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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the best games I have ever finished. My tenuous excuse is that I often got stuck and it took time to discover the dungeons. As a kid raised in the internet-less wilderness of the West Wales countryside, sport and school taking my time, my progress in Ocarina of Time was freezing.
As I went through this N64 game in a piecemeal fashion, the original PC and Xbox games got to grab my attention. Then I left my childhood home, leaving my N64 behind, Link waiting to take on the Spirit Temple boss. I was so close to the end, yet so far. Until the relative freedom of university life, I had always played games in spurts. Yet despite my bizarre approach, Ocarina of Time is etched in my memory.
And rightly so. Back then, Ocarina was an amazing match. Even today, it still delivers an experience that feels different from so many modern games that took inspiration from it.
I remember, probably with an intoxicating dose of nostalgia, coming out of Kokiri Forest and entering Hyrule Field. This green space with pure blue skies and multiple routes to explore seemed vast to my young mind – a mind untouched by the open worlds of The Witcher 3 and Skyrim.
The sheer volume of things to observe, explore, slice and hook with the grappling hook was incredible back then. And no doubt, they still feel amazing.
I remember slipping over the roofs of houses in Kakariko village, over a decade before blinking across the roofs of houses in Dunwall in Dishonored.
Ocarina of Time is stuffed to Zora’s gills with memorable moments. From getting your horse, Epona, to the zombie horror Hyrule Castle Town becomes after you pull the Master Sword out of the Temple of Time, to the incredibly eye-catching Gerudo Valley theme.
But more than that, Ocarina of Time felt like a properly advanced game. Not only did you have to apply a whole bunch of items to solve dungeon puzzles, but you could also use various tools, or even songs mined on the titular Ocarina of Time, to dispatch enemies. A shot from the hook could stun a particularly mobile enemy, allowing you to slice them up.
Ocarina of Time’s tone was also incredibly varied, but in a way that made sense rather than feeling disjointed. The refreshing brightness of Hyrule Field during the day matched an ominous expanse at night, with skeletal enemies rising out of the ground at every turn.
Hyrule Castle Town is a bunch of joy and color as young Link. But for adult Link, it’s a ghost town filled with ReDead zombies that still give this 34-year-old writer chills. (And I just remembered the Wallmaster. It’s even scarier.)
A host of exciting and clever boss battles, as well as a series of challenges, such as obtaining the Biggoron sword, sprinkle even more magic on Ocarina of Time.
While the Legend of Zelda games have a rich history and legacy to build on – looking at you Breath of the Wild 2 – I would say Ocarina of Time is one of the most influential Zelda games. There’s a clear course from Ocarina to Breath of the Wild, which is another easy contender for the best game ever.
Thanks to Eon Gaming’s Super 64 unit, I am now able to run my N64 on my 4K TV. And as we now celebrate Zelda’s 35th birthday, I think it’s high time I got another shot at Ocarina of Time. Now I can finally finish it.
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