Media Studies
Videogame Case Study - The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
BASICS
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform(s): Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube, iQue Player, Nintendo Wii Virtual Console
Release Date: November 21 1998
Genre: Action-adventure
Mode: Single Player
Series: Legend of Zelda
Ratings: ELSPA - 3+
ESRB: E
OFLC: G8+
PEGI: 7+ (N64, GCN), 12+ (Wii)
The videogame that has been critically acclaimed as the best game that has ever been made. The game that changed the face of videogames for ever. The game that innovated 3D gaming and exploring RPG. This game is called The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time released on the Nintendo 64.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998. Originally developed for the Nintendo 64DD peripheral, the game was instead released on a 32-megabyte cartridge, at the time the largest-capacity cartridge Nintendo had produced. It was re-released on the Nintendo GameCube as part of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Master Quest and The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition compilations, on the iQue Player in 2003, and on the Virtual Console in 2007.
Ocarina of Time is the fifth game in The Legend of Zelda series in terms of release, but is set before the first four games. The player controls the series' trademark protagonist, Link, in the land of Hyrule. Link sets out on a quest to stop Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, from obtaining the Triforce, a sacred relic that grants the wishes of its holder. Link travels through time and navigates several dungeons to awaken sages who have the power to seal Ganondorf. Music plays an important role—to progress, the player learns several songs for Link to play on his ocarina or the Ocarina of Time.
The game received wide critical acclaim and commercial success. It won the Grand Prize in the Interactive Art division at the Japan Media Arts Festival, and won six honours at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Despite a November 1998 release, it was the best-selling game of that year, and has sold over 7.6 million copies.
PLOT
The events of Ocarina of Time take place before those of the first four games and are set in the fictional kingdom of Hyrule, the setting of most Zelda games. Hyrule Field serves as a central hub connected to several outlying areas with diverse topography. Some of these areas are populated by one of the races of Hyrule: Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, Kokiri, and Gerudo.
The game opens as the fairy Navi awakens Link from a nightmare, in which Link is seen on a stormy night as a man on horseback chases Princess Zelda, who is being escorted also on horseback by a woman. Navi brings Link to the guardian of his village, the Great Deku Tree, who is cursed and near death. Link breaks the curse, but cannot stop the tree from withering. The Deku Tree tells Link a "wicked man of the desert" has cursed him and seeks to conquer the land of Hyrule and that Link must stop him. Before dying, the Great Deku Tree gives Link the spiritual stone of the forest, the Kokiri's Emerald, and sends him to Hyrule to speak with the princess of destiny, Zelda.
At Hyrule Castle, Link meets Princess Zelda, who has been having dreams about the future of Hyrule and foresaw Link's arrival. She believes Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, is seeking the Triforce, a holy relic in the Sacred Realm that gives its holder god-like power. Zelda's description of Ganondorf matches that of the man who killed the Great Deku Tree. Zelda asks Link to obtain the three Spiritual Stones, one of which he already possesses, so that he might enter the Sacred Realm and claim the Triforce before Ganondorf reaches it. Link goes to Goron City, where he meets Darunia, the leader of the Goron race. After Link kills King Dodongo, the boss of Dodongo's Cavern, Darunia gives him the Goron's Ruby, symbolizing brotherhood. Link next obtains the Zora's Sapphire from the Zora Princess, Ruto, after rescuing her from the belly of Lord Jabu-Jabu (a whale-like creature sacred to the Zoras).
Link returns to the castle, where Ganondorf is pursuing Zelda on horseback, as in his nightmare at the start of the game. Spotting Link, Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time into the castle moat and telepathically teaches Link the "Song of Time". After Ganondorf rides off, Link retrieves the Ocarina and uses the song together with the Spiritual Stones to open the door to the Sacred Realm. Through the door, Link finds the Master Sword, a legendary sword forged to fight evil. As he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal, Ganondorf appears, having followed Link into the Sacred Realm, and claims the Triforce.
