Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Time - Why the Hype?

Hello, Dragonflies! 


Ey a new post that's not a book review! Caro, where's the books? 

Well, to be honest, I've been in a reading slump the past couple of weeks, reading is hard right now! But, I've been able to finish a lot of stories lately! So during the next few days I have a few posts prepared about all of these non-book pieces of fiction I have a lot to say about! 

As you can probably tell by the title, today I'm not going to be talking about books but about one of my favourite video games of all time - Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. 

If you've watched any gaming channel on Youtube (or were born before, let's say, 2003), you will have heard of this game. Gamers like PeanutButterGamer and TheGameTheorists have gone through this game, in and out, and there are tons of videos about it. It was noted for being one of the most revolutionary 3D games in its time, and found immediate success. 

Now I'm not a noob when it comes to Zelda. I've played OoT when I was little and watched my mom play as well. Some years later, we dug our Nintendo 64 out of the cellar and found that it still worked, so I played it there. Several times. I recently got my first DS and, naturally, bought this game with it. 

I devoured it in less than a month. 

Now I've been thinking about what makes this game in particular so incredibly hyped. I've come up with a few reasons... 

• The lore (story) in this game series is certainly crazy with it's complicated timeline, but the lore presented in this game specifically is actually really profound. The world is powered by the Triforce: 3 goddesses that brought the Earth, Life and Law into existence. They also represent Power, Wisdom and Courage. In broad terms, chaos reigns once the Triforce is broken into its three parts. If you think of it as the environment, society and let's say government, it makes a lot of sense. A common theme in policy making (based on the one course I took haha) is the notion of the 3 Pillars: the three concepts need to be in balance for there to be a notion of peace or stability. 
• The rest of the lore is also awesome: the races, the story, the way of life... it's worth playing just to read the cutscenes to get the story! 

• The game itself has a nice hybrid of open-world and linear gameplay: you can do the temples in any order you want, technically. You can leave a temple if you want, or can go back to those you've finished. However, there is a general direction the game pushes you to follow based on it's hint. 
• What I don't like so much about the newest game, Breath of the Wild is that it's so open-world that you honestly have no idea what to do next. Are the side-quests important? What about the items? 

• Time-travel. There's really no need to explain this one, it's a concept loved by so many people!

• This is an awesome mix of logic, puzzles, lore and battle. It has a balance in which not one feature overtakes the other!

Aside froths little English class-like analysis, there are some things I personally love about the game. I'm going to be sharing details below that may or may not contain some minor spoilers! It'll mainly be chronological so if you're currently playing just stop whenever :)

Not my image but this fan art is life

• The quality of the Deku Tree as an introductory dungeon should be matched in every adventure game. 
• I love the mechanic of having side-quests 'mandatory'. Wanna move forward? Better collect that chicken and wake up Manon's dad with it! 
• Impa is cool. 
• I'm not a big fan of the Gorons but I must say that their dungeon is super cool! 
• Now the Zora are classy and elegant...
• But there's nothing in the game that I hate more than the dungeon that is Inside JabbuJabbu. Carrying Princess Ruto is a pain, and I just found the whole dungeon to be kind of uncomfortable. The mini boss is annoying, BUT the main boss is awesome. 
• Becoming Adult Link is one of the most epic moments of the game. 

• Getting to the Forest temple took me way, way too long, haha! 
• The Forest temple in probably one of my top 2 temples. I love the poe sister's hide-and-seek, and the music, and the atmosphere, and the boss fight is downright awesome. The twisting hallway mechanic was a stroke of genius!
• The Fire Temple in the volcano is less my style: so many surprise traps and so much fire (wow Caro very smart good job). The dragon boss Volvagia is fun though! 

• Aah the Water Temple. The most infamous temple in Zelda history. The one that many players swear against... I love it. I actually really enjoyed puzzling it out to determine the differences of playing a level either in the water or on dry land. There are some very interesting rooms like the vortex room and the waterfall, and the final boss is actually quite challenging! 
• Also the Water Temple has DARK LINK which aaah I can fangirl about ok? He's such a difficult opponent, since he's your shadow. He mirrors your movements, yet somehow has the opportunity to taunt you by standing on your sword. The battle happens in a room that should be as dark as the others, but instead is an illusion of what seems like a shallow salt lake with a single dead tree in the middle - there is no horizon or walls, only a door some distance away. Dark Link soon appears to give us the most epic fight in video game history. I love love love it. The whole fighting against your darker self idea, AAA I just adore it! 

• The whole build-up to the Shadow temple is when the game starts to get a sense of urgency. You need to go back in forth through time, to obtain the Lens of Truth, without which, well, most things are invisible. Both the mini-dungeon and the Shadow Temple itself have a torture chamber theme, with a very creepy vibe, talking about death and the afterlife. 
• The Shadow Temple is an interesting play but is not my favourite: like the Fire Temple, the constant traps can be exhausting. 
• Making your way through Gerudo Vally is super fun! I actually enjoy the slight frustration of being seen running around and being thrown back to the beginning of the area, it's kind of hilarious. Imagine it in real life... yeah it's great, haha! 
• Don't try crossing the desert with low magic. It won't work. 
• The Spirit Temple is, I think, my favourite  There is a clear mirror in the layout of the dungeon between child and adult Link: playing as both in such an intricate temple is fascinating. The music is incredible and the whole spirit, Egyptian vibe makes for an awesome experience. The boss is probably my favourite as well! 
• I really like Ganon's Castle for one big reason: it makes you use nearly every single item you've collected in the game in odd combinations. Super cool. 
• Everyone loves Dark Overlord Tennis! 
• The end of the game packs and emotional punch! 

Well well this blog is becoming more of a fangirl page for random neediness than bookish! Maybe I should change the name to Chronicles of a Fangirl or something, haha! Nah I love my handle! 

That's it for my post-gameplay rambles, let me know if you've played this game or any other LoZ game, I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

Stay geeky,