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Ocarina of Time My OoT Review

Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Location
Colorado
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
System: Nintendo 64 (re-relased on GameCube and Wii VC)
Release: Nov 21st 1998, US

Story
In the land of Hyrule lies a mystical and forrbiden forest, the Kokiri Forest. Within this forest, the Great Deku Tree protects and watches over all of the inhabitants, the Kokiri.

Each Kokiri has his or her own gaurdian Fairy, except one boy named Link...

One night, Link had a terrible nightmare: he saw himself standing outside of Hyrule castle town, and the draw bridge went down. Then he heard a horses' gallop, and a white horse with a young girl and an old woman on it rode past him with great speed. Then he heard another horse. Link turned around to see a black horse with a very sinister looking rider on it. Then everything went black...

The next morning, Link was awakened to the sound of a fairy. The fairy was Navi, a helper of the Great Deku Tree. Navi told Link that the Great Deku Tree needed to see him. Little does Link know that the quest the Deku Tree will send him on will change his and Hyrule's destinies forever...

Sound 15/15
There is never a dull moment in Ocarina of Time's audio. Koji Kondo, the Composer, did an excellent job on the soundtrack. Let's start off with the overworld themes; they're amazing to say the least. Hyrule Field's theme sets the perfect mood for a hero embarking on a quest, with the chimes and pitches. Town themes are also executed very well. The Market is generally a fast paced area with a lot of pedestrians doing their own thing, and the theme portrays that quite well; with a quick paced beat. Kakariko Village is a rural town with a semi small community, and the theme is perfect. It puts off an old western village kind of feel to it, which is perfect for a village like Kakariko. Each dungeon has it's own theme, and they all fit the general feel of that particular dungeon. Take for example the Shadow Temple: it's a darker, more scary themed dungeon, and the music for it adds to the creepy vibe you may experience. Another great example is the Spirit Temple, which resembles an ancient Egyptian temple of sorts, and the theme for the dungeon gives off a mystical feeling. One of the highest points though, are the battles themes. The main battle theme when fighting regular enemies is good on it's own, but mini boss themes and boss themes are great. Most bosses have their own unique theme, such as King Dodongo and Volvagia. The greatest ones though, are easily for Ganondorf and Ganon. The music that plays when Ganondorf makes an entrance is purely amazing, and it puts off this evil vibe. It's also pretty catchy too, and you might find yourself humming along with it. The music that plays when Ganon first appears, and for his transformation, is one of the best musical pieces I have ever heard. It perfectly adds to the feel of Ganondorf's desperate strugle to defeat Link, and to Link's epic battle against the Prince of Evil. Last but certainly not least, we have the Ocarina Songs. The Ocarina can be used in the game to create your own music if you wish, but is also used to play songs that relate to the game's story and gameplay. They all sound excellent, especially the Bollero of Fire and Saria's Song pieces.

Graphics 20/20
Let's get it out of the way right now: Ocarina of Time's visuals are definetly outdated compared to the photo realism and cel-shading that we see today. Back in 1998 though, Ocarina had some of the best visuals ever. It perfected the 3D world, where many developers still had a problem with doing that at the time. It was also the first Zelda to be in 3D, like Super Mario 64 was the first 3D Mario game. While some of the textures look a bit blurry, there were still amazing draw distances and proportionality. The bosses were huge and cinematic, like Bongo Bongo and especially Ganon.
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Link confronts the boss of the Shadow Temple, Bongo Bongo.

One of the best aspects of Ocarina of Time's visuals were the environments. Ocarina had one of the largest and great looking overworlds. If you look off to any direction, you would see an object far away, and you could actually go there. It's awesome to see Death Mountain looming in the far distance, and knowing that you can climb all the way to the top. The insides of dungeons look great and are specific to their respective themes; like that the Forest Temple has vines growing on the walls and that Jabu Jabu's Belly is literally the inside of him. Animations are all really well done too, and there are rarely any frame dips.
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Link looking off into Hyrule Field.

Appeal 24/25
The main story in Ocarina of Time will take a good amount of time to complete. There are three dungeons as child Link, then six as adult Link. If you've never played Zelda before, then this may seem repetitive and boring, when the opposite is actually true. If the game progressed in a completely linear fashion with no free exploration or variety in areas, then it would indeed be a repetitive and boring game. The fact of the matter though, is that Ocarina of Time has all the things that make a great adventure game, a fun adventure game, and has even set standards in the genre. The large and fully explorable overworld, variety in dungeons and areas, and the story all provide for an engaging and overall fun experience. If you're into collecting extras and stuff like that, there is a ton of that here. Like A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening before it, players can collect Heart Pieces in Ocarina of Time to add to their health total. There are also 100 Gold Skultulas to be found, and the player is rewarded with a variety of prizes when certain amounts of them are found, including the Stone of Agony. Masks can also be bought and sold until you eventually get the ultimate mask, known as the Mask of Truth. Much like Link's Awakening, there is an engaging trading sequence in Ocarina of Time. Players start off with one item and eventually trade it to a character in the game for another item, which you trade to another character for a new item and so on and so forth until the Biggoron Sword is gained. Even if you aren't into extras, the main story of Ocarina of Time will keep you coming back for more and more.

