Saturday, October 1, 2011

Ocarina of Time 3D Quest Log, Day 1

Hello, beautiful. Ocarina of Time 3D is out since June and I didn't get to play it until now. And I've been missing out. I wasn't really interested in this game, because it didn't offer any new content unlike the Four Sword Anniversary Edition. But after the torture that is called Hero's Trial I'm actually not sure if I want Grezzo to make any more dungeons, lol. Well, this is mostly a visual update of a classic. It's reexperiencing the game in a new way. And it really takes me back. The new visuals are simply stunning, it inspires aww all the time. Normally, when I replay Ocarina of Time, it's just routine. "Go to the tree, roll against it, get the Skulltula, now collect the chicken and bring it to Anju, ..." You just complete the tasks and you do not take the time to look at things. To explore things. You've seen it all already. But not in Ocarina of Time 3D. It all feels so fresh, it's the same old game, but there's something new to discover in every corner. Especially the insides of houses look great, there are tons of new details like the additional masks in the Happy Mask Shop, one looks like the Mirror Shield for example. Or Kakariko at night, where lights shine out of the windows, does not only sound atmospheric, now it also looks atmospheric. This new version really takes me back to the time when I first played this game in 1999. It's magical.



The 3D of the 3DS works great for me. The comfort window is very small though. By now they developed 3D screens that allow multiple angles and I'm guessing the next version of the 3DS will have one of those. But overall it looks very clear. And some of the effects are stunning, for example the lens flare of the sun comes in 3D now and when you play songs on the Ocarina Link got this shiny aura, which is different with every song. It looks amazing. What also made me marvel was collecting a red Rupee from a chest (in the grotto in Kakariko Village behind the fences). It just looked gorgeous. And the smoother frame rate feels nice. Before I got my 3DS I was replaying Majora's Mask on the Virtual Console, which likes to judder, so this felt like a vast improvement already. They should make Majora's Mask 3D for the better frame rate alone.

The new visuals also come with some advantages. The most noticeable thing was that you can now see through the grass. That way you can discover hidden grottos like the Forest Stage below grass if you look closely. Well, if you look closely, you will also see that not everything was modeled in 3D. There are still some 2D graphics present in the game, mainly the grass. But for example the fence at the Hyrule Castle ditch is a sheet. The fence on Lon Lon Ranch, however, was completely modeled in 3D and looks nice.

In the Royal Tomb they added a door right after the beam of light. That was not there before, in the N64 version you would walk down a long corridor into the rooms with all the skeletons and Keese. I don't know why they added this, but I thought that the original was "scarier".

They also changed some sound effects. Like when you smash a pot or when the Stalkids spawn in Hyrule Field. But it's not as many changes is in the Four Swords Anniversary Edition and the new sound effects aren't bad. It's just noticeable.

And for some reason you can't deactivate the minimap, which is present in the lower-left corner of the 3D screen. I don't know why you even need a minimap on the topscreen, when you actually got a second screen. All it shows is the stupid world map. The D-pad doesn't seem to have any function. They should have used it for going into first person, activating the Ocarina and toggling the minimap. I do not like touching the touchscreen with my fingers. Actually I hold the Stylus in my right hand while playing and use it each team I need to go into the menu. I'm that kind of person... it's just that I want my shiny new 3DS to stay clean and shiny. So, using the D-pad for shortcuts would have been a welcomed addition.

As of now I entered Dodongo's Cavern. Right before that I made a nice new stunt. Remember the Piece of Heart right above Dodongo's Cavern? Normally you would have to plant a Magic Bean and get it as an adult. However, I was able to get on the ledge by using a sidestep jump from the place, where you throw the Bomb Flowers down. I don't know if this was possible in the N64 version, I did this for the first time.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don'T know if it was possible with a side jump, but it was possible with a back flip.

Anonymous said...

Yes, they should make Majora's Mask for 3DS. They really, really should.

TourianTourist said...

Well, not over the fence... I got on that small ledge next to the Goron and sidejumped from there. It might be that you can backflip over the fence, haven't tried yet...

Anonymous said...

It is possible ;-)