The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

[AllYourBase]

Read the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) review.

[ItsThere]

Is it in 60hz then a la bonus disc?

[Charlie]

No, but it has been optimised for 50Hz apparently.

[Lyris]

I guess I'm the only heathen here who's tried on about 5 separate occasions to break into this game but has never enjoyed it. I think the whole late 90s "3D in its infancy but we'll go for it anyway" era rubs badly with me.

Lovely intro screen though, I could watch that for hours

[sj33]

Is this the original N64 version, of the GameCube version (which switched the onscreen button colours to be in line with the GC pad)?

[Charlie]

I've been informed it's identical to the Gamecube version except, with it being 50Hz optimised, it's a little slower than the Cube version which was 60Hz only.

[egparadigm]

Just started this for the third time (playing on GameCube through Wii); hopefully I'll actually finish it this time. My appreciation of this game is much greater than on any of the previous attempts. The only thing that I dislike is the slightly annoying camera, where you only have digital (not analog) control, makes looking round corners difficult.

The only major annoyance so far was navigating the forest as adult Link. The first time you had the benefit of the music to follow. It could be there is some signal for direction which I missed, perhaps caused by the fact that I'm familiar with the game and know what to do in some instances.

I also couldn't find any major clue that Dampe was the subject I was after when sent to Kakariko village...

[Sixty]

This is my favourite game ever. I practically lived in Hyrule for the four months it took to play through the game after its release in late 1998. Real life took a backseat to Ocarina of Time and nothing's come close since. I had the route to Sacred Forest Meadow memorised before ever becoming an adult. I remember sprinting through the woods to rescue Saria... Such great memories.

Regarding Dampe: the two guys near the entrance of Kakariko Village specifically mention him if you talk to them. You can't miss them, to be honest, since you have to walk past them to get into Kakariko proper. Then there's his diary in his hut which tells you he'll give you his treasure if you enter his grave. It's always like this with Zelda, though. People always get stuck, but everything you need to know is right there if you look for it and just talk to everyone.

[egparadigm]

I had the route to Sacred Forest Meadow memorised before ever becoming an adult.

Is that the only way to do it, then?

On Dampe, I did actually talk to a number of people, including the laughing guys. These clues did lead me to Dampe, but I just thought it should have been a bit more obvious.

I can understand the philosophy - not giving heavy handed pointers leads the player to explore side-quests - and I think it mostly works, but this instance was a bit too bewildering. It's also in my nature to want to complete the main quest first (OCD, I think), so it irks me more than most.

[noobish hat]

i'm pretty sure the graphic between the tunnels is different. The wrong tunnels have a static black thing with a grey bit in the middle. If you walk up very close to it without actually going through you can tell because the real tunnel will open up. I never had any problems with it before, and I never had to memorise the way.

[johnno15]

i'm pretty sure the graphic between the tunnels is different. The wrong tunnels have a static black thing with a grey bit in the middle. If you walk up very close to it without actually going through you can tell because the real tunnel will open up. I never had any problems with it before, and I never had to memorise the way.

They are different I was playing this this morning

[egparadigm]

That's how I did it, too. Doing it that way makes the whole episode feel "broken" to my mind; if the only other way is to memorise the path as a child, then that strikes me as unreasonable.

But, these are just minor quibbles ? still a great game.

[egparadigm]

Really starting to get into this now. I had to force myself through the first half of the game because I'd played so much of it before. Just finished the Spirit Temple and Link is properly pimped out in red-lined accessories.

Really enjoyed the boss because it was so simple and clever.

I'm really starting to see why people rate it above Wind Waker now. Although that game will always be special to me because I played it properly, first.

[noobish hat]

Wind waker was great, the combat was probably the best of the entire series, and the graphics were utterly stunning, charming, and fit so well, it was finally like seeing the older Zeldas brought to life in 3D. But the sailing was no substitute for the breathtaking vistas of Hyrule field and galloping about on horse back, enjoying the orange hues of sunset. There weren't enough dungeons, the most obvious being the exclusion of the Jabu Jabu dungeon for the third pearl, I literally could not believe it at the time. Finally, the ending is atrocious and overall, I found the story unsatisfying. In particular, I thought the

->Open Spoiler<-

flooding of old Hyrule

changed too much of the Zelda mythology.

Ocarina of Time on the other hand is perfect throughout, especially in terms of overall satisfaction. I don't want to ruin it for you or anyone else who hasn't finished it yet, so I'll just say that it has one of the best endings of any videogame and leaves you feeling great, which was definitely something lacking in Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, for me. This isn't nostalgia speaking either, because I complete Ocarina of Time almost every year, and it's just as good every time (this year I finished it in my hotel room in Tokyo, and the TV's contrast was ridiculousl; it was so dark the screen was almost entirely black most of the time, but I still managed it, that's how well I know this game). I first played it a little while after it came out, probably around 1998, and of course it deserved all the praise heaped upon it. You should play Travis' The Man Who while you play. Trust me, it totally syncs up!

[egparadigm]

Heh. I know The Man Who pretty well, actually!

The only problem I have with the game is it's too long for my tastes. As you say, everything it does it does to perfection, except for some things which are obviously quite dated (the camera mainly); it's just a bit too much to chew in one go.

I quite like Epona, although that part I was familiar with from some years ago. Hyrule field's OK. I really liked the sailing in Wind Waker; they just needed to add some proper combat to it. It always seemed obvious to me that twin-stick contols and beefier enemies would have done wonders. I remember a game called Overboard on the PS1 that had good ship combat.