All things The Legend of Zelda

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OldManWall

Re: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Post by OldManWall »

I may have initially been a tad disappointed with the graphical look, but the prospect of a new Zelda world to explore quickly overpowered any negative feelings. Once I dove into the game, the art style and animation had a lot of humor and charm to it, and by the time Link was catapulted from Tetra's ship, I was sold. The incredible music also helped sell me on this enchanting Waterworld meets Hyrule. The enemies were fun to fight, although a bit on the easy side. Later in the game, the darknuts brought a level of sophistication to the combat that made me feel like I was sparring one on one with a dangerous foe.

By the end, however, I turned a corner on the game. My heart sank when I realized I would not be plumbing new dungeons to get the triforce pieces, but would instead be grinding for rupees and digging for chests. Not exactly an epic adventure. The tedium of traversing the ocean never really got to me until I reached this part of the game. After already putting hours into exploring this world, doing it all over again (even with help from the warp points) for no reason other than to get some arbitrary keys locking away the ending...just felt boring and sad. I left the game feeling very disappointed and put off by it, which was a shame, because the final battle was another great combat challenge.

I've gone back to it since, and my views have softened, so overall I would recommend this very beautiful game, especially the HD version for WiiU, with all of the tweaking Nintendo has done to remove some of that tedium.
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gallo_pinto
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Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (5.3.16): The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Post by gallo_pinto »

Playing Zelda: Link's Awakening on my dad's Gameboy is my earliest video game memory (as well as one of my earliest memories in general). I was five years old and I couldn't read very well. I booted up the game, watched the storm that shipwrecked Link, woke up in a strange village and then talked to Tarin. He gave me a shield and said something that I couldn't read at the time. I spent the next several weeks wandering around the village, trying to figure out how to pet the dog and how to get the kids throwing the baseball to let me play too. I had no idea what I was supposed to do and I was completely in love with the game.

A couple months later, my older cousin came over to my house and I let him play my game while I was playing outside. When I came back, he was in a forest fighting some real scary looking monsters. "You can get a SWORD in this game???" I asked incredulously. "How??" He told me that Tarin tells you at the beginning of the game that a sword washed up on the beach. "Wait, there's a town, a forest AND a beach? What else is there?"

To my five year old mind, this world was bigger and more awe-inspiring than I could imagine. I managed to get to the end of the second dungeon on that playthrough (with some reading aloud from my dad at key points) before I stopped, mostly because I was so sad that I couldn't use Bow-Wow for the rest of the game. I returned to the game when I was about 12 and beat it. I loved the music, the characters and the sense of mystery about Koholint Island that still affected me even though I was older.

I replayed this game for the podcast with the hopes of having something nuanced to say for the correspondence, but I just can't be objective with Link's Awakening. I adore this game. I understand how some people might find that certain mechanics haven't aged well, but even now I just think it's a remarkable achievement for a Gameboy game. I had such different experiences playing it at different life stages and loved each one of them. Link's Awakening is a wonderful, magical game.

Three Word Review: A wonderful dream
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Re: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Post by seansthomas »

Unlike a lot of people I know, I didnt play Ocarina until years after its release. The N64 launch coincided with me going to Uni and financial support for students being removed, plus I'd grown up with a Master System, so at this point I was skint and still to experience a Nintendo title.

Curious, I bought an N64 over the summer break with my loan, blitzed Super Mario 64 collecting absolutely everything and returned it to Electronics Boutique 2 days later, just before the return policy ran out. I knew gaming had changed overnight and that exploring 3D worlds was the future, but I needed that £350 for super noodles and Newcy Brown.

But not long after going back to Uni, my best mate got Zelda. He essentially locked himself in his room with it for several days, missing lectures and nights out to play it. In fact he played Ocarina so much, his girlfriend dumped him over it.

Years later we were reminiscing about it and he was appalled I'd still never played a Zelda game. The PS3 launch was days away but I was still skint, just a graduate now instead. However I found a dirt cheap second hand N64 and borrowed his copy. Subsequently overnight I became a big Nintendo fan.

