I still remember it like it was yesterday…I had just turned 11, My dad arrived home from work and in his hand was a shiny golden box, he handed it to me and I just stared at it in awe for about 1.5 seconds. As fast as I could I opened it up to hold the glittering gold cartridge in my hand, which only reflected the treasure that was the experience to come. I put it in the N64, fired it up, named myself link and I was off. As soon as I walked out of link’s house I fell in love. The environment was beautiful, lush, green and there were those little particles with trailing tails flying through the air.
yes even these small things amazed me.
I scoured Kokiri Village until I was satisfied that I had found everything that I could. Getting every ruby, going in every house, talking to everyone, and getting the Kokiri Sword :D (It seemed that every five minutes the game was one upping itself and it pretty much kept that up from beginning to end) Exploring inside the Great Duku Tree, fighting a crazy looking spider thing (which when after you stunned it was incredibly satisfying to slash it in the eye with your sword over and over seeing how many times you could hit it before it scurried away)
I could go on and on about every little thing that filled me with awe but I’m sure you don’t all want to read that much, so I’ll just keep it to a few chosen memorable moments.
My Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time top 10 remembered moments!
(in chronological order)
9: Exploring Hyrule Field for the first time
(in case you were wondering #10 was slashing Queen Gohma in the eye over and over)
I was overwhelmed; I think it was a good 2 hours before I ever got close to getting to the town.(I always avoided doing what the game told me to do for as long as I could so I could explore on my own) Lon Lon ranch, trying to get through the blocked entrances(made me mad when I couldn’t ), finding all the secret holes and rolling into trees, fighting the Stalchilds at night, and following the Marathon Runner.
8: Traveling through Time and turning into an adult
After finally getting through the first three dungeons you get to see what those 3 little stones can do. Open the door to the Master Sword, And I think it helped that I was pretty young when I played this because I was so surprised that you got to be an adult, I first looked at the sword and thought “there is no way I’m going to be able to wield this thing, its bigger then me!” then when I was an adult, I probably spent another hour running around Hyrule field looking for changes.
7: Hookshot and Longshot love
The single most useful and fun weapon in the game, I never got tired of playing with it.
Now only if this was real...sigh
6: Finally being able to go back to the past
I don’t know about you but I forgot to tame Epona when I was a kid
I got the song but I never played it again to tame her, I don’t exactly remember when you finally got to go back (I think it was after the Fire Temple that Sheik finally let you go back) so yeah that was a good moment knowing I wasn’t trapped as an adult.
5: Getting The Biggoron Sword
You all remember the fun, little, timed, complicated, frustrating at times, yet strangely satisfying romps that got you that new sword
I think that pic is of the “Goron’s Knife” you know the one that broke after 2 uses, what a tease.
4: Spirit Temple
Desert Colossus…Awesome
Silver Gauntlets… Awesome (picking up huge shit was fun)
Boss battle… Awesome
Saving Awesome looking hot chick Nabooru…Awesome
3: Finding out Shiek is Zelda
Yeah give me a break, was like 11 years old, I totally didn’t see that coming.
2: Fighting Ganondorf
I my training and travel is coming down to this, I filled my bottles with fairies and Blue potion and started up the spiraling blood red stairs, ominous organ music getting louder and louder. This was it, the final epic battle…or so I thought.
Wailing on him with the sword after he was stunned…still really satisfying.
2.5: GANON!
I thought I killed you….
Hell yeah, I got a twofer!
I was going just crazy about now; I was out of Blue potion and didn’t have many hearts, Lucky I made it through this awesome battle.
1: The Ending
Sad day that there is no more story, but a great feeling of accomplishment to know you have finished the game and can sit back and enjoy the ending.
I played it many more times after that doing speed runs, playing the whole game in one sitting, I even tried completing the game without getting one heart piece, that was rough. But I will always remember my first time, the magical, amazing experience that I will never again to be able to truly relive. Although I have younger sisters that have recently played though OoT and it brought a tear to my eye to see them enjoying it the way I did the first time I played though it. I will defiantly be holding on to my N64 so I can share the same experience with my children someday.
Well there you have it, a small portion of my favorite moments of the game that started my affair. I hope you all will post many moments and emotions you felt on your first play through of the masterpiece that is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
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I kept my N64 on all night after beating the game... I was in denial that it actually ended... only to discover my scarecrow song of La Cucaracha playing in loops.
In honesty, that year was filled with some of the most enthralling gaming moment to date. Ocarina of Time along with Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil 2 are still without a doubt in my top 10 list.
As great as the gameplay and level design was in Twilight Princess (and I've only played it on the Gamecube), I was pretty shocked at how impersonal it came off. The character development was absent in some of the most potentially important moments of the game.
Because of that, I simply don't see it approaching OoT.
As far as my favorite moments...
I think the ambiguous lore of the origins of Hyrule regarding Din, Nayru, and Farore would be close to the top. Combined with the sages, it actually created a almost spiritual/sacred motivation for defeating Ganondorf.
Not to mention the actual confrontation! The seemingly endless steps up the spiral tower staircase with doors slamming shut behind you... the organ music gaining volume... and a climactic face-to-face with someone that really made me feel like I was no match, that I was foolish to even hope or try. It was incredible! It was equally as emotionally stirring when you had to escape the ruins of the castle with Zelda close behind... but instead of a building suspense, it was a sense of urgency.