Gameplay 40/40
Ocarina of Time carries on the Zelda formula, but expands and perfects it. Link's main weapon is his sword, whether it be the Kokiri Sword as a child or the Master Sword as an adult. There are different types of shields like in previous Zelda games, and they all have their special abilities. The Deku Shield can only be used as child Link and provides adequete cover but will burn to ashes when contacted by fire. The Hylian Shield can be used by both child and adult Link, but child Link can't use it on his arm like adult Link can, and it's not affected by fire. The Mirror Shield is the final shield in the game, and can only be used by adult Link. It has the same effects as the Hylian Shield, but it can also relfect sunlight onto objects. Past Zelda games allowed for one secondary item, but in Ocarina of Time three can be equiped at one time, and are controlled with the C-pad. Secondary items include the past items such as the Bow, Boomerang and Bombs. There are also a wide array of new items to the series, like the Megaton Hammer and the Deku Nuts. Some weapons can only be used by child Link, adult Link, or both. Magic also makes a return, and there are two different levels of the Magic Meter. There are a lot of new items in Ocarina of Time that take magic to use, like the goddess powers (Din's Fire, Farore's Wind, and Nayru's Love) each with their own special abilities. A new item in the game is called the Eye of Truth, and when activated, the player can see hidden objects and fake walls at the cost of magic. One of the coolest features though, are the magic arrows. Fire, Ice, and Light arrows can be obtained through the game and all take magic to use. Additional equipment can be equiped to Link from the Start menu, such as different Tunics and different Boots. Every weapon can be used in a battle of course, and 3D combat has been perfected through the use of Z-Targeting. Players simply tap the Z button on their controllers and the camera will lock onto an enemy, giving the player tons of control over Link in a battle. This may seem nothing to you now, but Ocarina of Time was the first game to use and perfect this technique. Side jumps, backflips and attacks can all be used to evade and strike enemies from Z-Targeting, as well as locking on to NPCs to talk to them from a further distance. While locked on, if you press up on the C-pad Link's fairy Navi will give a summary of the enemy and usually how to kill it. Navi can also be called upon when you aren't Z-Targeted if you ever feel stuck.
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Link Z-Targets an enemy.

A new aspect of gameplay added in Ocarina of Time is riding on horseback. Adult Link can ride on his horse, Epona, throughout Hyrule. This allows players to travel through the overworld faster, and Epona can even be used to jump over objects such as fences or broken bridges. Epona can't enter towns though, but can enter Lon Lon Ranch. Fighting enemies on horseback is done with Link's Bow, and works just like the Bow would regularly, and Z-Targeting can also be used.
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Link riding Epona at Lon Lon Ranch.

Ocarina of Time's namesake was given because of the huge role Ocarina Songs have in the game. Some songs have strange powers, like transporting Link and changing night to day and day to night. Another important and unique gameplay piece to the game is time travel. After the Master Sword is obtained, players can go back to the Temple of Time and place the Master Sword back in its pedistal, thus traveling 7 years into the past and back to child Link. The opposite can be done too; child Link can pull the Master Sword and go 7 years to the future and be adult Link again. As stated in the appeal section, there are nine dungeons total with a few side dungeons such as the Bottom of the Well. The dungeons are all great in design and each of them feature their own unique challenges and enemies, as well as bosses. Boss fights are cinematic in nature and each have their own strategies with the item gained in that particular dungeon. One of the greatest boss fights in the game comes at the end, when Link faces off against Ganon after he makes his transformation. The cinematics combined with the epic music and the whole jist of it all makes for one of the best boss fights ever concieved.
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Link faces off against Ganon in the final battle

Overall 99/100
To sum it all up, Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece. It has its flaws like every other game, but they are few in number. If you're a fan of any type of video game this title is highly recommended for you, and you'll surely be playing it time and time again.
Review written by Zeypher.

Review on original site.

You can check out more reviews like this at iNintendo!
Please post any comments you may have.
 

Niko Bellic 817

GH3: Legends of Rock
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
That was an awesome review for the game. Though there's one thing I don't agree with you on. In my opinion, I don't think that OoT has that much replay value to it. After going through the quest once or twice, I'll lose interest in it, but that doesn't stop it from being an amazing title.
 
D

DaltonR6

Guest
That was an awesome review for the game. Though there's one thing I don't agree with you on. In my opinion, I don't think that OoT has that much replay value to it. After going through the quest once or twice, I'll lose interest in it, but that doesn't stop it from being an amazing title.
Ive played through it countless times lol :lol:
*starts new file*
 

basement24

There's a Bazooka in TP!
Joined
Feb 28, 2009
Location
Ontario, Canada
That was an awesome review for the game. Though there's one thing I don't agree with you on. In my opinion, I don't think that OoT has that much replay value to it. After going through the quest once or twice, I'll lose interest in it, but that doesn't stop it from being an amazing title.

I suppose the replay value could come from how you played it through the first time. If you're not the type who gets 100% in a first playthrough, then yes, there's replay value in making sure you get all the hearts and upgrades and skulltullas.

But otherwise, I would have to agree. I played OoT the first time and got 100%. I loved every minute of it, but a second playthrough felt more like going through the motions. It was about 75% of the excitement. Beginning a third time, it maybe dropped to about 25%. I never finished it the 3rd time, I lost interest.

It's still a fabulous game, but it became an exercise of "how fast can I beat this" afterwards. I know many people are on their 11th playthrough and love it, but there's a whole sense of discovery lost. It becomes going through the motions of completing it.

I know from watching live-gameplay here and from talking to others about their 11th completion of the game that when you play it so often, the story gets in the way of gameplay. People rocket throug hthe cinematics and race onto the next destination, sometimes forgetting the actual goal because they skipped important dialogue they think they remembered. That's not really excellent replay value in my opinion.

Replay value tends to come from multiplayer battles, online functions, open-world gameplay and the like. It tends not to come from story-driven games. I suppose it depends though on your definition of replay value since I would consider old games like LoZ and Super Mario Bros to have replay value. But then, that's just "going through the motions" to a point. I find them more exiciting to replay because there's no story to get in the way. There's just quick action, and not much substance.

At any rate, it's still a great review. I just thought I'd throw my two cents in as well. Great job! :)
 

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