Welcome to my review for Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. This is a game I've wanted to review since I started posting game reviews which is around the time I joined Vizzed. I am finally reviewing this game, and the reason I haven't reviewed Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System is because whenever I'm half way there, I accidentally hit a certain key that sends me back to the previous page. This has happened three times, and I'm not about to take any chances. Anyways, Ocarina of Time is one of the most overrated video games of all time. To this day, Ocarina of Time is still considered an amazement in technology. They even enhanced this game for the Nintendo 3DS, and Robin Williams appeared in one of its commercials. In the late 90's people weren't talking about Final Fantasy VII, they were mostly talking about Ocarina of Time. It was the Nintendo 64 era, and a lot of franchises got their turn into the 3D shift. Even Paper Boy got his share. In 1998, it was Zelda's turn. I mean, this game was HUGE! There was NOTHING like it. So basically, Nintendo took the formula of A Link To The Past and Zelda 1 and shifts the land into 3D. There was a Nintendo Power issue that was all about the game, countless commercials, but the most memorable, this one: "Wilst thou get the girl, or play like one?" Ouch! Taunting in a NINTENDO commercial. Guessing that one didn't last on the air that long. Then I was curious. I was dying to play the game nobody seemed to shut up about. I thought, eh. It's a cool game, but not as good as people claim it to be. Multiple ports have been released of this game because of its popularity. The Wii Virtual Console, the 3DS, the GameCube, and the Zelda anniversary ports for the GameCube. Though, I actually recommend playing this game on an actual Nintendo 64. More on that later. Back in the 90's, this game was the big thing, and every kid and a lot of adults had their hands on a copy, before you could even know it. Well, let's see how this game filled up since Zelda 1? Does it fill the shoes of A Link To The Past and Link's Awakening? Well, in this review, let's find out. This is my review for The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.

