(Full title:
Immerse in Hyrule: How The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild helps adolescents cope with depression and anxiety)
Abstract
Video games have played a critical role in adolescents’ life. This essay is aimed at figuring out how players can engage themselves and tackle challenges by analyzing reputable motivation methods and in-game features. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, one of the most influential games, can help cope with mental issues, particularly depression and anxiety through fascinating self-care and persistent activities without punishment mechanisms and with a relaxing atmosphere.
Keywords
Adolescents, depression, anxiety, Zelda
Introduction
Background
Fast-paced developments in digital devices and Internet connectivity have contributed to long daily screen time among teens (Jiang, 2018). 90% of them said they played video games no matter on which platform and 84% stated they had access to a game console at home (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Consequently, the role that video games play in teenagers’ life has become significant, which results in a great amount of research in the academic world (Kowert, 2020).
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda franchise is recognized as one of the most legendary products made by Nintendo, having 27 action-adventure games, over 52 million copies of which have been sold worldwide ("List of The Legend of Zelda media,"). The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (abbr. Breath of the Wild) released in 2017 had sold 21.45 million copies on Switch and 1,67 million on Will U by December 2020 ("The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,"); it is defined as an open-world role-playing game in which a single player can explore and approach objectives freely with non-linear narratives and goals.
Research Method
Depression and anxiety are the most often concerned and commonly searched for health topics by teens (Wartella, Rideout, Montague, Beaudoin-Ryan, & Lauricella, 2016). Increasingly, adolescent researchers have come to realize that video gaming, as a powerful tool to intervene in health, can bring meaningful and sustainable positive benefits emotionally and cognitively (Moreno & Radovic, 2018). Moreover, many impactful video games are used as self-help tools when played independently by teens (Moreno & Radovic, 2018).
By analyzing activities in Hyrule where the Zelda story happens, this article will prove Breath of the Wild can help alleviate depression and anxiety by cultivating players’ characteristics of persistence and self-care in the virtual world.
Gaming Motivations
So as to understand how teens’ video gaming behaviours can be driven by their underlying motivations, the following concentrates on examining psychological states and needs. Players are motivated by one or more mental states, including competition, challenge, diversion, fantasy, social interaction and arousal, among which, “challenge, the experience of success following effort” is at the top (Moreno & Radovic, 2018). This may be a result of “flow”, a highly pleasurable altered state and an intrinsically rewarding state (Csikszentmihalyi, 2008). People with the flow can highly focus on game-based activities to achieve a sense of self-awareness and seamless control between thought and action (Moreno & Radovic, 2018).
Another work on gaming incentives is that video games can meet three fundamental psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Przybylski, Rigby, & Ryan, 2010). For example, players are encouraged to make meaningful decisions and reach a goal in multiple ways. Plus, independent decision-making is frequently demanded to move the game forward, and in-game progression is associated with player performance (Moreno & Radovic, 2018). Hyrule is a wonderful space filled with the essentials above, capable of driving teenagers to immerse and gain benefits.
Cope with Depression
Depression involves a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest (Torres, 2020). As an avatar, Link, the player has infinite lives and various ways to achieve missions, even though he could die countless times. Because of the open setting or large environments in Hyrule, every Link could walk/run towards any direction to experience new/hidden materials, animals, locations, temples, storylines and tasks at one’s own pace. For example, at an early stage, Link needs to obtain a piece of woodland boar meat to make a coat, but only one boar is in sight, which is sensitive to human movements. However, players can shoot it with an arrow or other equipment, or get the coat from a different NPC instead of the killing. Therefore, flexible components can raise gamers’ interest in distinct and exciting possibilities.
Nevertheless, teenagers may not have the patience to dig hidden elements, so they are likely to search online to find feasible or alternative actions. This creates an opportunity for them to communicate with others by encouraging their persistence.
During the exploration, young players learn to avoid dangers and take care of themselves through persistent experiments without any punishment for dying/failing, which could reduce the fear of challenging situations.
Cope with Anxiety
“Anxiety contains feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes. (Association)”
Without losing anything or being in danger, the youth can get rid of the fear. Additionally, given adaptable/flexible scenarios, they can relax without unnecessary concerns and with a continuous endeavour. Another example is that Breath of the Wild features meaningful atmospheric BGMs to demonstrate a dangerous/nervous or safe/relaxing circumstance in different locations, particularly when approaching elite bosses. Thus, music is a signal for relaxation and self-caring, anxiety in adolescents with depression can be reduced by inducing which (McFerran, Derrington, & Saarikallio, 2019).
Conclusion
Since the virtual activities are flexible and relaxing, Breath of the Wild provides young players with an accessible space to engage and to cope with mental issues, especially depression and anxiety, by fostering persistence and self-caring.
In addition to that, non-punishment mechanisms and ambient music can enhance the experience of handling tough environments, leading to positive benefits in self-awareness and self-control.
References
Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
Association, A. P. Anxiety. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/anxiety
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow : the psychology of optimal experience / Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1st Harper Perennial Modern Classics ed. ed.): New York : Harper Perennial.
Jiang, J. (2018). How Teens and Parents Navigate Screen Time and Device Distractions. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/08/22/how-teens-and-parents-navigate-screen-time-and-device-distractions/
Kowert, R. (2020). Video Games and Well-being Press Start / edited by Rachel Kowert (1st ed. 2020. ed.): Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Palgrave Pivot.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Wikipedia.
List of The Legend of Zelda media. Wikipedia: Wikipedia.
McFerran, K., Derrington, P., & Saarikallio, S. (2019). Handbook of Music, Adolescents, and Wellbeing. Oxford: Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Moreno, M. A., & Radovic, A. (2018). Technology and Adolescent Mental Health. Cham: Cham: Springer International Publishing AG.
Przybylski, A. K., Rigby, C. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). A Motivational Model of Video Game Engagement. Review of general psychology, 14(2), 154-166. doi:10.1037/a0019440
Torres, F. (2020). What Is Depression? Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression
Wartella, E., Rideout, V., Montague, H., Beaudoin-Ryan, L., & Lauricella, A. (2016). Teens, Health and Technology: A National Survey. Media and communication (Lisboa), 4(3), 13-23. doi:10.17645/mac.v4i3.515
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