Hello. I wonder if I could have a moment of your time...
Zelda has never quite fully appealed to me. They've warranted watching them, in part or in whole, at speed or at leisure, across the systems that the series has spanned, but to get me sat down in front of a game of Zelda has been a task.
It wasn't until going through this 1001 list to actually take some time to play them that I've gone "No, actually, I think I get it now" with regards to just how good they are as games. I still need to go back to play A Link to the Past some more. I still want to, which is a little surprising to me.
Will the series' leap into the third dimension result in similar desires? Can The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time live up to the hype and convert me into a Zelda fan? I think it's about time I picked up a controller and found out.
Frustrations
That was my plan, at least. The N64 was ready, plugged in, Ocarina ready to go... only for no go to go. My N64 has, I think, come to the end of its life, or more accurately, I've been having more problems with it than good times, and cannot consistently rely on it to be useful to me and so, sadly, the most I ever saw of Ocarina on a console with my own eyes is the cartridge literally sat on the console.
This week - more or less, at the time of writing - is also the week that Emuparadise hung up its boots and took its ball back, but it's a good job I had the foresight to get some of the major titles downloaded, out of the way. That's right Nintendo - I'm emulating that which your hardware won't. Why yes, I could borrow P2's DS and play the 3D remake, but I don't know where she left it. I suppose I could try and track down the bonus disc to Wind Waker's GameCube release, but maybe my GameCube is busted too. Did you think about that?
Just who am I talking to here? I'm emulating the N64 release, let's get on with it.
Fun Times
It's a steady start to Ocarina of Time, as we learn that our soon-to-be hero, Link, is a child with nightmarish visions of the future - of princesses' kidnapped and evil guys being evil, by the looks of it. Maybe this is him trying to process the plot of Mario in his subconscious. There's a fan theory for you.
It seems we have been chosen for a higher purpose but - would you believe it? - we don't have a fairy! What are we to do?
Yes, Navi. Yes, it can. I've found my fairy, guys. Everyone's got one. I'm late to the party, but I've got my fairy, and just like that, I'm playing Ocarina of Time, and it is not long before it immediately starts to show itself off by switching into and out of a letterboxed view. Get used to it.
One of the first things you notice, after digesting the script (which is a bit too fantasy for my liking, but whatever), is that your HUD contains more useful information than you'll have probably seen in the past and more than you get these days too, in the form of a few controller button graphics.
The reason is that items can be bound to directions on the C-buttons, and actions are context sensitive on the A button, so having a HUD set up like this not only shows you what you've got equipped, but how to use it, or what Link is likely to do with it at any given point.
Speak, Grab, Throw, and many more find their home on the A-button. It's perhaps second nature to know that the action button in modern gaming does all the heavy lifting and interaction, and it's arguably sunk into public knowledge because of games like Ocarina hammering it home with that HUD.
Also introduced to major acclaim is the concept of Z-targeting, which you learn from a small forest elf girl sitting on a ledge, as well as from two rocks sitting around doing nothing at all. The Z-button on the back of the controller effectively locks Link's focus onto a target, usually an enemy, making your actions all the more effective and easier to pull off. But to show that off, we're going to need to find some equipment.
We can't leave to even start our quest without pleasing Mido, whoever he is, by proving we own a sword and shield. The shield is quite easy, requiring just 40 Rupee's to buy from the shop. We can even loot Mido's home for some. That'll teach him.
The sword is further afield, and so it was time to explore the village looking for it.
Unlike Super Mario 64, you have no control over the camera here, but I think that may actually work for the better. Maybe. You can force the camera to swing around to some extent, which is handy for lining things up. It is a shame that I only really learned that after taking this perilous journey up a thin rope bridge, never quite knowing how much input to give it, or even in which direction in case the camera changed.
I've truly never been so afraid of falling off a video game object as I have been in this moment.
 |
| Oh, totally. A man's man. |
I still hadn't found a sword, though, and truth be told I was becoming stumped. I was reading signs to get clues and one read 'Sword training', and then I stopped reading because I thought 'Well, clearly, if that sign is here, then the sword must be found before this point of the village', then turned around and wasted another five minutes.
Ignoring the signposts and looking at the map, I just went towards the Z-hole.
 |
| Metal Gear Solid up in this bi-- |
This is probably where I get the sword, being the last place left to look.
Further Frustrations
If only 'looking' was easier, even after learning of limited camera controls. Controlling full stop was getting annoying at this point, but not necessarily because of the game. My left little finger was stuck out like I was drinking tea so that it might bash the screenshot button when needed, and I was emulating this with an Xbox controller, with all kinds of button mapping going on over the place. The amount of times I couldn't make sense of the HUD because I forgot that the A and B buttons are on different sides of an N64 and Xbox controller...
