During his quest to save Hyrule, Link encounters and makes an emotional connection with many characters, including Princess Ruto of the Zora, Malon of Lon-Lon Ranch, and Nabooru of the Gerudo all of whom apparently want to jump Link's bones. But no connection was more powerful than that with Saria of the Kokiri tribe.
At the beginning of the game, before Link had discovered his destiny, Saria was the only one that Link could truly call a friend, and later on Saria sacrifices her future to become the Sage of the Forest Temple so she can empower Link from the Sacred Realm. As she leaves one world for the next, you're left with the heartwrenching words, Saria will always be your friend The Zelda games have always sported fantastic music, and Ocarina of Time is no different. The once-advanced capabilities of the Nintendo 64 allowed the music to sound much richer than previous games in the series returning tunes like Zeldas Theme and the Kakiriko Village theme were amazing , and the sheer number and diversity of the tracks were especially impressive.
Two songs, though, stood above the rest: the Hyrule Field Main Theme which offered nearly four minutes of unique music and smoothly adapted itself depending on what was happening onscreen and the incredibly catchy, Western-tinged Gerudo Valley theme.
Also of note were the songs you played with the ocarina itself, which offered surprising richness considering they were composed with only a few simple notes. Ocarina of Time is notable for being the first 3D Zelda game, but it took the series into the fourth dimension, too.
As the Hero of Time, Link's spirit was able to travel between two time periods: that of his child self and that of his adult self. As child Link, Hyrule is a relatively peaceful place, but as adult Link, you discover that the world has fallen under Ganondorf's control; Hyrule Castle Town is in shambles and is populated by zombie-like Redeads, Zora's Domain has frozen and become uninhabitable, Hyrule Castle has been replaced by Ganondorf's personal citadel, and the entire world is permeated by a pervasive fear.
Aside from providing powerful storytelling, the time-travel hook allowed for unique puzzles and solutions. The two versions of Link brought some nice diversity, too; though they played mostly the same, each Link had access to distinct items, such as the slingshot for young Link and the bow for adult Link. Current page: Page 1. But the further along you get in time with games, the smaller the steps get.
Though he gave Ocarina a perfect score, Gerstmann has never returned to the game since reviewing it. Hyrule Field is a barren green grass texture with few enemies or landmarks. The lack of a fully controllable camera can make the game feel claustrophobic rather than grand at times. But Ocarina will continue to be revered because the elements the game got right—fluid combat, expertly crafted dungeons, a propulsive story line that truly places the world in peril—made Hyrule feel like a place worth saving for a generation of young heroes.
He compares playing the game as an 8-year-old to visiting Disneyland as a kid. Aging has changed both experiences. I still remember it strongly, but it always is hard to recapture the feeling of being a child and entering a big world for the first time. But for players, time really does flow in only one direction. Keeping the game on a pedestal helps to numb the pain of treasured moments fading into memory.
Sometimes, memory resonates more deeply than the moment itself. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the fourth installment in the Zelda series; it is the fifth. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Filed under: Video Games. Flipboard Email. Share this story Twitter Facebook. It also has a nice, warm overall tone that a lot of other Zelda's trade in for darker moods or a more unique art style as the main attraction. It isn't just about meaningful personal impact, nostalgia or the time and place factor although obviously those do create biases.
In that regard, structurally and mechanically it was an originator. So despite the fact that a more modern game, or even a more modern Zelda game can take those blueprints or that DNA and do something "better" with it, it does not take away the originality that OoT or any other game that is known for standardizing or making staples out of original concepts. I very much feel the same way about most modern action games post RE4.
It's pacing and direction was revolutionary and even as the years have gone on have become one of it's defining things to how it holds up. Ultimately, to some, they will weigh in on their analysis of what is considered best of all time with markers such as this. Markers that either showed they knew where the industry was going and were ahead of the curve, or full on original ideas that became staples and were a heavy influence for generations of games to come.
In that regard I would buy an argument for OoT being up in the conversation, even if I don't know if I'd put it there myself. Up until I played Ocarina on the 3ds a few years ago, I never had played a Zelda game. If I ever get a chance to play it again on a big screen it could possibly land in my top Everything from the soundtrack to the characters and depth of the worlds you explore is just so well done and charismatic I don't know how you can't not love it.
I actually thought about this as I was playing through this game again recently. It's one of those games I play through once a year or so. I do think it has not aged as well as I used to think it had. I realized that most of what I enjoy out of it comes from the fact that I know where everything is and know how to deal with all of the rough spots water temple, etc. Without this knowledge, I could see it being a lot more frustrating because of how it hints at what to do next, and because of some of the rather outdated mechanics and level designs.
Modern games tend to much more explicitly tell you what to do, so I could see someone used to only playing modern games going into Ocarina of Time cold not enjoying it. Largely agree with this. There's so much imagination, craft, and charm packed in there that I found it pretty irresistible, even though I played it as an adult with no nostalgic ties to the franchise. Sure, it's no Wind Waker, but what is, really? I had OoT when it released and liked it but didnt love it, and dropped it before finishing it.
I enjoyed LttP much more and didnt enjoy the switch to 3D for this series at the time. It took until BotW for me to really love a 3D zelda. For comparison, Mario 64 blew me away, even thought I prefer mario 3 and super mario overall, mario64 was still a very cool experience. Is this something about the gameplay of these games transitioning from 2D to 3D, i liked how it worked for mario but not zelda?
Or maybe because I liked LttP so much, it was hard to get into something so different? Hard to say! Yeah, I think "already knowing where everything is" from either word of mouth or player's guides or just putting in dozens of hours as a kid goes a long way. Even setting aside the outdated game design, honestly there are parts of Ocarina of Time that were clunkily implemented even in the year they came out. Just random shit they put in the game, then never explained except maybe if you read every single Gossip Stone using the Gossip Stone mask.
Off the top of my head:. None of those are game-breaking in any way - you don't depend on those to beat the game. Ocarina of Time remains eminently playable today because so many of the things it invented became standard for any 3D game that came after it.
Even games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 use some version of Z-targeting. Navi the fairy provided a contextual hint system, as well as some company while Link made his lonely way towards his destiny. It is also an understated and powerful story, with the imagination of a fairytale and the gravitas of a legend, told not just through the cinematic cut-scene techniques that were dominant in ambitious games of the time or the abundant text storytelling fleshing out games that came before it, but also through its mysterious, inviting and memorable world.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time at 20 — melancholy masterpiece changed games forever. Photograph: Nintendo. Reuse this content.
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