game review: Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Game review: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a videogame that came out for the Nintendo 64, way back in 1998. It was the first game in the series to be rendered in full 3D. With beautiful atmosphere and fantastic storyline this game has been ‘game of the year’ and favourite game of all time on all Nintendo magazines, websites and forums.

The story

The game starts out as a young boy, the games protagonist, Link, who has a nightmare where he comes face to face with the games antagonist Ganondorf. Link is known throughout the forest as the ‘boy without a fairy’. The Great Deku Tree summons Navi the fairy, Link’s companion throughout the game, to him stating that the world is in danger and that only link can save it. After obtaining the first spiritual stone from the first dungeon, Link goes to see the Princess Zelda, who sends you out on a mission to obtain the other spiritual stone and the master sword. After obtaining the other stones, link has the first brief confrontation with Ganondorf, and Zelda throws the Ocarina of time into the castle moat, which link manages to obtain. After pulling the master sword from the temple of time, Link wakes up seven years later the sage of light, rauru explains that, ganondorf uses the legendary Triforce to take over the land of hyrule and become the king of evil. Link is also told that he is the Hero of Time, who is someone who works with the seven sages to save Hyrule and seal away the evil king. After beating the games remaining 4 dungeons, the final battle between link and ganondorf begins. After the first battle, ganondorf tries to crush Link and Zelda, who was disguised as a male Shiekah, called Shiek, inside the ruins of the crumbling Tower. When the two safely escape the castle, it completely collapses where gannondorf burst forth, transforming into Ganon. Link and the seven sages seal ganondorf away into the Sacred Realm forever. Now that hyrule is safe from the threat of evil, link is then sent back in time by Zelda to his childhood, were the game ends.

Graphics

Ocarina of time is an action adventure game, where you control Link, in free roam style areas with varied landscapes and colourful scenery. The game follows a linear route from start to finish, however there are optional side quests for you to do to spit up the main adventure.

The graphics of the game are, dated by today’s standards however they are still really colourful. All the areas are varied and the dungeons themselves are beautifully designed and each of the main dungeons has their own theme. When you’re in the field or a similar area where time passes, for an n64 game. The transition to night and day and vice versa is flawless and beautifully executed.

Sound and Music

The music of the game is perfectly executed and even changes depending on our situation. For example, in the field the music will be active when you’re running around or performing other actions. Then when you stop and stand still the music will turn tranquil, and relaxing, Then when an enemy appears the music will take a more serious and sinister tone. In other areas a ‘battle theme’ will play as an enemy approaches and the transition from the area music the battle music is smooth for a great effect.

Main game play

As an action adventure game, you are able to freely roam the land of hyrule for as long as you’re please, given that you have the required items to get to a specific location. For example, right at the start of the game, you cannot go and see the Deku tree as you do not have a sword of a shield. Another is when you become an adult; you cannot get into the forest temple without the use of the Hook shot, which you obtain earlier on. Although there is a linear pathway to complete the game, there are various side quests that you can do to space out main adventure. You move if it’s so steep that Link around with the analogue stick and you can move freely in any of the eight directions. Link can scale slopes as long as the incline isn’t too steep. If it is steep, then link will just slide down, however if the incline is so steep, it’s practically a sheer drop then link wont attempt to climb it at all. Link can also climb up cliffs and blocks, depending on their height. The height that link can climb depends on whether he is an adult or a child. 

Dungeon game play

Inside dungeons the game play takes on a more puzzle like genre. For example, in order to open a door you have to push a statue on a blue switch to keep it don so the door will open, however there are loads more puzzles in the games main and sub dungeons, ranging from easy to difficult. An example of a hard puzzle is from the games infamous ‘water temple’ where you have to periodically change the water levels at the three main points and have to equip the iron boots in order to walk underwater. 

Z-Targeting

When in a dungeon or over world, Chances are you will be ambushed by enemies in one form or another. Most enemies you can ‘hack and slash’ which will kill them after a couple of hits. However other enemies need to be defeated in a certain way. Sometimes larger enemies can be harder to deal with and can leave you with the wrong end of the ‘game over screen’. However a way that you can avoid this is using the handy feature known to the game a ‘Z-targeting’. Z-targeting allows you to quickly strafe around your target and keep them on the camera at all times. This is a good way of defending yourself as you can use the R-button to defend yourself while moving. You can also tell enemy attack patterns so you can leave the fight unharmed. Other uses for his feature include talking to people who are far away and reading signs or looking at other object of interest. When targeting something, you can press up on the c-buttons to ask for Navi’s help whether it’s finding out about something or a description of how to defeat an enemy.

Bosses

At the end of every main dungeon there is a boss. Each boss is the result of a curse or ill fate and must be defeated in order to continue the adventure. All bosses have a specific tactic to them to bring them down however the all follow the same principal. Find the bosses weakness, exploit it, they collapse, and then you can attack the boss until it gets back up again, repeat. In the dungeons there will be an item inside a reassure chest that you can use to exploit that dungeon bosses weakness. After being defeated all boss drops a heart container which add a new heart to your life meter and an important storyline item which is also needed to advance in the storyline.

The Ocarina of time 

The main and most important feature of this game is the ocarina of time. The ocarina is used to solve puzzles open special doors, talk to people, call your horse, and reveal a secret and even warping. When you reach an area where the ocarina is needed, musical staff appears. When a musical staff appears you can play the ocarina with up, down, left, right or A or press B to cancel. You can play the ocarina anywhere else you want to.

Overall

The game still plays brilliantly despite its age and there are no bugs (that aren’t found intentionally), good collision detection, everything acts as it should and there are no other glitches that ruin the game play experience.