Hey guys, i'm going to start doing a weekly article on games that defined entire genres or games that changed the industry in one way or the other, this week i'm going to be reviewing a great love of mine and probably the first game i ever became emotionally connected to, Ocarina of Time was a masterpiece for it's time and is still enjoyable to play til this day, so equip your deku nuts and Listen! as we review The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time.
Plot and setting.
The story starts with the forest child link, an outcast among outcasts who is awakened by a fair named Navi and told the deku tree has summoned him, wasting no time link sets off to find the deku tree and learns that the "evil man of the east" has poisoned him and link must enter the tree and defeat the evil inside, after a long battle Link is given his main quest to seek out Princess Zelda and stop the Man of the east, at the castle Link meets Zelda who informs him off the ills of the world and that link must stop them by defeating the evils that have in order to save hyrule from a terrible fate.
The land of Hyrule is divided into different, but unique areas mostly controlled by natural forces the zora's of the north, an aquatic people who are missing their own princess, the gorons of the west atop Death Mountain, whose volcano has become unstable, the Gerudo's of the East where Gannondorf came from and the south which is home to the forest children where link came from, during his travels link will transcend these barriers and time itself to acquire the spirit stones to unlock the time gate where the master sword lies, after a long journey you finally acquire the master sword which teleports you 7 years into the future where you awake as an adult and where gannondorf has won, the land is now scarred and changed and evil reigns in all corners and it's now down to you to use all the skills you've learned to solve this.
Venturing through dungeons and time itself you'll attempt to stop Gannondorf from acquiring the triforce, a mysterious artifact that grants the power of creation depending on how it is used it can make Hyrule a paradise or a living nightmare and only you stand in the way to rescue the people of hyrule from the terrible fate they've been met with.
Game play and Story
The game play and story for Ocarina of time are one in the same, you will gradually progress through the world gaining items and upgrades from your travels, the world is filled with puzzles, enemies and progression plots to see you on your way, you'll begin small and hopefully become a legend by the end, however there are numerous things that make up Ocarina of Time, so lets break down some of the basics.
- Combat
Combat in Ocarina of time can be done in many, many different ways, either by sword and shield or bows and bombs, every enemy has a weakness it's just up to you to find that weakness and capitalize on it, it also introduces movement based combat were dodging is done by positioning and targeting rather than just jump out of the way, however some enemies have special abilities and will require precise timing and use of all your skills and sometimes require items you get from progressing in the story line to defeat.
Items are relatively stock standard as this came out before things like crafting and in game upgrades the game is tailored around these items and wants you to get better with them to face tougher enemies and puzzles while trying to limit the places you aren't ready for to a minimum such as the shadow temple, you may have all the weapons and know how but if you don't have the hover boots and lens of truth you're going no where really fast.
- Story
Ocarina of time is the literal game of "Epic quest" your journey takes place across time itself and many things will require time and perception to complete but also patience, some things may not be readily apparent and will require you to take a trip to the past as a child to set the stage for your return 7 years later, however the main plot is endearing as you're almost completely alone and given this monumental task to save the known world from child to adulthood in a place that doesn't make sense and everything is out to get you.
Development wise the story is a masterpiece as it has everything an RPG should have without getting to deep like the other RPG's of the time such as Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's gate, instead it lets you interact with the story instead of being the story and leaves you to your own devices to role play your way throughout the game as far as I recall this was the first time it was done extremely well and changed how stories were told in video games forever, that being said though I was 6 when i played it for the first time so my memory might be a little bit skewed.
The storyline has many detours but everything you do contributes to it in some way even the small things like hunting poes as an adult and as stated before things you do in the past will affect the future and vice versa, the main story is extremely well put together as you battle through dungeons and figure out the puzzles and enemies it constantly adds something to meaning of the game whether it be helping your childhood friend Sara in the forest temple and completing her story or going to the gerudo fortress to learn the origin of Gannondorf, everything in this game pushes forward even when it's forcing you to go back.
A lifelong legacy.
I think the VP of Rockstar said it the best "Anyone who makes 3-D games who says they've not borrowed something from Mario or Zelda is lying" this game alone spawned an entire age of games trying to replicate it, it changed the way stories were told, it introduced the dungeon system and what an RPG game could be like, it's probably the most decorated game in history owing to how perfect it was when it was released back in 1998, almost 20 years ago and many of the developers making games now hold Ocarina of time close to their hearts as well.
It's impossible to fully review something like Ocarina of time, it's like trying to describe how a feeling feels, to 6 year old me this was beyond my comprehension at the time that a video game could have this amazing level of detail and even by today's standard has aged unbelievably well, playing it again for the first time in decades a few months ago I was still astounded how i could entirely sucked into the game without getting bored when even current gen Triple A games would make me sleepy after an hour or two, there isn't many games from any era of gaming that have aged quite like it or had such an effect on the gaming world as a whole.
Even comparing the game to that era only one other game comes relatively close to how celebrated Ocarina of Time has been in Final Fantasy 7 and even 20 years later people are still asking for the game to be remade with today's graphics since it's impression on people hasn't aged with the game.
Now i could sit here and break it down piece by piece and fill the article with 20,000 words but it will probably still not do it justice as i said, it's literally like trying to describe a feeling, but if I had to put some words to it(and i do because it's a review) the legacy of Ocarina of time made a generation of children drug addicts, endlessly searching for the fabled high they received the first time they played it and this affects developers a like, while it may not be as prevalent as time goes by the mark of Ocarina of time on the industry is undeniable, there isn't an RPG or Story Driven game on the market today that hasn't borrowed something from Ocarina of time or something that has been based on it.
The game is still extremely playable to this day and you can find emulators all over the internet, all I can say is that if you reading this haven't played the game before, go and get it and play it, even though the graphics are outdated by now and the sound is sometimes pretty weird by todays standards, it's still a masterpiece of gaming history and could quiet literally be the greatest game of all time.