The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time is a 3D action-adventure with elements of RPG and puzzle games . The player controls a third-person character named Link ( Eng. Link ), using a control scheme that has become familiar to modern games, but revolutionary at the time of the release of the game. Link was originally armed with a sword and shield , and he could also use throwing weapons, bombs, and his magical abilities. During battle, Link can focus on his opponent with a new feature called “Z Targeting” ( L Targeting in the GameCube version ). When this technique is used, the camera follows the target and Link is constantly facing it. Throwing weapons will be automatically aimed at the target, which frees the player from the need to conduct aiming manually. In the game, in addition to battles with opponents, you often have to resort to tricks and be smart, which is typical for games in this series.

Link increases its strength and develops new abilities, collecting objects and weapons in dungeons and on the surface. Ocarina of Time contains several additional quests, the implementation of which is optional and cannot affect the passage of the entire game. A successful completing quest provides Link with a new weapon or ability. In one of these additional quests, Link exchanges items that he himself cannot use with other characters. As a result of a series of exchanges, Link can get a two-handed sword ( Biggoron Sword ). In another quest, he gets a horse at his disposal, which allows him to move faster, but limits the use of a bow. This bug was fixed in subsequent games of the The Legend of Zelda series .

At the initial stage of the game, Link gets an Ocarina , a musical wind instrument that later changes to The Ocarina of Time. Throughout the game, Link learns 12 tunes that allow him to solve musical puzzles and move around in space and time. The Eye of Time is also needed to get to the Master Sword in The Temple of Time . When Link takes the sword, he moves 7 years into the future and becomes an adult. Little Link and adult Link have different abilities. For example, only an adult Link can use the Fairy Bow , and only a small Link can get into narrow manholes . Using a sword, Link can move freely between two time periods.

Ocarina of Time begins in Khayrul, a fictional kingdom surrounded by the Khayrul field. It unfolds the events of most games in the series The Legend of Zelda . Khayrul Field serves as a center connecting several remote areas of the kingdom with different topography. Some of them are inhabited by different races of Khayrul: Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, Kokiri and Gerudo. Each race basically remains within its region and follows its own rules.

The game begins with the fairy Navi waking Link from a nightmare. The Great Deku Tree , the protector of the forest, sent Navi to bring Link to him, since the Tree was under a spell and he was awaiting death. Link relieves the Tree of the curse, but cannot save it from withering. The Deco tree tells Link that King Gerudo Ganondorf is looking for a way to take over the lands of Hyrul, and Link must stop him. The Deco tree gives Link the Sacred Stone of Forest , also known as the Kokiri emerald , and sends it to Khayrul to speak with Princess Zelda . After the conversation, the Deco Tree dies.

In the castle, Khayrul Link meets Princess Zelda, who tells him about a dream about the future of Khayrul and reports that she foresaw the appearance of Link. She believes that Ganondorf, the king of the desert, seeks Trifors, the holy relic of the Holy Kingdom, which gives its owner the power of God. The description of Ganondorf coincides with the description of the man who killed the Great Deco Tree. Zelda asks Link to find the two sacred stones so that he can enter the Holy Kingdom and get to Trifors earlier than Ganondorf.

Link finds the stones and returns to the castle, where he witnesses how Zelda is taken away by her nanny, Impa. Seeing Link, Zelda throws Ocarina of Time into the castle moat . After Link takes Okarin out of the water, Zelda telepathically teaches him the Song of Time. This song, combined with the Sacred Stones, allows Link to open the door that leads to the Holy Kingdom. Outside the door, Link finds the Master Sword , a magical weapon designed to fight evil. As soon as he takes the sword from the pedestal, Ganondorf appears, who follows him into the Holy Kingdom and captures Trifors.

Seven years later, Link wakes up and sees the aged sage Rauru. Rauru told Link that his soul had been isolated for seven years before he could handle the Main Sword and defeat Ganondorf. Rauru is the ancient Sage of Light , one of the Seven Wise Men guarding the Trifors. Seven wise men can imprison Ganondorf in the Holy Kingdom. But six other sages were deprived of their abilities due to the fact that Ganondorf turned Khayrul into the Land of Darkness. Under the rule of Ganondorf, Khairul quickly fell into decay and many misfortunes occurred. Link returned to Khayrul and met with the mysterious Sheik , who helped him free five temples from the Ganondorf monsters. The power of these temples will help return the sages to their abilities, and they will help free Khairul from the tyranny of Ganondorf.

After the return of the five sages, Shiik turned out to be the male incarnation of Princess Zelda and the Seventh Sage. He told Link that since Hanondorf’s soul was unclean, Trophors fell into three parts as soon as he touched him, as was said in an ancient prophecy. Ganondorf received the Triforce of Power , Zelda received the Triforce of Wisdom , and Link won the Triforce of Courage . When Zelda gave Link the magic Arrows of Light ( Light Arrows ) necessary to defeat Ganondorf, the villain caught Zelda in the crystal and moved it to his tower. After that, the remaining six wise men helped Link enter the tower, where Link defeated Ganondorf. With the power of all seven sages, the Hanon was locked in the Holy Kingdom. Then Zelda took the Okarina of Time from Link and sent Link with her help at present, so that he could fully live seven years of his life.

