"Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time! Home... where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be…"

a statement

nothing ever came close and will ever come close to the absolute might that this game means to the video game genre as a whole and to an entire generation of people playing ocarina of time at the end of the last millennium in 1998 you could say that video game as a media peaked here theres legit something magical about this game an aura of sacredness and monumentality that it feels weird to talk about it like this tackling this game isnt easy but not for the game in itself but for what it means to everyone who played it and what it meant to people who worked on it and theres nothing I could ever say that hasn't already been said times and times again but I'm gonna be the next guy in the queue of people who want to praise this game to heaven stay tuned

sexy mutyumu recommended this to me as part of this list thanks dude

ocarina of time is a game that doesn't need any kind of presentation whatsoever and I'm not gonna sugar-coat anything since you already know its fucking good I won't be daddling in weird deets just so you know i played the original n64 one but i never finished it so im glad this sudden zelda marathon made me realise what a fucking fool i am yknow

first and foremost I'd like to talk about the remake aspect bitch this is basically one of the most safe remake of all times and really understands the source material to a tee I know for sure the grezzo team were shitting their fucking pants because they just opened pandoras box and whatever they did to diverge from the original game wouldve been horridly received so they made the right decision to just give it a modern overhaul and leave it almost untouched just adding some QoL and tweaks to famously despicable parts of the game but apart from that the journey is mostly the same

now i really love the new graphics theyre absolutely beautiful and really complement the original art style adding just the perfect amount of spice here and there link is super cute both in the baby and adult model every single character of the game is brimming with details and personality beloved places across hyrule got completely modernised with those delicious “HD” textures and enemies and bosses are as intimidating as ever really this art direction takes the cake for me it leaves the original feel untouched and thats probably what also happened with the ost . the songs are recreated entirely but no single note or instrument has been changed because lets be real the music of the original was already perfect it had not fucking need to be changed

everything of this version is perfect BUT im gonna nitpick here and no its not about the sheikah stones because i used them when i needed and no its not about the 360 camera being absent from this game unlike majoras mask 3d but i absolutely despise the fact that they used the touch pad for most of the menu and item management

now i wont lie i emulated the shit out of this game and that means that every single time i had to use a touch prompt i had to use the fucking mouse and completely destroy my pace while playing with the controller like why would you do that im not gonna complain that much because this is not a game breaker but the real issue to me is why the fuck would you put touch screen as the ONLY OPTION for the remake of a game that DIDNT HAVE IT like why i dont understand and also i have no idea if theres somewhere a patch that makes you use some buttons instead of the touch screen but i couldnt find it so yeah it is gonna be a problem for me that being said this game is fucking perfect lets go

ocarina of time is one of the few games that will absolutely make my heart heavy as soon as i listen to the title screen ost theres such a sense of peace nostalgia joy EVERY SINGLE EMOTION was POURED into this music i have no idea in my ignorance who composed the music for this game but i hope you have or had everything you want or wanted from your life (update i looked it up its koji kondo everythings fine I know the guy) this is such a generational masterpiece when you just boot this game up it HITS link and epona ride across the fields of hyrule with incredible scenography for the time heavy focus on the nature that encapsulates this game and BOOM title screen

if you make a title screen that leaves such a big impact you will be remembered for better or for worse games like kingdom hearts and persona 3 fes made such an incredible impact on me JUST with their title screen now tell me if you ever booted up kingdom hearts and listened to dearly beloved or persona 3 fes and listened to brand new days the beginning and havent started to get all emotional and teary eyed at second 0.3 im not even joking

if i were alive in 1998 and had played this game for the very first time i wouldve never NEVER forgotten this title screen this is absolutely insane compared to the standards of videogames at the time and even now that we have so many different genres franchises games spinoffs remakes everything that can be played with a controller im not gonna joke theres nothing that hits AS hard as this title screen

some of you may know me as the absolute number 1 fan of twilight princess im gonna defend that game always forever until the day that i die twilight princess was for me what ocarina of time was for many people older than me and maybe even people around my age i had never played a zelda game and when i booted up the title screen for this game i was absolutely dumbfounded enthralled and emotional it struck close to me as something so personal and epic that nothing else could ever come close in the games that i played at that time such powerful ost and art direction

