestop we visited had a Wii U with several game demos to choose from. Namine scrolled past Mario Kart 8 — which I thought she’d pick — and selected Hyrule Warriors. To explain why, I have to back up a bit.
Storytime at bedtime
A few nights ago, Namine asked for something different. Instead of reading me a book, or having me read her a story, she asked for a made-up story. I didn’t have anything off the top of my head, so I started telling the story of The Legend of Zelda.
Namine remembered the names of Link and Zelda from the commercials for the cartoon in The Super Mario Super Show (which she loves). Despite this not being a “made-up story” (by me, anyway), she was enthralled. She wanted to hear more, and I’ve been telling her a little more about Link, making his way through dungeons and collecting pieces of the Triforce of Power in order to defeat Ganon.
Or is it Ganondorf? I haven’t followed the Zelda canon all that closely, to be honest, and most of our nighttime story time is embellishment on my part.
You are the grim, goal-oriented ones who will not believe that the joy is in the journey rather than the destination no matter how many times it has been proven to you.
Stephen King
Namine is not one of those people. She is in it for the journey, and she loves hearing about Link’s.
…back at Gamestop
So Namine had paused at Hyrule Warriors, and I explained that it was about Link and Zelda. That definitely got her attention, and she picked it.
The demo allowed Namine to pick either Link or Zelda. This surprised her; she told me, “I didn’t know a princess could do anything.” (This is a good point; often the princess waits to be rescued, and I was happy that she was happy to see otherwise.) Namine did not hesitate to pick the princess.
The next screen was weapon selection. Being a demo, there was only one. “Daddy, what’s a ‘rah-pie-er’?”
“The word is ‘rapier’, and it’s a sword. You remember Cloud’s big sword, from Advent Children?”
“Yeah.”
“This is the exact opposite. Instead of being huge and heavy, it’s thin and light. It’s for quick movement.”
“Sweet.”
Namine had a blast playing the game. There were NPC characters that joined in the battle, including generic soldiers and even Link himself. (There was only one controller, or I would have joined her, like I do when we play Lego Marvel Superheroes.) Every once in a while, a message popped up that Link was outnumbered and needed help.
In response to this, Namine exclaimed, “Now the princess will do the saving! You don’t mess with the princess! I’m coming, Link!” And she proceeded to plow through the enemy soldiers like a wildfire through so much grass.
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