Ocarina of Time was first shown as a technical demo at Nintendo's SpaceWorld closed show in 1995 . The game was originally planned for release on Nintendo 64DD discs, but later it was decided to release it on a 256 megabyte cartridge . It was the most voluminous game that Nintendo created at that time. The development team consisted of more than 120 people, including stuntmen , with the help of which the capture of the movements of the fighting with swords and the movements of Link was carried out.

Customers who pre-ordered the game received a box with a limited edition collector’s edition, which included a golden plastic card labeled “Collector's Edition” and a gold cartridge (which continued the tradition begun by previous games in the series) . The demand for the game was so great that the electronics retailer stopped the pre-sale, and the Imagine Games Network website said some retailers were not sure that Nintendo could meet the initial demand.

Ocarina of Time 3D

In June 2010, Nintendo's US division announced an Ocarina of Time remake for the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console . ^[2] The game was developed by Nintendo EAD in collaboration with Grezzo .

The game, called "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D" went on sale in Japan on June 16, 2011. In the same month, versions for Europe and America were released. ^[3]

The remake received updated graphics and support for stereoscopic images , as well as support for the gyroscope when aiming. Now you can change the character’s equipment using the touch screen without having to open a separate menu. ^[four]

In addition, the updated version received minor changes to the game world, including facilitating the passage of the most difficult tasks. ^[five]

Ocarina of Time was followed by 5 sequels, as well as a prequel to all games in the series:

Majora's Mask is the story of the same Link from Ocarina of Time , which travels in a country parallel to Khayrul, Termina. Direct sequel to Ocarina of Time.

The Wind Waker - the game takes place several centuries after the events described in Ocarina of Time , in a time that was the result of the ruin of the adult Link world, and much later than Khayrul was flooded due to the return of Ganon.

Phantom Hourglass - direct sequel to The Wind Waker .

Spirit Tracks - the game takes place several decades after the Phantom Hourglass in the lands where New Hyrul was founded, in which different locations are connected by a railway.

Twilight Princess - the action of the game, according to the official chronology, takes place an indefinite period of time after the events of Majora's Mask . Prior to the release of Skyward Sword, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that Ocarina of Time was the first in the storyline (but after the release in November 2011 of Skyward Sword, it became the fourth in the overall chronology).

Skyward Sword - is a prequel to all parts of the game that have reached it. The scene changes between the sky city of Skyloft and the surface of the earth, which is still not called "Khayrul". This place in the game is known as “surface”, that is, simply “surface”. The game explains the origin of Master Sword.

Between Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time, according to the official chronology of the series, revealed in the book Hyrule Historia, there are two more games: The Minish Cap and Four Swords .

The music for Ocarina of Time was written by Koji Kondo , a composer known for his work on the musical design of key Nintendo games. The music in the game is inspired by many different factors. Proof of this is the use of a variety of musical styles: from a playful melody in the Kokiri forest to Spanish flamenco in the Gerudo Valley. In some locations, the musical arrangement is a variation of the ocarina melody used in this location. The soundtrack of Ocarina of Time had a huge impact on the musical design of all subsequent games in the series. Twilight Princess contains several songs known by Ocarina of Time , playing the role of musical backgrounds. The soundtrack was released in Japan on December 18, 1998 and contained 82 tracks.

The music from Ocarina of Time has been praised by many critics, and the GameSpot video game site , since 2001, has rated this soundtrack as one of the top ten video game soundtracks.

The game Ocarina of Time has received wide acclaim from critics and has had great commercial success. More than 10 million copies were sold, the game was recognized as the best-selling game of 1998 (despite the fact that it went on sale only in November). Upon entering the N64, Ocarina of Time received the best ratings from numerous gaming publications and rose to the highest places in the ratings ^[21] . In early 2006, it was named by Nintendo Power as "the best game released for the Nintendo console . " Edge magazine placed the game in first place in the top ten “Best Games of All Time” ^[22] .

Critics praised the game for its good graphics, noting its depth and detail. The game magazine Game Revolution approved a good character animation ^[23] . Despite their better colors and detail, reviewers noted that some Ocarina of Time graphic elements are not as good as in Banjo-Kazooie ^[17] .

The game is the best game of all time according to Metacritic - the average score based on 22 reviews was 99% .

Impact

The widely advertised story "Agramont", written allegedly by a schoolgirl Valeria Spirande, turned out to be a retelling of the plot ^[24] .

• The official site with a full passage
• Ocarina of Time website at Zelda Universe
• Ocarina of Time on Zeldapedia
• Amateur translation of the game into Russian