Nintendo Music: Ocarina of Time 3D Added

Another month, another Zelda addition to Nintendo Music, this time with Ocarina of Time 3D. I already had speculated that we might see this when they added The Wind Waker, but with no link from or to The Wind Waker HD back in January. The reason is that these remasters / remakes got their own soundtrack CD release, which is what many of the albums in Nintendo Music are based upon. And that's exactly what we are getting here.

The differences between the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo 3DS music are small, but you may notice some here and there, since the music for the Nintendo 3DS version was actually remade, as faithfully as that might be (Iwata Asks). The soundtrack does have less tracks (51 compared to 82), because it doesn't feature the "Get Item" melodies, for example, and also combines certain songs into one. But it comes with the orchestrated credits theme that was made for GREZZO's staff listing. That's from the good, old times, where these remasters still showed you the original development staff in their credits, as they should.

Anyway, it may feel a bit redundant, but this is nice to have nevertheless. I'm glad they added it to the library. Though, it's curious that they are prioritizing this over adding Majora's Mask. Maybe next month...

Ocarina of Time's 25th Anniversary

This blog rarely acknowledges the anniversaries of the individual Zelda games, other than the first, but Ocarina of Time always has been an exception, since the game is one of the biggest milestones in the Zelda series. For its 10th and 20th anniversaries we've looked at the game's accomplishments and legacy, so this time let's talk about the future of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

There lately have been rumors floating around that we might get something for Zelda other than Tears of the Kingdom in the year 2023, which led to some speculation about a potential remake of Ocarina of Time, which could be shadow-dropped in the same way as Metroid Prime Remastered. However, this would likely not become a proper remake, but rather a remaster of the Nintendo 3DS version, which was released in 2011.

The timing is also questionable, because Ocarina of Time is always tied to its direct sequel, Majora's Mask. Whatever they are to do with Ocarina of Time now, you would expect Majora's Mask to receive the same treatment later on. But the Nintendo Switch won't be forever, where we will see a successor at some point in the next couple of years. And then it will be preferable to get remakes of both Nintendo 64 Zelda games for that system, with much prettier graphics.

In any case, both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask will see new remakes eventually. With the release of Skyward Sword HD in 2021, they have remastered or remade each classic 3D Zelda game at least once, where now it can begin all over again. Whether this will happen anytime soon or not, remains to be seen. (If we were to get one more remake on the Nintendo Switch, I personally would prefer Oracle of Ages & Seasons to follow up on Link's Awakening.)

A remake of Ocarina of Time should include all the improvements of the Nintendo 3DS version, naturally, but also come with more detailed maps, similar to what they have done for Majora's Mask 3D. Generally, it probably wouldn't hurt to modernize the interface and other aspects of the game a bit, while staying true to the original, like it was done with the remake for Link's Awakening.

But one nitpick I always had about the game, which finally should be fixed with a remake, is how you need the Fairy Bow at one point inside the Water Temple to get a key, right at the end of the winding tunnel full of vortexes. If this weren't the case, then you would be able to play the Forest, Fire, and Water Temples in any order, highlighting how open and non-linear Ocarina of Time already was, long before Breath of the Wild...

One thing that Nintendo also could do now, in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the game, is to add Master Quest to the Nintendo Switch Online library. Outside of Ocarina of Time 3D, this has never been re-released, even though it's technically only a modified ROM, where they potentially could have put this on the Wii Virtual Console. Maybe this would have left a sour taste, because you would have needed to buy the game twice to experience both versions. But that's not an issue any longer with the new subscription model, where you have access to all Nintendo 64 games as long as you're subscribed to the NSO Expansion Pack. So, this would be great timing to get the classic Master Quest back.

Ocarina of Time 3D Nintendo 2DS Bundle Announced

Wrong bundle, Nintendo! This is not a Nintendo Switch, nor Breath of the Wild! And it doesn't even it look good! You're doing it wrong!

Jokes aside, with a 80$ price tag this is really a good deal for anyone, who wants to dive into classic Zelda. Breath of the Wild certainly spawned some new interest in the series, where both Ocarina of Time 3D and A Link Between Worlds would be my recommendations to anyone, who wants to get into Zelda. My only problem would be the missing 3D, because the 3D effects in both games are excellent and a good reason to own an actual Nintendo 3DS, instead of a Nintendo 2DS model.

And the green color isn't that appealing... But it doesn't get any cheaper than that. Considering that the game alone costs 20$, you get a 60$ Nintendo 2DS system here.

Replaying Ocarina of Time 3D Master Quest

Sheikah Slate Required. Access Denied.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, which is the evilest dungeon of them all...?!

In a twisted world, where everyone is left-handed but Link, my journey of re-experiencing various Zelda games for the 30th Anniversary continued. After replaying Majora's Mask 3D it kind of was weird to return to Ocarina of Time so shortly, because it feels like a downgrade. Majora's Mask simply has the richer game world and a much more interesting selection of items thanks to the masks. It's just more interesting to play this game, but what Majora's Mask doesn't have, is many dungeons, and this is where Master Quest came in with a total of 12 completely re-arranged dungeons. It's what kept me going and ultimately puts Ocarina of Time on par with its successor.

What makes the re-arranged dungeons so good is that they don't bother you too much with stuff that you already did in the original game. Like for example there are no rolling boulders inside the Fire Temple. And a majority of the dungeon is completely optional. Or the Eye of Truth sees little to no use inside the Bottom of the Well. Instead you often get a tougher selection of enemies and some crazier puzzles that require out-of-the-box thinking. It's all very refreshing and makes this "2nd Quest" worthwhile.