and after some years you could see me tearing my hair out when i realised that the twilight princess title screen was basically a reimagining of ocarina of time title screen and its absolutely jarring to me that i had no idea beforehand like how can someone be so dumb BeReal with me rn

so maybe thats also why the ocarina of time title screen hit me THIS HARD due to the fact of being not only the main inspo of twilight princess title screen but also as the original it can eat twilight princess alive

sure i will always prefer twilight princess over everything its not only one of my favorite zelda games of all times but also one of my favorite things in the whole world it means so much to me that i could not even put it into words… actually i will when i play the HD version lmaooooooooo

ok enough of twilight princess propaganda i need to talk about ocarina of time

this game also feels kind of reminiscent of the other games in the series and specifically a link to the past somehow they were making a breakthrough into the 3d perspective and they thought ok actually since most of the people around here fuck with alttp a little to the past we are gonna make a game that has basically the same core progression and they're gonna love it

and we did

ocarina of time has a structure really similar to a link to the past with the first 3 dungeons to get the spirit stones and then some others 5 dungeons to get the sages and then a Final Mix++ Final Dungeon so yeah I will call it the 3+5(+1) progression I got war flashbacks from math classes anyway yeah more so than zelda 1 or links awakening this really feels like an homage to alttp

then again this game absolutely broke every record whatsoever and alttp became the lesser zelda so whatever and its incredible to me how this one's title theme is parallel to that one a link to the past stars with a strong epic fanfare youre here for a monumental journey to save the day now instead ocarina of time dabbles into something new . nostalgia and existential dread don't we all love that

the prologue for ocarina of time is absolutely beautiful its dreamlike and emotional you get to peek into links life friends and family and even though youre gonna go away from here asap this has such a beautiful atmosphere

kokiri are magical beings and links not one of them if you didnt understand it after 3 seconds and so he doesnt have a fairy but boom enter navi the games biggest mouth and somehow the most cute character in this game i really have a lot of gripes for this fucker she never shuts her mouth and she will never be midna but when i tell you that she brings so much comfort i love being with her im not gonna lie when shes not with you i get uneasy its true

navi is a cutie i love her a lot and then you meet the deku tree that dies instantly as soon as you make it into the dungeon of the great tree which is honestly an incredible first dungeon of the game absolutely streamlined but interesting example of whats to com e for the next dungeons youre gonna explore in this game and its still probably one of my favorite ones in the game if you know what youre doing you can finish this dungeon pretty quick

so whatever finish this dungeon get a nice story about goddesses DEATH and then adventure in the hyrule field

hyrule field is pretty fucking hollow theres not much stuff in between places apart from dungeons here and there but this is also so fucking comfortable going through this land has a pretty similar feeling that i had with shadow of the colossus with the sense of wonder and greatness

so whatever get to hyrule castle and the town here is brimming with life absolutely beautiful place you get some minigames here and there a lot of stuff to do and character interactions with NPCs and possibly the greatest town in any single game ever its really small compared to towns in other games and even minish cap has a bigger town but this is super simple and super effective just another day in a peaceful kingdom

syke

introduce zelda the princess you get to her and she tells you about the end of the world about ganondorf having a big nose and about a hunky lesbian nanny and she tells you her song zeldas lullaby possibly one of the greatest songs in any game ever im not gonna lie teehee and this is the absolute greatest link youre gonna construct with zelda youre 2 little kids trying to save the world without even knowing whats gonna be out there its just such a personal conversation that strikes your heart strings as fast as possible and even this little conversation will make you care for zelda

that being said the side things are cool instead of having heart pieces unreachable with current items or behind some secret passages like in other games theres actually some depth to getting this stuff you can do minigames you can do side quests explore every single part of hyrule and still discover something new its fun

the next 2 dungeons are interesting the fire cave of the goron tribe makes for an immediate increase in the challenge and its gonna make you aware that not everything is gonna be fun and play in this game and the zora tribe jabu jabu stomach is some of the most disgusting dungeons ever and the doors are buttholes and carrying ruto around get tiring really fast this was probably for me harder than the water temple im not gonna lie