Story: 7/10

I've been predicting this would be a long explanation in a review like this. I have a lot of ground to cover, but let's just get this story summarized. In a dense forest that has a population of a race known as the Kokiri, which have eternal youth, the guardian of the forest, The Great Deku Tree, orders a forest fairy known as Navi to be beside one Kokiri boy that lacks a fairy. Navi travels to the boy's home. The lazy boy sleeping in his home is none other than Link, in one of his youngest incarnations. The kid's barely nine in this game, boy is he in for a surprise... Navi wakes up Link, and tells him that the Deku Tree has summoned him. Navi and Link go to The Great Deku Tree, and the Deku Tree tells Link about the story of three goddesses that created Hyrule;Din, Nayru, and Farore. The three goddesses combined their powers to create the Triforce, the Golden Power of Zelda lore, and hide it in a Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule. Remember the Golden Land from A Link To The Past? Well now it's known as a 'Sacred Realm'. The Great Deku Tree tells Link he must go inside him to kill the monster living inside of him. After the dungeon is completed, The Deku tree says he has been cursed, and that he's been doomed from the start. I guess he...didn't like having spiders and gohmas inside his body before dying. Then the Deku Tree just...dies. But before he does, he tells Link the story about the leader of the Gerudo thieves, Ganondorf. Ganon put the curse on the Deku Tree, and that Ganon is the ringleader for all the evil that will/is consuming Hyrule. The Deku Tree then instructs Link with the Kokiri Emerald, one of the three spiritual stones. As Link leaves the forest to obey the Deku Tree's order to go to Hyrule Castle to meet Princess Zelda herself, he is stopped by Saria, a girl who is friends with Link. She gives Link the Fairy Ocarina, the first instrument you get. You'll learn many songs in the game that are needed to progress through the story or to get side quests done. These songs are played by inputting the correct button combination. Link runs to Hyrule Field, travels to Hyrule Castle, and meets Princess Zelda herself. Zelda, who is a child at this point, tells Link, that she has expected him because of a strange dream she had which could lead to a prophecy about the "Hero of Time" which would be Link. Zelda tells Link that in her dream, Ganon represented the dark clouds that filled the Hyrule skies. Zelda finds out that Link has the Kokiri Emerald, and tells Link about the Temple of Time, a structure built to protect the Triforce. To open the Door of Time, which guards the entrance to the Sacred Realm and the Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane, you need to play a song passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule, and to put the three stones in the altar in the Temple of Time. The other two stones are the Goron Ruby and the Zora Sapphire. Zelda's guardian Impa, tells Link to go to Kakiriko Village, the village Impa was raised in, then to Death Mountain, home of the rock-eating Gorons. That's where the second dungeon is. You meet Darunia, the leader of the Goron race, who thanks Link for helping his people, but it doesn't really go anywhere towards that. Same with the next area. Link goes to Zora Domain, home of the Zoras. (Boy, these guys sure have gotten prettier over the 3D transition. How do you go from a Gyarados to a man-fish that's also a hunk?) Link meets Princess Ruto, a Zora that's your average rebellious princess, but she's only used to obtain the last Spiritual Stone. After Link has collected all the stones, he is ready to go to the Temple of Time, located in the Hyrule Castle Market area. As Link approaches the Hyrule Castle area, dark clouds fill the skies, then Link encounters Ganondorf. Impa and Zelda are seen escaping by horseback, then Zelda tosses the Ocarina of Time in the moat. Ganondorf pushes Link aside and hunts down Princess Zelda. After Ganon is gone, Link grabs the Ocarina of Time, and he has a vision of Princess Zelda teaching him a song known as the Song of Time, which is used to open the Door of Time. Link opens the Door of Time and discovers the Master Sword, and when he pulls it out of its pedestal, he goes into a coma. It's revealed that Ganondorf was secretly following Link the whole time, and that when, Link pulled out the sword, it opened the passageway to the Sacred Realm, allowing Ganondorf to steal the Triforce with no resistance (Woop Woop). Link wakes up in the Sacred Realm and he is greeted by the Sage of Light, Rauru. Rauru tells Link that the reason he's here is that he wasn't old enough to become the Hero of Time just yet. As a result, seven years has passed, and Link is now sixteen, equipped with earrings, magical gauntlets, and tights. Rauru tells Link that the other six sages are trapped in six different temples. One in the Lost Woods, one in a volcano, one in a lake, one under a graveyard, and one in a desert. But, one of the sages is Zelda herself. Apparently, Ganondorf has turned Hyrule into a desolateness wasteland. And by that, he means the Market in the Hyrule Castle area. Hyrule Field looks COMPLETELY untouched, and Kakiriko Village is still the same. I guess it hasn't been too bad for these people, but maybe I'm overlooking some details...After Rauru's speech, Link is sent back to the Temple of Time, and he runs into Shiek, a character that is part of an organization of ninjas that protect the Royal Family. Shiek is a character that does NOTHING, except teach you warp songs on your Ocarina, and spends a majority of the game off screen. At some point, you think Link and Shiek will team up, but Shiek just goes away. Well, I guess they didn't want to take away Link's spotlight too much, which is sad, because Link himself is an absolute piece of wood, and this game really makes that apparent. He doesn't speak, react to much, and seems to have no emotional connection to anybody in this game. If Miyamoto wanted Link to represent the player, then, well, I'm not seeing it. For myself for that matter. I can't relate to this guy at all. After Shiek tells Link about all the peril, the story sort of...pauses if I can describe it any better. You've got an objective, Ganon's the king of evil and all that, but until you rescue the last sage, and you're ready to take him on, the story is just blank. Basically, all you do is enter the front of the dungeon, Shiek teaches you a song used to conveniently warp there, Link completes the dungeon, and the sage thanks you for rescuing him/her. There's a bit of small talk between Link and each sage, but that's it. Small talk. They basically go out of their way to explain the perils of Ganon, but since we already know what's going on, it's kind of pointless. After you're done with all five dungeons, Link heads to the Temple of Time, and meets Princess Zelda in her teen form like Link. Zelda was revealed to be Shiek all along. Come on, don't tell me THAT'S the reason Shiek barely does anything in this game. Zelda gives Link the power of the Light Arrows, which are required to deal the finishing blow to Ganondorf, so think of it as the Silver Arrow from Zelda 1 and A Link To The Past. Zelda is then trapped in this magic crystal by Ganon's powers. Shouldn't have removed your ninja disguise, Zelda! Why would she even do that? Wasn't she trying to hide from Ganon, but I'm getting a little off topic here. Link goes to Hyrule Castle, which is now Ganon's Castle, and basically by the assistance of Zelda, Link is able to deal the finishing hit to Ganon. After that, Link and Zelda are kinda face to face and Zelda uses the Song of Time to send Link back to his lost childhood, to fulfill those lost seven years. Then everyone just goes nuts and celebrates the death of Ganon. The very last scene is Young Link and Young Zelda, and the game is finally over. I know I've been talking about the story the longest for any other game I've reviewed at this point, but when you think about it, this story line is as simple as A Link To The Past. This story does have more flavor, and it does tell you how the Triforce was created and Hyrule in general, so I'll rate this story a 7/10.

