A couple of things that aren’t depressing. In fact, I think “stunningly beautiful” would be more accurate.

First is The Zelda Project, which combines cosplay and digital photography to create gorgeous scenes from the classic video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The photos evoke a feeling of magic and mystery, hinting at a deep mythology and probably other words beginning with “M”. Frankly I think they capture the imagination more than that actual game did.

Second is Zelda Reorchestrated, which is orchestral arrangements of the music from the various games in the Legend of Zelda series. I suspect a lot of the appeal to this one is pure nostalgia, but it has made a fine soundtrack to write to this morning.

The Zelda games have been consistently popular since the very first one way back in the ’80s. (I can still remember that stupid commercial with the guy wandering around in darkness calling “Zelda? Zelda!” like he was looking for a lost dog, and saying the names of various monsters from the game in tones of dread.) Over the years they’ve built up a surprisingly rich fantasy world, so it’s really no surprise that creative people are doing interesting things with the ideas. But I’m amazed at how good some of this stuff is. It really makes me itch to create something interesting myself.

I suppose it’s a sign of our times that this comment appeared under the first photoset from the Zelda Project:

These photos are taken so well they almost look like CGI, it’s beautiful

That’s not a bad thing by any means, it just made me laugh that CGI has gotten so good that this comment was intended as a compliment. Not too long ago comparing photos to CGI would not have been complimentary.