My mini review of the Nintendo classic
Nintendo has released it's remake to the 1998 classic hit. Does it stand the test of time, the game revered by many as the greatest ever, can it still be considered perfect?
Ocarina of Time is about a boy called Link (you), a princess named Zelda and an evil guy who wants to take over her country, your job? Save it. It's a simple enough story, which you can take as a negative but you can't exactly fault it for not being Oscar worthy. In the end it is a heart warming, tale that will grow on you by the end.
The meat of the game is in the dungeons and temples which are quite large even by today's standards. You're job is to find and finish these areas which have enemies, puzzle and boss fights. On the combat side you have standard lock on mechanics which Ocarina helped introduce back in the day, the sword play is pretty basic with a couple of dodge moves. You'll also receive some neat weapons and equipment like a boomerang, flaming bows and ... a bottle! With these items and gear you can use them against enemies and used to solve puzzles.
The best part about the game are some of the truly ingenious puzzle designs. They really really creative, so many games today are no doubt influenced by some of the level design of this game. I'm astonished how I sometimes feel so many action/adventure/puzzle games still really haven't moved away from this magnificent blue print.
Yet this supposedly remake really is just a port. Anyone today will be able to tell this is a game from different time. On a technical level there are some fine textures, and when compared to the original completely trumps it. Unfortunately it's really just textures, color, some new animations and new 3D depth which is new. It's not pushing the hardware at all, it's can still be nice to look at but for a AAA Nintendo game you'd expect more. Enemies also constantly re-spawn after you leave a room and come back, and for the newer generation this will feel very odd to them. The game can lack direction such as when some puzzles aren't clear enough and having to trudge through levels all over again just to fight the bosses can be incredibly irritating.
Ocarina is a game that does truly stand the test of time and will probably still play fine in the future. Nintendo and GREZZO have done a solid job in remastering (not remaking) this title but you can't help but feel they tried a too hard to keep faithful to the 1998 version. In the end you still get a lengthy adventure, with a bunch of side-quest, a nice little story and a wholly satisfying game. It's definitely still worth it after 13 years.
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Presentation - 8 [Interface and menus are clear and simple. A story that's engaging enough]
Graphics - 8 [Good textures, 3D has some decent depth. Everything else mostly is directly from the N64 version]
Sound - 8 [Great soundtrack. Gibberish voices acting and sound effects are appropriate]
Gameplay - 8.5 [Much of the games level designs is still great by today's standards. Yet there is still some instances of archaic design but it can be overlooked quite easily in the long run]
Value - 9.5 [You could potentially go past 40 hours on a straight play through. Plus there's some cool challenges and a Master Quest which adds a twist on the games original puzzles]