On the 3DS version you also get the mirrored game world and that really feels like a totally different game, which is weird. All you basically have to do is flip right and left in your head, but the world just looks very strange and unfamiliar, even though it's the same places. I still would have liked a similar game mode for Majora's Mask 3D, because this can offer a quite unique experience, even if it's confusing and keeps being confusing.

There's also the double damage, which is only really an issue early on and with some tougher enemies. In fact I tried to get some fairies for a bottle as early as possible, where it seems like holding a Deku Stick next to butterflies is the earliest chance of finding one. That trick takes some patience and I remember that in the past I even thought it was just a myth that this really works...

I was also taking my time and doing some silly things like showing the first four masks to Zelda, where some of her reactions weren't really what I expected...

She also really likes that Spooky Mask, but at least that fits with the ending sequence, where she just calmly passes a Redead. As a kid she probably sneaks out to the graveyard at night just for fun.

Apropos fun on graveyards... of course this was a 100% run and of course with that you have to get through Random Dampé, who was giving me a hard time as so often. But I had an unusual experience here. After many unsuccessful tries I was running out of Rupees and leaving the graveyard, but that's where the bushes near the entrance would suddenly give me Red Rupees, so I could try again. And then I just got the Piece of Heart on my first try on the first soil. Weird. But maybe there's some mechanic here, where you just get the Heart Piece after a certain amount of failures.

Anyhow, here is my order of dungeons and important places after the Deku Tree and leaving the forest:

• Dodongo's Cavern (Bombs)
• Jabu Jabu's Belly
• Dodongo's Cavern (Boss)
• Lon Lon Ranch (Epona)
• Gerudo Fortress
• Ice Cavern
• Water Temple
• Forest Temple
• Bottom of the Well
• Fire Temple Entrance (Megaton Hammer)
• Spirit Temple
• Gerudo Training Grounds
• Fire Temple
• Shadow Temple

This looks very chaotic, but I did a similar run before, so it's not that extraordinary. When becoming an adult, I like to cover as much ground as possible and get as many things right away as possible. And here it's nice that you can get both the Hammer and the Longshot very early in their corresponding temples. It's quite reminiscent of the 2nd Quest in The Legend of Zelda, where in some of the dungeons you can also find the crucial item early on. Then you might just want to grab them and leave the rest of the dungeon for later, which is what I did with the Fire Temple. And it looks really nice to have the Mirror Shield in the rest of the Fire Temple later on:

In any case, what you want to do first as an adult is getting your horse and then right straight to Lake Hylia and get that Scarecrow's Song. It really annoys me that you have to talk to Bonooru again, before you can actually summon Pierre. Because it's useful in the Sacred Forest Meadow and even required for a Piece of Heart at the Gerudo Fortress, which is why you want to have the scarecrow ready, when you go to these places...

What else was there to talk about? Ah, yeah, the fishing is especially horrible after playing the same minigame in Majora's Mask 3D. I kept losing fish and after all these many years I still haven't fully figured out, when and why that fish breaks from the line. It's just annoying and doesn't happen as easily in Majora's Mask 3D.

Probably the toughest part was the Boss Gauntlet, because one hit here can potentially kill you, but it went rather well, where I finished the thing on my 2nd attempt. And it wasn't Bongo Bongo, who gave me trouble this time. First I died to Phantom Ganon's lightning strike, who came in from behind me, where I wasn't fast enough with shooting him. Usually the lightning bolts go into the corners, so you're safe in the middle of one of the cordons, but not this time. Also, Twinrova nearly killed me a the end, because Koume's fire beam wouldn't connect with my Mirror Shield and just fry me. Luckily I found two extra Heart Containers at beforehand or else my run would have ended at that point, probably leaving me quite frustrated.

You might also want to try killing all Redeads on Hyrule Market and then asking out loud "Anyone else want to complain?" - there's a good chance that Navi will "hey" you at that very moment. They really should have added an option to mute her in the remake...

The Most Disappointing Secret Grotto in Ocarina of Time

The one in Goron City:

You can see this magma path very early in the game and as new player you might even wonder, how you can get over there. It does take the Longshot and the Song of Time to cross this river of molten rocks unharmed and when you're finally at the other end, all you get is a hole full of Business Scrubs...

Pretty much anything else would have been better, because a lush green cave with Business Scrubs feels a little bit out of place and disappointing after all this trouble. There's a grotto with 200 Rupees in front of the entrance of Goron City that could have been swapped. But the best outcome probably would have been a third cave with special looks, where you fight some enemies for Rupees, e.g. Dodongos.

Now, this is just a minor complaint that always comes up, whenever I replay Ocarina of Time (currently in the Master Quest variant on the Nintendo 3DS, as indicated by the screenshot). And since this annoys me every time, I thought it was worth a small post.

It's not the only disappointing grotto that easily can be ignored, e.g. there are Secret Grottos below grey boulders, which require the Silver Gauntlets, but where you don't really get anything worthwhile in the end. However, the one in Goron City is certainly the worst.

