Ocarina of Time... what do you think of this game 24 years later?

[Prowler]

Ocarina of Time was the first ever 3D Zelda game and one of the most iconic games for the Nintendo 64. Hell, one of the most iconic games from its generation.

I was 8 when I first played it. Before that my only experience with Zelda had been the original NES game. I didn't even get to play A Link to the Past until 2001 or so. So it was quite a jump for me to go from NES Zelda to Ocarina Zelda.

Ocarina of Time was a whole new experience for me at the time. Since I didn't grow up playing RPG games, I hadn't played any plot heavy games until then. Games like TMNT, Mega Man, Mario, Sonic, Tetris and DKC weren't exactly plot heavy. I mostly grew up playing platformers. And hell, even the original Zelda had pretty much no plot.

Ocarina was the first 3D action adventure game I played. Also the first game that had properly developed NPCs that made me empathise with them.

I definitely felt gaming had peaked with Ocarina at the time. It seemed so massive and epic at the time and like I truly was trying to save the world and myy friends from evil.

For years I considered Ocarina the GOAT game. Until I replayed it around 2013 or so and noticed it had not aged that well. I still liked it but no longer loved it. Nor did I bother getting all the gold skultullas.

In 2017 I finally bought the 3DS remaster of the game and my love for the game sort of rekindled a bit... but still nowhere close to what I felt in 1998. Plus I beat the game in like 2 weeks which is crazy considering I spent coj tless hours on that game back in the 90s. When did Ocarina become such a small game?? Took me less than 30 hours to beat it!

Ocarina will always hold a special place in my heart like many other games from its time do, but just like them, it clearly aged and I'm aware it's no longer great and let alone cutting edge. I used to love Mario 64, Star Fox 64 and Banjo-Kazooie as well. I think Banjo aged the best out of those. But it still isn't as magical as it was back then.

Ocarina and its world and cast of characters will forever be something I like to reminisce about. Saria will always be Links best friend to me.

What about you? Thoughts?

[Leo656]

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.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

It is still my 2nd favorite game of all time right under Final Fantasy 7. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece and I play it at least once every 2 years.

[Prowler]

In some ways, your experience was similar to mine.

The Z targeting and the automatic jumps really made the game better. Without them it would probably be a mess to play.

I remember being shocked Sheik was Zelda all along. But I was 8. Had I been some years older I would have predicted that from the very first time I met the guy.

1998 was a pretty strong year for games though. Didn't FF7 come out around the same time as Ocarina as well? But I didn't have a PS1 so I couldn't compare both games.

I don't remember anyone I knew who had the N64 back then hating the game. I first began seeing several people online claiming OOT was overrated around the late 2000s and early 2010s. That was when Twillight Princess was considered the best 3d Zelda game to date and people had begun feeling nostalgia for Wind Waker.

Well I'm yet to play TP, but I'm not big on WW tbh. Even if graphically and mechanically is better than OOT nowadays I still find OOT much more fun.

A lot of people also prefer Majora's Mask to OOT nowadays but I dunno. I liked Majora and all, but I never felt the same connection to it as I did to OOT. I wouldn't say it disappointed me, but it just feels so different from other 3d Zelda games with its time limit mechanic that it makes it frustrating at times.

BOTW really impressed me. Made me feel like I was playing a huge epic game as well even if the plot is broken down into some memory videos scattered across the world map in random order. But it definitely felt like the next step in Zelda games kinda like OOT did back in the day.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog McMutt

It is still my 2nd favorite game of all time right under Final Fantasy 7. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece and I play it at least once every 2 years.

Sad to say, it's no longer in my personal top 10. Perhaps not even in my top 20.

I'd feel more compelled to play it every 2 years or so if it wasn't for the awful dungeon that Jabu Jabu is. I really don't want to go through that horrendous dungeon again...

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Prowler

1998 was a pretty strong year for games though. Didn't FF7 come out around the same time as Ocarina as well? But I didn't have a PS1 so I couldn't compare both games.

Video game release dates:

Final Fantasy VII
Japan: 31 January 1997
North America: 7 September 1997
United Kingdom: 14 November 1997
Continental Europe: 17 November 1997

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Japan: 21 November 1998
North America: 23 November 1998
Europe: 11 December 1998
Australasia: 18 December 1998

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Video game release dates:

Final Fantasy VII
Japan: 31 January 1997
North America: 7 September 1997
United Kingdom: 14 November 1997
Continental Europe: 17 November 1997

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Japan: 21 November 1998
North America: 23 November 1998
Europe: 11 December 1998
Australasia: 18 December 1998

You could have just simply said FFVII came out in 1997. Instead, you copy and pasted dates from Wikipedia as always.

[neatoman]

I've played this game more as an adult than as a kid, I don't even think I finished it as a kid. Not sure why, maybe I just found it less interesting as a kid?

