Review Krysanteemi 3/5 · Apr 5, 2021
I first played OoT back when I was 14, and now, a decade later, I felt like I should return to it and see how my skills as a player have changed, how I look at game design and how I feel about something that was made, like, what, over 20 years ago?
Turns out, even to this day, Ocarina …
I first played OoT back when I was 14, and now, a decade later, I felt like I should return to it and see how my skills as a player have changed, how I look at game design and how I feel about something that was made, like, what, over 20 years ago?
Turns out, even to this day, Ocarina of Time has aged better than I'd have thought. The graphics are obviously dated, but not all that bad, to be honest. I can see individual fingers and everything! And everyone has blinking animations. It's nothing you can't get used to, although this is coming from a person who's played a lot of old games, so seeing N64 era 3d-models isn't all that jarring to me. Some of the puzzles could have used some work, but that might've just been my own work-exhausted brain not realizing that I should use a certain item right here and now. Literally had to look up a walkthrough to figure out the golden gauntlets because I missed them, so. Yeah.
I also played the Water Temple without a walkthrough, and wow. That was a pain. Still not my least favorite dungeon, though. That award is, and probably always will be held by Jabu Jabu's belly.
The only thing that hasn't really been touched by time (pun intended) is the music. Koji Kondo's incredible skill at composition and arrangement is a shining beacon leading you through your adventure, perfectly matching each environment, cutscene, every little moment. Even the chest opening and puzzle solving jingles are, in fact, fantastic tiny pieces of music that, when looked at from a musical theory perspective, are more in-depth than you'd think. The man's a genius, I swear.
Anyway, while not the mind-blowing experience it's usually advertised as, Ocarina of Time is still absolutely worth playing in it's original form in 2021, and I would highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't done so yet!
