When Peace Returns To Hyrule: An Ocarina of Time Review

"The flow of time is always cruel.  Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it.  A thing that does not change with time, is a memory of younger days."


What game could scare me so much, yet have me longing for love?  What game made me want to visit areas just to hear the music?  What game made me realize that there is a bigger world outside of my little town?   Even as a kid, I knew Ocarina of Time was an amazing game.  Fast-forward - without the Master Sword - eleven (twelve?) years into the future, to a me who is losing the 'drive' for gaming, has found and lost love, listens to way different, more, and better music, and lives in Sin City.  This (Adult) me is trying to find his place in the world, taking many different paths, one being a 'removal of the useless.'  On this path, Adult-me came across an old gem that nearly every video gamer has beat and praises.  Kid-me never beat this game.


The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time seemed to be an obvious choice as a start to my quest, being one of the most praised games of all time as well as one of those game I never really got to finish - going into this game, I had only beaten the first three dungeons by myself, leaving the game untouched, and my brother picking it up and beating it.  I planned on writing a review of it from day one, so I took a notebook out of my drawer, ripped out all of the used pieces, and officially dedicated this to Oot (and now all other video game reviews).  It was time to play.

I removed the game from my stack of N64 games, blew the cartridge from habit, and put it in the system.  Then I selected my best controller, plugged it in, and turned on the game.  I was taken to nostalgia town right away... 

I quickly chose my name (Alain), and proceeded to take in the menu music before I moved on.  [The file select/fairy music is one of my favorite Zelda pieces but nothing compares to Labyrinth.]

I get woken up by the fairy, Navi, telling me that the Great Deku Tree needs to see me. So I climb down the ladder and see that Link had flights of fantasty consisting of battles with monsters, but little does he know that this is what his life would become, very soon; there is no turning back - the journey of the Hero of Time has begun.


From first hearing the Kokiri Forest music to the end of the credits, with young Zelda and young Link staring at each other, I was hooked on this game.  It consumed a lot of my thoughts, and eventually made me change my main character in Melee to Sheik. 

The biggest thing I noticed when first playing this was its cinematic focus.  From entering a new area to opening a chest to dialogue and story telling, this game is all very cinematic, which creates stronger emotion and emphasizes importance of the story well, especially the conversations with Saria and Zelda/Sheik.  Sadly, some of the cinematics fall short either because of the technical capabilities at the time or bad placement (see: opening an 'important' chest).

Along with cinematics, and definitely more important and better done, atmosphere and ambience are very prominent.  Architecture, geography, music, miscelaneous sounds, and characters all add up together to create one of the best 'in game' experiences ever - one of the highlights being the Forest Temple.

Scurry.... 

However, none of the theatricality or atmosphere would be important without the story - which is very good.  But I'm not going to bore you with basic story elements and chronological happenings within the story.  I'm just going to mention what I felt to be most interesting.


Link is a Hylian, born of a mother who fled from the Hyrulean Civil War to the Kokiri Forest, leaving him in the care of the Great Deku Tree.  He has no fairy, has nightwares of a girl being chased by an evil man on horse, and who's only friend is Saria.

Saria cares for Link very much, which is shown in the scene when Link is leaving the Kokiri Forest for the first time - "...we'll be friend forever... won't we?"  Eventually, you find out, through Mido, that Saria "really.... liked..... [you]" but destiny gears are always turning and they can never "live in the same world."

"Saria will always be.... your friend..."

As the story progresses, you get more connected with Zelda via her alias Sheik.  At the last part of the game, gasps coming from Zelda when you get wounded show that she cares for you - well, at least your well-being - as does her choice to send you back to your childhood to live out what you missed (this then spawns the split-timeline in the Legend of Zelda universe).   But the relationship between Zelda and Link could never work, for they are bound by destiny as well.  Like Zelda says, "When peace returns to Hyrule, it will be time for us to say good-bye."

Once you get sent back to your 'original' time, removing your hands from the Master Sword for the last time, you look up to see Navi - not saying a word - leaving through the window of the Temple of Time.

At the end of the credits you see the scene where Link and Zelda first meet, but it pauses when they're still staring at each other: Zelda doesn't remember him.

Overall, this game is very well done - the only flaws that are prominent are due to the technical capabilites of the time/system.  I felt connected to this world, and wanted to continue to play this game forever, even though most of the bosses were easy and bore me.  I wouldn't say this is the best game of all time, but it is definitely one of the most influential games of all-time - its inspiration still echoes through games today.  In the end, what I found to be most intriguing was the pure solitary of Link at the end of the game.  

This is a must play for any video gamer.  I give it a solid 9 out of 10.



"Time passes, people move...  Like a river's flow, it never ends..."



Time, it seems, is very cruel - especially to the Hero of Time.

Let's continue the journey...

Temples/Dungeons  -  Forest >= Spirit > Water > Shadow > Ganon's Castle > Fire > Dodongo > Well > Deku Tree > Jabu Jabu > Ice Cavern

Bosses  -  Twinrova > Phantom Ganon > Ganondorf > Bongo Bongo > Barinade > Ganon > Gohma > King Dodongo > Volvagia > Morpha

As for if I'm ever going to play this game again:  Most likely not, unless I get a hold of a Master Quest copy in like ten years. 

I'm Playing: Ocarina of Time (Part 2)

So, I'm still playing Ocarina of Time.

Last time I left you guys off right after I beat the Water Temple.  Now, I will admit that I was not enthusiastic going into the Shadow Temple - two terrible bosses in a row kind of does that.  But once I got into the temple and started experiencing its ambience, I was excited. 

I didn't have the Lens of Truth for the first half of the temple, which made it difficult, but not impossible.  So, I decided to go adventuring and do some of the sidequests - Gerudo Fortress, Big Goron Sword, wasting time racing around Hyrule Field because Epona is awesome, etc.  When I got a lot of the adult stuff done, I went back to a kid and planted a few Magic Beans and got the Lens of Truth.  From then on Shadow Temple was pretty dang easy, especially the boss. 

Next came the Spirit Temple, which is definitely the most interesting of them all, since you have to go to it as a kid and adult.  Overall, the temple was easy, with only the Iron Knuckles causing any trouble; the desert ambience - architecture and music - was great.  I'm a big fan of Mirror Sheild, mirror, and sunlight puzzles, so I was a bit disappointed that there were only like two total in this temple. The boss battle, Twinrova, was an absolute delight, though, and reminded me of Ikaruga.

As of right now, I'm just trying to get some of the extra Heart-Pieces and finish up the rest of the sidequests - then it's on to Ganon's Castle.  Duhn, duhn, duhn....


Favorites (so far):

Temples/Dungeons  -  Forest >= Spirit > Water > Shadow >> Fire > Dodongo > Well > Deku Tree > Jabu Jabu > Ice Cavern

Bosses  -  Twinrova > Phantom Ganon >>>> Bongo Bongo > Barinade >> Gohma > King Dodongo > Volvagia > Morpha

[Water Temple would be my favorite temple if the boss was as creative as Twinrova or Phantom Ganon.  Bongo Bongo was very interesting, which is the only reason it's higher than the other bosses. lol]


Thoughts going into the last part of Ocarina of Time:

The story is definitely epic - can't wait to battle Ganon.  As for expectations, I'd say they haven't been met, which has probably been ruined by modern, larger games since, as a kid, I thought this was the longest/largest game ever.

I haven't died yet, so let's hope I can keep that up.
I'm probably going to cry at the ending.....  lol


Next up - Ocarina of Time Review! 


[Part 1]

To Make A Mess, Together

What does it mean to be in love?  To lose yourself?  To find yourself?  To be half of a whole?  To be in a blind bliss? 

Or is it all of those?

To fall in love means to lose your ego in order to completely engage into someone else.

To be in love means to find more of yourself in the other.

To love means to be responsible for yourself as well as for someone else, and knowing they have the same responsibility.

Love is a completely magnificent and uncanny perspective - you see everything different, yet see nothing at all at times.  But love is more than just a connection between two people, it is also a personal journey for those people as individuals. 

It's common to judge the success of a journy by its ending, but in this case, I think it's the wrong thing to do.




Take the unexpected situations in life by the handful, and realize how truly amazing they are.  See how sporadic decisions have led to amazing experiences.  And think about how much of a mess you could make, together.