[Leo656]

Man, FF7 was another life-changing game for me. I think I messed with Super Mario RPG first, but otherwise I'd never messed with RPGs at all but when I saw my friend playing FF7 I was totally blown away. He'd just gotten a PS1 and didn't even have a memory card yet, so he couldn't even save it, he just kept playing the first part of the game over and over for a few days without saving it until he could finally get a memory card.

That game and WCW vs. The World were the entire reason I wanted a PS1 at all. I still remember all the days I came home from school and immediately fired up FF7, then played for hours until like 3am. The graphics (cutscenes especially) blew me away and the gameplay was addicting as hell. After that, I was never exactly what you'd call a "big" RPG guy, but I definitely started playing a ton more of them.

I think my non-wrestling game Top 4 of the late 90s year-by-year would be Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy VII, Ocarina of Time, and Metal Gear Solid. There were other games I spent more time with, mostly the N64 wrestling games, but setting that genre aside each one of those I've listed were especially impactful and life-changing. The top "Holy SH*T, I've never seen anything like this before!" games, for me, of that specific period.

I still remember little things, like what clothes I'd have been wearing when I was playing those games, what time of year I was apt to play each of them (Super Mario 64 was my annual Christmas Break game of choice for many years), which CDs I'd be listening to when I wasn't in the mood to listen to a game's soundtrack while playing... stuff like that. To this day, whenever I hear "Juke Joint Jezebel" by KMFDM, for at least a second or two my brain immediately thinks, "FF7 Boss Fight".

Good times. Great memories.

[neatoman]

Speaking FFVII, I didn't finish that one until I got it for the Switch, but for that one I have a more concrete answer for why.

Spoiler:

The Switch version has a fast forward function as well as an auto battle function.

Spoiler:

Can you really blame me though? It takes forever to complete, especially when you have to account for loading times on the PS1.

[Prowler]

The N64 was very special to me back in 1996-2001.

Ocarina was definitely the cream of the crop to me but I also loved Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Blast Corps, Star Fox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, GoldenEye, Mario Party 2, Mario Kart 64 and F-Zero X.

I think Banjo aged significantly better than Mario since it came out a few years later and thus had more refined mechanics. In Super Mario 64 you feel like you're constantly walking on ice. You jump and land on a platform... and you have to move the joystick quickly as you land to avoid Mario walking 5 steps forward and falling off the platform. That's frustrating. Banjo doesn't have that problem.

Star Fox has good mechanics still but rails on shooters is a very outdated type of game nowadays which makes SF64 feel like a very short game from the arcade era.

F-Zero X besides the graphics, has aged pretty well imo. The controls are still good.

Mario Kart 64 is fine and all but seems rather bland compared to other MK games that came out since then.

Diddy Kong Racing aged pretty well because an overworld and adventure like mode in a racing game isn't a concept that's ever been used since then. I'm surprised Mario Kart hasn't tried something similar yet.

The others I haven't played in like 20 years. So I can't say how well they've aged.

Other games I liked such as Yoshi's Story aged OK because it's a 2D game. It was always going to age fine.

I think the Mario Golf and Tennis entries for the console still are good games nowadays but you'd honestly have more fun with the more recent ones which have improved graphics and mechanics.

As for Final Fantasy, I didn't grow up playing RPGs on the SNES and then my brother didn't get us a PS1 therefore I missed out on the prime years of the franchise.

The only FF game I've played to this day so far was X. I liked it but there's others that are generally considered better.

7, 8 and 9 are available for the Switch for cheap but I'm not sure they aged well enough for me to pull the trigger on them.

And yes I'll play 6 someday too.

[Leo656]

Actually neatoman, when I made it a point to finally complete Final Fantasy VII back in 2019 or whenever, I was actually very shocked at how short it actually is. At least compared to how I remembered it. I mean, I tend to play games in 8-10 hour blocks almost every day, anyway, at least when I have time.

But the whole reason I never finished it, despite taking multiple tries, was because I'd inevitably hit that Chocobo breeding part, and I always got frustrated trying to breed a Gold one, and then I'd get distracted. This time, I got a Gold Chocobo very quickly, and that alone removed a few hours of repetitive gameplay.

Then again, I didn't bother going after the super-hard Weapons Bosses either, and that probably took a few hours off, too. I imagine had I bothered with that, the game would have taken me a lot longer to finish. I just personally really suck at those so I generally avoid them.

Anyway, yeah, it's not actually THAT long. But it did feel like it back in the day. As it is it took me maybe a week of playtime to finish it, which for me is practically nothing. That includes several days where I played after work and thus only had like 4 hours or so to put in.

As for RPGs in general, oh man did I love Super Mario RPG and FF7, to the point where since then I've played quite a few, but only finished a couple. I've beaten Final Fantasy I and II, FF7, Super Mario RPG, all the Paper Mario games pre-Wii U, Dragon Quest/Warrior for NES, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I and II, and I'm sure there's a few I'm forgetting. But I've played a lot that I've gotten distracted from and never finished, such as Final Fantasy X, Blue Dragon, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, and a ton more. I also own a TON that I've never played but fully intend to One Day.

