The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time... now this brings back memories. I have spent many hours playing this game. As I turned on my Nintendo 64 for the first time in a long time, I saw my original profile from many years ago wherein I had completed the game and collected just about everything in the game. Even having played so many modern games, I am still to this day blown away by Ocarina of Time.
Design:
At its core, Ocarina of Time is an action/adventure game where the player delves through dungeons, fighting monsters along the way, to ultimately defeat the boss at the end. The dungeons involve a great deal of puzzle solving, requiring some intuition on the player's part to complete. Special gadgets are acquired along the way to help the player get to new locations that were closed off before. In between dungeons, the player explores the land of Hyrule looking for secrets, doing side quests, and following the narrative. The magical Ocarina of Time is a key artifact in the story, and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time features one of the most memorable musical scores of any game I have every played.
Story:
The player plays as Link, a young boy living a quiet life in the woods. His nightmares warn him of a great evil that will befall Hyrule. One day, a great spirit of the forest known as the Great Deku Tree summons Link and sends him on a quest to save Hyrule from this evil. Along the way, Link meets a variety of colorful and wacky characters as he explores forests, castles, a volcano, a desert, and many other unique settings. Even with the limited graphics of the Nintendo 64, each location in the game has its own unique qualities and is just as much a character in the game as any NPC. The world beckons the player to explore every nook and cranny for treasure and interesting sights. Acquiring new gadgets such as the Hookshot allows Link to reach new locations previously unavailable, always giving the player a new reason to explore areas again.
Game Session:
I decided to start a new game and play the beginning of the game again. I have been summoned by the Great Deku Tree, but the "great" Mido refuses to let me pass to see him. He belittles me and tells me that I am not even equipped to fight. I start to wonder how Link must feel about his quest. He is just a kid after all. After getting a sword and shield, I'm ready to fight. Mido reluctantly lets me through to the Great Deku Tree who asks me to test my courage but going inside of him and purge the evil force corrupting him.
Inside of the Great Deku Tree is the first dungeon. The puzzles are fairly straight forward but set the pace for the game. I found a slingshot as my first real gadget that I then used to shoot a down a ladder hanging from the ceiling so that I could proceed onward. After jumping through a spider web and defeating some pesky Deku Scrubs, I am greeted with an ominous dark room with glowing eye. The room illuminates and a giant one-eyed spider drops down to confront me. The slingshot that I acquired earlier was required to stun the boss by shooting it in the eye. After stunning the giant spider, I plunged my sword into its eye and eventually killed it. Slaying the spider queen was the first chapter of the legend.
Conclusion:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the perfect game for any fan of adventure games who is not afraid of some challenging puzzles. Exploration is the key to getting as much as possible out of the experience.
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