It's still pretty shocking (to me) how much was put into the game. The horseback archery, laps around Lon Lon Ranch, the sidequests around the bottles, the Gerudo trial, and of course the obligatory hidden grottoes, skulltulas, pieces of heart, weapon bag upgrades.
God, Ocarina of Time was amazing.
@Arttemis:
I'm sad to say that I have only played zelda through Majora's Mask, which although fun didn't come close to the the masterpiece that OoT is. I'm still trying to get my hands on a game cube so I can play through WW and TP, but I am not expecting to get the experience that I got from OoT by any means.
And I'm hearing you I love the lore, the building up to the battle with the stairs and the Organ music that got louder and Louder, The fight, the escape, another fight...God it was an emotional roller coaster.
I could easily make up another top 10 with the side quests, loved them all. The Bigorgon's Sword quest was the one that was most memorable to me, that's what I put it on my main top 10.
I'm sure you won't get the same experience out of Wind Waker as you did with OoT, but it was designed differently. I think you'd find it much better than you'd expect.
I was immensely disappointed when I first saw it, expecting a successor to OoT... but it is genuinely a great game. The gameplay is great, rivaling OoT's, though the heavy story-driven feel was toned down in comparison. The cel-shaded graphics were perfectly utilized and the bosses were very well done.
It really deserves to be played.
You know, I'd say that goes for Twilight Princess as well - which seemed like it was trying for the sense of immersion that OoT had, but couldn't quite pull it off. It still had some great level and boss designs though.
Good luck on getting a Gamecube, man.
I loved when you pulled the Master Sword and became an adult, only to find out that Ganondorf had completely pwned Hyrule in the intervening years.
Oh I know, everything was so messed up, right as you get out of the temple you are jumped by frickin Redeads, thoes things just Freaked me out, thank goodness for the song of day, which by the way the cut-scenes while getting that song in the grave yard rocked.
But the one that that I thought was most interesting was who the characters changed over the 7 years. When your a kid everyone is happy and cheery but once you go talk to them as an adult they are all depressed. And the few that were kinda grumpy when you were kid turn out to work for Ganon years later like Ingo from Lon Lon Ranch.
i agree completely, i think they work so hard on graphics and innovative design that it just takes away from the story there was nothing wrong with the graphics in Oot or majora's mask, and it was what i would dare to say the perfect amount of free roam and linear story line, minus major's three day time limit. but the were games where you actually did something and felt good about it.
back in the "day" you did something and you were like yes!! and felt happy. now its like oh i did something.. i guess that kinda looked cool - i suppose
though what are you thoughts for the Final Fatasy series, or legend of dragoon if you have played it
I'll always remember the first time I entered Hyrule field, I was so blown away and the score just blew me away. I don't think anything will ever capture that feeling again.
@Rassion
I actually still enjoy the simplicity of the graphics they used, it was enough to get across what they wanted to. And I remember that feeling of "doing something", you really felt like you did it, it was your triumph. And I agree today its like almost watching a movie you seem totally out of control.
I've dabbled in FF but I am trying to make some time to really get into the games. I was tainted while growing up as a gamer, all my friends played were FPS so I kinda blindly follows, just recently have I seen the light and started to head back to the classics. I will definitely look into legend of dragoon.
@Cowzilla3
Oh I know! Now I wish I would have made that one of my top moments!
*looks for OoT soundtrack, plays Hyrule Field Theme*
Yeah that's right I bought the soundtrack, I'm a nerd, and I would put it in my Walkman and sit at the piano for hours trying to play the songs by ear, I actually learned the song of time, Zelda's lullaby, windmill theme and a few of the temple themes That way.
Ocarina of Time is my favourite Zelda game to date, although I was considerably older than 11 when I first played it. The music is beautiful, the gameplay is really captivating, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed playing through a game as much as this one... despite the all-night fishing incidents. Glad to see you loved it!
@discordia: I was so obsessed with that fishing game, I had to catch the biggest fish no matter how long it took me. Anyone remember the secret sinking lure that let you catch that long black fish? and being able to pull of the fisherman's hat with the rod and then cast it into the pond. good times
I, too, love the ending of OOT. I loved how it seemed like Zelda didn't remember Link (even though she did in Majora's Mask).
@pedrovay2003
With games like OoT and MM you have to deal with the crazy paradoxes of time travel, lol
I didn't play this game until in my early 20s, around 2002/3. (see my start of the affair post) I first saw it at a friend's house, and was amazed at what it offered: horse riding, amazing weapons, day to night transitions... Not having a N64, I not-downloaded a not-rom to play on my computer. I even found a sub to N64 controller adapter just for this game. Let me tell you, you didn't have to be 11 to appreciate everything you listed. The story, the vastness of Hyrule field, and the music were extremely compelling. It still has some of my favorite boss battles, especially Gannondorf / Gannon, and the escape from the castle. One of the biggest "wow"s of the game for me, other than becoming older Link, was the use of the Lens of Truth. That was amazing to me. This game definately opened me up to what games could (and should) be.