Ocarina of Time was a joyous quest from start to finish, largely as Hyrule felt a far more cohesive 3D world than anything I'd played. Weirdly for a game I rate so highly, my memories of it are a bit blurred now; I enjoyed the challenge of using the different boots to beat dungeons, riding across Hyrule field, loved targeting onto boss weak spots with the Z trigger and I recall the final ascent to Ganondorf seeming epic.

But it was the fishing mini game that consumed days of my life. My 3 housemates and I spent hours playing it and its my overriding memory of the game. We'd take it in turns each trying to catch the beast of the pond, finding it hilarious watching our friends fail miserably. I've genuinely spent more time with that side task than I have with many entire games.

In a way that encapsulates what made this Zelda a cut above. A rich 3D world, held together by a strong tale and a wealth of fun diversions to lose yourself in. I've not replayed it since to know how it has held up but in terms of its impact on me at the time, it awoke the latent gamer, and indeed adventurer, in me.


3 word review: 3D gaming's awakening
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Flabyo
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Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (5.3.16): The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Post by Flabyo »

Awakening was the first game in the Zelda series I ever played, and it still remains my favourite of the pre-N64 Zelda games. I picked it up close to launch for my ailing brick Gameboy (at least one of the lines on the screen was dead by then).

It doesn't play hugely differently from Link to the Past, but the more melancholy feeling to Awakening is something I find more appealing.

The point in the storyline where the game suggests that perhaps you're not doing the right thing by trying to wake the Wind Fish made me put the game down for a few days to think. It's a plot point games use more often these days (Shadow of the Colossus thrives on it, for example) but it was the first time I'd come across it.

I bought the DX version for the Gameboy Colour as well later on, and while it didn't add a great deal I enjoyed playing through it again.

Also: Tal Tal Heights is the best piece of music in the Zelda series until Ballad of the Goddess in Skyward Sword.
frodough427

Re: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Post by frodough427 »

First time contributor, but I've been listening for a while. I'm currently making my way back through the archives of this fantastic podcast! You guys (and occasionally girls) do an amazing job! So this year I decided I wanted to try and clear some of my back catalogue and play along with some of the titles for Volume Five.

I was very late to the party with anything Nintendo. Growing up being a SEGA/Playstation kid I had heard friends talk about the Legend of Zelda series and how great Ocarina of Time was, but I was happy to brush it off and continue to be an advocate for Final Fantasy VII. Fast forward to post Uni life, a stable job and expendable income, I finally purchased a Wii U and 3DS in 2014.

This wonderful back catalogue of Nintendo classics I was aware of, but had never played opened up to me. I was spoiled for choice. I quickly purchased the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time and jumped right in.

I had somewhat mixed feelings initially with OOT. I played on and off for a couple of weeks, made it to Jabu Jabu and for some reason or other stopped there. I'm guessing I moved onto Bloodborne. The pull from From Software's new PS4 exclusive was too much and I'm pretty sure I dived into that, not surfacing for some time.

I literally didn't touch OOT again until January 2016. I saw it coming up on the Volume Five schedule and made a deal with myself to complete it before the podcast release. Now I must admit I used some guide tips to get through the Water Temple and I didn't see/do everything that the game had to offer, but I did manage to complete it.

I think ultimately I appreciate OOT for its place in video game history. But I must say, having not grown up with the series I don't believe the magic is there for me like those who played this on release. I found that OOT shined when you were taking part in the temples, talking to the quirky characters in the towns and smaller areas but fell flat when having to traverse the world. I found Hyrule Field large, empty and ultimately a bit of a chore to cross. I felt like I spent a lot of time just running (slowly) between key areas. Also as much as I loved the temples - some of the puzzles were a little obtuse for me hence my occasional use of a guide to nudge me in the right direction.

Overall I'm glad that I completed OOT - I did have a great time with this well loved classic. Despite its shortcomings (subjectively of course) in my eyes, I believe it is a game that you have to experience if you are invested in gaming as a hobby. Now excuse me while I fire up Majora's Mask to continue my adventure with Link.