Depth: 8/10

This game does offer a lot, so I'm rating this an 8/10. I don't even know where to start. Well, I'll start for why I said playing this game on a Nintendo 64 was a good idea. You know what grinds my gears? Trying to play Ocarina songs on a freaking analog stick. Remember the button combination I told you about? Well the GameCube and Wii Virtual Console controllers have an analog stick that replace the C buttons, and it's sensitive to the touch. Whenever I play this on the GameCube, which is occasional and I mess up on a string of notes, I die inside. If you're planning to play this, play on an actual N64! Period. Let's move on to the controls. You attack with B, and if you press Z, you can Z Target, and you can lock on to enemies and objects or people you can check easier if you lock on to the noun with the Z Target to perform contact sensitive actions. Contact sensitive actions. If Link's Awakening had THAT, I would definitely cut that game a little more slack. Well, at least if the Power Bracelet was contact sensitive. This game has a lot of side quests too, to earn item expansions or heart pieces. There's also these Gold Skulltula spiders all around Hyrule, 50 of them. If you collect ten, you earn a treasure from the family that has been cursed by the spiders. Since the Zelda franchise, has turned 3D, the activity has changed. There's a LOT to do here. What takes me one hour in A Link To The Past could take me several hours in this game. But maybe it's not fair to compare the two. One is 2D, one is 3D. Speaking of the 3D shift, because of that, Hyrule is BIG. Link sure isn't the fastest thing alive in this game. Hyrule Field is very big and spacious, and there isn't much set pieces other than the occasional Peahat. I always find myself side-jumping everywhere, which is one of the fast-paced reflexes you can perform with Z, to get to locations. On the second half of the game, you get a horse known as Epona that makes travelling to a certain location a total pushover. But in the first half of the game, you've gotta travel through Hyrule on foot, and it can be a pain. Now back to the topic of side quests, a few of them are pretty strict. I'm not a big fan of the shooting gallery, because the slingshot isn't as precise as I'd like it to be, and don't even get me started on how you obtain the largest quiver. Speaking of items, I do kinda like Link's arsenal in this game. You even can get three magic spells in this game, but only one of them are required. The only problems I have are;I hate using the Hookshot in this game. It's pretty inaccurate, and it's a pain to use, not to mention getting hit by enemies while trying to use. Also, there's a few items in this game that have pretty limited use. Take the Megaton Hammer for an example. You get this in the Fire Temple, and it's required to beat the Fire Temple, but after that, it's totally worthless, other than to discover this ONE fairy fountain. The Ice Arrows are completely optional and don't really make the game easier like they were intended to, and 2/3 of the spells in this game are totally optional and don't really help that much, but it is nice to see all the items in your inventory, useless or not. Something that returns is a Magic Meter. Magic is used for using Elemental Arrows, Spells, and the Eye of Truth. I don't really use Magic items unless they're required to progress through. There's a lot of content that's hidden in this game, and I mean REALLY hidden. You don't know how many times I have needed to use a guide on my first run. A lot of times I consulted the internet was for finding obvious content that I'm too stupid enough to find, so don't be surprised if you also have to use a guide. But I think the Master Quest version of this game, a GameCube port is asking for it. I guess I should move on. The characters in this game, much less every 3D Zelda game, are pretty unique in their own way. You've got the king of Zoras, Gorman the ranch worker, Guru Guru, I think you'll like all the characters in this game, and most of them even make a return in Majora's Mask, the Zelda game created two years later. Since this game has EIGHT dungeons, there's a total of 36 heart pieces in this game. Collect four heart pieces, and a heart is added to your life meter. Unlike Link's Awakening, you can collect a total of 20 hearts for your life meter. The sad thing about the Temples is that a couple of them feel like they never end. And yes, I'm talking about the Water Temple. The reason this particular dungeon is because you constantly have to change the water level, switch between your Iron Boots and Kokiri Boots to either float on water, or be able to walk on water. This dungeon is so confusing, it actually took me two years to figure out, but on my first run I just consulted the internet. You also need to collect the Zora Tunic to be able to breathe underwater. Another limited use of an item! The Fire Temple does this too. The Goron Tunic allows you to stand extreme temperature. The only dungeons I like in this game are Inside The Great Deku Tree, Forest Temple, and Fire Temple. The rest are boring, confusing, or just uninteresting in other ways. A lot of 3D Zelda games seem to have pretty boring dungeons, but I think Ocarina of Time specifically wins that award. I will admit that the bosses are pretty fun, specifically the Fire Temple boss, and the Forest Temple. Before you start your dungeon crawl of the Water Temple and Shadow Temple, it's best that you look up some outside assistance. I haven't explained everything this game offers, but just know this game offers a LOT, so this game may take you a few weeks to complete, possibly a couple months if you don't use a guide.

