Still Playing: Link to the Past

Yes this is one of the highest rated games ever, but I'm interested in why it's so highly regarded. On a psychological level, the game constantly gives out little victories, giving you a perpetual sense of accomplishment. Every fifteen or twenty minutes, you find a hidden item, or finish a temple or upgrade your equipment.

One larger theme I picked up on this time was the fact that there are essentially two full quests in this game. In fact, there are three if you think about it.

F*** YEAH, SON!

The first thing you're asked to do, the very first thing, is rescue Zelda from the castle. Let me reiterate -  you save the princess within the first twenty minutes of the game. Welp, my job's done. I'm outta here, right? 

NO BITCH! YOU GOTTA GET DAT MASTER SWORD, SON!

Oh, right. Thanks Uneducated Poser White Guy. So you then go on a much larger quest to collect three medallions, from three separate temples to earn the Master Sword. That takes five to eight hours to accomplish, and this would have been enough to consider Link to the Past a finished game - it certainly feels like a huge accomplishment.

But then you're introduced to the idea that there is an ENTIRE OTHER PARALLEL WORLD essentially doubling the size of the game. This leads you to a quest to rescue eight maidens spread across eight different temples in the dark world, which will give you the power to ultimately overcome Ganon.

Light World - Dark World

So not only are you achieving two or three small victories every hour, you also have these larger major victories throughout the experience. 

Forget the legendary gameplay and air-tight mechanics, this psychological thrill ride of constant victories is what makes this one of the most fondly remembered games of all time.