Let's Update Ocarina of Time 3D

As with my previous post, Let's Update A Link Between Worlds, this is supposed to give some ideas of what could and should have happened, if Ocarina of Time 3D ever received a free update with new content, similar to the Den of Trials update for Tri Force Heroes. Of course Nintendo will most likely not do any of this, but it's still fun to think about the possibilities, especially right after replaying the game.


Interface Improvements

First of all, the Select button should serve as an alternative way to open the item inventory, because that's just more similar to the original or how it works in A Link Between Worlds. The inventory itself could get another column and work the same way as in Majora's Mask 3D, but that's not a must. It just would make arranging and organizing your items a little easier.

The map system should also be more similar to what we got in Majora's Mask 3D. The way too small minimaps on the top screen should be removed. In case of dungeons, you simply get the navigational arrows directly on your map, otherwise the dungeon maps are totally fine. The overworld map, while looking pretty, is also completely useless during gameplay, where the minimaps should be transferred to the bottom screen and the visual art of the overworld map with its overview of the areas and Skulltulas checks will be only visible in the map menu screen.

Last but not least, if you have a Circle Pad Pro or a New Nintendo 3DS, the C-Stick should be used to view around.


Cave of Ordeals / Trials Minidungeon

It wouldn't be the first time that I bring up this idea, in fact I had a quite detailed concept for such a cave back in 2013. But it's the only thing that Ocarina of Time doesn't have: a trial dungeon, where you fight enemies room after room. Something like the Savage Labyrinth in the Wind Waker, the Cave of Ordeals and Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess (HD) or the Den of Trials in Tri Force Heroes. This get never boring and they essentially have become a staple in the series.

I would place this near the Desert Colossus, so it could be a reference to the Cave of Ordeals from Twilight Princess, which got placed in the Gerudo Desert. That way this new dungeon also would be endgame material and accessible by both Child and Adult Link.

It should have five different stets of rooms based on the different temples in the game and their enemies, where you also have the ability to replay certain minibosses. Dark Link should wait at the end of the water section for example. And the whole dungeon should finish with a fight against three Iron Knuckles.

At the end a Great Fairy awaits, which will grant different rewards for Child and Adult Link. Which leads us to the last part of the update:


New Items

The game has two open inventory slots...! This still bugs me after five years, so let's fill them. Like with Majora's Mask 3D, you could just always add another Empty Bottle. There's no such thing as too many bottles - go ask Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland. But simply getting an Empty Bottle from a Great Fairy at the end of the biggest amount of enemies, which the game ever will have to offer, would be lame. And also not very useful at this point.

A way around this would be getting a Colossal Wallet at the end of the new dungeon, much like in the Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess HD, which could now hold up to 999 Rupees. And in some location, maybe even at the entrance of the new dungeon, they could add a Business Scrub, who sells an Empty Bottle for a massive price, anything above 500 Rupees really, so that you will need to get the new wallet first in order to buy it.

And because all of this would still be boring, lets have a real interesting price with another Magic Spell based on the Goddesses. I call it "Hylia's Light" and it temporarily infuses your sword with a glowing light, which doubles your sword power. Like with Nayru's Love you can't use any other magic at the same time, so you have to strategically decide when to activate it. This should be given to Adult Link, since he already gets to play with the mighty Biggoron's Sword, so you can use this spell when replaying the dungeon as Child Link, which should be helpful with some of the mightier foes.


If you have any other ideas what an hypothetical update of Ocarina of Time 3D should provide, let me know in the comments!

Replaying Ocarina of Time 3D

To take a pause from the grinding in Hyrule Warriors: Legends, I decided to do another run through the Nintendo 3DS remakes / remasters of the Nintendo 64 Zelda classics, Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora's Mask 3D. I started with Ocarina of Time 3D, will continue with Majora's Mask 3D and then finish it off with Master Quest 3D. That way I will be able to really compare both remakes back to back, while also judging the replay value of both games.

And as much as I love the Nintendo 64 Zelda games, which always have been part of my favorite Zelda games, I don't feel the immediate replay value anymore. I mainly wanted to replay Ocarina of Time 3D, because I haven't touched it since I first completed it in 2011 and because it looks really pretty - it's still one of the best looking Nintendo 3DS games with amazing 3D visuals. The 3D goes quite deep, I love the popout effects, when you get important items (it's like those Spiritual Stones are coming out of your 3DS screen) and it all looks very sharp. Especially the new models of all the characters look great (except maybe Saria, who looks somewhat derpy), it's all very well done for the most part (save for some texture fences and texture staircases here and there) and a satisfying new version of the N64 classic, which now really has a timeless feel to it.

Of all the 3D remakes and remasters that the Zelda series has seen in the last five years, this is still my favorite one. It really looks like an upgrade, it adds some interesting new features, but it also doesn't change much to the worse, like Majora's Mask 3D did, only some minor things. So, it overall feels like the superior version of the game.

Anyway, while I marveled at the visuals, I also feared that replaying the game itself will feel like a chore, because I've replayed Ocarina of Time so many times already that I don't know the exact number. And for some reason, when I replay a game, I always think about the parts first, which I despise. In this case it would be the random Heart Piece from the trolling Dampé on the graveyard, the Bombchu Bowling, the fishing, the horse races - it's usually the minigame stuff that ticks me off in Zelda, but these kind of activities are certainly much worse in the sequel.

