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fuzzyLombax's Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
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| [January 18, 2007 11:25:47 PM]
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So I've gotten through two of the dungeons in the game after you have the ability to travel through time. I have to say that this gives an interesting aspect to the game. Things that you do in the past have some loose effect on the future, such as a planting a magic bean makes a magic leaf appear or other things that could have a small effects. However, if this system was used now there could be a greater application. I remembered on one of the Gameboy Zelda games. I think the title was Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, where you can go between the past, present... and I think future? I'm not sure about that part though. But the past and present use has sort of the same idea. The dungeons themselves seem relatively small in retrospect but the way they are mapped out it makes them feel all the bigger. Also, a lot of backtracking helps too. The boss battles aren't too difficult and you can occasionlly do some rather strange things. For example, one of the bosses shots balls of energy at you. You can either use your sword to reflect them back or swing around around an empty bottle. The puzzles are still very simplistic however they are still working out the idea of 3D games so the puzzles can't be too complicated. Then again the puzzles in Zelda are never too difficult there are just somtimes take a little bit of ingenuity but when you figure them out there is usually an accompanied moment of "AH HA!"
The sidequests are also rather interesting and not too difficult either (not including trying to get all the pieces of heart and golden skull tokens) and occiasionally give you something useful (like the Biggoron sword) or something really strange (like your own personal cow). Another nice aspect that they added to aid in travel is Epona, which is your horse. This part is entirely optional however helps lessen the travel time between areas since you do most of your travel to different areas at first by crossing through Hyrule Field which acts as a hub to all the other areas. However this is probably the biggest area in the game.
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| [January 17, 2007 05:39:45 PM]
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This game brought back so many memories of the N64 as soon as I popped it in. Not just of this game but of all the games I played on my friend's N64 when I was growing up. (I never actually had one of my own... I had a PlayStation instead). I remember the graphics being amazing just like most of the other great contemporary games that came out during this time. Well... for its time the graphics were amazing and I guess my mind has filled in the details of how it should have looked if it came out now. After playing PS2 and XBox for the past couple of years I quickly realized, how my expectation for graphics has changed. Then again you can't compare a game like Halo to Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The graphics have nothing to do with the actual game. Ocarina of Time was a wonderfully executed game for its time. It was the begining of the age of 3D gaming consoles. The publishers were still exploring the concept so the puzzles and action were not as sophisticated or difficult as some of the games are now a days. Sure the camera is clunky and difficult to get used to but then again it doesn't really detract from the actual gaming experience.
So the starting is kinda of annoying to try and get a sword and a shield to get to the very first dungeon. (At least the dungeon is very easy to find compared to having to get out a map for the first Legend of Zelda). Through getting these items the game teaches you the basics of controlling Link. It was interesting approach to a tutorial for the game that still follows loosely with the plot line of the game. (I still think it is interesting how all the zelda games feature the same character in completely different hyrules and are only very loosley connected... except for minnish cap which essentially the story of how Link gets his Hat) The first dungeon is very easy with only a few rooms and very easy to find your way around and get the map, compass, and weapon for the dungeon. The boss itself is also very simple forcing you to use your new found item in the dungeon against the boss (which in this case is the slingshot however this applies to most of the dungeon bosses). There is more story line progression untill you actually get out side of the forest and the day/night progression comes in to play which adds an interesting dynamic to the game where there are certain things that you can only do during the day or that you can only do during the night. However, sometimes this comes as a great annoyance till you actually get the song for the ocarina that turns day into night and vice versa. However they use this same dynamic in the game with time when you are young link or adult link (however, I haven't gotten this far). The second dungeon is also very easy and follows sort of the same structure as the first dungeon and the boss is argueable even easier. It's not until the third dungeon in Lord Jubu Jubu (sp?) belly that the dungeon design digresses, the puzzles are a little harder, and the boss actually posses a bit of a challenge. This gives a long enough learning curve for you to get used to the 3D dynamics before they start throwing challenging things at you. This can mean that the game can only get more difficult. So for right now I'm somewhere between having gotten the 3 spiritual stones and being adult Link. I'll right more about the dynamics as Older Link in my next entry.
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