Lucrezia LeGrand
314
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Posted - 2014.02.13 05:36:00 -
[1] - Quote
so awhile ago a friend moved away and left me his 64 because he knows how much I love video games. Unfortunately all he had were some lame sports games so I bought Perfect Dark, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask off Amazon. Anyways, I just beat Ocarina of Time (the original version) for the first time. So, I wanted to talk about it.... *SPOILERS below*
First off, this game is simply amazing. The graphics are blocky and hard to see details with, but they grow on you. I suppose that's good art direction.
Okay, so I really liked how the story starts off kind of on a small scale fairy-tale (two kids trying to save the world) and quickly turns into a post apocalyptic, melancholic epic. Ocarina is all about screwing up big time, and then spending the next 7 years trying to fix that mistake. It left the second half of the game feeling really sad as you see places that were once so happy, now looking so forlorn. You never really save the Zoras. Castle Town is never fixed, who knows how many people were turned into Redeads, and the Kokiri forest is overrun by monsters. You try to save everyone, but it feels bitter-sweet because it's YOUR fault (well, mostly Zelda's, but you helped) that everything ended up that way.
Second, I thought it was kind of weird that the Islamic Star and Crescent Symbol was everywhere. It's the symbol of the Gerudo, and they're a desert people, so I can understand why it was used... but still. Also, I didn't understand why the Gerudo were all called thieves. Are they a culture that condones stealing if it helps the tribe? I don't know. I did like Nabooru though, and a tribe of warrior women is pretty sweet.
Also, I loved that out of the 6 sages 4 were female. And Impa, all buff and everything. That was pretty awesome. Would have loved to see her fight some Gerudo.
Ruto left me feeling kind of weird. I've fallen for digital guys and girls but they looked semi-realistic. This was different. Like, should I be attracted to polygons? and she's a fish person? Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I'll talk to a therapist about that. If I was Link though I would totally get married to her (and Zelda, and Malon and Nabooru). Actually, come to think about it, almost every female character in the game (except Impa, cause she's probably all into business before pleasure or is a BAMF lesbian) falls for Link. Nintendo... You have some 'splaining to do.
And that ending! It did everything right. That final battle with the King of Evil? It was all deliciously ambient, what with the symphonic organ music, the demonic final transformation, and the arena of fire amid rubble and decay.
Last two things:
World building. Less is More. I absolutely loved how Ocarina of Time alluded to plot events instead of giving you tons of exposition or having you sit through lengthy hour long cutscenes. Not only did this allow me to fill in the holes with my imagination, it made me more invested in the world and the story. Like the Temples! There's just enough there to tell you why they are there. But everything else? You can come up with anything! Now I see why older games spawned so much fan fiction. I don't know what changed, but I really wish games would go back to that model of story telling. It's like the more of a story you explain, the smaller the world gets. But if you're encouraged to make assumptions about the story, the history, the cultures through little clues here and there, well, anything is possible.
Sheik. Male or Female. I really liked the idea that Zelda used magic to disguise herself as a guy to elude Ganondorf. Although, once I found out I started to wonder if she also used magic to give herself "everything" that a guy had (since Ruto, whom I'm pretty sure can tell the difference between a guy and girl, seemed to think he was pretty handsome, which I happen to agree with). OK, so I'm not a huge fan of a female protagonist having to pretend to be a guy to be taken seriously, but I didn't think Nintendo went for that angle. The impression I got was Zelda chose a pretty good disguise by picking the opposite of what Ganondorf was looking for (namely a female princess). But regardless of what gender you are on the outside, Zelda, as a person, never changed on the inside. In which case DANG, Nintendo was pretty progressive in that regard. Of course, there's a lot of controversy, so the 3ds version made her female no matter what. But I like to think Zelda was running around Hyrule with a sock down her pants.
Finally, the ending credits came, and I got to see every land I explored, all wrongs I did corrected, and the people I saved optimistic about the future again (also, I loved how at the huge party at the end there were Gerudo. It made me feel like the people of Hyrule also knew they were as much a victim of Ganondorf as they were and didn't resort to stereotypes "never trust a Gerudo!!")
It made me sad in a way I can't explain. The world is saved and there's so much more to see and explore and do, but for now, my part in the story is over. Someone else will come along to save Hyrule... as for me? Well, maybe it's time I let go of destiny. Maybe it's okay to be a kid again. Maybe, after it is all said and done, it's okay to not be a hero anymore.... so I laid the Master Sword to rest. Goodbye Navi, and Zelda? Do you remember me? We once said we could change the world...
5 Heart Pieces out of 5
would bang
Thale groupie
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