Three word review: "Too many rupees"
Lucas

Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (5.3.16): The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Post by Lucas »

Having been brought up with an Amiga 500 as my core gaming machine I was always envious of friends who were able to dive into the worlds of Mario, Metroid and Zelda from the comfort of their own bedrooms. My first real taste of Zelda had instead been from poring over some 'Adventure of Link' maps found in an old Nintendo sticker book - and I found the world of Hyrule utterly fascinating, even from afar.

My chance to explore finally arrived some months after receiving a Gameboy for my ninth birthday, when I managed to stumble across a second hand copy of 'Link's Awakening' tucked away in some dusty corner of an Electronics Boutique. I eagerly booted up the game and it was everything I'd hoped for. The controls were smooth and dynamic, the characters were (ironically :P ) full of colour and the island of Koholint seemingly endless in opportunity for adventure.

At the time I remember being impressed by how complete and engrossing this miniature olive world seemed, sweeping you through varied environments and dungeons, riding on river rapids, and even touching on the horrors of dognapping. That feeling of elated panic I would get, as a kid, when entering a boss arena can only be matched in modern times by a 'Souls' game. Plus the pure joy of discovering that you could do laps around the shopkeeper, sprinting out of the door with some swag whilst his back was turned, only to be called "Thief!" by everyone for the rest of the quest made me chuckle throughout.

My strongest memory, however, was that of the final scenes of the game. After awakening the Wind Fish all those enchanting locations and interesting characters encountered along the way simply fade away into nothing. It gave me a sense of sadness, loss and guilt that I can't say I'd felt from a game up to that point, and it hinted at the power of story capable in the media that I was to come to appreciate much more-so over the subsequent years.

Of course, this is all steeped in pure nostalgia. Although it's difficult to be objective about the game I can see that mechanically it's little more than a re-treading of its predecessor, albeit on a smaller stage, and so doesn't really add much of its own to that Zelda DNA we're all so familiar with. But regardless of this, it's still a quaint departure from the core Zelda storyline. A pleasant and captivating experience that still holds many hours of fun in today's gaming landscape.
waustin

Re: Our next podcast recording (5.3.16): The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Post by waustin »

Long time reader of the forums but seeing this game featured made me join. I remember watching my best friend start this game (the DX version). At the time I only really played Pokemon on my Gameboy, although I'd heard the name it was the first Zelda game I'd ever seen. I immediately began saving my pocket money so I could play this game I couldn't believe how they managed to cram such a world full of dungeons, characters and fast action based combat on to the GBC cartridge . What sets this apart though is the small things that stick in my head to this day. Watching my mate being incredulous after stealing from the shop thus having Link renamed 'THIEF', finding out there was a secret ending if you didn't die and saving my game straight after buying the bow to avoid spending all my rupees. When I found out there was a fully 3D Zelda called Ocarina of time I couldn't believe it.

Going back to this game years later its just as fun with a great soundtrack, just the right level of difficulty as to not to be frustrating and a depth of gameplay rarely seen on the Gameboy despite the occasional inconvenience of having to constantly change items in the inventory.
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AndrewBrown
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Re: Our next podcast recording (5.3.16): The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Post by AndrewBrown »

Posting this super-late, hope I don't miss the last check-in for correspondence.

Three Word Review: The Unexpected Dream

I like to think of Link's Awakening as the "unexpected sequel." It would be easy to assume that, due to being a Game Boy game, it would be a watered-down Zelda experience. But it is not. Instead, I prefer to think of it as a scaled-down experience. A watered-down game would hack off key parts of the game design in order to fit it on the tiny Game Boy cart; a scaled-down game instead accepts the limitations of its technology and reduces scope to accommodate that. There are not as many hidden Heart Pieces as in A Link the Past, but they're still there. The inventory is not as broad or varied, but it still has the essentials and puts them to good use--arguably to better use than in other games with larger inventories, in fact. It's a textbook example of something which has long since stopped being a recognized problem: How to effectively adapt a console videogame to a handheld. And so, quite unexpectedly, rather than being a Zelda game in body only, Link's Awakening captures the Zelda spirit.

