25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
 

The upcoming Tuesday marks the 25th anniversary of the relase of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. As usual with Zelda, it has been ranked among the greatest video game of all time.

The video game was first released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan on 21 November 1998, and in North America two days later. In Europe, it was released on 11 December the same year and in Australasia on 18 December that year. It meant that in Western countries, many children and teenagers got it as a Christmas gift that holiday season.

Introducing 3D graphics to the Zelda series, Ocarina of Time has link travelling through Hyule and in time. It was later also released for the Nintendo Gamecube and the Ique Player. A 3D version was released in mid 2011.

It's my 2nd favorite video game of all time. I play it about once every 2 years. I can get every heart piece and upgrade without a guide. I can also beat every dungeon without a guide. As long as I am taking written notes while playing the water temple. I also make sure to never forget about that pesky key hidden underneath of the stone block in the water temple. It is stamped in my brain. Everything about this game is just so fantastic. I have more fun playing this than Breath of the Wild.

The 3DS remake was excellent and gave the game a much needed graphics boost. It's the definitive version.

At least until Nintendo ports it to Switch.

They'll most like do what they did with Mario most recently. A limited edition that collects Ocarina, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess in 1080p.

Wow. I was working at a FuncoLand when this was released - for younger people who don't know, FuncoLand was sort of the first video game chain store where you would trade in old games for cash or credit.

My younger cousins were really into gaming at the time, and for Christmas my Aunt asked me if I could find the Gold Special Edition cartridge for them. We actually still had at the store and so "Santa" had a victory that year in my Aunt's household. :lol:

It was until later the next year that I played the game myself though. IIRC I only dabbled with it a bit - only an hour or two before I moved on. I love Zelda but the only two games that ever truly grabbed me tightly were the original NES game and then the SNES game. I finished the 2nd one on the NES but I sort of trudged through it.

It's great the world's in OOT are neither too big nor too small I honestly wish games stayed like this rather than going open world. Even replaying this game now you don't notice or care that Zora's Domain is like only a few rooms and a upper hallway, it just works.

Early 3D games really had the right size due to the limitations of consoles back then and the developers made it work. OOT holds up for being one of the earliest 3D adventure games ever made to this day for this reason.

I played this game to death back in the day. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much fun with it as its predecessors and never went back to it as often. The Water and Shadow Temples were a slog, the desert was a bit of a pain, and the Gerudo Valley stealth mission could get aggravating at times. All those things would put me off replaying it. It's still a good game, just not my favorite of the franchise.

My personal favorite has always been Link to the Past, but I think this one might be my number 2.

LttP is definitely my favorite but, sadly, Ocarina doesn't even break my Top 5. I had more fun with the original NES games and Wind Waker. Hell, I think I might like Twilight Princess more, though I'd have to play them both again to compare. But I do like it way better than Majora.

LttP is definitely mine as well. For me it's like the last, best polished "classic" Zelda game. The Light and Dark World could be called that to an extent, I suppose, but after that Zelda games mostly started finding "gimmicks." First time travel, then it's Waterworld with a boat, then you can become a wolf, then you can fly on a bird, etc.. You know, just gimme the standard overworld, some caves, dungeons, and a town or two -- no cyber arm, no wolf changing and no post-apocalyse.

I will say Twilight Princess has my all time favorite Zelda boss fight with the Stallord. Using the Spinner against that was a blast. That game had fun boss fights in general, and probably my favorite version of the Kakariko Village theme.



Link to the Past is special for me, considering it has (in my opinion) one of the happiest and most beautiful endings in the franchise. Not to mention you actually GET the TriForce. I can praise that game all day. Haha.

this is so true, by making things more 'realistic', it has made games more boring. If I was a kid with all the time in the world perhaps I wouldn't mind as much but having to traverse through basically copy/paste "areas" to go to a the next location gets tiring that no amount of sidequests or gimmicks can change.

Honestly if videogame worlds stayed the size they were in say the PS2/Gamecube generation, I would totally be fine with it. Back then you could explore every inch of a game world because each individual area was not that big, and it felt rewarding.

Now games are way too huge, especially open world games, and everything is just barren land or copy/paste areas over and over. Even Zelda Breath of Wild/Tears suffers from this.

Videogame worlds peaked in say 2005, when we were at the end of the PS2/Gamecube days. They should of stayed like that.

I actually agree with this. I prefer the size of the game worlds back then. Modern game worlds are just too overwhelming and time consuming.

I'm pretty sure I already made a somewhat long post about Ocarina but here goes...

Ocarina of Time was my 2nd Zelda game. Going right from NES Zelda to Ocarina was quite a difference.

I was 8 years old when my older brother bought Ocarina. Most likely was a 1998 Christmas gift for him.

