Y'all remember when games came with actual manuals? Like these quirky little booklets, filled with handy tips, tutorials, lore enrichments and endearing artworks? Sure, as time went on and game's hardware evolved, it made a lot more sense to embed the tutorials, lore and other fun factoids straight into the game. But with it, the manual slowly shifted and morphed into an advert pamphlet, begging you to join some online programs or subscription services.
I say all this cuz' playing The Legend of Zelda made me remember the importance of manuals and how it plays an integral part in the Legend of Zelda.

Which is why I advice any person who wants to play this game to ATLEAST play it with the manual. Me, being the clueless smooth brain out here, decided to just raw-dog the game at the beginning without anything. Just me and the stupid-ass-no-damage-making-"It's dangerous to go alone, take this"-wooden-ass-sword, aimlessly wandering around the map just getting demolished by the over-world's mob of death. The manual at least gave me a general outline on where to go and what to do, but you'll only get so far with it. Good luck finding the entrance to some dungeon on the left side of one specific rock, cuz' yes that's very obvious and not obtuse at all. And if you even manage to get into said dungeon, prepare to fend off so many god damn enemies that the NES can't handle it.

Obtuseness and janky combat aside, the childlike wonders of yesterdays injected into this game makes me reminiscent of days when I would just run around the local hills and forests of my area, with a stick in hand that served as the amplifier of my fantasy situations that my imagination was concocting at the spur of the moment...

...Man I wanna be small with stick again.