Difficulty: 6/10

This game isn't really that difficult when it comes to combat and avoiding obstacles, it's more of knowing what you're supposed to do, and when to execute that action. This is a game that you might want to use a guide at a few parts, but when you're talking about combat and dodging obstacles the game presciently throws at you, it's not much of a challenge. This is really all I can cay about the game's overall difficulty, unfortunately.

Graphics:8/10

A lot of Nintendo 64 games have good graphics and this is one of them. Yeah, this game doesn't have high quality textures from the power of the Expansion Pack like Majora's Mask, but I think this game has some pretty good graphics. There's a lot of sprites that look pretty sloppy, but overall, the graphics in this game aren't bad. This game keeps me visually interested at times, has good atmospheres and textures, but I will say that Majora's Mask wins in this department, but Ocarina of Time was good for a starter 3D Zelda game. The character designs for the Nintendo 64 Zelda ports look pretty ridiculous, though. Some of them look cool or funny, but a lot of them just look like plastic surgery patients, or deformed in some way. The TEXTURES for the characters are good, but I wouldn't say the designs are all that good in my opinion, to be frank.

Sound: 9/10

Here's what I've been waiting to mention. Ocarina of Time is my second favorite video game soundtrack, even though most of Majora's Mask pieces come from Ocarina of Time. A lot of themes in this game re very catchy such as Guru Guru's song, the Song of Storms, the Requiem of Spirit, THE SERENADE OF WATER, and Shiek's theme. I think every theme in this game is interesting in a way. In fact, I'm listening to an Ocarina of time theme as I'm typing this. The themes in this game are that good. I recommend you hear the Song of Storms, definitely the best song in any video game, and it seems like every sound EFFECT in this game is done right, but the soundtrack blew me away when I first played this game. All of the Ocarina songs are catchy, and every theme you hear in the game such as the Kokiri Forest theme or even the Goron City theme, I can't stop listening to the soundtrack of this game when I can. This game's soundtrack is that good. Maybe I'm over-reacting here, but I will guarantee that you will LOVE this soundtrack. And the Majora's Mask pieces are amazing too. Listen to the Deku Palace theme specifically. You'll find that the tune will get stuck in your head one way or another.

Replay-ability: 8/10

I've had to restart the game on my first run, because I messed up the Water Temple, but I actually had a fun time doing so. I found more secrets than I did on my first run, and I could replay my favorite dungeons, and see my favorite moments of the game. I can't say much about this category, but this game is just a good game. Again, Majora's Mask wins this award, but I think Ocarina of Time did a good job making this possible in the game. I only wished this game had a co-op mode like Goldeneye 007. There WAS going to be co-op mode for Super Mario 64, but alas...

Overall: 8.6/10

Overall, I'm rating this game an 8.6/10. This game has a few flaws, but I think this game isn't actually that bad. A LOT of people classify this as their favorite Zelda game, much less game...honestly...I'm not seeing it. I would still prefer A Link To The Past, but overall, I actually think this game is not a bad fit, and I think you might wanna consider trying out this game for yourself. You might actually enjoy this game.

This has been The Legend of Zedla: Ocarina of Time
 

wow pixel very long took a while to read but nice job on it though

Nice work Pixel! Very long and detailed review! I loved reading it.. it hit the spot on what the game was like in my opinion! Keep up the great reviews and awesome details!

Nice job with this colossal review here man, I have never seen one so large, at least not one I remember. I think the graphics and sound were the best thing going for this game, along with its good re play-ability. Overall I probably would have rated it a solid 9 out of 10. I like this game and  I think it is pretty good. It is rather easy control wise. I probably would've given the story a 7.5 to an 8, but that is just me. Overall I can say I agree with most of your other scores though. So nice job. 

Great work on this titanic review man, I am surprised if you managed to knock this out in a single day, but it isn't impossible. Keep up the great work and keep impressing me with more great reviews man!

