Pros: As soon as you turn on the N64 and you see that title screen, and especially when you hear the music from that title screen, you know you're going to be in for something special. And it is indeed, one of the greatest adventures in the history of video games, ever.
The more I play this game, even today, the more I love it, and the more brilliance I see in it. The magic of experiencing this 3D world of Hyrule for the first time is something I'd love to relive again, the whimsical Kokiri forest, stepping foot onto Hyrule Field for the first time, exploring castle town and Kakariko village, simply performing numerous side quests like fishing or buying masks and collecting bottles, it all felt so open and free. Every character was memorable, even the small NPCs, they're all bursting with personality. Experiencing all of this for the first time matched perfectly with who you were playing as, a small child. As a child, everything feels new, and the world seems a bit scary, a bit too big for you... And as you play the game, as you get to know the world, know the story, learn the gameplay mechanics, you gain knowledge and you mature, and that's reflected in the game's core theme of time travel, becoming an adult. And as an adult, the game is harder, there are more dungeons, more objectives, the stakes are higher, but you also see more (the camera literally shows more of the world around you), you can go more places via Epona, and can wield more advanced weapons. The world grew alongside your character, and in addition to looking older you also felt older, wiser, and you felt more in control of the very vibrant world around you. It's like, the design behind starting the game as a child, and ending the game as an adult, perfectly captures what it feels like to play the game from beginning to end. No other Zelda game did this before, and none have done it since, and it's simply brilliant. Gameplay, real quick. Z-targeting, also brilliant. A lock-on camera that focuses on the action, and it's as simple as holding down a single button. A revolutionary mechanic that had an affect on the entire industry, still used in games to this very day. Here, it made fights dynamic as you parry and shield, using Deku Nuts and back flips and other strategies against active enemies like Lizalfos and Stalfos, it's magnificently engaging, and feels like a real duel is happening on screen. Great gameplay combined marvelously with great cinematic visuals.
Another revolutionary mechanic was context sensitive actions, where the name of an action would appear on the HUD over the A button to let you know when you could interact, and what would happen when you do. Climb, jump, grab, etc. This really helped perform actions throughout the game, especially in dungeons. The dungeons are excellently themed and designed, feeling more like real places in the world of Hyrule, and not just a series of rooms with puzzles and bosses. They're more organic, they each have original music, and they're beautiful to look at. And hey, they still provided great puzzles and wonderful bosses, very cool spectacles of bosses too, great to fight, great to look at! The dungeons lead you through the story beats of the game, where you meet all the different races and tribes from each corner of Hyrule, as well as the plight of Zelda, and the harrowing escapades of Ganondorf, the truly terrifying villain of this game. A huge step up in terms of storytelling from Link to the Past, borrowing the more whimsical and unique elements from Link's Awakening, especially in terms of character interaction. Above all though, is the gameplay, from using weapons, to navigation, to the pacing of your actions, it all feels incredibly refined. It's no wonder Nintendo used this formula for four more 3D home console titles in the Zelda series. Additionally, the music, best in the series. Straight up. Having the ocarina as a gameplay mechanic not only promoted music as a central core element of the game, but it helped create more memorable melodies throughout as well, melodies that the game teaches you how to play with the ocarina! For puzzles, navigation, story and character connection, you name it, they tied music in with the gameplay beautifully here.
This game did EVERYTHING a Zelda fan could have hoped for at the time, and didn't disappoint in any category, and we didn't see that in the series again up until Breath of the Wild. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is deserving of all of the praise it gets. It's Miyamoto's masterpiece, and the best game on N64, both for me personally, and I believe objectively when you look at the core of the game, it covers all bases.
Cons: For how big of an adventure this game is, it's shocking how little there is wrong with it, like, it's nearly perfect... I don't have anything other than maybe a nitpick here or there. Like, oh, this game doesn't have the NES main Zelda theme... but like, that's not inherently bad, that's just a weird omission, and even then, the field theme in this game is perhaps even better, especially in how it dynamically changes depending on your actions or time of day, it's brilliant. So yeah, no, for what it is, this game doesn't have any real cons.
What it means to me: The hype surrounding this game was unreal. Nintendo Power would not shut up about it!! And at the time, my mom had remarried, and we had some new step brothers who had grown up with the original Zelda games on NES, and so, perfect timing, they introduced us to the world of Zelda via the original NES game, in preparation for this upcoming N64 classic. But going in to this game blind, with my brother, was a wondrous and magical experience, playing a game that was a bit more mature, a bit scarier, than what we had been used to with games like Mario or Kirby. I recall my brother and I terrified at the Wolfos you come across early on in the Lost Woods. I remember trying to find all of the Cuccos in Kakariko, and thinking to get access to the one inside the crate, we had to to wait for dinner time, as one of the townsfolk would release it to... uhh... cook it... Lol!! Hey, our puzzle brains were on! We had to find out how to get all those chickens!! (turns out you can roll into crates to break them open, lol). But so many memories of exploring and tinkering around, making this world feel so incredibly alive and immersive. It's one of those magical games that you wish every new game you play, can capture a bit of that same magic again. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece, and I'm grateful to have played it when it first came out, and to have played it again and again over the years.