Early on the game also feels super slow. I love the scene, where you first leave the forest and entire Hyrule Field unfolds before you. It gives this vibe of freedom that I want from a Zelda game. But it also takes forever to walk from A to B. Walking around Hyrule Field is slow and quite boring save for the Peahats, but you tend to walk around them anyway. And that's one of the challenges that they are facing with Breath of the Wild, where you do get a large world to explore, but you never want it to be boring. But I suppose the Guardians will be the super aggressive Peahats of the new game.

Now, after these initial hurdles, the game gets to be the classic, charming fun. I enjoy replaying the dungeons of this game, where the Forest Temple will probably be my eternal favorite, and it's also fun to collect everything again. There's potentially something to find in every corner and you can go at it, how you see fit. My playthrough wasn't extraordinary this time, but I still mixed things up a little bit, after getting the Master Sword:

• Lon Lon Ranch
• Ice Cavern
• Fire Temple
• Forest Temple
• Gerudo Fortress
• Bottom of the Well
• Water Temple
• Shadow Temple
• Spirit Temple

One thing that they really should have changed with the 3DS version is replacing the eye switches in the Water Temple, especially the one at the end of the vortex tunnel. It's quite the long way to get there and you almost have finished the entire dungeon, but right at this point the game is telling you to stop and go back to get the Bow from the Forest Temple first. That's easily one of the biggest troll moments in the Zelda series and they just should have replaced it with a crystal switch, so you can beat the entire dungeon without the Fairy Bow, which would allow to complete this dungeon first in order. There's also an eye switch in the Fire Temple, but you can go around it and still complete the dungeon. It's just an optional shortcut.

It's also interesting, how the game world opens up to you in terms of fast traveling methods. In most of the later Zelda games you usually have the one warp song / item / ability that lets you teleport to a number of bird statues or similar warp points all over the world. It appears to be the same in Breath of the Wild and it certainly gets the job done best. But in Ocarina of Time it's really a combination of several things, like the six individual warp songs or the different portal gateways. As Child Link you can't use Epona, but there's the Owl in two places for shortcuts, like the one from Lake Hylia back to Hyrule Castle Town. You also get to use one more gateway.

The gateway system is also quite interesting, how it connects Death Mountain and Zora's Realm via the Lost Woods, as well as Zora's Realm and Lake Hylia as a child. The quickest way to get from A to B in Ocarina of Time can be a little maze puzzle in itself. For example, when you have to deliver the Eye Drops to Biggoron and can't simply use warp songs, most people probably ride towards Kakariko to climb Death Mountain from there. But I ride towards the forest, use the Gateway to Goron City and then take a shortcut through the Death Mount Crater. This route only takes half of the given time.

Now, while replaying the game, I also thought that there should have been one more gateway in the world: leading from the Desert Colossus into the Gerudo Fortress. It would have to be blocked with the big grey boulders, which require the Silver Gauntlets, so you can't use it as a child and you can't take it to bypass the Haunted Wasteland at first. It would be like the gateway from the Lost Woods to Goron City, where you have to get to Goron City the normal way first to open it up. But the Gerudo Fortress seems to be the only place that is not connected by means of fast travel. The fastest way to get there seems to warp to Lake Hylia, take Epona and ride to the fortress. And that takes a little patience, where it would be much nicer, if you just could warp to the Desert Colossus and then take a gateway into the fortress. They could even place it somewhere funny, like in the one empty prison cell.

Also, after playing Hyrule Warriors: Legends for the past months, it was inevitable that I tried to do combos at some place. It only happened once and curiously enough, it was inside the pot storage room in Hyrule Castle Town. That's somewhat ironic, because you can't actually break pots with combos in Hyrule Warriors, only with regular attacks, but I suppose it's one of the few places in Ocarina of Time, where you attack multiple things at once, which gave me the urge to press Y. And seeing Nabooru in this version of the game, makes me really want to have her as a playable character in the next Hyrule Warriors game, she looks lovely.

I also had to adjust to not using the Start or Select button to open the inventory. Actually, I wasn't able to adjust to this at all, I still kept pressing these buttons at the end of the game, only to be annoyed by the save game dialogue. At least this time I was playing with larger screens and a screen protector installed on the touchscreen, so navigating the inventory was a lot more convenient. When I played Ocarina of Time 3D first on my original Nintendo 3DS, I didn't have a screen protector installed and I was really careful with the touchscreen, which also was quite small, so I kept using the Stylus every time I wanted to change an item. And that was a real hassle.

Of course this was a 100% run and with Ocarina of Time 3D you at least want to beat the Boss Challenge once. Replaying the individual bosses for better time scores is overall a fun addition to the game. The Boss Gauntlet, however, is not, at least at first, when you just want to beat it once and be done with it. There's some luck involved due to the treasure chests and while the majority of boss fights are really enjoyable, the bane of my existence right now seems to be Bongo Bongo. I never remembered this boss fight as particularly difficult on the Nintendo 64, but whenever I attempt the Boss Challenge mode, I'm having issues with these awful hands. The targeting systems seems to fail me here often, where I can target one hand and stun it, but the other evades my crosshairs. And since the hands are super fast, you can't target them manually. What makes things worse is that Bongo Bongo is the second to last boss in the Gauntlet. I can just get to this point without a single scratch, but he might potentially kill me off. He didn't, though, but it was a close call (half a heart left) and luckily I got a Heart Container after the fight, so I could stay relaxed in the Twinrova battle.

In Master Quest this will be worse, because one mistake there really will kill you. Not looking forward to that one. But I suppose, I'll just have to practice Bongo Bongo a little more, because that's what the individual challenges are there for...