Until then, I had only really played games like Mario, Mega Man, Donkey Kong Country, Tetris, Zelda 1, Tiny Toons games, Street Fighter, Mario Paint, F-Zero, Mario Kart, etc. OOT was the first game with an actual plot and developed NPC characters that I played. So it was a big deal for me and left a huge impact in my mind at the time. It seemed like the most epic and legendary game of all-time. As in gaming had peaked and there'd never be anything like it again. Never had I felt such a sense of adventure and connection to the game characters like I did in Ocarina. It really felt like I was saving the world and the friends I made a long the way. I was more or less the same age as Link in the beginning of the game and I could relate and imagine myself as him going on the adventure and making friends and fighting enemies. ´

One thing that I never forgot was Link's friendship with Saria. There was something very wholesome and magical about it when I was a kid. Maybe because I never had a best friend and, deep down, wished I had a best friend who also happened to be a girl? I dunno.

I don't think I need to go on about how influential Ocarina was and how cutting edge it was for its time. That has been covered to death.

For years, I swore OOT was the GOAT game. Then I finally replayed it on the GameCube around 2013 or so... and I no longer thought that, even though it was still a good game overall. But, from then on, I considered A Link to the Past the GOAT Zelda.

Then, in 2017, I bought the 3DS remake and my love for the game sort of rekindled. It's, by far, the best version of the game available. Updated graphics and QOL features that make parts such as the Water Temple feel like way less of a slog. Inside Lord Jabu-Jabu still sucks, though.

It will always hold a special place in my heart and I'll always see it as the blueprint in how to make a 3D action adventure game. The fact it's dated nowadays isn't necessarily the game's fault but more like the natural evolution of technology. Being a somewhat early 3D game it was bound to happen no matter how good it was at the time. Name one 3D game from the Saturn/PS1/N64 era that does not feel dated. Ocarina has aged better than some of the top games from that era, that's for sure.

For... game consoles, yes.

I've played very few PC games back when I was a kid/teenager, so I can't comment on those.

Anyway, I'm mostly talking about the genre Zelda falls into. The Z-targeting in particular was a great invention. Just like the joystick for 3D platformers was with Super Mario 64 two years before.

So it's actually happening.



Given the nature of the "Reveal Trailer" it seems it is still far off. Personally I don't think this is needed. Just package the existing game with Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess in an HD "Zelda 3D All-Stars," give them minor quality of life updates, give it a Switch 2 update that lets them run in 4K and we'd be fine.

OOT didn't need another remake. I'm honestly afraid, this game helped define my childhood. As excited as it will be to check out the game I loved with realistic graphics I don't know, not feeling it. Zelda looks better with a more stylyzed art style. Hyper realistic is not one of those I want.

The game is likely very far in development, they're only showing this since they don't want to take away from the stuff releasing this summer. We'll get a Zelda anniversary direct in september or so that gives us info on the movie, OOT remake and some other small stuff to "celebrate" and sell to us. Which we will all galdly consoom


Trash take. The 3DS version ruins the art style, gives too lighting and destroys key scenes
https://i.imgur.com/upxkWCL.png

I do and I don't. For Zelda I want like an 85% realism, 15% anime look. I think something like the Twilight Princess or Breath of the Wild visual takes are fine, though I don't like the cel-shaded filters.

Great news, with an Ocarina of Time remake existing, that means like 70% of the models and code for a Majora's Mask remake already exist!

I really rather they would invest this time into a truly next generation Zelda game and make it finally a traditional one with no gimmicks than muck around with a total remake of Ocarina of Time.

That's what I was hoping with LttP after the Link's Awakening remake. Never happened.

The release date says 2026 so I'm baffled we saw no gameplay in the trailer. Even just a shot of Link riding Epona through Hyrule field would have gotten people hyped.

Well, I was joking (though it is true, most an OoT remake can be reused for a MM remake). And I was hoping more for a remake of the Oracle games when that LA remake happened, you know, since those were the ones to directly recycle those assets.

It's not a huge mystery what the intention is with an Ocarina of Time remake - other than obvious trading in on nostalgia for what is still considered to be one of the best console games of all time.

Breath of Wild pretty much broke Zelda. It's immense success meant that most fans accepted they were never going back to the traditional formula, but the way forward was to try and merge the two differing versions. Open world but traditional dungeons, and a slight more emphasis on story and everyone would have been satisfied. Then Tears of the Kingdom came out and doubled down on the new 'open air' take.

This is their belated attempt to try and merge both formulas. Older fans that may have sworn off the series will come back because it's Ocarina of Time and newer fans will experience that a slightly more linear, story driven Zelda game.

They already did that when they kept 2D Zelda alive with the Link's Awakening remake and the brand new Echoes of Wisdom game on Switch 1, both followed the traditional Zelda formula, only playing as Zelda in the second.

But yeah I get the feeling Nintendo wants to keep the "classic" Zelda formula alive in 3D as well, so remakes is the best way to do it

Probably after this Nintendo will want to use their brand new Ocarina of Time engine for another Zelda game, sure. How cool would it be if they use it to finally make a LttP remake? LttP technically is the sequel to Ocarina of Time, story-wise.