Seven years later, an older Link awakens in a distant room and is met by Rauru, the ancient Sage of Light and one of the seven sages who protect the location of the Triforce. Rauru informs Link that his spirit was sealed for seven years until he was old enough to wield the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf. The seven sages can imprison Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm; however, five of the seven sages are unaware of their identities after Ganondorf transformed Hyrule into a land of darkness. Link returns to Hyrule and is met by the mysterious Sheik, who guides Link to rid five temples of Ganondorf's monsters, allowing the power of the temples to awaken the sages.
After awakening five sages, Sheik is revealed to be Princess Zelda and the Sage of Time. She tells Link that Ganondorf's heart is unbalanced, causing the Triforce to be split into three pieces, as predicted in an ancient prophecy. Ganondorf kept the Triforce of Power, while the other two chosen by destiny carry the remaining pieces: Zelda gained the Triforce of Wisdom and Link obtained the Triforce of Courage. After Zelda bestows Link with the magical Light Arrows, Ganondorf traps Zelda in a magical crystal and takes her to his tower. The remaining six sages help Link enter the tower, where Link battles Ganondorf and frees Zelda. After escaping the collapsing castle, Link is trapped within the castle area by a ring of fire and forced to battle Ganondorf once again; but this time, using the power of the Triforce of Power, he transforms from his human form into a boar-like monster referred to as Ganon. After holding off against Ganon without his sword, Link eventually retrieves it and, with the aide of Zelda's paralyzing light, delivers the final blow that defeats Ganon. The seven sages trap Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm; still holding the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf vows to take revenge on their descendants. Zelda uses the Ocarina of Time to send Link to his original time to live out his childhood. The game ends with Link and Zelda looking at each other in the castle garden.
GAMEPLAY
Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure game with role-playing and puzzle elements. The player controls Link from a third-person perspective in a three-dimensional space. Link primarily fights with a sword and shield; he can also use projectile weapons, bombs, and magic spells. The control scheme introduced techniques such as context-sensitive actions and a targeting system called "Z-targeting" In combat, Z-targeting allows the player to have Link focus on an enemy or other objects. When using this technique, the camera follows the target and Link constantly faces it. Projectile attacks are automatically directed at the target and do not require manual aiming. Context-sensitive actions allow multiple tasks to be assigned to one button, simplifying the control scheme. The on-screen display shows what will happen when the button is pushed and changes depending on what the character is doing. For example, the same button that causes Link to push a box if he is standing next to it will have him climb on the box if he is moving toward it. Much of the game is spent in battle, but some parts require the use of stealth.
When the player uses Z-targeting, the view shifts to a letterbox format and arrows indicate the targeted enemy. Link gains new abilities by collecting items and weapons found in dungeons or in the overworld. Not all are required—Ocarina of Time has several optional side-quests, or minor objectives that the player can choose to complete or ignore. Completing the side-quests usually results in rewards, normally in the form of weapons or abilities. In one side-quest, Link trades items he cannot use himself among non-player characters. This trading sequence features ten items and ends with Link receiving an item he can use, the two-handed Biggoron Sword, the strongest sword in the game. In another side-quest, Link can acquire a horse. This allows him to travel faster, but attacking while riding is restricted to arrows.
Link is given an ocarina near the beginning of the game, which is later replaced by the Ocarina of Time. Throughout the game, Link learns twelve melodies that allow him to solve music-based puzzles and teleport to previously visited locations in the game. The Ocarina of Time is also used to claim the Master Sword in the Temple of Time. When Link takes the sword, he is sealed for seven years, until he becomes an adult, and therefore strong enough to wield the Master Sword. Young Link and ad ult Link have different abilities. For example, only adult Link can use the Fairy Bow, and only young Link can fit through certain small passages. After completing certain tasks, Link can travel freely between the two time periods by replacing or taking the sword.