Nintendo Should Update Ocarina of Time 3D

After spending some time with both Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora's Mask 3D today, I really feel like they should release a patch for the former game to have it on par with MM3D. It's just so much better in many details.

First of all the map: you get an animated map of your current location on the bottom screen, the way it should be. OoT3D only had an overview map on the bottom screen, while the animated map was on the top screen, very tiny but still blocking the 3D.

I also like how situational items get stored under the Gear screen, while the Magical Arrows are back to having their own item slots, which makes switching them more comfortable. You can even assign different arrow types to different buttons! If you would remove the trading item from the Item screen in Ocarina of Time 3D, it would have exactly three open slots for the arrows.

Then add a row for four items, so that changing items and arranging them works exactly like in MM3D. I really prefer the A Link Between Worlds style over the Link's Awakening style of item arrangement, because it's so much easier to organize your items, when it keeps the order.

What else? They could add the C-Stick functionality and Circle Pad Pro support. It's a little bit sad, how in the Iwata Asks the C-Stick ended up being the biggest feature of the remake, but whatever... it's nice to have.

Small things, but it would improve Ocarina of Time 3D tremendously. But... probably won't happen, since releasing updates for games costs money. And from what I've heard, they are not even producing Ocarina of Time 3D anymore.

Let's Design a Cave of Ordeals / Savage Labyrinth for Ocarina of Time

I guess one of the biggest missed opportunities of Ocarina of Time 3D was adding a pit trial dungeon similar to the Savage Labyrinth from The Wind Waker or the Cave of Ordeals in Twilight Princess. A simple addition that Zelda veterans love to play. So, let's try to design our own 50 story pit trial dungeon for Ocarina of Time.

It will use the same structure as the other ones. You go down and need to kill every enemy to progress. Every tenth floor is a safe zone with a price and an optional exit. It mostly uses enemies from dungeons.

Forest Floors (1 - 10)

Floor 01: Deku Baba
Floor 02: 2x Mad Scrubs, 5x Keese
Floor 03: 2x Skulltula, Big Deku Baba
Floor 04: 2x Wolfos
Floor 05: Stalfos
Floor 06: 3x Big Skulltula, 5x Skullwalltula
Floor 07: 5x Blue Bubbles, 3x Gohma Larva
Floor 08: Big Deku Baba, 5x Gohma Larva
Floor 09: Club Moblin, 2x Stalfos
Floor 10: 10 Bombchus (each time)

Fire Floors (11 - 20)

Floor 11: Beamos, 6x Baby Dodongo, 3x Red Tektite
Floor 12: 6x Door Mimic, 2x Lizalfos
Floor 13: 3x Dodongo, 5x Fire Keese
Floor 14: 3x Lizalfos
Floor 15: Beamos, 8x Armos, Like Like
Floor 16: 6x Torch Slug, 3x Blade Trap
Floor 17: 2x Boulder, 4x Like Like
Floor 18: 3x Dinolfos, Fire Eye
Floor 19: Boulder, Blade Trap, Flare Dancer
Floor 20: 50 Rupees (each time)

Water / Ice Floors (21 - 30)

Floor 21: 6x Shaboms, 6x Ice Keese
Floor 22: 2x Bari, 6x Biri, 3x Tailpasaran
Floor 23: 4x Shell Blades, 5x Spikes, 2x Blade Traps (water pool)
Floor 24: 6x Blue Tektite, 3x Stinger (water pool)
Floor 25: Big Octo
Floor 26: 5x Freezard, 8x Ice Keese
Floor 27: 2x White Wolfos, 6x Ice Keese
Floor 28: 3x Stalfos
Floor 29: Dark Link
Floor 30: Pegasus Boots

Shadow Floors (31 - 40)

Floor 31: 8x ReDead
Floor 32: Dead Hand
Floor 33: 3x Poe, 3x Blue Bubble
Floor 34: 3x Beamos, 3x Floormaster, Blade Trap
Floor 35: Wallmaster, 3x Blade Trap, Fire Eye
Floor 36: 5x ReDead, 6x Big Skulltula
Floor 37: 10x Gibdo, 2x Like Like
Floor 38: 4x Stalfos
Floor 39: 2x Dead Hand
Floor 40: 200 Rupees (each time)

Spirit Floors (41 - 50)

Floor 41: 8x Leever, Big Leever, Blade Trap
Floor 42: 3x Anubis, Floormaster, Blade Trap
Floor 43: 6x Gibdo, Iron Knuckle
Floor 44: 3x Floormaster
Floor 45: 6x Beamos, 3x Armos, 2x Dinolfos
Floor 46: 2x Club Moblin, Iron Knuckle
Floor 47: Wallmaster, Iron Knuckle, 4x Floormaster
Floor 48: 3x Iron Knuckle
Floor 49: Dark Link, 2x Iron Knuckles
Floor 50: Great Fairy (Grants you Hylia's Light)

Or something like that. Feel free to use this as a blueprint for your own version. You could also consider that Master Quest might get a tougher variant of the dungeon.

Hylia's Light would be another of these spells (similar to Din's Fire, Nayru's Love and Farore's Thunder), but it doubles your sword power for a certain amount of time (it makes your sword glow in light). The Pegasus Boots simply make you walk faster as adult Link (similar effect to the Bunny Hood). Both items would fill the two empty spots inside Ocarina of Time 3D's inventory.

