The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Imagine a game in a legendary series. Imagine a game that takes this series into the 3rd Dimension. Imagine a rather poorly selling console that desperately needs a smash-hit to rake in the punters. Imagine the company behind this series so desperate to make this thing work that they took AEONS to complete this game and they stalled and stalled and stalled. And then they procrastinated.

What you have then, is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Nintendo 64, one of THE most anticipated games of all time. In THIS game you play Link who has to rescue Princess Zelda (Gasp!) from the clutches of the Evil Ganondorf the thief.
Yes, the story is as boring as ever, but man the game sure delivers.

But instead of singing the many songs of praise that can be sung and HAVE been sung about this game already, I'd like to give my opinion on one of the most frequently asked questions amongst Zelda fans and Videogames freaks alike: Which one is better, Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time? Other entries in the series do not need apply, since it is obvious that these two ARE the very best, and it is with little doubt, after playing both of them in continuation, that I say I prefer.........



Link to the Past. Yes.
Now in the past years the answer to this question varied. To be honest, when I first played Ocarina of Time when it was just released, I already thought it was not quite as great as LttP, but my opinion has been known to change in the ensuing years, but once again I'm back to my old self, and I do really prefer the SNES game over this one.
Don't get me wrong, OoT, as it is lovingly called, is a fantastically awesome game that puts 99% of the entire video game industry to complete shame, but it has its faults. And as I already previously stated about LttP, the SNES game is virtually perfect. Not a single moment of boredom or annoyance was experienced. I was in complete awe and extasy throughout the whole ordeal, even after all these years, which is an amazing feat. And I am sad to say that, although boredom is nowhere to be found in Ocarina of Time, annoyance may occur at regular intervals.

First of all, the triggering system, brilliant and most appropriate as though it is, is not the most accurate. The most annoying thing about it is that you can only target enemies and objects that the camera is aimed at. You have this bitchy fairy flying about you like a pesky mosquitoe who functions as a kind of cursor, and she will only notice enemies that are more or less in the middle of the screen. It doesn't really matter fortunately if Link is facing the right direction or not, but the problem is that if an enemy is directly behind you, or to the side of you, just off the screen and YOU know it's there, you still won't be able to target it, until you've adjusted the camera, at which point it's already to late.
This stands in shrill contrast with the system in Kingdom Hearts (which was of course created later, so it's not really fair to compare), where a single press of the lock-on button will target the closest object no matter where it is, which makes for very speedy and fun battling. If you're attacked by multiple enemies in OoT, especially if they're coming from all sides, you're more or less screwed.

Secondly, the game has some of those little pesky additions that you just know are in there simply to annoy you. I'm thinking mainly of the small sub-dungeon at the bottom of the well in Kakariko Town. It is filled with INVISIBLE pot holes that you won't be able to spot until you find the hidden Magic Eye somewhere in that dungeon.
I have played games like this before, where the creators seem to think: "hey, let's have a dungeon/bit in the game where the player can fall all the fucking way down so they have to backtrack up again! They'll love it!". NO!
Super Metroid has this, Brave Fucker Musashiden has this, loads of games have this and it's FUCKING frustrating every single time. Why the HELL do game companies keep throwing stuff like this into their games? Does ANYONE enjoy anything like this?

Many was the time I fell all the way down to the basement completely by surprise, to be greeted by the OTHER annoying factor of this game: Zombies.
"What!? Zombies rule!" I hear you cry, and you are right, generally speaking. Not in this game though. Here, zombies let out an excruciating high-pitched scream that will MOMENTARILY FREEZE YOU, which is one of THE most annoying things in video game history, since they can target you from a distance.

Thirdly, there's horseback-riding. I don't like it. That is, roaming Hyrule fields on the back of your trusty steed, bow and arrow in hand, is a wonderful feeling, but it is interspersed with little annoying tidbits, like hopping over obstacle, which never really seems to work. You have to approach fences and the like at EXACT right angles, or Epona, your cunty little bitch-horse (I love her), will come to an immediate standstill, whinny, stand on her rear legs, get on all fours again, and start walking slowly backwards so you can try again. AND THERE'S NO WAY TO STOP THIS.

So in other words, this game, revolutionary as it is, has some minor points that could have been improved if just a little bit more though had been put into it. Also, the 7 years later system is not really used to the fullest. You get to play as Link as a young boy, and later on, as a strappy handsome adolescent 7 years later.
The interaction between these two worlds, which can be traversed back and forth, is kept to an extreme minimum, which seems like a wasted effort, especially considering the BRILLIANT Nobel-prize worthy Light and Dark world system in Link to the Past, where the system was actually put to great and inventive use.

These are all minor gripes though, it kinda sounds like I'm really negative about this game, but these are just minor specks of dust on an otherwise flawless 3 piece suit. Kinda like a couple of dead pixels in your new fancy portable gaming system/media center. *waves at Sony*

Because, make no mistake, what this game perhaps lacks in tidiness, it more than makes up for in sheer magnitude, atmosphere, originality, epicness, brilliance and inventiveness. The dungeons are nothing short of Shakespeare in 3D, the Boss Battles are, without a single exception, the BEST boss fights EVER in the history of video games, believe you me, you will see and experience things NEVER seen before, or after for that matter. The fight against Ganon's Ghost is still one of coolest I've ever seen. The scene where you fight Dark Link (which, adversely, is one of the most annoying battles in the series) still to this day makes me wonder how the HELL they pulled it off. I'm not talking about the battle itself, but about the weird room and the way it kinda....dissolves when the fight is over. It looks absolutey STUNNING. Oh, and then there's those weird corkscrew halls in the Forest Temple. I mean, you just have to see this with your own eyes to believe it.

Every battle is staged and executed brilliantly, in great threatening atmosphere, and with beautiful special effects. The last fight with Ganondorf, and the ensuing awe-inspiring clash with his demonized form Ganon are as Epic as anything could ever possibly be, and they make me cry with joy of having become a gamer instead of getting a social life. Let it be known, this game is SO MUCH BETTER than social interaction, and it has horsies!

So in all honesty, when this game shines, it shines so much brighter than it's predecessor, but it's not as consistent in all-round fun as LttP. You will be slightly irked at times, but it is more than forgiveable considering what you get back. I would not go as far as calling it frustrating, because it never reaches that level of annoyance, but there are some small touches that should have been polished off. A very royal 9.9, simply to show LttP is slightly better, because perfect.

posted by Ingen! @ 12:35 PM