The Timeless Game

I've been trying to write this ever since I beat the game about over a month ago. What took me so long was not the loss of time, but the loss for words to describe this game. It's rare when I play a game that is over 10 years old and it successfully fulfills it's expectations. I was not fortunate enough to own a Nintendo 64 when I was growing up, so I didn't have access to this game when it came out in 1998. After 13 years of thinking I was never going to play it, partly because I had no interest, I finally got my hands on it. I borrowed my girlfriend's Wii and my good friend Et heard that I had obtained a key to finally unlock the experience that convinced him that it was THE BEST GAME EVER MADE. So, he was excited to hear that I can TRY to experience what he did so long ago. The next day, Et walked into my room with the game in hand and a smile of excitement that I could not understand. It couldn't be that great. I mean, what can be so great about THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME?

To completely honest, starting this game, I wanted to hate it. I wanted to be like..

"Yo! I just finished OCARINA OF TIME!"

"O YEAH!?! SWEET!! Best game ever right!?"

"HA! NO! That game was stupid! Its over 10 years old and its stupid! And the only reason why people love it is because they played it when they were 10! And EVERYTHING is better when you're 10!! You're dumb!"

"o.... yeah... you're totally right.. I'm dumb.. Anthony, you're so smart..OCARINA OF TIME is dumb."

So, I popped in the game and the first thing I notice is that it looks old. "UGH! I'm going to have to play this old looking game.." And then I noticed something else.. "I HAVE TO READ!?!?" There were no voice overs. All conversations were carried out through text that I had to read. This game was starting off on the wrong foot (is what my hater self was thinking). This game was setting itself up to not impress me. It was dated, I didn't know how to play it and I had to read A LOT (more than I'm used to)! Zelda.. you've failed me..

...3 hours later, I have a change of mind.

I realized by the first temple, which was the "Forest Temple", that this game had a lot more to offer than reading and dated graphics. It had immediate replay value, amazing level design, a simple story executed in the most complex way and a genius way of immersing the player into the game itself. There were so many times that this game blew my mind. I just did not expect to get what I got. It was ahead of its time in so many ways, doing what others dared not. And that is what a game should do.

The awesome level design was one trait that this game had that caught me off guard. I didn't expect to see things I haven't seen already in a more refined and improved way. But this game seemed to have high ambitions. I would enter a room, and it would be intimidating, yet, inviting. After being worried about how I'd ever solve out how to get moving along, I immediately became excited to "crack the code". And, once "cracked", I would think to myself, "Of course I have to shoot the eye above the door! That makes sense!" The level design had a PERFECT marriage with the puzzles themselves. Its as if the puzzles were created before the levels. And you cant help but to think after you've figured something out, that only a genius could come up with this awesome temple! The temple puzzles were always a level of difficulty that wasn't too brutal and always rewarding. Not once was anything in this game so hard that I wanted to give up. It was always human error that made my time longer in this game. Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, I could only smile and laugh at myself. Never cursing the developers for making an unfair game. And that's what makes games that have puzzles in them fun and successful. And these developers knew this well.

Another thing that the developers knew well, was that immersing the character into their newly created world was VERY important if they wanted to make an impact in the gaming world. The way that they did this, was subtle and clever. You'll notice immediately that your character doesn't talk or have a default name. So, you immediately think, because of that, the developers wanted you to feel like you were the character himself. "Cheap attempt at trying to immerse me..", is what I thought. But as simple as this sounds, it worked AMAZINGLY. The character doesn't know anything about almost anything or anyone. He was raised in his own little forest village his own life, and doesn't know much about the outside world.. Just like the player! And that's where the genius lies. Whatever is new to the character, is new to you. Normally, when you play a game, you're main character (controlled character) has to be a badass and know everything about everything. But that leaves the player thinking "Huh? What? No, I don't know what the locust are and I don't know why Marcus is in jail.. but Marcus knows.. But I'm Marcus..?.. hes keeping secrets from me." In OCARINA, every time you meet a race, find a new area, learn a technique or find a new weapon or tool, its new to both YOU, the player, and YOU, the character. Making the player and the character ONE. It keeps the player immersed and the experiences close to his/her heart, because it feels personal. And that is gold.

Whats a game that's repetitive and has no replay value? A BAD GAME, is what that is. OCARINA OF TIME steers clear of that ice burg. In fact, this game had IMMEDIATE replay value. You would pass so many objects and areas that either made no sense or was missing something that you knew you didn't have (after an hour of looking like an idiot wasting all your resources on a square on the floor that had a little soil in the middle of it). And those areas stay in your mind, because after acquiring a new item or weapon, those areas start to make sense. You get excited to go back to those areas to try out the process, and its always rewarding, no matter what it ends up being. This happens a whole lot in this game, and it is truly so much fun. Where other games hardly give you a reason to go back to anything, this game keeps everything as fresh as possible, and you'll never be bored.

Besides these main reasons, this game is great for many reasons; A charming cast of characters, lots of collectibles, solid combat mechanics, very creatively fun boss fights, an epic conclusion and so much more. This game surprised me in so many ways, that it is... surprising, that it took me this long to play it. But to be honest, I think it happened the best way. Knowing myself 5 years ago, I wouldn't have given this game a second chance after the first hour of it. But I've matured over the years (in gaming), and I know that I appreciated this game for lots more different reasons than everyone else did. Besides it being an unforgettably fun experience, this game taught me something that will stick with me for a while.. games that accomplish something truly unique and ambitious, need to be recognized and appreciated always. Even if the game is over 10 years old with bad graphics and no voice overs, its very possible that you will be stumbling upon a game and an awesome experience that happens to be TRULY.. timeless.