I personally would have loved that. Ocarina of Time 3D would be a lot better with additions like these.

Ocarina of Time 3D: Horseback Archery 2000 Points

Yesterday I dug up Ocarina of Time 3D to refresh my memories about the remake. It's nearly two years ago that I have played this, time flies by so fast. One thing for sure is that it plays a lot slower that the original version, it feels like Link is constantly moving in slow motion. It's weird.

Well, in the past I always went for the 2000 points highscore in the Horseback Archery minigame at the Gerudo Fortress, which requires some practice. So I decided to get the highscore on the 3DS version as well, both in the normal quest and Master Quest. I hated the aiming with the analog stick, but the gyroscope aiming works really well. So well that I can rack up 1300 points even before making the turn. And I'm looking forward to playing The Wind Waker HD with gyroscope aiming on the Wii U GamePad.

The gyroscope stuff, which Nintendo did, really adds to console gaming. As a PC gamer I'm used to mouse aiming and using analog sticks to aim is just a pain. Of course the gyroscope is not as precise as a mouse, but it's a lot easier to aim with it. And this is one more good reason to have Majora's Mask 3D. Especially Clock Town Shooting Gallery can be a pain in the ass and the gyroscope might be a big help.

A big problem though was switching to Master Quest 3D. It's not that only the enviroments are mirrorred, the bow is as well. And my aiming was completely off because of that...

Ocarina of Time 3D and Add-On Content

This week Nintendo released their first official add-on content for a 3DS game, a patch for Mario Kart 7 that prevents you from using some glitch based shortcuts (the one Wuhu track for example). As we all know Nintendo is against "releasing incomplete products", so you should't expect downloadable MK7 tracks or new Super Mario 3D Land levels for 4.99. And definitely not downloadable content for a game like Zelda, where DLC would be hard to include (unless there's multiplayer).

Still I would like to talk about the possibility of Ocarina of Time 3D getting new content, because it could fix the biggest mistake of the remake - the lack of any new content. Like a new optional dungeon offering some bigger challenges. It could be placed as a cave or even a secret grotto somewhere in the Desert Colossus area. Or if you only want Adult Link to enter the dungeon then somewhere in the Haunted Wasteland (this place is perfect for adding some secrets). It could be another 50 story fighting dungeon like the Cave of Ordeals. That still would be better than nothing, especially if it let's you rebattle Dark Link. And it should get even harder in Master Quest. As rewards they should try to fill the two empty slots in the item menu, more bottles or a telescope, something. Maybe new potions that come with the new bottles and can be refilled in the dungeon any time. A larger wallet would also be nice, even though this wouldn't fill a slot in the item menu. But there could be a reward after every 10th floor.



The Cave of Ordeals idea is quite minimalistic and it might sound desperate that they just should add something. But I can't stress it enough, that Ocarina of Time 3D was a missed opportunity and DLC might be a way to fix this.

Got Zelda 3DS Limited Edition Bundle

I'm weak. I admit it. I'm weak. I should have boycotted this thing. For the simple reason that Nintendo screwed every Zelda fan, who bought a Nintendo 3DS early. For releasing Ocarina of Time 3D with not one but two preorder bonuses, so that a lot of Zelda fans would buy Ocarina of Time 3D at its release (like I did). For even denying that they plan a bundle at E3. This was probably the most evil marketing move Nintendo ever pulled off. And I'm still totally angry about it.... but I still couldn't resist buying it. :D It's really the bundle I've been waiting for ever since the start of the anniversary. And there's no excuse that this wasn't already released in June.

Well, here are some photos:

The Zelda 3DS is really beautiful, it's not a simple Cosmo Black mod, the entire lower side looks completely different and everything that was white or silver on the normal 3DS model is now golden. Some outer parts of the 3DS are sheer, which isn't the case with a normal model. And I got lucky this time, I got one of the "clicky" 3DS models, the one that makes a clicking sound when open and close it. Also, the buttons feel a little bit "clickier". While playing Four Swords on my red 3DS, I got quite some problems with the stiff D-pad. It even made some weird squeaking sounds. It might be just me, but the D-pad of my clicky Zelda 3DS feels much more responsive.

I think the "clicky or not" 3DS situation is another big issue. You don't have any control over what model you'll get, I think it depends in which factory the 3DS was made. You might as well get a not-clicky Zelda 3DS, if you're unlucky. I've never seen such differences in the production of a Nintendo product, that's not something that you'd expect from Nintendo.

However, the red 3DS is really sexy and until this point I wasn't sure, if I'm going to keep it or sell it. For now I have to keep it, because I need the system transfer update first, which will be released somewhen next week (what coincidence, Nintendo... a system transfer tool right when some idiotic Zelda fans might decide to buy a second 3DS? what are the chances? :D) - I hope it lets you transfer ALL of your data. Like Miis, Play Coins, play data and what not else. Because I got lots of play coins and I got lots of Nintendo employees from the press event in October in my Mii plaza. I wouldn't want to lose any of it. If this is done, I will probably sell the red one. There's no point in keeping two 3DS systems.

About the second Ocarina copy, I love the dual-sided cover. The US boxart isn't actually so bad as I thought, you just can't really see the golden effect on pictures. But they should always do this, I mean there have been at least two different covers for all the latest Zelda games. Instead of going with one cover in a region, they should include a dual-sided cover in all copies. That way I can chose which version I like more.