ruto is a really cool character and somehow reminded me of mipha even though mipha is 100 times better and also dead but ruto has a really cute little dynamic where she wants to fuck him and hes as clueless as ever i love my cute little guy hes great

so thing thing happen get the master sword boom adult

becoming an adult in this game is some of the most heart wrenching part of the game and really hits home with the metaphorical value of the scenes ganondorf destroyed everything adult link doesnt use the items he used when he was a kid because theyre in fact toys and not appropriate for an adult anymore zelda is gone and the howl is gone you get some poetry from a mysterious sheikah tribe guy melodies to dungeons are now harder and actually less memorable than when you were a joyful kiddo and everything that happens in the game is now gonna be way way fucking harder

a bit of a stretch but THATS ADULTHOOD !!!!!!!!

a lot the big ass contrast between this reality and the reality of link as a kid and the tragic nature and consequences of what happened into the land of hyrule youre gonna find long lost people but theyre now more mature or more sad theres not hope or joy anymore like they were in the childhood days and youre left alone . with navi . i love navi

i guess this is gonna be SPOILER TERRITORY

ok good now the game is gonna concentrate on dungeons over dungeons theres not really anything to keep you entertained or minigames to live life happily theres just gonna be nothing like that theres you and the dungeons and everything bad that can happen is gonna happen

the forest temple is probably my favorite one of the entire game it has so much fucking detail the vibes are unmatched the entire structure is diverse and beautiful and the mechanics are entertaining enough to not make me want to kill myself

the fire temple was probably the easiest one for me but the fact that it was completely set into an active vulcano where you feel danger everywhere around you and a single misstep will get you fucking killed good fucking dungeon

the water temple is bad we all know its bad im not gonna give this dungeon any merit apart from being absolutely fucking beautiful and the verticality of it all is really pleasant to see in a myriad of dungeons traversed horizontally

the shadow temple is mostly good but theres some stuff that i didnt enjoy that much and that somehow killed the whole pacing of the level and puzzles but damn is this fucking dungeon atmospheric as shit and the final boss is kinda hot like look at those shoulders daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn i want him to crush me frfr

the desert temple is probably my favorite one of the bunch and honestly the entire gerudo part of the game is incredible the stealth part in the gerudo valley the colossus thats gonna watch over you every time in the dungeon the fact that you need to tackle this one as both child link and adult like i just enjoy this dungeon too fucking much and the boss is also one of my fav ones like the hot mage is peak

that being said these dungeons way harder and way longer than the first dungeons youre gonna meet in links childhood and that really drives the sudden harshness of the situation home

while i did think the final rehash of the already visited dungeons i felt ganons castle was a really incredible narrative segment with every single sage wishing link good luck for the battle to come and yeah i grew pretty used to this segment super fast and it went through pretty easily (apart from the shadow one please kys)

now talking a second about the story here im absolutely in love with revisiting already explored parts of the world but when youre an adult now going back to kakariko village and seeing what remained of it and what actually changed or seeking your bestie sarya in the forest temple and getting reunited with your friend (the final message going i will always be your best friend HIT ME i could not move for 5 mins because i was crying im sorry this game is so much for me) or even going back to lon lon ranch and meeting malon now grown up and getting epona back to ride her through hyrule like all this stuff has so much emotional wait in it because you know its been 7 YEARS since the timeskip and it hits it HITS

sheik is also an enigmatic character that speaks in poetry and the realisation that its actually zelda its a fucking jaw dropping moment that wouldve been really incredible if i hadnt known about this plot twist since 10 years old but its still super heavy

now im not actually a fan of zelda turning back to a damsel in distress like you were a fucking ninja speaking in poetry disappearing using weapons playing music doing a lot of great stuff and now you cant even fend for yourself gworl what in the fucking hell

this was actually kind of anticlimactic to me since its basically said that she learned every single battle secret of the sheikah tribe from impa fought bad guys for 7 years and is pretty hot and now she cant do shit but alright im not gonna complain about it because meeting zelda again is always a good thing im not gonna lie

the final battle with ganon is pretty great even tho its basically volleyball and somehow my favorite part was running away with zelda something that really feels reminiscent of running away from the castle in alttp its pretty cool being with her again after all this time and also she can do some weird magic to open gates pretty handy