DEVELOPMENT
First shown as a technical demo at Nintendo's SpaceWorld trade show in December 1995, Ocarina of Time was developed concurrently with Super Mario 64 by Nintendo's EAD division. Both were the first 3D game in their respective series. Nintendo planned to release Super Mario 64 as a launch title for the Nintendo 64 and later release Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64DD, a disk drive peripheral for the system. Nintendo eventually decided to release Ocarina of Time on a cartridge instead and follow it with a 64DD expansion. At 32 megabytes, it was the largest game Nintendo had created.
Shigeru Miyamoto was the principal director of Super Mario 64, but was a producer of Ocarina of Time, in charge of several directors. Individual parts of Ocarina of Time were handled by multiple directors—a new strategy for Nintendo EAD. The team was new to 3D games, but assistant director Makoto Miyanaga recalls a sense of "passion for creating something new and unprecedented". Miyamoto initially intended Ocarina of Time to be played in a first-person perspective, so as to enable the players to take in the vast terrain of Hyrule Field better, as well as being able to focus more on developing enemies and environments. However, the development team did not go through with it once the idea of having a child Link was introduced, and Miyamoto felt it necessary for Link to be visible on screen. The development crew involved over 120 people, including stuntmen used to capture the effects of sword fighting and Link's movement. Some of Miyamoto's ideas for the new Zelda title were instead used in Super Mario 64, since it was to be released first. Other ideas were not used due to time constraints.
Ocarina of Time originally ran on the same engine as Super Mario 64, but was so heavily modified that designer Shigeru Miyamoto considers the final products entirely different engines. One major difference between the two is camera control. The player has much control over the camera in Super Mario 64, but the camera in Ocarina of Time is largely controlled by the game's AI. Miyamoto says the camera controls for Ocarina of Time are intended to reflect a focus on the game's world, whereas those of Super Mario 64 are centered on the character of Mario. Miyamoto wanted to make a game that was cinematic, but still separate from movies. Takumi Kawagoe, who creates cut scenes for Nintendo, says that his top priority is to have the player feel in control of the action. To promote this feeling, cut scenes in Ocarina of Time are completely generated with real-time computing and do not use pre-recorded or full-motion video.
Customers who pre-ordered the game received a limited edition box with a golden plastic card affixed, reading "Collector's Edition." This edition contains a gold-coloured cartridge, a tradition for the Zelda series that began with the original game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Demand was so great that Electronics Boutique stopped pre-selling the title on November 3, 1998.
Later versions of Ocarina of Time featured minor alterations in the final build of the game after its initial release. These alterations included the removal of a Muslim chant in the background music of the Fire Temple and the moon and star symbol that was on the Mirror Shield and other objects scattered throughout the game (signs, blocks, etc) for their Islamic references. The moon and star symbols were replaced with more generic ones. Ganondorf's blood was also altered from red to green.
AUDIO
Ocarina of Time's music was composed by Koji Kondo, the composer in charge of music for the Zelda series since the first game. In addition to characters having musical themes, areas of Hyrule are also associated with pieces of music. This has been called leitmotif in reverse—instead of music announcing an entering character, it now introduces a stationary environment as the player approaches. In some locations, the music is a variation of an ocarina tune the player learns, related to that area. Beyond providing a backdrop for the setting, music plays an integral role in gameplay. The game is cited as the "first contemporary nondance title to feature music-making as part of its gameplay". The button layout of the Nintendo 64 controller resembles the holes of an ocarina, and players must learn to play several songs to complete the game. All songs are played using the five notes available on an ocarina, although by bending pitches via the analogue stick, players can play additional tones. Kondo said that creating distinct themes on the limited scale was a "major challenge", but feels that the end result is very natural. The popularity of Ocarina of Time led to an increase in ocarina sales.
