What makes Ocarina Of Time great, 20 years later

The legend of Zelda: the ocarina of time was 20 years old today. Link's first 3D adventure, for the Nintendo 64, which lacks content, has captivated a whole new generation of gamers, setting a standard for adventure games and laying the foundation for the gigantic journey into the open world of adventure. ; aujourd & # 39; hui. Despite this, Ocarina of Time remains a unique experience, even two decades later. Much of this is due to simplicity.

After the change of Nintendo Super Mario in 3D at the launch of the Nintendo 64 in 1996, one of the major problems was in the minds of players: what will extraordinary Zelda to be in 3D? Answer: breathtaking. Ocarina of Time Released November 21, 1998 in Japan and available a few days later (just in time for a Thanksgiving Day marathon) in the United States, this publication should be discussed. This release has been defined by many fans and represents a major breakthrough in the field of graphics. Since 1998, there have been countless open world games. Ocarina of Time This is the moment when the concept of massive and interconnected worlds has begun to crystallize. It was not a new concept – the Ultima The series has been offering for years its own version of the fantasy large format, but Ocarina of Time mixed scale with unprecedented graphic fidelity.

The result is a version of Hyrule that, although tiny by today's standards, looks like a real place and not just a connected series of video game levels. Its scale was shocking but not without purpose. The Hyrule Field is largely an arid plain that takes a few minutes to walk, but moving from the cheerful forest of Kokiri to the Great Border gives a sense of adventure. It was a kind of quiet walk, an exciting but isolated hike that guaranteed a break before the explosion of activity in the town of Hyrule Castle. Twenty years later, this is a lesson that some games still fail to understand. Ocarina of Time pushed the limits of scale but never at the expense of tone. There is no need for random events or radiant quests. The world is enough.

This simplicity is Ocarina of TimeThe greatest strength. It can be tempting to look back and think about Ocarina of Time in terms of gameplay innovations. This is the game that created the Z targeting and that allowed to pioneer deep spatial design with its dungeons. But Ocarina of TimeThe lasting legacy is as much a lesson of restraint as of innovation. It's a game of involvement, where the world is spinning just enough to sell us on fantasy. It is not densely populated nor particularly responsive in the moment. Apart from a few chains of key quests and bombable walls, Hyrule is largely indifferent to the player. Link could be the hero of time and the only person who can save Ganon's world, but Hyrule herself – Death Mountain, the Gerudo desert, etc. – would stay even if we failed.

And it is said that even though the series will later experiment with game gadgets, like turning into a wolf or sailing through the skies on a giant bird, Breath of nature embrace this sentiment and take advantage of it in a powerful and equally normative open world. As Ocarina of Timehe is not afraid of silence and the world continues, even without his hero.

Ocarina of Time is not the most daring narrative or the most captivating game of Zelda series. The wind maker makes more effort to give depth to his characters (including Ganon), Mask of Majora Experienced with mood and tone for greater effect. But Ocarina of Time endures because it sets a standard for the game worlds. Hyrule pushed the limits of the ladder, but never leaned over to greet the player. Many games seek to emulate the scale and range of Ocarina of Time but omit the simplicity. It's this simplicity, this willingness to offer empty spaces and quiet hikes in equal combination with difficult boss battles or trading sequences, which helps to Ocarina of Time resonate to this day.