The Emotional Pull of Video Games
A video game’s ability to fuse interactivity with other mediums helps create unique emotional experiences. Emotions come through in a multitude of ways. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask’s structure encourages the player to explore the world of Termina. Doing so reveals several side quests where NPCs (non-playable characters) have unhealed trauma needing resolution. These factors lead the player to care about the NPCs and the strife that they can help alleviate. For example, Cremia of Romani Ranch endured the death of her father and now struggles to provide for her younger sister. The player learns all this when assisting Cremia in delivering milk to Clock Town. Doing so helps bring much-needed revenue to Romani Ranch, which relieves the player, as they just helped assist a struggling individual. Intrigue in Cremia’s story builds when she tells the player that her friend, Anju, will soon get married. This new detail about Anju gives Cremia a deeper connection to the world of Termina b...