But Link's Awakening is unexpected in other ways as well. A Link to the Past gets a lot of credit for establishing the formula that the console-based sequels would generally follow--find three MacGuffins, get Master Sword, find more MacGuffins, beat Ganon--but it is in Link's Awakening that many more developments that would become essential to the series were introduced. With only two action buttons to utilize, Link's Awakening defies the rest of the series and allows the player to assign any item to either button, even if it means not equipping the Sword at all. By acquiescing to this technological limitation, new possibilities are created: Multiple items can be equipped at once, items can be combined to create new effects, and the Shield becomes a usable item, all ideas which would carry over into future titles and expanded upon further. Link's Awakening also introduces the first trading sidequest in the series.

Link's Awakening even has a legitimate plot twist! And not like A Link to the Past's "twist," which amounts to "the game keeps going." This twist does what a plot twist should do: Calls into question all assumptions the player has made about their actions up to that point. Is what the player doing right? Should they continue? Are the "Nightmares" really evil? Even if they are, is destroying them and causing Koholint Island and its inhabitants to disappear the right thing to do? This last point is particularly well iterated through the presence of Marin, the first NPC in the Zelda series the player is allowed to develop a real relationship with. If Link finishes his quest, Marin will disappear too. The juxtaposition of the Nightmares and Marin get at the root of what the game is really about: Should evil be allowed to exist if some good comes of it? Astonishingly, Link's Awakening seems to answer in the negative. Everything after this plot revelation calls into question the very nature of Link's character. Are his actions selfish, pragmatic, or is he merely a tool of the Wind Fish? Link's Awakening offers enough information for all scenarios to be possible, but not enough to confirm any of them. Most unexpectedly, it is the first portable Zelda outing which offers one of the most mature narratives in the series.

I don't mean to gush effusively about Link's Awakening. It's far from a perfect game. The player is required to tread and retread territory far too often. The quest with the Ghost is a prime example, requiring the player to walk back and forth along the Island's western half twice in succession before being allowed to continue. Several other areas also require the player to walk back and forth repeatedly across the same few areas on various fetch quests. It is only the interesting composition of Koholint Island that keeps this from being intolerable. Several of the Heart Pieces are hidden in frustratingly arbitrary locations, requiring a pixel hunt over every inch of the game to locate. It also introduces the baffling "throw-a-pot-at-something-locked-to-open-it" puzzle, which is just... baffling.

I hope that anybody who plays Link's Awakening also finds it to be an unexpected game. It sacrifices little of the sophistication and cleverness of A Link to the Past, somehow manages to negotiate several of its limitations into strengths which would be followed upon in future titles, and what weaknesses it does have is down to the developer's not taking advantage of what they had rather than hacking the game to pieces to fit it on a Game Boy cart. I became aware of this game on a Fifth Grade playground, refusing to believe that a Zelda game could exist on the puny Game Boy system. But I was wrong. It did exist, and there have been few times where I have been quite so pleased to be so unexpectedly incorrect.
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Re: Our next podcast recording (5.3.16): The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Post by gallo_pinto »

AndrewBrown wrote:It also introduces the baffling "throw-a-pot-at-something-locked-to-open-it" puzzle, which is just... baffling.
Ha ha, I actually kind of liked that mechanic. I kept trying it in later 3D Zelda games too, even though I don't think it ever worked again. :lol:

Also, this forum thread is much more of a love fest than I was expecting! I didn't realize how much other people liked this game as well. Excited to hear the podcast.
Lassing

Re: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Post by Lassing »

This game is what got me on my path as an illustrator, 13 years after playing it. I got this in 2000, two years after release, and played it with two friends. The problem was that we were 10 year old Swedes, so we knew how to greet people and ask for the toilet in English and not much more. We resolved to use a dictionary in order to decipher why the guard wouldn't let us through the gate in Kakariko village onto Death Mountain (saying it out loud kinda makes me agree with the guard about not letting a child get through though) or finding that ****** message in a bottle to give to King Zora. In the end we made it as far as the water temple using the brute force of patience only three 10 year olds can muster.

