Bet you didn't see that coming! What's that you say? You did see that coming? Hmm. Guess I need to work on my material. It was this time last year that I did my own review of the newly released Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild. It was pretty much just first impressions on the game as I hadn't gotten much time with it. Since that time, there have been tons of reviews about BotW everywhere from tech sites to lifestyle magazines. It's been everywhere! Video game review outlets have been giving it perfect scores pretty much across the board, and it's easily the biggest video game phenomenon of last year. I've had plenty of time revel in that universe and explore the secrets of Hyrule that BotW offers, but today is not about that. Today is about what most hardcore Zelda enthusiasts consider one of the benchmarks, if not the pinnacle, of the franchise. It seemed only fitting since it's still way too early for me to do a thorough review of BotW, and Ocarina turns 20 this year. Let's not waste any time. Here's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
I'm not one to get terribly excited about things anymore. It's not worth the energy when you've seen as much disappointment as I. Ooh, maybe I should dial back the sarcasm a little. At any rate, I remember Christmas of 1999 pretty well. I was a junior in high school, blink 182 was everywhere, and I woke up Christmas morning and unwrapped possibly one of the best video game related gifts that I have ever received, and my reaction was as follows:
True story. Ocarina had been everywhere since its release the in November of the previous year. Magazines had been hyping it up previous to its release, and those fortunate enough to have gotten it on release day had been bragging about it to me for way longer than was necessary, nor appreciated. I grew up with a single parent and times were always tight, but Christmas of 1999, my mom pulled one of her most amazing hat tricks and scored me a copy of this legendary game and I couldn't have been happier. I had spent over a year ogling the graphics and lustfully listening to friends describe every detail of the game from the story to the mechanics. I was excited about this new cultural phenomenon, and my chance to play it for myself was probably the highest form of personal gratification that I could have hoped for at that time of my life. If this all seems kind of exaggerated, let me put a few things in context for you.
The late 90s were a great time for video gamers, but especially folks who enjoyed certain RPG franchises. In 1995, we got our first truly 3D gaming console in the PlayStation. Then in 1996, Nintendo released its N64 console. Both were wildly different from one another, but each offered its own unique take on gaming that made it a great experience to play. PlayStation banked on bringing a bunch of great Japanese titles States side for Americans to enjoy as well as allowing third party developers to just go wild making whatever game that they could dream up. Nintendo focused on giving the world some great titles based on their in house properties as well as letting some third party developers make some pretty great titles. There was a four year run where if you liked A list RPG video games, you were getting at least as much as you could handle. In 1997, Sony and SquareSoft rocked everyone's world with Final Fantasy VII, which is still considered to be one of the best in a franchise that should have eaten a bullet after 1999. In 1998, Nintendo, not one to be outdone, released Ocarina of Time. Square Enix rebutted with Final Fantasy VIII in 1999. Then both companies finished the century off with huge releases with Square releasing Final Fantasy IX, and Nintendo releasing Majora's Mask.
I mostly watched in contentment from the sidelines as these two juggernauts duked things out, but Ocarina was different. See, the previous title, A Link to the Past, had been released on the Super Nintendo, and was your typical, albeit extremely well crafted top down Zelda. Ocarina represented the first time that Link and company would enter the realm of the third dimension and I'm sure that Nintendo knew that there was a lot riding on this release. Although Zelda was a tried and true brand, the N64 still had some things to prove about itself. Sony had blown away the market with the PlayStation, and its use of optical media made it easier to program on, as well as more capable in releasing bigger games. Nintendo on the other hand, had opted to stick with cartridges. They had slightly more power under the hood of their console, but all of that advantage was offset by the fact that cartridges couldn't hold as much data, and this severely limited the contending power of the N64. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo was rolling in it after the launch of N64. But to achieve real staying power, they needed to show the world that they could make games that could rival what Sony was licensing. I'm sure this mentality was further exacerbated by the fact that two years previous SquareSoft had pulled Nintendo's exclusive rights to Final Fantasy in order to move the Final Fantasy VII project over to the PlayStation. And yeah, gamers were still pretty obsessed with the age old argument over which consoles were the best at this point, but PC master race.
