almost 25 years after its release, and with no nostalgia toward it whatsoever, my first playthrough of this game hit me like a truck. some of the best pacing in the entire interactive medium, wonderfully confusing and mysterious plot, and a thorough intensity that never lets up. for me, half life beats doom 1 by a considerable margin as my favorite old school fps. most people try to hype up how innovative or ahead of its time this title is, but on its own, without the greater context of how it shaped the industry, half life is a fucking adrenaline rush that few games can replicate.

Ocarina of Time isn't perfect. When I played it last year, 2 months into the pandemic, I got stuck at many points. Though it still feels great to play, many dungeons had problems to solve that weren't necessarily difficult, but hilariously badly communicated to the player. Despite all of the frustration and lengthy runtime (my playthrough took about 40 hours), I love this game. Ocarina of Time contains still to this day one of the most poetic and touching narratives in the interactive medium. We all have to do a bit of growing up eventually, even if it comes sooner than we want. Ocarina of Time is absolutely beautiful, and while it's far from perfect, I definitely agree that it's one of the greats.