Direct this Tuesday

I mean I'm already setting the expectations low that it'll be a 1:1 OOT remake with hyper realistic graphics. Not really my cup of tea but who knows they might get me to buy it. I'm more excited to see what the Zelda movie is like and I hope there's a zelda surprise that is actually cool and not just some lame announcements.
I'm also not expecting too much from the Nintendo Direct the following day since well OOT will be their big holiday title, there's not much big that they can announce.

But I'm pretty hyped nevertheless. I'm in a big Zelda mood. It really might be my favorite fantasy setting.

Whoa. Comes out on November 5th.

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-leg...ANOH_GY7vLheag

Looks good to me, I see people online complaining about Link's face but it's good. And I love how they kept the NPC's from the N64 game and updated hyrule castle town, it looks much more lively. The trailer at the end of the direct showed all later areas.

Also voice acting during the cutscenes! I was really worried they wouldn't include voice acting since when you talk to the characters in towns it's silent as usual, but glad Nintendo realize the cutscenes could use voices. Very excited to hear how all the important characters sound.

i was really scared, but I don't hate it but dont' love it either. I'm most likely going to get it, haven't played OOT since I played the Master Quest version on the Gamecube, but I never finished it, only the original in N64.

sad no other game announcements were made like small ones like say ALTTP/Four Swords on NSO app, or more cool merch.

For some reason the engine seems to be struggling with strands of hair, but that's about it.

Looks like it's the BotW engine, even has the same item selection. That's the one thing that worries me a bit, OoT was very much designed around puzzles using very specific items, hence the three item quick select. BotW/TotK treats weapons more like how Oblivion treats weapons, so there the selection system makes more sense. Using the the BotW system for a OoT remake seems like it would be tedious.

Other than that, yeah. Looks great. I've played the original OoT a lot and the thing that doesn't quite hold up is that Hyrule no longer seems like the massive world to explore like it did when I was a kid. Hyrule field is most just empty space with almost nothing worth exploring and most other areas seem rather cramped. This seems to fix that, adding a lot of detail and space.

Which makes me wonder, are there going to be like hidden bonus dungeons and such? Not like the tiny caverns randomly sprinkled around, like something more interesting to explore I mean.

EB Games in Canada is offering a special slipcover for those who preorder The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It seems to be a slipcover with a holographic image of the cover art on one side, and an image of the packaging of the N64 release.

https://x.com/ebgamescan/status/2098109371276263840

I think the image of the N64 packaging should be like the ones for the collector's edition of the N64 version. It sounds nice, but I'm still curious as to how the textured foil image of the US version will look.

As for us yanks, you can get the game for $10 less than the normal price if you can get a preorder in at Amazon and Wal-Mart's site. I managed to get one in at Wal-Mart's site this morning. I'm also getting the two amiibo, even though their functions don't seem all that impressive.

I'm looking forward to playing through all of the game to see how much things have changed. I requested to have the day after the release date off so I can play. Voice acting being added to the game was unexpected. I'd like to know who the voice actors are. I guess the way Saria and Mido's names were pronounced is official. I always imagined their pronunciations differently, like Saria was pronounced "Suh-ry-ah" and Mido was "My-do".

When Nintendo made it known on Friday that there would be two Nintendo Directs yesterday and today, I wish I could have put in for time off from work to see them, but I was concerned that it would have been too soon, even though my supervisor probably wouldn't mind. I woke up later than planned on Tuesday morning an Wednesday morning. So I just watched the directs at home before going into work, and I signed in remotely beforehand, and got some work in as well. The same thing even happened on Wednesday morning.

EB Games in Canada is offering a special slipcover for those who preorder The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It seems to be a slipcover with a holographic image of the cover art on one side, and an image of the packaging of the N64 release.

https://x.com/ebgamescan/status/2098109371276263840

I think the image of the N64 packaging should be like the ones for the collector's edition of the N64 version. It sounds nice, but I'm still curious as to how the textured foil image of the US version will look.

As for us yanks, you can get the game for $10 less than the normal price if you can get a preorder in at Amazon and Wal-Mart's site. I managed to get one in at Wal-Mart's site this morning. I'm also getting the two amiibo, even though their functions don't seem all that impressive.

I'm looking forward to playing through all of the game to see how much things have changed. I requested to have the day after the release date off so I can play. Voice acting being added to the game was unexpected. I'd like to know who the voice actors are. I guess the way Saria and Mido's names were pronounced is official. I always imagined their pronunciations differently.

When Nintendo made it known on Friday that there would be two Nintendo Directs on Tuesday and Wednesday, I wish I could have put in for time off from work to see them, but I was concerned that it would have been too soon, even though my supervisor probably wouldn't mind. I woke up later than planned on Tuesday morning an Wednesday morning. So I just watched the directs at home before going into work, and I signed in remotely beforehand, and got some work in as well. The same thing even happened on Wednesday morning.