With all of this going on, excitement over this new Zelda title was at a fever pitch. Screenshots in magazines showcased rich textures and colors, amazing items, and hinted at a roller coaster story filled with mystery, intrigue, adventure, and a plethora of emotion. And for all of these reasons, I was extremely excited to play this game. It was definitely a rewarding experience finally finding out what the things was all about. So what is it all about? Well, that gets a little complicated so why don't you kick back for a second and we'll rap. If you care about such things as chronology within a franchise, Ocarina is set before Link to the Past. Link has a dream about a man in black armor pursuing a young girl on horseback. A fairy named Navi awakens Link from his dream and informs him that the Great Deku Tree has requested his presence. Link is a child living with the child-like Kokiri at this point, and he's kind of the outcast as he hadn't until now received a fairy companion, which is something that all Kokiri enjoy. However, Navi joins him, and after a few small side quests, Link visits the Great Deku Tree. The Deku Tree tells Link that a man from the desert seeks to conquer the world and it is Link's job to stop this mad man. The tree then gives Link the Spiritual Stone of the Forest and tells him to go visit Hyrule Castle to speak with the princess.
When Link visits the castle, Zelda tells him that she thinks that Ganondorf is the king of the Gerudo, and that he seeks to control the Triforce. Zelda tells Link that he needs all three of the Spiritual Stones in order to enter the Sacred Realm and claim the Triforce for himself. Link embarks on his newly acquired quest to get the last of the Spiritual Stones. He has to perform further quests to help the leader of the Gorons, and the leader of Zora in order to get the stones, but if you're good enough at the game, he totally does. Link then returns to Hyrule castle and as he does so, he sees Ganondorf chasing Zelda away from the castle. Link tries to stop Ganondorf, but is unsuccessful. After the altercation, Link goes to the Temple of Time where he uses the Ocarina of Time and the Spiritual Stones to enter the Sacred Realm. In the Realm, Link pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal. As he's doing so, Ganondorf shows up and claims the Triforce.
After seven years Link awakens in the Chamber of Sages, a special area of the Sacred Realm where the protectors of the Sacred Realm reside. There a sage named Rauru tells Link that he (Link) was sealed up for seven years so that he could be physically matured enough to actually wield the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf, who at this point has pretty much taken over Hyrule. Afterwards, Link is returned to the Temple of Time where Sheik, a mysterious warrior, delivers some more exposition. She tells Link that there are five Sages who don't even know that they're sages and that Link needs to complete five temples in order to awaken them so that the sages can help seal Ganondorf up in a prison in the Dark Realm. The five sages end up being people whom Link met when he was a child. The Forest Sage is Saria, one of Link's childhood friends, the Water Sage is Ruto whom Link met whilst getting the Spiritual Stone of Water, and to whom Link casually betrothed himself (It's a long story), the Fire Sage is Darunia, whom Link met when getting the Spiritual Stone of Fire, the Spirit Sage is Nabooru, the second-in-command to the leader of Gerudo, and the Shadow Sage is Impa, Zelda's caretaker. Once Link has awakened all of these sages, Sheik reveals herself to be Zelda, and Zelda is the seventh Sage. Zelda tells Link that when Ganondorf attempted to take the Triforce, his heart and mind were unbalanced and as a result, he only got the Triforce of Power. Zelda ended up getting the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link the Triforce of Courage. This splitting of the Triforce brought balance to the power of the artifact.
