An Adventure for The Ages Part 2: A Newcomer, a Veteran, and a Lapsed Fan Play Oracle of Ages

In this series to celebrate the games’ 20th anniversary, ZD writers Emi Curtis, Hannah Rogers, and Andrew Millard take on The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. Emi is brand new to the game, Hannah is an experienced pro, and Andrew is returning to complete the game after almost two decades. This week, with the game in full swing, we discuss playing from Moonlit Grotto to the Mermaid’s Cave.

Epona Who?

Andrew – Welcome back! It’s week 2 of our group playthrough of Oracle of Ages.

First word: Moosh. This chunk of the game comes out of left field staring a dopey blue bear with wings you have to save from some Octoroks? I love it! It reminds me of another obscure Capcom game from when I was a kid: Little Nemo The Dream Master. That game revolved around riding unique animal companions. I think It even has a bit of a community today.

Hannah, and Emi, any thoughts on the animal companions or their gameplay mechanic?

Hannah – Figuring out how to get each one is definitely esoteric. I didn’t know for a long time that you had any control over which one you got, or that you could get a different one at all! Moosh is easily my favorite, but I think Ricky is probably the best-known. Dimitri is a bit of an underdog, but I think he’s cool in his own special way, too! I ended up getting Dimitri this time, and he definitely feels like a tank compared to the other two, which may or may not have resulted in me thinking I was invincible while controlling him.

Emi – I was told quite a bit about the three animal companions by my friend [who provided the cart and GBA I’m playing on], at least in terms of their mechanics. She left many of the personality details out about them so as to not sway my decision of who to get. I actually went with Dmitri too, funny enough! I’m surprised he’s the underdog, the idea of an aquatic Dodongo completely captured me the moment I met him. I found it incredibly interesting actually that the game takes pain to make your choice seems natural: Once your animal is chosen, the upcoming area is discreetly altered to fit your animal’s abilities. It makes it seem like they were the only option from the start, which definitely would explain being convinced one had no say in what one got.

Andrew – Esoteric is a great word for this game. It reminds me of how NES games used to count on the player reading the instruction booklet for any hope of understanding how to play. I’d also add that I’m glad I played Seasons and now also Ages without knowing that you could influence which animal you get. Not getting Moosh would have been a travesty. No offense to Ricky and Dimitri, who are also the goodest of good bois. I would love to know if there were in-game hints I missed about finding the other animals’ calls. It truly seems like a secret designed for a Nintendo Power subscription.

Let’s jump into some dungeon talk. As we arrived, I think we each mentioned the difficulty bump after Head Thwomp, which is followed up by a pretty complicated fetch quest in Moonlit Grotto. For my part, if I played past Wing Dungeon back in ‘02, I have no memory of it. So, other than some context from Seasons, I am in all new territory.

Last week I mentioned how having only two face buttons was a problem. And as Link’s inventory grows, it’s only gotten worse. Item swapping really kills this game’s momentum.

But frustration aside, the amount of life packed into this 8-bit game is on full display. Those little Tokay lizards outside Moonlit Grotto are super memorable. And it’s fun to see a Zelda species besides the usual Goron, Zora, etc.

Rookie’s Take

Emi – Funny enough, after the Tokay was where I really got into this game. I was a little annoyed with how tedious regathering your items managed to be, but Moonlit Grotto was actually a pretty fun dungeon! And I liked the idea of having to beat Shadow Hag without looking at her. I honestly admire the uniqueness of the Seed Shooter and Switchhook. Taking these established items and adding new twists in the form of ricocheting bullets for the shooter and swapping spots with your target for the hook. Plus the Cane of Somaria gets so much more mileage than it did in Link to the Past! While the two item limitation is frustrating a lot of the time, especially since the sword is swappable, the game really gets full use out of everything you collect. I really like that.

Andrew – Right on. I think I’m coming off a bit negative on this game overall, but I agree with your compliments on Age’s ingenuity with items and bosses. They really do make you feel clever when you crack ‘em. Any downsides, though?

Emi – It has been a bit grating seeing recycled mini-bosses. Not because I think it’s all that lazy, but because of how wonderfully unique the items of this game are. It’s a shame the mini-bosses weren’t given their own new quirks. As far as the main bosses go, though, I really love how they employ those items in cool ways. Shadow Hag and especially Smog were absolutely fascinating in the way they forced new methods of using your items. And in ways that were easy enough to figure out, but still unique. Having a puzzle boss like Smog at all was just a refreshing breath of air after so many hack and slash enemies. Overall, I’m very much becoming a fan of this game.

Veteran’s Take

Hannah – I’m not surprised Andrew stopped where he did, back then. I believe this section of the game is probably a quitting point for many, due to the esoteric nature of the overworld puzzles in particular. Although the player can always return to the Maku Tree for a hint on where to go, the fact that you have to juggle two different maps between the past and present/future can make things confusing. In particular, having puzzles like the Fairies’ Woods, which lack the rhyme and reason of other games’ “Lost Woods” sections. 

On the other hand, I think the dungeons are still at a reasonable level of difficulty. But if you play a pre-dungeon section in the same sitting as its dungeon, or take a break halfway through, you can  easily find yourself feeling like you’ve been given an impossible task. Plot-wise, I think this section is mixed, as the stakes still feel rather low for a Zelda game, but seeing the Black Tower progress more and more quickly can motivate you to keep fighting and save the day.

Andrew – I’ve been so focused on those tricky overworld puzzles that I’d forgotten those Tower progression cutscenes! Finding the dungeons is more difficult than anything I’ve come across inside one yet.