The more I play this game, even today, the more I love it, and the more brilliance I see in it. The magic of experiencing this 3D world of Hyrule for the first time is something I'd love to relive again, the whimsical Kokiri forest, stepping foot onto Hyrule Field for the first time, exploring castle town and Kakariko village, simply performing numerous side quests like fishing or buying masks and collecting bottles, it all felt so open and free. Every character was memorable, even the small NPCs, they're all bursting with personality. Experiencing all of this for the first time matched perfectly with who you were playing as, a small child. As a child, everything feels new, and the world seems a bit scary, a bit too big for you... And as you play the game, as you get to know the world, know the story, learn the gameplay mechanics, you gain knowledge and you mature, and that's reflected in the game's core theme of time travel, becoming an adult. And as an adult, the game is harder, there are more dungeons, more objectives, the stakes are higher, but you also see more (the camera literally shows more of the world around you), you can go more places via Epona, and can wield more advanced weapons. The world grew alongside your character, and in addition to looking older you also felt older, wiser, and you felt more in control of the very vibrant world around you. It's like, the design behind starting the game as a child, and ending the game as an adult, perfectly captures what it feels like to play the game from beginning to end. No other Zelda game did this before, and none have done it since, and it's simply brilliant. Gameplay, real quick. Z-targeting, also brilliant. A lock-on camera that focuses on the action, and it's as simple as holding down a single button. A revolutionary mechanic that had an affect on the entire industry, still used in games to this very day. Here, it made fights dynamic as you parry and shield, using Deku Nuts and back flips and other strategies against active enemies like Lizalfos and Stalfos, it's magnificently engaging, and feels like a real duel is happening on screen. Great gameplay combined marvelously with great cinematic visuals.
Another revolutionary mechanic was context sensitive actions, where the name of an action would appear on the HUD over the A button to let you know when you could interact, and what would happen when you do. Climb, jump, grab, etc. This really helped perform actions throughout the game, especially in dungeons. The dungeons are excellently themed and designed, feeling more like real places in the world of Hyrule, and not just a series of rooms with puzzles and bosses. They're more organic, they each have original music, and they're beautiful to look at. And hey, they still provided great puzzles and wonderful bosses, very cool spectacles of bosses too, great to fight, great to look at! The dungeons lead you through the story beats of the game, where you meet all the different races and tribes from each corner of Hyrule, as well as the plight of Zelda, and the harrowing escapades of Ganondorf, the truly terrifying villain of this game. A huge step up in terms of storytelling from Link to the Past, borrowing the more whimsical and unique elements from Link's Awakening, especially in terms of character interaction. Above all though, is the gameplay, from using weapons, to navigation, to the pacing of your actions, it all feels incredibly refined. It's no wonder Nintendo used this formula for four more 3D home console titles in the Zelda series. Additionally, the music, best in the series. Straight up. Having the ocarina as a gameplay mechanic not only promoted music as a central core element of the game, but it helped create more memorable melodies throughout as well, melodies that the game teaches you how to play with the ocarina! For puzzles, navigation, story and character connection, you name it, they tied music in with the gameplay beautifully here.
This game did EVERYTHING a Zelda fan could have hoped for at the time, and didn't disappoint in any category, and we didn't see that in the series again up until Breath of the Wild. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is deserving of all of the praise it gets. It's Miyamoto's masterpiece, and the best game on N64, both for me personally, and I believe objectively when you look at the core of the game, it covers all bases.
Cons: For how big of an adventure this game is, it's shocking how little there is wrong with it, like, it's nearly perfect... I don't have anything other than maybe a nitpick here or there. Like, oh, this game doesn't have the NES main Zelda theme... but like, that's not inherently bad, that's just a weird omission, and even then, the field theme in this game is perhaps even better, especially in how it dynamically changes depending on your actions or time of day, it's brilliant. So yeah, no, for what it is, this game doesn't have any real cons.
What it means to me: The hype surrounding this game was unreal. Nintendo Power would not shut up about it!! And at the time, my mom had remarried, and we had some new step brothers who had grown up with the original Zelda games on NES, and so, perfect timing, they introduced us to the world of Zelda via the original NES game, in preparation for this upcoming N64 classic. But going in to this game blind, with my brother, was a wondrous and magical experience, playing a game that was a bit more mature, a bit scarier, than what we had been used to with games like Mario or Kirby. I recall my brother and I terrified at the Wolfos you come across early on in the Lost Woods. I remember trying to find all of the Cuccos in Kakariko, and thinking to get access to the one inside the crate, we had to to wait for dinner time, as one of the townsfolk would release it to... uhh... cook it... Lol!! Hey, our puzzle brains were on! We had to find out how to get all those chickens!! (turns out you can roll into crates to break them open, lol). But so many memories of exploring and tinkering around, making this world feel so incredibly alive and immersive. It's one of those magical games that you wish every new game you play, can capture a bit of that same magic again. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece, and I'm grateful to have played it when it first came out, and to have played it again and again over the years.