Instead, since we couldn't experience the game in its entirety, we started to make our own Zelda-universe. Drawing countless dungeons, characters, weapons and trying to piece them all together. We probably spent way more hours creating our own version of the game in the end.

Flash-forward to 2013 and I picked up a 3DS with Ocarina of Time because I felt I really needed to finish it. So I did. I blazed through the game in about a week, playing it wherever and whenever I had time. While I loved the game (thank god for the quick-switching iron boots which I still remembered 13 years on as being horrendous) the thing that got to me the most was how I had longed for the kind of inspiration and sense of wonder the Ocarina of Time-world gave me, really waking up the desire in me to create something of my own again. So the day after completion I bought my first digital drawing pad, started to draw everyday and now I'm actually making some money on it to pad out my meager living as a student.

I think it says a lot about a game when it can rekindle that almost childish enthusiasm you feel towards it.

Thanks Zelda!

3-word review: Imagination running wild
frodough427

Re: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Post by frodough427 »

So my first contribution to the Cane and Rinse podcast was my thoughts on Ocarina of Time after competing it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The moment I saw the credits roll for OOT, I removed the cart from my 3DS and promptly replaced it with Majora's Mask. I was ready to immediately continue my adventures with Link.

As previously mentioned, I appreciate OOT for its place in recent video game history, but ultimately the magic wasn't there for me. Being that I was waaaay late to the party and never played it on release I didn't have the fond memories that others obviously do. However, it set me up perfectly and taught me the basics of the 3D era of Zelda games so that I could truly enjoy Majora's Mask. I have just completed MM and I must say, I freaking loved this game!

I found that I appreciated the inhabitants of Termina more than OOT and the creepy tone of the world also struck more of a cord with me. I don't know, its all subjective, but I liked the weird/creepiness of MM better. Termina also seemed much more dense and populated. I really liked the Skull Kid character from OOT too, so having him as the main antagonist (initially) was great!

I also found the puzzles/temples in OOT a little obtuse having never been exposed to them prior to my play through earlier this year. I made it through relatively unscathed, yet needed a nudge from a walkthrough on occasion. Being a little more prepared going into MM, I had less trouble this time around knowing what to expect and because of this, had a little more fun.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed MM, more so than OOT. I think the quirky/creepy characters hit home with me a little more and having now had some experience with the Zelda series, allowed me to really become immersed and enjoy it. To end with, I can see why it may have had some people on the fence with the three day cycle mechanic, but in the end - this is my favourite Zelda game so far! (out of the two I have played haha).

Three word review: "Purple purple purple"
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Re: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Post by gallo_pinto »

For me, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is THE game. It is my favorite game of all time and the game that turned video games from a fun diversion to my favorite hobby. I don't usually replay games, but I've beaten Ocarina of Time 10-12 times.

I was 12 when Ocarina of Time came out and 12 is probably the ideal age to fall in love with a game like this. I was old enough to know what to do and where to go, but young enough that I still thought anything was possible and filled in every missing detail with my imagination. I tried to find a way to steal the Spiritual Stone from Darunia instead of having to beat Dodongo's Cavern. I was convinced that there had to be a way to rescue the Zora trapped in the Ice Cavern, so I combed every inch of it for hours trying to find them. I was really moved when I had to say goodbye to Saria after the Forest Temple and I whooped with excitement after Sheik's real identity was revealed.

Ocarina of Time has received so many accolades and so much praise that I completely understand why someone coming to it much later would feel it didn't live up to the hype. But playing it at the time was a magical experience and after replaying the really well done 3DS remake, I still think it holds up great. I know it's cooler to say that Wind Waker or Majora's Mask is your favorite Zelda game, but I'm still on Team Ocarina. It's beautiful, ground-breaking and really, really fun.

Three Word Review: Still the Best
Lokhe

Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (10.4.16): The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Post by Lokhe »

Ah, Ocarina of Time. Long was the time when I called this my favourite game ever, and in a way it still kind of holds true.