Anyway, I eventually navigated a square and made it to the highlight of the game thus far. Hearing that tune, and seeing that animation.
Further Fun Times
Alright, it's obscured behind a text box, but that's Zelda through and through, isn't it? Open a chest and hold x item aloft for the world to marvel at, be it valuable or not. In this case, pretty valuable I think - a hidden treasure that I can just 'borrow'. I don't see any other swords, so if it's alright with you, I'll just 'take', yeah?
 |
| Hyeuagh! |
I'll take it. Onwards!
If I'd have remembered that choosing 'Yes' would have me walk into the mouth of a giant talking tree, I might not have picked 'Yes', but I did, and here I am, inside the Deku Tree, the first dungeon of Ocarina.
If watching Zelda has taught me anything, it's that you explore to get an item then use that item to find an exit. Should be simple. And Navi will help me, I suppose.
"Hey! Listen!" might be a joke at this point, but some of what gets said by my fairy guardian is useful. Opening doors isn't. Climbable walls aren't either, as I learned that in the village by running into walls. But the web reminded me that I'd need to fall through it. I think. So let's explore.
The Z-targeting, when I remember to use it, really is useful. The lock on is no-nonsense, and with the view switching into letterboxed widescreen, it emphasizes Link's focus on something completely. Sure, I'm only targeting plants that don't move, but they do attack and will drop items that are no doubt used elsewhere.
Chests contain the rest of the useful items, like a map and a compass, as well as health and the like. How Link isn't blinded by all this exposure to treasure I don't know.
There it is, the slingshot. I'm ready to take on the world now. Borrowed sword, cheap shield, kids slingshot... Come at me, bro.
As expected, the way to carry on with your journey is to use your newly acquired item, in this case, to drop a ladder into position. Learning through doing is my way of learning, so I think Ocarina might be a winner in this regard. I've not even looked at the manual. I don't even have a manual. Just a second-hand cartridge and console on the fritz.
I was, at this point, almost genuinely having fun. I say almost because I wasn't grinning ear to ear with the game, but I was outright playing it, blog be damned. I was exploring more and more of the Deku Tree and was still getting my arse handed to me by walking into enemies getting used to the controls, but I was still making progress and making progress felt good.
Further Frustrations
And then I stopped making progress because I couldn't find a way to get onto the ledge I needed to be on down here. I was climbing up the vined wall, I was dropping down the hole from different positions, I was diving underwater in a desperate attempt to be somewhere more useful, but I just couldn't figure it out and called my run there and then.
But, in the mood I was in, I wanted to know what I was missing, so checked out a walkthrough. You just climb up the ledge from the water.
I'm sorry, what?
A skill that fully grown men in modern video games can't do, 7-year-old Link can do effortlessly. I'd been conditioned to see ledges next to water as impossible to climb unless they were clearly marked or much lower or sloped, but nooooo, Link doesn't care. He'll spring up that ledge like it's nothing. Nothing.
I saved my state and closed the window anyway.
Final Word
Some ups and downs were had, most of my own making, but not always. The controls are pretty good, especially when the camera seems largely capable of doing things for you, it's just a case of getting used to them more often. You can happily swing your sword around without any target locked to your view, but putting Z-targeting to use looks and feels damn good. It's one button that turns a bumbling idiot into a slick warrior, it's that good.
If Super Mario 64 gets the praise for showing the world how characters should move in three dimensions, Ocarina of Time might have a case for showing the world how to do it properly - the extra time spent in development learning from Mario has clearly paid off.
It's not all sunshine and roses. While I like the ease at which I picked it up and have to admire it for how it's made me want to keep playing, it does look... I don't know. It's not dated, it's not simple, it's not ugly. It's not really a looker, but it looks fine, and the animation and camera angles, especially when Z-targeting, really do make it shine more than it perhaps otherwise would have.
Comparing A Link to the Past with Ocarina of Time isn't quite a fair pairing, but if I could have gone through an Ocarina that looked like Link to the Past... yeah. Now we're talking.
I'm going to finally be playing some more Ocarina, after having seen it here and there for years now. If you've not already, try it out yourself - I hear it's one of the best games of all time.
Fun Facts
Despite having Nintendos largest cartridge size to date - a whopping 32 megabytes - there were still concerns that Ocarina would have to have a hub world that linked seperate levels, like Super Mario 64. Luckily, they worked their magic and all was well.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, developed by Nintendo EAD, first released in 1998.
Version played: Nintendo 64, 1998, via emulation (I tried, Nintendo. I tried.)
Version watched: Nintendo 64, 1998 (Multiple)