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Friday 24 April, 2009
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Background:
In this game, the player plays the character of the un-expecting hero, Link. Link, has been given the task by the Great Deku Tree to save his world, Hyrule, from the evil that is foreseen, Ganondorf. Ganondorf is trying to steal the Triforce, an ancient relic that allows the owner to grant three wishes. Link has to stop him from gaining the Triforce by solving puzzles and using the Ocarina of Time given to him from Zelda. Zelda is the princess of the castle of Hyrule.
Game play:
The game play of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was very good. The player has to control the character, Link, to solve puzzles and fight enemies. As the player progresses through the game, new abilities, tools, and information about the evil is gained. The new tools and abilities help the character solve the puzzles and beat the enemies.
The controls for the character are very simplified, even though there are many different moves/attacks/abilities that can be used. To move the character in the 3D world, a joystick with 360 degrees of movement is used. There is one button, B, which is used to attack with the sword. Depending on the action that needs to be used, such as climb, push, roll, and drop, another button is used, A, which was a new technique introduced. The abilities and tools can be assigned to three different buttons, which allows for quick access without having to use menu screens to switch between abilities. Another new technique that was introduced was “z-targeting” which allows the character to focus on an enemy/item while moving around in any direction. So, the view is always facing towards the object.
Innovative Elements:
As stated before, the new techniques introduced with the controls are some innovative elements. Also another innovative element in this game is the use of music as playing a major role in the game.
Level Design:
Instead of having “levels”, the game has an open environment that can be accessed from anywhere. Certain doors and entrances can considered as changes to another level but it feels as if the character is going from one are to another with no change. The graphics and audio change depending on the area of the environment the character is in.
Graphics:
The graphics and textures were very good in this game. The textures matched very well with the type of environment the character was in. The graphics have a “block/edgy” type of feel but that was the case with most N64 games because of the limitation of the 64-bit system.
Audio:
As sound plays a very important role in this game the audio is very good. The quality was very good and sounded as if the sounds are coming from inside the actual room you are in. The sounds of the environment match very well with the surroundings. Also they blended very well together and were not choppy between changing the audio in the environment.
Opinions:
I like this game very much. The only thing I would change in the game is the option to bypass dialogs quickly. Besides that, I would not change anything about the game. This game has been ranked number one in numerous areas and has been rated 10 by many gamers and magazines.
Game Experience:
I have played this game numerous of times and it is always fun to play. What I like about it is that it can take hours upon hours to play and finish the game, plus there are side games and missions that can be done. This past semester, every time I sat down to play the game I sat there for at least 3 hours. The game captures the player and makes the player want to find new missions, towns, weapons, etc. and the player can easily pass the time.
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