More to that point, finding the Goron games after Crown dungeon, and then trading with their owners, was too much for me. I freely admit that that was the point I finally hit up our walkthrough for Ages. And not just for a hint! I kept it open as I went from game to game. Go ahead and shame me, if you want. Finding out the one goron sitting outside that infuriating dance game wanted something from his descendent – who sits in the same spot, but in the future – was a neat payoff, though.

Emi – I’ll take a moment to share that guilt! I had the guide out for this section, too. The Rolling Ridge was just an absolute nightmare to navigate in general. And this is from someone who does room-shuffled randomizers. Still, the bits with the songs actually really helped to sell the idea of two worlds, similar yet different, separated by time. Having to jump back and forth so often now, you really can see a lot of the effects time had in some cool ways. I’ll repeat what I said last week: I think Ages does more with its time travel mechanic than Ocarina of Time.

Lapsed Fan’s Take

Andrew – As a returning player, I swaggered into Oracle of Ages. Its childish vibe and my insouciance with Zelda games in general had me overconfident. But make no mistake, this game will Beat. You. Down! Were it not for the 3Ds’ save states, I know I’d be seeing Age’s Game Over screen over and over again. I now put Oracle of Ages high on my list of most difficult Zelda games. It’s not completely unfair like Adventure of Link, nor lacking for hints like the OG Legend of Zelda. But this game expects you to try everything at your disposal on just about every screen. Especially after you get the second time-shift song.

And maybe that’s what coming back after so long should give me: A benchmark for how well games use the sum of their systems. Often, modern games do an admirable job introducing cool new items or gameplay mechanics across their runtime. But whether through my stubbornness or the games’ nature, I am often allowed to plow through using nothing but the game’s fundamentals, or worse, button mashing. Oracle of Ages will not let that fly, and that’s even more admirable.

From Moonlit Grotto to Mermaid’s Cave

Emi – Which of this week’s sections stuck out for you guys? For me, I think Skull Dungeon gave me the most issues really. It has really precarious platforms and just so much lava. It’s everywhere! I imagine if I’d been on a bigger and brighter screen, it might’ve been easier. But on my dark little handheld, seeing the borders between walking tiles and lava tiles was a huge struggle. Then the jumping sections were even harder. The dungeon boss, Eyesoar, was also just awful until I realized you could Switchhook him a second time before he summoned his minions back.

Coincidentally, having recently played Link’s Awakening, I think I had an advantage in Moonlit Grotto. Knocking down the center section, I immediately went into Eagle’s Tower mode. I also just love puzzles that make you think vertically and about rotations. It’s a pattern in gaming that I really appreciate, and so didn’t give me much trouble.

Which really leaves Crown Dungeon as my kind of middle choice, but actually it’s my favorite of this trio! I absolutely loved how much better the Cane of Somaria was used here than in Link to the Past, even making it a boss’ weakness. (Doesn’t help that Vitreous is one of my least favorite bosses ever, but I digress.) In general I just really liked the flow of this dungeon. Even losing out once to Smog, I found I could get right back into the rhythm of Crown Dungeon from its entrance.

Hannah – I have to say, these three dungeons were WAY harder than I remember them being! I don’t know if my age is already catching up to me somehow or what, but these three definitely had a bite to them. Skull Dungeon was probably the easiest, but had the most challenging overworld approach. And I think Moonlit Grotto was the most difficult. You would expect the dungeons to increase in difficulty, even when just looking at an adjacent sample of them, but Moonlit Grotto just melted my brain. I repeatedly found myself jumping off of platforms by accident and falling to lower floors, causing the revolving door puzzles to reset, and all sorts of dumb little mistakes that just added straw to the camel’s back.

I really do love the items in this section though. The Cane of Somaria in particular feels like such an iconic item, and really opens up a lot of possibilities for puzzles. You can even use blocks as a shield! Of course, the fun twist to the Hookshot, the Switch Hook, is super cool and makes traversing the overworld very fun too. And everything about the Seed Shooter is satisfying! Aside from the neat Shadow Hag fight, It can really help you feel out a room by seeing how far a seed will go before bouncing back.

Andrew – Taking in all you two have said, I have learned a good nugget or two. I didn’t give The Cane of Somaria much thought until you both pointed out its versatility. And realizing that you could only fire the Seed Shooter after your previous shot was done ricocheting was a big help!

Lastly, I have to give props to the floor puzzles in all of these dungeons. The Zelda series is lousy with statue pushing puzzles, but the ones in Ages are just perfect. You’re given just barely enough info to understand what the room is asking of you. And if you can’t get it, a Mystery seed to the Gaebora statue provides a tiny, but helpful nudge. Then there’s the light-up tile rooms. I really enjoyed the trial-and-error of figuring out how to most efficiently walk the room to trigger the correct colors. Capcom was really smart with the GBC’s limited palette. Lining up the right 3-color combo or painting the floor a solid hue somehow pops in these old, muted graphics.

Next time!

We find ourselves in a familiar belly! The Black Tower Looms! We’ll discuss the game up to its final two dungeons.

If you’ve played Oracle of Ages, or are picking it up for its anniversary ($5 USD on the 3DS eShop), jump in on our conversation in the comments below! Are you a newcomer, or returning player? How does Ages stack up in your opinion?

Andrew is currently playing Hades badly and dreaming of the next Zelda game that isn’t connected to Breath of The Wild. 

Hannah can be found on Twitter @bananeyfish, and streaming games at twitch.tv/bananeyfish like Fallout: New Vegas and L.A. Noire! 

Emi is in the midst of playing Spyro the Dragon and Mother 3 as Bianca on stream at twitch.tv/biancaduba.

Featured Art: “Moosh” by Vonturtle_Art on Instagram