I remember when Ocarina of Time came out. It was close to my 10th birthday, and was a particularly warm and dry winter. The game was 75 dollars and the carts were gold. I have so many distinct memories of the game that it would be impossible to narrow down which ones stuck with me the most.
Ocarina of Time was a weird, dark, and creepy game. Redeads freezing your controls and slowly meandering their way towards you while screaming is an all-timer in "horror elements in a non-horror game", next to whatever the fuck Dead Hands are doing, what ghoulish shit to put into an E-rated game. Of course that wasn't the end of how dark and fucked-up this game got, but people tend to forget how bleak OoT actually was when its successor was basically OoT's dark weirdness cranked up to 11.
The game introduced the ground-breaking Z-targeting system, or when your camera locks onto an enemy. Yes, this game created that. It introduced a slew of what would later become popular tropes or game design decisions because this became the blueprint for 3D adventure games.
It really felt like the epic fantasy game we dreamed of in 1998. This was after A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, big shoes to fill. And given Super Mario 64's success, people expected Zelda's introduction to 3D to be just as grandiose and game-changing. And there's nothing clever or witty to say about that, because it was those things and more. Ocarina of Time is considered one of, and frequently just the greatest game of all time for valid reasons.
Ocarina of Time's success did a lot of things for better or worse for Zelda. It became the emblematic title, the industry standard. A lot of Zelda titles have spent their time chasing OoT's success or innovation, and all of its successors have shown their age in one way or another. While time has shown the cracks in titles like Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, and even The Windwaker, Ocarina of Time has only been reveled more for its impact.
It's a game that just doesn't seem to age. It still holds up. It's still a miraculous adventure game with a massive scope, epic setpieces, and immaculate pacing. Whereas I felt like other Zelda games have issues with bloat or had uneven pacing, why did they get it right so much the first time. The rate of which the story unfolds and you gradually progress through it is still untouchable. Whereas some items you got were clever one-offs in later games, every tool you got in OoT felt like a meaningful impact in how you interfaced with the world, felt like Link was gradually becoming stronger and more capable.
Part of me thinks I'm a nostalgic old bint, but I can see other 3D Zelda games pre-BotW warts and all, beautiful but flawed games attempting to get out from underneath Ocarina of Time's shadow. Its legacy seems insurmountable to overcome. The only reason other Zelda games are higher on this list is because they had to deviate so heavily from what's become formulaic for the Zelda series. When you look at the origin point of most modern adventure games, virtually all of them have some of OoT's DNA in them.
I'm just past 35 and I can still vividly remember every corner of this game. I remember details of this game from nearly three decades ago more clearly than I remember my relatives' faces. Ocarina of Time has stood the test of it. Still a marvelous game.
Ocarina of Time was a weird, dark, and creepy game. Redeads freezing your controls and slowly meandering their way towards you while screaming is an all-timer in "horror elements in a non-horror game", next to whatever the fuck Dead Hands are doing, what ghoulish shit to put into an E-rated game. Of course that wasn't the end of how dark and fucked-up this game got, but people tend to forget how bleak OoT actually was when its successor was basically OoT's dark weirdness cranked up to 11.
The game introduced the ground-breaking Z-targeting system, or when your camera locks onto an enemy. Yes, this game created that. It introduced a slew of what would later become popular tropes or game design decisions because this became the blueprint for 3D adventure games.
It really felt like the epic fantasy game we dreamed of in 1998. This was after A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, big shoes to fill. And given Super Mario 64's success, people expected Zelda's introduction to 3D to be just as grandiose and game-changing. And there's nothing clever or witty to say about that, because it was those things and more. Ocarina of Time is considered one of, and frequently just the greatest game of all time for valid reasons.
Ocarina of Time's success did a lot of things for better or worse for Zelda. It became the emblematic title, the industry standard. A lot of Zelda titles have spent their time chasing OoT's success or innovation, and all of its successors have shown their age in one way or another. While time has shown the cracks in titles like Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, and even The Windwaker, Ocarina of Time has only been reveled more for its impact.
It's a game that just doesn't seem to age. It still holds up. It's still a miraculous adventure game with a massive scope, epic setpieces, and immaculate pacing. Whereas I felt like other Zelda games have issues with bloat or had uneven pacing, why did they get it right so much the first time. The rate of which the story unfolds and you gradually progress through it is still untouchable. Whereas some items you got were clever one-offs in later games, every tool you got in OoT felt like a meaningful impact in how you interfaced with the world, felt like Link was gradually becoming stronger and more capable.
Part of me thinks I'm a nostalgic old bint, but I can see other 3D Zelda games pre-BotW warts and all, beautiful but flawed games attempting to get out from underneath Ocarina of Time's shadow. Its legacy seems insurmountable to overcome. The only reason other Zelda games are higher on this list is because they had to deviate so heavily from what's become formulaic for the Zelda series. When you look at the origin point of most modern adventure games, virtually all of them have some of OoT's DNA in them.
I'm just past 35 and I can still vividly remember every corner of this game. I remember details of this game from nearly three decades ago more clearly than I remember my relatives' faces. Ocarina of Time has stood the test of it. Still a marvelous game.