I have a long history with Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Now and again, I get caught in a wave of thinking about it. This usually manifests itself in just playing it, but today, a list.
Because I still think this is the perfect version of the Zelda franchise. Anyway, let’s talk about it.
The Ocarina of Time Lore Is Still Fantastic
I could sit and talk about the story for hours. But the idea that the Link’s mom dropped him off in the forest during the Hyrule Civil War and everything that happens as a result is still the best Link origin story.
And then you get into the game’s version of Hyrule. Every corner feels like an area tailored to its residents. It all has history. Even the not-so-open lore of the game. Like the Shadow Temple and Bottom of the Well. Very clearly based on the torture of those captured in conflicts in the past.
Ocarina of Time is crafted so well from a gameplay perspective that the environmental storytelling doesn’t get the love it deserves. There are very few entries in the series that take the care to tell the story of its Hyrule the way Ocarina of Time did.
2. Remember When We still had magic?
Remember when Link had magic? Din’s Fire, Nayru’s Love, Farore’s Wind. They all added more of that fantasy feel to the series. And the animations were incredible.
It feels like we lost something when that green bar started to disappear. Maybe the pressure to give us a distinct timeline affected how Nintendo saw these games. Throwing Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom at the far end of it gives them some cushion to come back the other way.
But we need to go back to that. Give Link his own magic. Not the abilities of other characters in the game. Just his own magic. I’ve been asking for a return to some of the older formulas for a while now, and this needs to come back with it.
1. OOC Has The best version of Ganondorf
No version of Ganondorf’s better than this one. Wind Waker’s chunky Ganondorf feels like a twisted reflection of the King and therefore carries an air of regality that takes some of the threat away.
Ganondorf in Twilight Princess feels like an attempt to touch the hem of Ocarina of Time’s cape, but Zant actually steals the show there despite turning out to be a puppet.
Nope, nothing touches the menace and darkness of Ocarina’s Ganondorf. That scene of him confronting Link at the gates to Castle Town is etched in my brain forever. SO much so that in a draft of video game characters as football players, I took Zelda as my top QB pick.
You’ll understand why when you watch. But the look on his face, the fear on Link’s. The words written for him. It was all perfect. He felt like a constant threat. Something you were racing and pushing up against throughout the whole game. You felt his influence in every area.
That’s just not something the other games have managed to do without making you walk through goop.
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