Nintendo made a Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ad about… midlife depression?

A man, sighing heavily, rides home on the bus. He, like everyone else on the bus, wears boring clothes. He looks out the window at the landscape, but it only inspires another sigh. He seems exhausted. He arrives home just in time to wish his wife goodnight and then pours himself a glass of tap water. A discarded panda toy in the hallway speaks of a child he hasn’t seen all day.

This is not a public education film about the mental health crisis, but an Australian advertisement for it The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Entitled “Rediscover your sense of adventure,” the ad eventually shows the man getting the game and playing it at home at night, mastering Link’s new Fuse ability to make himself a raft that won’t capsize .

Small wins! Soon he’s fighting Bokoblins on the bus, using his Switch in handheld mode and feeling better about himself. He looks out the window and this time he seems to see the view for the first time. This time it inspires a hopeful smile – and another sigh, but a happy one.

There are many things that make this ad remarkable: the calm, reflective, almost melancholy tone; the empathetic performance of the actor (Gareth Reeves, currently starring as Harry Potter in the Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child); the unprecedented realism with which it depicts someone actually playing a game (sitting still and muttering inaudibly to himself); and its appeal to the neglected but powerful gaming demographic of extremely tired dads (we’re legion).

The ad leans on the nostalgic appeal of the Zelda and Nintendo brands as a refuge from a world of grown-up drudgery. But rather than viewing the game and console as a mere escape, the ad cleverly shows how this pastime also enriches the man’s experience of the real world (curiously befitting the Switch’s portability). ). Aside from that, the ad is bold (if a little brisk) in the way it positions playing a video game as beneficial to mental health – an aid to depression rather than a symptom of it, like Thor’s Fortnite funky in Avengers: endgame.

As it turns out, the ad has a touching real-life inspiration.

As discovered by Kotaku Australiathe team that made the commercial based it on a Japanese Amazon review for Breath of the Wild. Kotaku includes a rough Google translation of the review, in which the author laments the relentless drudgery of his wage-earning existence, and dislikes the sight of mountains on his way to work. He buys a Switch on impulse, and freedom from it Breath of the Wild reminds him of his childhood spent playing Mario64 And Final Fantasy 7. When the Amazon reviewer sees the mountains again on his commute, he thinks “I can climb it” instead of getting mad, and he’s moved to tears.

Let’s not get carried away – Nintendo Australia is just the latest in a long, long line of advertisers claiming their products can make you happy. But it’s a real step forward for game advertising nonetheless.

And speaking as an extremely tired dad (albeit one who loves his job and isn’t depressed by scenic views), I look forward to Friday as much as anyone.