Well, so much about my big Christmas gift to myself.

My opinion? If you're a Zelda fan and don't own a 3DS yet, this is definitely worth getting. And it's not just Ocarina of Time, you will also be able to play the Four Swords Anniversary Edition, which you don't want to miss. If you're a Zelda fan and already got a 3DS, then I know exactly how you feel, because I am in the same stupid situation. And if you aren't a Zelda fan, then I'm not sure what you're doing here on my blog anyway.

Update: one thing though, they should have added Link's Awakening DX to the preinstalled software. That would have made the bundle a little bit more complete. And maybe Four Swords too.

25th Anniversary Zelda 3DS Bundle Announced...

FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU

What the hell, Nintendo? Are you fucking kidding me?!! I waited MONTHS for something like this! I think at some point it was even denied that a special Zelda 3DS bundle is planned. So, I went to the store with a clear conscience that there won't be a Zelda 3DS and bought the red one. And now, one month later, this happens! You're punishing your faithful costumers! Every Zelda fan who already bought a 3DS now got betrayed by your marketing. Why not announce this earlier? Like at E3? Or at the 3DS conference? I would have waited. But there's no excuse, this should have been released since June or at least been announced at some point earlier!

This is unacceptable, Nintendo. And this isn't funny! I'm seriously angered right now and I'm never going to buy a Nintendo handheld early again. Because you're always punishing the early adopters. Something like this is the reason why people are hesitating to buy a 3DS. Nintendo just screwed every Zelda fan, who already bought one! And there are many. I mean, you can't release Ocarina of Time 3D with two preorder boni (the 3DS bag and the soundtrack CD), so that many Zelda fans go for the game, and then release an unannounced bundle for it half a year later... they screwed us. Imagine some Zelda fan bought a 3DS at the release of Ocarina of Time 3D. He would have lost 80 bucks due to the price cut and be unhappy that he didn't get the Zelda model. That's not fair!

So, what am I supposed to do right now? Buy this thing, sell my red 3DS, sell the second copy of OoT? I'm still losing money... Thanks, Nintendo! You just made one of your longtime costumers very angry and losing his trust in you.

Source: Nintendo Life

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Review)

If there's one issue with the Nintendo 3DS, then it's the current lack of good software. The biggest must-have title for the 3DS is actually 13 years old, the remake of Ocarina of Time. But is this game really something, which makes buying a 3DS worth it? Unlike my review of the Four Swords Anniversary Edition this review will only deal with the qualities of the remake itself, because there's no point in reviewing Ocarina of Time. We all know that the game is great, many still consider it to be the best Zelda game and it's certainly one of the greatest games of all time. If you haven't played Ocarina of Time yet, then go play it now. This review should primarily concern people, who played the original game and now want to know how much better the new version really is.

Technically this isn't really a full "remake", it uses the original game as a base and it tries to be very faithful to it, it's more like an updated, remastered version. I will still use the term "remake" throughout the review.


Graphics and 3D

The main focus of this remake lies definitely on the visuals. This is primarily a graphical update of the game. And at first it's quite stunning, you will be amazed with all the new details, which they added to the game. And it runs so much more smoothly on a steady framerate, it's really enjoyable. But the euphoria about the new looks wears off quickly. The problem is that the level of detail is varying a lot. At some places like Hyrule Castle Town they went through a lot of troubles to remodel everything and add nice details in every little corner. You can spent hours just studying the new details. However, in other places it just looks like a simple texture pack. For example the staircases in Kakariko Village are still just simple textures and you start wondering how hard it can be to model an actual staircase. Another good example would be fences, in some places they are now actual 3D models, in other places like Hyrule Field or Hyrule Caste they are still 2D objects. If you look at them from the side they are nearly invisible. This shouldn't appear in a game, which is all about 3D! Some things even might look worse to you, the best example would be the muddy textures for Like Likes and the Dead Hand. They really looked much better on the N64.

But the 3D effect definitely works nice for this game. Unlike the flat 3D effects in Dead or Alive: Dimensions the 3D here goes very deeply and there are actually things popping out of the screen, for example when you get certain items or look at the lens flair effect of the sun. And if you think about it, this game was originally made for 3D, it was the first 3D Zelda game and one of Nintendo's first biggest games with 3D graphics, so the environments were really made with 3D in mind, even though at that time there were no 3D screens like today. I don't have much experience with the 3DS yet, but I'd say that Ocarina of Time 3D is probably one of the best showcases of 3D on the system.


Interface and Controls

Of course the game plays slightly differently on the 3DS than it did on the N64. It heavily uses the touchscreen for your interface and it adepts to the button layout of the 3DS, which is missing the four C-buttons of the N64. You only get to use the X and Y buttons for your items, but as a compensation the four corners of the touch screen now act as touch buttons. On the left side you will find the button for the camera and Navi and the button for your Ocarina. The buttons on the right side can be assigned with items of your choice. But since the touch buttons feel somehow unresponsive and you may not like touching the touchscreen with your fingers, they are only suitable for items like the Eye of Truth, bottles, masks or boots. Something that doesn't get used extensively.

The new item menu works similar to the one from the early GameBoy Zeldas, you can swap items all around. The Iron and Hover Boots are now normal items like in later 3D Zelda games, which makes swapping them much faster and more comfortable. Overall the new item menu works nicely except for the Fairy Bow. To switch between the different arrow types you have to tap on the bow icon to open a little submenu and then select the arrow of your choice, which is even more inconvenient than it used to be. They also removed the nice glowing effect. It would have been better if they handled the bow like in The Wind Waker, where you can toggle between the arrow types live by pressing R.

