Is Staying Spoiler Free Worth it?

In an age where information spreads like wildfire on the internet, it’s easier than ever to keep up to date on the latest news related to unreleased games; for example, all the information on A Link Between Worlds! But is there a point where you can know too much about a game before it’s released? When does it start to actually affect your experience when you actually get to play it? Click the jump to find out!

To answer the question right away, yes, I think that the less information you know when going into a new game, the more you’ll get out of it. In my experience in all forms of media, especially video games, there’s nothing like being caught off guard by a great twist. You’re going along with the story, thinking to yourself, “Aww yeah, I totally have this whole situation figured out,” when BAM! Some new story element is introduced that turns your whole reality upside down. Suddenly your whole meaning of existence is put into question (or maybe you saw it coming. In that case congratulations, I guess). There are very few experiences more mind blowing or entertaining in media. But these story twists can be completely ruined if you decide to absorb every bit of information you can before the release of the game.

Games like A Link to the Past can be partially ruined by reading spoilers prior to playing. I remember playing it when I was very young, before I even knew what an internet was. I was going along getting the three pendants, thinking I have this whole game figured out. Then I got to the top of Death Mountain, and all of a sudden I was thrust into the Dark World. I figured I had thoroughly explored Hyrule and all of its nooks and crannies, and when I saw that there was the whole Dark World to explore too, I was ecstatic. If I had known there was a Dark World before playing, this wouldn’t have hit me anywhere near as hard. I would have seen it coming, and would have been preparing for it since the start of the game. But the sudden realization of, “There’s a whole other world to explore!?” blew my mind the first time. It resulted in an excitement that that is hard to match.

The Wind Waker also induced this feeling of excitement inside me. The first time I played it I was young and naïve. While it played and felt like a Zelda game, I was always wondering where it took place; it didn’t look like Hyrule. My feeble little mind couldn’t have fathomed what was waiting for me underneath the Great Sea, and upon visiting the sunken Hyrule Castle for the first time, my jaw dropped. My eyes widened as a light bulb turned on in my head, and I thought to myself, “This is the greatest game I’ve ever played!” A moment like this would never had happened if I had read online somewhere that The Wind Waker actually takes place in a flooded Hyrule. This feeling of excitement was only realized because I went into the game knowing virtually nothing about it or what was going to happen. This feeling of not knowing what will happen next enriched the experience as a whole for me.

As I’m typing this, I’ve completely avoided almost all information regarding A Link Between Worlds. The only things I know are that it takes place in A Link to the Past‘s Hyrule, Link can transform into a drawing, and that items can be bought or rented through a store of some sort. That’s it, and I couldn’t be more excited for it. So, if it’s already too late for A Link Between Worlds, maybe try keeping in the dark about Zelda Wii U news when it finally comes out. I can’t guarantee that it works for everyone, but I personally love staying in the dark about new games. It helps build the excitement and makes new games feel novel and new in a way that is hard to mimic.

So what are your opinions on spoilers of pre-released games? Do you like staying up to date on all the news, or do you prefer to be kept in the dark too? Let us know in the comments!