I got myself a Nintendo Switch over the weekend. And wow, what a fantastic little console thing.

Of course, I got the new Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. The Legend of Zelda series is a series that captured my attention as a kid. I think I've played more games in that series than in any other series.

The first game I purchased myself was Link's Awakening for the OG Gameboy. I spent countless hours playing it.

Before that, we had the Nintendo- we got it in like 1988, or 1989. It was the first video games I played. My father got us the bundle with Rob the Robot. He's always been into tech toys.

Of course we got the first two Zelda games, too. I played those a lot.

A whole heck of a lot.

The first Legend of Zelda game created this love of exploration in me. The story telling was minimal in those days- all of it was in the manual. But, I made my own story as I went with this guy named Link as he sought to save his people from some ancient evil.

The second game I played a lot, too. It'll always hold a special place in my heart. I used to ask my older sister to help me with hard parts- and she always would. I've never forgotten it. It built a certain trust- because that was a trivial thing, and she *always* helped me. To this day I know I can trust my sister to help me. It's the small things like this that show ?

As I'm playing the newest game on this Switch console- Breath of the Wild- I'm reminded of my childhood in the best ways. The storytelling is a little more obvious now- but I like that. The exploration, though? It's just amazing. The world is post-apocalyptic, albeit a beautiful one, and the sparse open spaces are full of callbacks to previous games. It really is fantastic.

I fell in love with the story with Link to the Past. It was the second game I had for the SNES. We got a bundle with Super Mario World for the holidays. It was only two or three months later we got Link to the Past.

I've played Link to the Past about two dozen times, start to finish, and always loved it. It is absolutely tied into my nostalgia. It was an escape. My parents were getting divorced at the time, and I disappeared for hours into that game as arguments and bullshittery that I really didn't understand happened all around me. That game was a refuge. And escape. Link to the Past was a friend to me, and in a way the hero Link was a friend to me, too, by sharing his adventures with me.

So, that bring us to today. Now. Over the weekend I decided to get something for myself- it started random. I was thinking of a DAC since I recently got some really nice headphones. As I wandered through the store I saw the Switch and a copy of Breath of the WIld.

If they hadn't been together I wouldn't have purchased it.

I've played all weekend, and I adore exploring Hyrule. It's achingly beautiful, and feels very much like a painting with it's relatively light cell shading.

I recommend this game, wholly.