I really love RPGs of all kinds, now, and it's all thanks to Super Mario RPG and FF7. Turn-based or "action" style, JRPG or otherwise, I just really love them. Not my favorite type of gameplay but they're just so f*cking addictive, and occasionally immersive too. Like, I always say that KOTOR is low-key the Very Best Thing about the entire Star Wars franchise, and I actually do believe that. Nothing else of the brand that I've experienced ever gave me so much joy while also completely making me feel like I'm living in that universe. You can do things ANY way you want to and it's just so goddamn immersive and fun, even if it's a little stiff nowadays.

So glad I let my buddy talk me into renting Super Mario RPG (same buddy I watched play FF7) once upon a time. I'd never given a single sh*t about RPGs - they were totally "for nerds" before then - but ever since then I've never looked back. FF7 is the game that made RPGs "cool" for everyone, but anyone who played Super Mario RPG knows that game was its own revelation, even if it wasn't as widely celebrated.

And of course Final Fantasy II and III (or correctly, IV and VI) and Secret of Mana were played and adored by many SNES owners, but they weren't actually all THAT popular in America if we're being totally honest. It was still considered "Nerd Sh*t". People can take shots at the cutscene graphics in FF7 for not having aged incredibly well, but we gotta be real, those cutscene graphics were what blew people away enough to make them play a "nerd game". The same kids who used to make fun of the kids playing FFII on SNES were the ones popping FF7 into their PS1. That's huge, any way you look at it. People who couldn't even tell you what an RPG was, were now saying one of them was their new all-time favorite game.

Pretty wild, man.

[neatoman]

Sure, it's probably shorter than it feels, it's just that being able to play the game at triple speed helps with grinding and other tedious bits. They wouldn't have included that feature if the game didn't tend to feel pretty sluggish.

There are definitely games where it comes across like there is a lot of it than there really is because of various factors. If you play MGS1 (or the GameCube remake that I'm more familiar with I guess) as intended, it will take you a very long time to complete. But if you skip over the cut scenes and go through the stealth as fast as possible, it won't be very long at all, almost surprising how little gameplay there actually is.

Then there is Wind Waker, which is a pretty tedious game in it's original form, which is why the Wii U edition added an optional fast sail and drastically reduced the fetch quest towards the end.

Spoiler:

And this might be blasphemy to some, but I wish Half-Life 2 was updated so you could skip the segments where characters just talk. The commitment to never having any real cutscenes worked fine in HL1 but in HL2 it just fails miserably, I don't care about listening to Mossman and Alyx bicker everytime I play the game.

[Leo656]

WHY would a person ever skip the cutscenes in a MGS game?!

I openly admit that especially as the series went on they got pretty overwhelming but to a degree it's just part of what that series is.

It's like going on the bumper cars and refusing to crash into anyone. Why are we even here, then? WHY ARE WE EVEN HERE?!?!

Wind Waker honestly never bothered me either. I can see how it would bother some but it didn't bother me.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Leo656

WHY would a person ever skip the cutscenes in a MGS game?!

To see how much actual gameplay there is. It's the same reason I tried playing Bioshock with the color turned off or System Shock 2 with a controller, I am just curious like that.

[Leo656]

I guess. I sure couldn't do it.

[Andrew NDB]

Honestly it was just OK to me. Memorable, but not transformative. But I came late to the party in playing it.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

[QUOTE=Prowler;1929651]

As for Final Fantasy, I didn't grow up playing RPGs on the SNES and then my brother didn't get us a PS1 therefore I missed out on the prime years of the franchise.

The only FF game I've played to this day so far was X. I liked it but there's others that are generally considered better.

7, 8 and 9 are available for the Switch for cheap but I'm not sure they aged well enough for me to pull the trigger on them.

You are really missing out by not playing 7. Sure the graphics look dated, but everything else is superb. In my opinion it has the best storyline out of any game I have ever played. Each song they use is so appropriate for each scene. The characters are likeable (which they aren't in FinalFantasy 8 ) and the battle mechanics are simple and satisfying. Final Fantasy 6 is good as well, but FF7 blows everything else away. I realized I messed up with this whole quote thing.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog McMutt

7, 8 and 9 are available for the Switch for cheap but I'm not sure they aged well enough for me to pull the trigger on them.

There is remastered versions of 8 and 9 on Playstation Network. Probably elsewhere, too.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

There is remastered versions of 8 and 9 on Playstation Network. Probably elsewhere, too.

That was actually a quote of what the other guy said, but I accidently deleted the last part of the quote command. I actually own Ff 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 all for the ps 1. I have collected hundreds of old school games throughout the years. I have beaten at least 95 percent of them.