The world of Hyrule instantly drew 8-year old me in, with its lovely aesthetics, timeless music and ominous mystery. I'm actually at a loss for words when trying to describe just what it is about this game that speaks to me so much. I guess it's everything! The different, starkly contrasting themes of each temple and area. The secrets and freedom of traversal, granted to you by Epona, hookshot and iron boot.

At the time, this classical hero epic was entirely new and fascinating to me. It makes me smile when I think about Shigeru Miyamoto and how he used to explore caves and such as a child, inspiring him to create The Legend of Zelda. Because, in turn, this game inspired me to go out and find adventures of my own.

I'm sure most of us who has played games for as long as we can remember, are shaped in portion by the games we've played. Out of all the games that made an impression on me as a child, this is probably the most important one. These days, I consider Dark Souls to be the supreme gaming experience and I think it resonates with me so powerfully because it is, really, just the grown up version of Ocarina of Time.

I have played through the game in excess of 20 times, many of those in a single sitting. It's safe to say that I utterly adore it and will carry all the fond memories with me, for as long as I draw breath.
NeoGazza

Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (10.4.16): The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Post by NeoGazza »

This is going to sound as herecy but...I hated Ocarina.
My expectations for Ocarina were so high that -realistically- they could never be met. As a 22-year old guy I was looking forward to the follow-up to one of my favorite 16-bit titles, A Link to the Past. The game had been delayed time and time again and while the Sony Playstation was churning out classic after classic - Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil to mention but a few- Nintendo's choice to stick with the cartridge format severely hampered the N64 in numerous ways. For me, the time of playing 8 and 16 bit games was done...it was time to move on and the Playstation filled that gap perfectly; Mature and complex titles which looked fantastic to boot.
Then again...this was Zelda - a series of which I had completed and loved all previous iterations (including the much maligned Zelda 2)! I simply had to go out and play this game and since Mario 64 broke all the rules for platformers,I was banking on Ocarina to do the same for Action RPG's.
When I finally popped the cartridge in, my expectations were sky high and I was more or less expecting a deep, complex, 3d rendition of a Link to the Past. What I felt I got was a Super Mario 64 RPG-light starring Link. I finished the game and felt as though I had played an OK game, but nothing groundbreaking or memorable. I was let down by one of my most beloved franchises and my love for the Zelda franchise never really mended since. Ocarine is the last Zelda game that I went out to buy.
I played it again in 2010 to see whether the universal acclaim it had garnered since it's original release was warranted but I came off disappointed once again. Perhaps a victim of my personal expectations, my own gravitation towards meatier and more elaborate games at the time and my age in 1998 have made sure that Ocarina is the one game where I fell out of love with gaming for a while.
Jusifer

Re: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Post by Jusifer »

To make a long story short Majora's mask takes all the good aspects of Ocarina of time and compresses it to a shorter much more enjoyable version adding new original ideas and themes with more depth. The three day sandbox, the awesome fun masks and the dark theme make Majora's mask the best legend of zelda game of all time. It's not too long, just as challenging as Ocarina of time and even more fun. In my opinion since it doesn't have the triangles or even zelda herself it shouldn't even be called the legend of zelda Majora's mask. The game should be named the legend of link since it is all about link accepting his own death after all.

Three word review: "Alice in wonderland?"

Don't know how well known the game theory show is to you guys but you should check it out since it has a very nice episode on Majora's mask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S1SVkysIRw
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Re: All things The Legend of Zelda

Post by AndrewBrown »

While replaying Ocarina of Time, my experience was constantly at war with the nostalgia--or the mythology--around the game and its actual existence. All of the game's most memorable events and environments are connected by the inelegant Hyrule Field, a sprawl that creates a sense of size and distance but fails to do anything meaningful with that space. In my heart, I remember the Deku Tree sending me to find the Princess of Destiny and deliver to her the Kokiri Stone. In my head, I remember rolling across the Field in a race to reach the castle before the gates close for the night, forcing me to stand about uselessly until the gates open again. This is an apt summary of the Ocarina of Time experience: traversing space in between memorable events. As players complete more events and complete all of the activities in the space, their traversal becomes more and more labored.