the final final battle is easy as shit but i love it so fucking much WHAT THE HELL first of all this version of ganon is pretty fucking hot and can rail me whenever he wants second youre gonna be using your items because he pushes the master sword away and then you get reunited with navi with some incredible punch lines and then you just cut his tail lmao ok that IS anticlimactic but i love this game

after everything zelda thanks you and she rewinds time till before ganondorf actually getting evil power for you to never see her again apart from her past counterpart

this finale is absolutely fucking sad i cried like a bitch and after the credits when you see the little scene with baby link going back to baby zelda you wont believe how much i cried i was absolutely mentally unwell it ruined me from inside

somehow the plot of this game is really usual zelda flare but you add a time skip flavor to it to make it more engaging AND more depressed at the same time we love it

that being said the music of this game should be put in the best albums ever made for a game but also in general in the music tradition in humanity as a whole im not even fucking lying this shit it is incredible and while i would like to talk about it forever i wont because i got stuff to do but theres video essays everywhere do that

so music time

i already talked a lot about the title screen but im gonna say it again the title theme is absolutely incredible and i invite everyone to listen to it RIGHT NOW

going into the overworld and listen to this is such a fucking joy and probably one of the most upbeat songs of the entire game since it kind of reminds me of pokemon and shit like that and its also i think one if not the longest song in the entire game since it goes on for like 5 minutes with a lot of nuance put together like it gets really chaotic at points i love this one shit

zelda’s lullaby is incredible this is absolutely not the first game in the series where this song appears but its so iconic and so beautiful that if i were nintendo id have no doubt that this would be the main song of the series for decades and decades to come its just so so so amazing

lost woods is FUCKING ICONICCCCCCCCC ITS SO GREAT IT HAS NO RIGHT OF BEING THIS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD I DONT GET IT I DONT I ABSOLUTELY DONT i would come back to lost woods just to listen to this every time you get in there its just a fucking joy theres so much peace in this song chile

great fairys fountain is iconic and timeless im not gonna say anything about it the song speaks for itself

song of storms or as id like to call it the dubstep one is insane and i would like everyone to know that this is one of the best songs in the series and if you dont think so youre a fraud and you should not be trusted

now i gotta say that the temple songs in the adult time are way more atmospheric and ambience than i thought they would be but theyre still fucking good like every single one of them is good and when you listen to them again without link going HYAAAAAAA you realise how fucking spooky they are what the hell

gerudo valley . thank you nintendo

so yeah every single song is thats the point

ocarina of time is a timeless game a time capsule of a time long lost time time time time time time time time time

and the thing is when you realize that this game is talking about life as a whole of day to day life and the interactions we have and issues and obstacles and links and memories and the inexorable passage of time its no surprise that this is regarded as one of the most incredible work of arts that humanity brought to life in a medium that probably till now was regarded as just toys to fiddle with and emotionless pastime
time is a thing that i think a lot about and this game helped me make sense of it for the most part and i dont think even nintendo understands the absolute might of this games story but its incredible how to this day it touches the hearts of so many people

you could say it defeated the test of time amirite HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that was bad heres my favorite sheik quote

“The flow of time is always cruel... its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days…”

wow. wowowow. what a fucking game man. nier goddamn 2010. nier gestalt. whatever you wanna call it. this is what video games are all about. i was prepared to enjoy it but i didn't realize just how "on board" i was going to be for all of this game's percieved bullshit. like early on i knew what i was getting into and i thought "man i love this jank 2010 action rpg combat and the weird tonal clash happening constantly but i am not really looking forward to getting all the weapons" and by the end i was thinking "fuck yeah i wanna do a million sidequests and fish in the desert for like an hour so i can get all the weapons". this doesn't ever happen to me normally so this was like a freak accident. but i loved this game's bizarre world and impeccable storytelling so much i just wanted to continue until i could see it all. and so i did. so i did.
final notes: i'm gonna miss my fishing records. been humming the junk heap theme all week. i think it's really funny that liam o'brien does the same voice he does in this for leviathan in skullgirls. i have zero interest in playing the remake. grumpy old nier 4 lyfe <3