I am in full belief that this game isn't just a video game, but rather a work of art that definitely belongs in history museums for generations to come. Very rarely do I ever completely go through every aspect of a video game and 100% it, but this was more than worthy of my time and effort to do that.
You would think that for a game that was so rushed from the insane high known as Ocarina of Time, that shamelessly reuses its assets in almost any given moment, and is treated like the unwanted middle child by the developers of the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda series, it would be an atrocious mess. However, these supposed setbacks only amplified the beauty and excellence of this game; it allowed for a much dark and more ambitious tale the series hasn't been able to replicate since, let alone surpass. Such a brooding tale about how anyone can experience loss, death, grief, and anything in between keeps you captivated all the way through and then some.
As Child Link, who's now in search of his guiding fairy Navi who flew off after the events of Ocarina of Time only to be lured in by the evils of Majora's Mask and the Skull Kid into the land of Termina, you're now destined to just three days to stop the Moon from colliding with Termina and destroying everyone in the process. You go around 5 main areas in this land, exploring how everyone is trying to figure out the rest of their lives before it all eventually comes crashing down a mere 72 hours later.
Be it through side quests (which, by the way, are all super amazing and/or fun in their own ways) or having it all shown to you through your quest to stop the Moon, everyone's struggles are so deeply depicted it almost makes you want to cry as well. You see characters change over the course of 3 days from being completely unconcerned to being accepting of their impending fate. You see characters brooding their own personal losses on top of Moon coming in on them. You see characters setting up a whole festival in celebration of the Moon crashing. It's all truly brilliant, and that brilliance is only amplified by such a dreary atmosphere and music that gets progressively more omnipresent as time progresses.
You, the reader, might ask me about the obviously detrimental changes this remake made compared to its older Nintendo 64 version, to which I have to say that I think some of the complaints people make are definitely far too overblown. For example, people claim that the dark and more rough-around-the-edges N64 era models that the original game used added to the atmosphere, but I would argue that over 20 years later those models only make this masterpiece a lot harder to get into as it doesn't look as visually appealing. There still remain complaints with this remake, however, that are within reason, and for them, I played with the restoration patch found here, which entirely fixes them. Of course, that isn't to say this game isn't without its own flaws outside of this patch, like, in my opinion, how the final boss is stupidly easy and how the dungeons (barring Stone Tower) are either boring or frustrating, but I truly believe I've played the definitive version of this game.
4.75/5 with the Restoration patch, but it might as well be deemed a perfect 5/5. I would recommend anyone, be they a veteran of the series or a complete stranger to the concept of video games, play this version of the game WITH THE RESTORATION PATCH.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
You would think that for a game that was so rushed from the insane high known as Ocarina of Time, that shamelessly reuses its assets in almost any given moment, and is treated like the unwanted middle child by the developers of the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda series, it would be an atrocious mess. However, these supposed setbacks only amplified the beauty and excellence of this game; it allowed for a much dark and more ambitious tale the series hasn't been able to replicate since, let alone surpass. Such a brooding tale about how anyone can experience loss, death, grief, and anything in between keeps you captivated all the way through and then some.
As Child Link, who's now in search of his guiding fairy Navi who flew off after the events of Ocarina of Time only to be lured in by the evils of Majora's Mask and the Skull Kid into the land of Termina, you're now destined to just three days to stop the Moon from colliding with Termina and destroying everyone in the process. You go around 5 main areas in this land, exploring how everyone is trying to figure out the rest of their lives before it all eventually comes crashing down a mere 72 hours later.
Be it through side quests (which, by the way, are all super amazing and/or fun in their own ways) or having it all shown to you through your quest to stop the Moon, everyone's struggles are so deeply depicted it almost makes you want to cry as well. You see characters change over the course of 3 days from being completely unconcerned to being accepting of their impending fate. You see characters brooding their own personal losses on top of Moon coming in on them. You see characters setting up a whole festival in celebration of the Moon crashing. It's all truly brilliant, and that brilliance is only amplified by such a dreary atmosphere and music that gets progressively more omnipresent as time progresses.
You, the reader, might ask me about the obviously detrimental changes this remake made compared to its older Nintendo 64 version, to which I have to say that I think some of the complaints people make are definitely far too overblown. For example, people claim that the dark and more rough-around-the-edges N64 era models that the original game used added to the atmosphere, but I would argue that over 20 years later those models only make this masterpiece a lot harder to get into as it doesn't look as visually appealing. There still remain complaints with this remake, however, that are within reason, and for them, I played with the restoration patch found here, which entirely fixes them. Of course, that isn't to say this game isn't without its own flaws outside of this patch, like, in my opinion, how the final boss is stupidly easy and how the dungeons (barring Stone Tower) are either boring or frustrating, but I truly believe I've played the definitive version of this game.
4.75/5 with the Restoration patch, but it might as well be deemed a perfect 5/5. I would recommend anyone, be they a veteran of the series or a complete stranger to the concept of video games, play this version of the game WITH THE RESTORATION PATCH.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"