The soundtrack of Ocarina of Time was produced by Pony Canyon and released in Japan on December 18, 1998. It comprises one compact disc with 82 tracks. A US version was produced with the same tracks but different packaging artwork. Many critics praised the music in Ocarina of Time, although IGN was disappointed that the traditional Zelda over world theme was not included. In 2001, GameSpot labelled it one of the top ten video game soundtracks.
RECEPTION
Ocarina of Time was released to universal critical acclaim and commercial success. It sold 2.5 million copies during the 39 days it was available in 1998, and became the best-selling game of that year. During its lifetime, it sold 7.6 million copies worldwide, excluding ports and re-releases. Upon its initial N64 release, Ocarina of Time received perfect review scores from gaming publications such as Famitsu, Electronic Gaming Monthly, GameSpot, and IGN. The reviews praised multiple aspects of the game, particularly in the areas of level design, gameplay mechanics, and sound. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann wrote that Ocarina of Time is "a game that can't be called anything other than flawless", and IGN called it "the new benchmark for interactive entertainment" that could "shape the action RPG genre for years to come". After publication, Ocarina of Time was featured on a number of compiled lists of most influential games, including those of Electronic Gaming Monthly, IGN, and Nintendo Power as of February 2006. GameTrailers' editors named it the best game of all time in a February 2007 list of the Ten Best and Worst Games of All Time. They said that "industry standard" features like Z-targeting have enabled it to become a "walking patent office."
The graphics were praised for their depth and detail, although reviewers noted they were not always the best the console had to offer. Game Revolution took note of the faces, the "toughest graphical challenge on 3D characters", saying that the characters' expressions and animation featured "surprising grace". IGN felt that Ocarina of Time improved on the graphics of Super Mario 64, giving a larger sense of scale. Impressive draw distances and large boss characters were also mentioned as graphical highlights. Although excelling in the use of color and the visibility and detail of the environment, reviewers noted that some graphical elements of Ocarina of Time did not perform as well as Banjo-Kazooie, a game released for the same platform earlier that year. IGN said that the framerate and textures of Ocarina of Time were not as good as those of Banjo-Kazooie, particularly in the marketplace of Hyrule Castle, which was called "blurry".
Gameplay was generally praised as detailed, with many side quests to occupy players' time. IGN said players would be "amazed at the detail" of the environment and the "amount of thought that went into designing it". EGM enjoyed that Nintendo was able to take the elements of the older, 2D Zelda games and "translate it all into 3D flawlessly". The context-sensitive control system was seen as one of the strongest elements of the gameplay. Reviewers noted that it allowed for simpler control using fewer buttons, but that it occasionally caused the player to perform unintended actions. The camera control was quoted as making combat "second nature", although the new system took time for the player to get used to.
The game's audio was generally well-received, with IGN comparing some of Koji Kondo's pieces to the work of Philip Glass. A large number of atmospheric sounds and the use of surround sound were said to effectively immerse the player in the game world. Many considered this a benefit, calling them "retro".
In 1998, Ocarina of Time won the Grand Prize in the Interactive Art division at the Japan Media Arts Festival. It also won six honours at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, including "Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design", "Outstanding Achievement in Software Engineering", "Console Game of the Year", "Console Adventure Game of the Year", and "Console RPG of the Year".
It has also won countless “Greatest Game Ever” in many different critics such as the “IGN 100 greatest games of all time which it came first. In NOM magazine, the 150 greatest game of all time, it also finished first.
Scores
Publication
Score
allgame
5 out of 5
Computer and Video Games
9 out of 10
Electronic Gaming Monthly
10 out of 10
Famitsu
40 out of 40
GameSpot
10 out of 10
IGN
10 out of 10
Nintendo Power
9.5 out of 10
RPGamer
5 out of 5
Thunderbolt Games
10 out of 10
GamePro
5 out of 5
Aggregate Score
Aggregator
Score
Game Rankings
97.6%
Metacritics
99%
So there you go, there is The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, arguably the greatest game of all time.
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