The Oracle dualogy has always been a blind spot for me when it comes to the Zelda series. I was so glad to find upon diving in that not only does Oracle of Ages live up to the high bar the Zelda series has set for itself, but it also executes certain ideas better than other games in the series!

The story is fairly standard for a Zelda game. In Oracle of Ages, Link finds himself in the world of Labrynna needing to rescue the Oracle of Ages herself, Nayru from the clutches of evil. And lo and behold, you do this by spelunking through many dungeons, gaining new items, and helping the townsfolk of the world in typical Zelda fashion. The main gimmick of this game is the Harp of Ages, an item that allows you to teleport between two separate maps of Labrynna, the past timeline, and the present timeline.

Traversing through the world to locate your next objective presents itself as a puzzle box. With only the vaguest sense of direction as to where your next objective lies, you need to poke and prod at the limits of the map to chart your course. The act of getting from point A to point B can be challenging, requiring clever use of the items in your arsenal as well as spatial thinking of how the past and present world maps fit together. While the path you take through Oracle of Ages is strictly linear, I found that exploring the world still felt open-ended and rewarded my curiosity. Two aspects of the game's design are key to my feeling this way.

1. The game does not care if you get lost and do not know where to go next.
2. Your traversal of the world unfolds entirely on a continuous map.

I got lost many times throughout the adventure! However, I found that getting lost only increased the satisfaction I felt when determining the correct path forward. Since the world map you traverse is relatively small in the grand scheme of things, there are only so many places to check when figuring out where to go next. The game design allows you to get lost in the world of Labrynna but be rewarded for your exploration efforts before too long. Having your exploration take place across one continuous map also helps to instill this feeling. It feels as if you are exploring a living space rather than discrete zones.

I was surprised to find myself constantly comparing the world design of Oracle of Ages to that of Skyward Sword; both of which are games directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi. Skyward Sword's world design acts in a very similar fashion where traveling through the overworld to get to the next objective feels like one giant traversal puzzle. While I like Skyward Sword, you rarely feel like you are charting your own course through its world. The linearity of your route becomes obvious since the way forward is constantly signposted and overworld areas are separated into distinct zones. This makes the world feel more disconnected.

Oracle of Age's dungeons are also a delight to puzzle out. Many of the games' dungeons force you to think about the architecture of the entire space rather than only think about one puzzle in a specific room. In that way, Age's overworld design and dungeon design are tightly linked. My favorite Zelda dungeons adopt this approach and it's why the Crown Dungeon, Mermaid's Cave, and Jabu Jabu's Belly were some of my favorite dungeons in the game.

This is a top-tier 2D Zelda experience and I'm excited to see what lies in store in Oracle of Seasons.

Favorite Tracks: For a Zelda game, the soundtrack is unfortunately one of the weaker aspects. The dungeon themes especially don't stand out much and can seem to drone on.

Title Screen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3LXEInpQCc&list=PL2F0B084555138765&index=1

Skull Dungeon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4RR12EUhs&list=PL2F0B084555138765&index=21

Boss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f327T53lEmM&list=PL2F0B084555138765&index=45

Credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOvyyiv8fHk&list=PL2F0B084555138765&index=41

Not as big on the time travel mechanic as I am the seasons mechanic because it was done before and, time wise, using the harp is more tedious than the rod in OoS. There are some great dungeons but the bizarre control change for swimming after getting the mermaid suit is my biggest reason for preferring the other version. Swimming becomes obnoxious. The reuse of music and graphics is why I ultimately end up preferring Link's Awakening to either Oracle game. Nonetheless, Ages is still an enjoyable game.

I have genuinely no idea why everyone says this game is more focused on puzzles than Seasons, in the slightest. There's a couple okay dungeons in the second half of the game but everything else about this game was a linear snoozefest I really didn't feel like playing. The puzzles and overworld design never get anywhere close to the creativity and depth that Seasons consistently churned out, which really surprised me as these games came out on the same day. The music was way worse than Seasons too. The story is better but that's not saying a whole lot.
Better than Zelda 1, I guess, but this game is what I thought the Oracle games were before I had played them fully.

Played this one as a linked game, enjoyed it even more than Seasons.
It's own story is good and richer than the Seasons one, the overall conclusion that appears in the linked game is even better. For that reason I think it might be worth it to play Ages>Seasons to balance out the amount of interesting plot, although I didn't play this way myself yet.
I also really liked both new characters and returning ones from N64 Zeldas.

Just like in OoS, both music and visuals are fantastic, devs could really make wonders on a limited hardware back then. I liked the puzzle focused gameplay of Ages more than combat focused one of Seasons, but it's good they made them different. I think two games connected into one journey was an amazing concept that I would like to see more often. The only thing I didn't like - linked game became way too easy with all the rings and upgrades from the first part.