It was one of the first heavily story-based games I'd played, as well, although I did play "Link to the Past" shortly before that, like a few weeks before Ocarina came out. I'd played the first two NES Zelda games in the past but it was the one-two punch of the SNES and N64 games that solidified me as a fan of the series. After I beat them, I went back and fully dove into the NES games again, finally beating the first game which I'd never managed to do as a kid.
It definitely was of epic scale for its time. I wasn't even really a "casual fan" of the series, but the massive multi-page EGM cover story previewing Ocarina got me so interested that I went and pre-ordered it right away. Just reading about all the different things you could do, it sounded like the most amazing game ever made. And it probably was, up to that point.
I've beaten it a few times, but I haven't played it for a few years honestly. And I admit that it's no longer as "epic" as it felt back then, but that's hardly the game's fault considering how many games like Elder Scrolls and even the rest of the Zelda games since have completely eclipsed it in scope and scale. Things evolve, that's what happens.
I don't often get hung up on how games have aged. Obviously I notice, but I generally still feel the same sense of fun and wonder I did as a kid because I still have very vivid memories of playing them then, and all the old feelings tend to come flooding back. Much of it feels "quaint" nowadays, but I never fail to remember how ahead of the curve it was at the time.
I still remember what a revelation the Z-targeting was, for example. It seems like such a little thing but it completely changed the way games would be played forevermore, like Mario 64's adjustable camera.
It's smaller than it felt at the time and the graphics are obviously of their time. But otherwise it's still pretty great to me, and those other things don't even really bother me much anyway.
I did know a few people who hated it when it came out, though. As I recall, they weren't fans of the inventory system, for some reason. I don't really remember, their complaints seemed really bizarre even at the time. Like, there'd be a bunch of us sitting in the cafeteria talking about playing it, and how awesome it was... but there'd always be the one kid who was like, "I thought it sucked, they ruined Zelda."
I remember them giving reasons, but they didn't make any sense and so I don't even really remember them at all. We'd all just be like, "...Okay, weirdo" and go back to our conversation.