At that point, Ganondorf appears and kidnaps Zelda. It's up to Link to infiltrate Hyrule Castle and defeat Ganondorf, which he does with the help of the other sages. However, knowing defeat is imminent, Ganondorf attempts to kill Zelda and Link by destroying Hyrule Castle. Link and Zelda escape, but shortly after Ganondorf emerges from the rubble, knocks the Master Sword from Link's hand and using the Triforce of Power, transforms into a pig like creature named Ganon. There's another battle, which Link eventually wins as Zelda assists him in retrieving the Master Sword. Once Ganon is defeated, the sages lock him away in the Dark Realm, but Ganondorf swears revenge even as he's still holding the Triforce of Power. I guess they should have frisked him first and removed any dangerous weapons before throwing him in the brig. Anyway, Zelda uses her Ocarina of Time to return Link to his childhood. After arriving back to day one, Navi leaves Link, and Link, knowing that he's not actually a Kokiri goes to Hyrule Castle garden to meed Zelda. There's a touching moment where Link realizes that he remembers everything, but in that moment all is right, and then roll credits.
That's a really basic summary of the story of Ocarina of Time. So, what makes this game so enduring with fans? I think first and foremost is how the story was handled. It's very similar to the story line of previous games, but there are enough new and well-executed story elements that it takes something that's already been done, and makes it new and fresh again. Second, as with just about any Zelda game, the world is immersive and tremendously fun to explore. It's not the biggest world ever created for a Zelda game, but it is big, and it was the biggest at the time, and golly is it big. Even today, it still feels grand and epic in scale. Speaking of exploration, there was so much to do in this game! Besides the main quest, you had myriad side quests that you could enjoy. Some of these side quests resulted in getting vital items to help you progress through the game, and some gave you optional items that just made things a little easier on you, but no matter the payoff, they were all really fun to do, and they added hours of extra game play that allowed you to more fully enjoy the world that had been created. Of course, no experience would be nearly as memorable if not for great characters to populate the world, and there were some great characters in this game! From Talon, owner of Lon Lon Ranch to the guy who challenges you to a foot race that seems unbeatable, to the mask shop owner who sends you on a roundabout quest to get all of the masks, the characters are varied in type and personality, and for the most part, they're a lot of fun to interact with.
I decided to revisit the game in preparation for this article, and I can honestly say that I had forgotten how addictive it can be under the right circumstances. I started at around 11 pm, and didn't stop playing until about 1 pm. Two hours isn't much time, but it's a pretty good stretch for me. I've been playing via the virtual console on the Wii, and it does take a little time getting used to the change in controller schemes, but once you make the adjustment, it's pretty fun. I was a little miffed that I kept wasting items trying to use the second joystick to move the camera. I had to keep reminding myself that when this came out, free moving camera angles were really hard to accomplish in a game! But I have to say, although I have much more to accomplish in BotW, I've literally reached the hard mode portion of the game, and that's slowed my progress. Also, we're not removed enough time wise for me to revisit it just yet. However, Ocarina really has helped to curb some of that disappointment I've felt that my first BotW experience is over. I love the world of BotW in all its sweeping grandeur, and I thought that I would just have to play that game again to experience all of those feelings, but Ocarina really does give you those same feelings of awe and excitement even 20 years later.
This is a game that is as challenging as it is fun! You'll encounter puzzles and battles that will push you to the limits of your gaming skills and beyond. For every fairly easy battle that you fight with an aspect of Ganondorf, there's a Dark Link battle. For every puzzle that you figure out fairly quickly, there's a Water Temple, and for every main quest item grab that you finish in a reasonable amount of time, there are plenty of obscure quests that will task you to complete them, no matter how long it takes! This game offers such varied game play, environments, and characters that it's no wonder many call it the best of the series. I'm not going there personally. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and honestly, I haven't played through enough of the games to weigh in conclusively. It is, however, my favorite, and it's a real testament to the game's staying power that even 20 years later, I can still enjoy it as much as I did when I was in high school. The game has been re-released several times over the years, and although it might be a bit pricey to get into it, it's definitely worth the cost! You might even be able to get it pretty cheap if you've got a Wii-U since I think you can still buy things off the virtual console for that system. At any rate, if you enjoy challenging video games with complex and rich narratives, vibrant world settings, and memorable characters, this is a game that you need to add to your playlist. You will not be disappointed! Enjoy your week, play the game, and stick around to see what we step in next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment