Did you know there is a major supporting character in Zelda named Ralph? I didn't either, until playing this game.
After playing Oracle of Seasons I wasn't expecting Oracle of Ages to have much of a story. In Seasons the only real story takes place at the beginning and end of the game, so I was expecting the same here. But it seems as though someone at Capcom really wanted to make their Zelda fanfiction into an officially licensed Nintendo game, so the end result is Oracle of Ages.
The story in Oracle of Ages is about the oracle Nayru being possessed by a sorceress named Veran. Veran uses Nayru's control of time to bring sorrow to the people of Labrynna. She travels back in time and manipulates the queen into forcing the citizens to build a dark tower without rest. It's up to Link to stop Veran and save Nayru.
It's a weird story for a Zelda game, but at this point I appreciate any Zelda story that's different from the usual "Ganon is up to no good" schtick (although Ganon does appear in a linked game). The story takes a more active approach and even has a few small twists, which is appreciated for an old gameboy Zelda like this. Time travel has been done before in Zelda, but it was still interesting to watch the present time changing based on Veran wreaking havoc in the past. She's a much better villain than Onox, who doesn't do much.
The story, while not life-changing, helped draw me the world of this otherwise pretty uninspired Zelda game. The time shifting mechanic is the main gimmick, but it's functionally the same as the ALttP dark world, and narratively it isn't as interesting as travelling to OoT's ruined future. This game also has one of the most boring selections of dungeon items out of any Zelda game. Three of the dungeon items are just upgrades to existing items and one is the wand from ALttP that just creates a block. The true saving grace of this game is the Switch Hook, which is an interesting concept not really seen in future Zelda games. It's good for puzzle solving, which this game has a lot of.
It is said that Oracle of Ages focuses more on puzzle solving while Oracle of Seasons focuses more on combat. I've played both, so which would I say is the right approach? Well, 2D Zelda combat isn't anything too special (much like 3D Zelda combat to be honest), but higher difficulty mostly comes from more combat scenarios because the fail-state of solving puzzles isn't as punishing. So I like how the challenge ramps up in Seasons. But I miss the truly intricate puzzle design of the pre-BotW games, so I appreciated the dungeons of Oracle of Ages way more.
I also appreciated the overworld design of OoA way more than OoS. Oracle of Seasons carries the Skyward Sword philosophy of "solve puzzles to get around the overworld", which can be a bit of a hassle. Oracle of Ages has a simpler overworld, so you're free to travel around the area you've unlocked without running into anything that will break the pace.
Oracle of Ages is less inspired than Oracle of Seasons in some ways but I definitely prefer it based on the gameplay differences. Most people seem to prefer Oracle of Seasons, so I was surprised to see how much more I enjoyed this game. But whatever game you prefer, be sure to try linking the two games together because the endgame of the Oracle duology just might be the best thing about them.
After playing Oracle of Seasons I wasn't expecting Oracle of Ages to have much of a story. In Seasons the only real story takes place at the beginning and end of the game, so I was expecting the same here. But it seems as though someone at Capcom really wanted to make their Zelda fanfiction into an officially licensed Nintendo game, so the end result is Oracle of Ages.
The story in Oracle of Ages is about the oracle Nayru being possessed by a sorceress named Veran. Veran uses Nayru's control of time to bring sorrow to the people of Labrynna. She travels back in time and manipulates the queen into forcing the citizens to build a dark tower without rest. It's up to Link to stop Veran and save Nayru.
It's a weird story for a Zelda game, but at this point I appreciate any Zelda story that's different from the usual "Ganon is up to no good" schtick (although Ganon does appear in a linked game). The story takes a more active approach and even has a few small twists, which is appreciated for an old gameboy Zelda like this. Time travel has been done before in Zelda, but it was still interesting to watch the present time changing based on Veran wreaking havoc in the past. She's a much better villain than Onox, who doesn't do much.
The story, while not life-changing, helped draw me the world of this otherwise pretty uninspired Zelda game. The time shifting mechanic is the main gimmick, but it's functionally the same as the ALttP dark world, and narratively it isn't as interesting as travelling to OoT's ruined future. This game also has one of the most boring selections of dungeon items out of any Zelda game. Three of the dungeon items are just upgrades to existing items and one is the wand from ALttP that just creates a block. The true saving grace of this game is the Switch Hook, which is an interesting concept not really seen in future Zelda games. It's good for puzzle solving, which this game has a lot of.
It is said that Oracle of Ages focuses more on puzzle solving while Oracle of Seasons focuses more on combat. I've played both, so which would I say is the right approach? Well, 2D Zelda combat isn't anything too special (much like 3D Zelda combat to be honest), but higher difficulty mostly comes from more combat scenarios because the fail-state of solving puzzles isn't as punishing. So I like how the challenge ramps up in Seasons. But I miss the truly intricate puzzle design of the pre-BotW games, so I appreciated the dungeons of Oracle of Ages way more.
I also appreciated the overworld design of OoA way more than OoS. Oracle of Seasons carries the Skyward Sword philosophy of "solve puzzles to get around the overworld", which can be a bit of a hassle. Oracle of Ages has a simpler overworld, so you're free to travel around the area you've unlocked without running into anything that will break the pace.
Oracle of Ages is less inspired than Oracle of Seasons in some ways but I definitely prefer it based on the gameplay differences. Most people seem to prefer Oracle of Seasons, so I was surprised to see how much more I enjoyed this game. But whatever game you prefer, be sure to try linking the two games together because the endgame of the Oracle duology just might be the best thing about them.
This game and Oracle of Seasons are pretty much the same game, but this game is somehow worse
Honestly, maybe going from Seasons straight into this wasn't the best idea. I think I keep bumping up against the two item restraint here, and I don't know why that is really the point of friction for me.
I'll probably finish it sometime in the future, but for now I need to take a break from it.
I'll probably finish it sometime in the future, but for now I need to take a break from it.
+ Grand adventure on humble handheld
+ Well designed dungeons are a blast
+ Whimsical/fun new world to explore; creative use of time travel for puzzles
- Item gates and frequent item swapping make overworld exploration a chore
- RNG, bloat, and unnecessary complexity in Gacha Seed and Ring systems
- Uninspired story
- Overly iterative, doesn't bring much new to the table
- Some boss fights and puzzles should be better explained; frustrating w/o guide
+ Well designed dungeons are a blast
+ Whimsical/fun new world to explore; creative use of time travel for puzzles
- Item gates and frequent item swapping make overworld exploration a chore
- RNG, bloat, and unnecessary complexity in Gacha Seed and Ring systems
- Uninspired story
- Overly iterative, doesn't bring much new to the table
- Some boss fights and puzzles should be better explained; frustrating w/o guide