This is a problem which, sadly, only exacerbates itself as the game progresses. Exploring this iteration of Hyrule as a young Link, Hyrule Field aside, reveals new pockets of life practically around every corner; from the Gorons inside Death Mountain to the Skull Kids in the Lost Woods, the player encounters just as many strange wonders as deadly dangers. Young Link's Hyrule is dense with life and activities. Adult Link's Hyrule, in contrast, seems far more desolate. Where life has not been driven away or killed off, it struggles to survive at all. This sense of emptiness creates a very effective atmosphere, but that same atmosphere also makes Adult Link's Hyrule much less of a joy to explore. More often than not, Adult Link will find that the most of the things to do in an area can only be done as Young Link. There is less to discover, less to enhance Link with, which is the antithesis of what a Zelda game had been up until this point. This turns the latter half of Ocarina of Time into traversing the Hyrule space on a dungeon gauntlet, dungeons which resort to repeating many of the same ideas and puzzles to sustain themselves. I will be quite happy to never see another Silver Rupee Puzzle for the rest of my life.

Ocarina of Time is one of videogaming's great monoliths, so it's difficult to say much meaningful about it. For better or worse, it is the title against which all subsequent console-based Zeldas are weighed and measured, and I believe it is these problems I have outlined which future titles are in answer to. From the dense Termina in Majora's Mask, to the more intricate Hyrule Field of Twilight Princess, to the unorthodox spaces of the Great Sea and Skyloft, all future Zeldas have been in answer to the principle design problem of Ocarina of Time: Traversing space.
Jmalmis

Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (12.5.16) - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Post by Jmalmis »

Majora's mask terrified me when I was a kid. Ocarina of time was my favourite thing ever but 9-year old me could never muster the courage to play more than the first couple of minutes. The unsettling music, nightmarish viual style and every character's state of complete denial presents the scariest type of world to me. A world completely devoid of reason. Even the way Link enters the world makes no sense, one long drop inside a tree and all of a sudden he is in a clocktower in the middle of town. This place should not exist. Even the reused assets from Ocarina of time builds upon this. I've never seen anything like it.
The much denser world feels very much alive, with every single character having his or her own little subplot that you can explore, all tying into the inevital doom facing this world. Sure Link himself can travel back in time but there is no mention what happens to the rest of Termina. Does it travel back with him?, Or does the player leave behind countless Terminas, doomed to destruction?

At the end of the day; Majora's Mask is a fantastic game and I'd recommend it to anyone who appretiates a dark narrative. I often find myself thinking about Majora's Mask, even if I haven't played it in years. I could write about it for hours, but I wont torture the poor person on the Cane and Rinse crew who might have to read my rambles aloud. Such a shame that the Dungeons are all a bit rubbish though.
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Flabyo
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Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (12.5.16) - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Post by Flabyo »

I really dislike this one. But I know that a lot of the things that I find wrong with it are things they corrected in the 3ds remake. There is a lot I like about it, it's really only one thing that ruins it...

The save system. In the original game saving would reset the clock back to the start of the three days. It meant you had to commit to fairly long play sessions if you wanted to actually progress, and at the point in my life this came out I simply couldn't do that. It was too punishing, and I couldn't complete it, I simply didn't have enough free hours in the day to do so.

It's a shame, because the darker, warped tone of it really appealed (probably why I think twilight princess is the best of the 3D era games...), and the little vignettes you played through to try and fill the notebook was pretty revolutionary from a game design perspective.
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Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (12.5.16) - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Post by ratsoalbion »

Flabyo wrote:The save system. In the original game saving would reset the clock back to the start of the three days.
That's not quite true as you could use the owl statues and pick up where you left off.

Having said that I think the save system hindered my enjoyment of the original too, but as you say, that's fixed in the wonderful 3DS remake.
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Re: Our next Zelda podcast recording (12.5.16) - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Post by Flabyo »

ratsoalbion wrote:That's not quite true as you could use the owl statues and pick up where you left off.
I don't recall any of those being in dungeons? Didn't you have to leave to find one, and that reset it? It's been a while...
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