Razor-987 : Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you like my reviews so much. Stay tuned for Majora's Mask!

PixelBrick : I read through your long review and I gotta say you put a great amount of detail and effort into this. As someone who has played this game from start to finish many times, I can remember at least 90% of this game including chest locations, items, dungeon layouts, talking scenes, heart pieces, etc. I dont entirely agree with your post, however, it is really good too. I do have some words of encouragement.

My first thoughts looking over your review starts with your need for more paragraphs. The reason why this helps long reviews like yours and mine is to help readers not feel so overwhelmed. Paragraphs help those of us who lose their place among the text so that we can quickly find our position if we ever lose it. Paragraphs also help to centralize your ideas in a group of text about something specific.,

For example:
Your story portion of the review can be split into multiple paragraphs. 1 paragraph can inform readers of the Great Deku Tree before he died. 1 paragraph can inform readers of after he dies. 1 paragraph can inform readers of Death Mountain, Princess Zelda and so forth.

By splitting your text into more paragraphs for your longer text, you'll make your review look larger too. With it looking larger and being easier to read, you're more likely to gain readers. The more readers you have, the more encouragement you have to make more solid reviews.

One thing I dislike about your review is that your story is the actual story of the game when it shouldn't be. Your story section should be a summary of some of the things you liked or disliked, not an explanation of what happened. By informing users reading your review with exactly what happens in the game somewhat ruins their experience a little bit. They now know what to expect and when to expect it. This takes away the element of surprise. As a gamer, I've only played games that I knew nothing about at first. To me it's more entertaining to be surprised than it is to know even a few major details. It's less exciting and damages my fun. My girlfriend was watching people's reactions to the Horror game Outlast which recently released for PS4 and Xbox One I believe. I told her I won't play with her on that game if she continues to ruin it for me. To me, it's less worth it if I know more about what happens before I play it.

What I recommend for your story is explain what you liked and disliked about the story and explain why. Readers can better relate to similar experiences and thoughts than they can to reading the actual story. I think if you were explain more on the interests of what you liked you'd have a brilliant story section. It would be genuine and filled with your character. That, to me, is what really sets your review above the others!
Your use of in-game detail over the length of your review isn't necessarily wrong. For future reference I'd recommend toning the amount of in-game detail down.

Overall, you had a very good review here. A few modifications and you're not far from creating perfect reviews (Are there really perfect reviews? Someone somewhere always dislikes something). The amount of time and effort you put into this review is actually shocking, but I guess it's required because Ocarina of Time is a big game.

To me, I remember receiving that gold N64 pre-ordered cartridge in the mail. Surprisingly, that game still works today on N64 and almost indestructible it seems. Ocarina of Time was huge because of it's exciting gameplay. I'm not impressed with the game because they exceeded the capabilities of the N64 at that time, I was impressed because there wasn't anything as entertaining as playing Ocarina of Time for hundreds of hours to obtain everything. I know you didn't find everything on your first run through (Gold Skulluta, Bottles, Catch the Biggest Fish, Heart Pieces, Etc.). It took a great deal of work and gameplay to truly discover it's limits. Super Mario 64 ended at 120 stars and after you defeated Bowser. Banjo Kazooie took 100 Jiggies, 900 Notes, Several Cheats and defeat Gruntilda to end. Ocarina of Time was the most epic and exhilarating game of the era. 

Ocarina of Time is every Zelda fan's childhood. We've moved on... There won't be another Zelda game as exciting as Ocarina of Time. The amount of excitement the world portrayed at that time will never be matched again.

Fireproof : It feels as if I posted this review a while ago, and I actually have taken these things into account. But I will keep what you said in mind. I'm trying to become a Review Writer on here as a position, so this will be useful info to have.

And actually, I beat Super Mario 64 (N64 version) on my first try with no guide or trouble. Boom

PixelBrick : You did post this review a while ago but you also used this as one of your examples in your post to apply for a review writer. I figure, even if you didn't get the position or if you did, anything that can help you become a stronger reviewer won't hurt. I'm by no means, 100% right in my words because my words are opinion based but through my own trial and error I thought I'd lend support to help encourage growth toward becoming site staff.

I beat Mario 64 with no guide on first run through because it was easy xD

I was stuck on the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time though. When I was 8 I couldn't figure out how to get to the Master Key and I was stuck. It wasn't until I was like 10 that I finally went back to my save file from when I was 8 when I actually beat the game without a guide. 

Good luck