Ace Gordon

Having played the original in 1998 as a kid, revisiting it now makes the time jump hit especially hard. The Legend of Zelda is literally about a boy from the forest with blond hair and blue eyes who draws a holy sword from a stone, is blessed by a holy artifact that resembles a Germanic valknut or Celtic Triskelion, representing courage, aided by the spirits of sage elders from times past, defeats an evil king who is brown from a matriarchal desert society where males are only born once every 100 years, and sacrifices his youth to save the kingdom. Having saved Hyrule, he returns to a childhood in which his heroism is forgotten. He marries Malon, the beautiful, quirky mid from Lon Lon Ranch, founding Ordon village rather than Princess Zelda, grows old and dies in obscurity, unrecognised by the kingdom he sacrificed everything to save. The story is Arthurian, Faustian and deeply Western. A modern tragedy of heroism, duty, lost innocence and the ultimate sacrifice.