The Ocarina is now played with the L, R, Y, X and A buttons in that order from lowest to highest note. You need to get used to it and you won't like it at first, simply because you have the original songs memorized, but after a while you will realize that it actually plays much better than in the original. And quicker. I can now play the Requiem of Spirit at the split of a second. You can also now look at all the songs while playing, which is nice and really helpful with the change of notes.

But the best addition made to the entire game is the faster screen text! It was probably the most aweful thing in the original version, that you couldn't skip a text and you had to wait for it to appear slowly letter for letter. This could heavily test your patience during replays, like the four carpenters telling you the EXACT SAME things four times in very slow tempo. You should buy this version for the faster screen text alone.

The only real complaint I have about the interface is the use of the map. It's like they totally ignored the Nintendo DS Zeldas, which made really good use of the second screen for a map. The touchscreen just shows the entirely useless world map while you play the game or the current floor if you're inside a dungeon. The navigational map is still on the top screen, just very tiny and unlike in the original N64 version you can't deactivate it. There's also a larger version of the navigational map, however, it only appears if you visit the map menu! What were they thinking? The navigational map should always be visible on the lower screen. And the 3D screen should have as few HUD elements as possible, certainly not a map.

Master Quest

Master Quest was originally released on a bonus disc for the GameCube and was basically the same old game with rearranged dungeons. I really like Master Quest and it's great that they added this as a 2nd Quest to the game, which makes it finally complete. The new Master Quest comes with two twists, one of them literally. They mirrored the entire game and you now have to endure double damage.

For the mirroring they basically flipped the entire game graphics horizontally. What used to be left, is now on the right. What used to be in the east, lies now in the west. If you've played both the GameCube and the Wii version of Twilight Princess, you know what this feels like. It can be very confusing, it's the same old places, but everything is in different locations. You know where everything should be, but you lost your sense of orientation. It basically should be as simple as flipping left and right in your brain, but it isn't. Some areas look like completely new places alltogether and you can get confused easily. While you may not like it, there's no arguing that this really adds to the replay value. The dungeons might have been remastered in Master Quest, but the rest of the game, everything on the overworld, is the same. Playing Master Quest right after the normal quest would have been really boring if it wasn't for the mirroring. But now you won't really bother that you're actually doing the same quests again, because you're too busy getting used to the mirrored game world.

Additionally you will lose twice as much health if you get hit. This can lead to some challenges, for example Iron Knuckles now cause eight hearts of damage, but experienced Ocarina of Time players shouldn't have any real problems with it. It's definitely a great idea though.


New Features

Ocarina of Time 3D introduces two new features to the series, which will also be present in the upcoming Skyward Sword: the Sheikah Stones and a Boss Battle mode. One is meant for beginners and the other one for veteran players.

The Sheikah Stones are basically an ingame video guide feature. There are only two of them, one at your house and one inside the Temple of Time. They show you visions of how to progress through the game the game. These clips are quite short, for example there's only one vision for the entire Bottom of the Well dungeon. It's about 10 seconds short and it only shows four flashes, Link entering the dungeon's main area through a fake wall, Link playing the Ocarina to lower the water, Link entering a crawl space tunnel and Link fighting the Dead Hand. That's it. Reading my description here probably takes longer than the clip. And I can't really evaluate if this is actually helpful or not, since I already knew the game and wouldn't use such a feature to begin with. It would be nice to know if new players actually found any assistance in this, but some people just need full hand holding and might be still lost after watching these short clips. The Sheikah Stones are not present in Master Quest, which only makes sense, since Master Quest is supposed to be a challenge for expert players.

The Boss Battle mode is definitely more interesting for seasoned Zelda players and it let's you rebattle all eight normal bosses. Ganondorf and Ganon are not included, probably because you can replay them whenever you want anyway. You only get what you could consider to be the minimum equipment for each boss and you fight them against the clock going for personal highscores. If you've rebattled all eight bosses, the Boss Gauntlet opens, where you fight all eight bosses in a row. You get no recovery items at the start and only few Heart Containers, but after each fight two treasure chests appear, which might contain something useful like the Longshot or additional Heart Containers or something completely useless like Deku Nuts. It's a gamble, but it's a fun mode. In Master Quest the whole thing gets a little bit harder, because you get even less Heart Containers and the bosses all deal double damage, which can potentially kill you in one hit. The Boss Battle mode can be accessed by going to your bed after you've talked to Sheik at the Temple of Time.

The new features are basically entirely optional, you don't have to use them, if you don't want to, and they don't effect the original game in any way.


New Content

The biggest complaint about this remake is about the lack of new content. If you expected anything new, like new dungeons, new enemies, new sidequests, new items or new characters, you will be heavily disappointed. There's nothing new save for the added graphical details and the Boss Battle and Sheikah Stone features. And it's hard to understand, why GREZZO didn't add anything here, new content can be an important selling point. The best example would be Link's Awakening DX. When the game was released in Europe 1999, I didn't buy it because of the colors, I bought it because I wanted to play the new bonus dungeon, the one that comes with lots of new puzzles, enemies and two new tunics. This was an awesome addition and it was the main reason to buy the new version. Not the graphics. And if they would have added anything to Ocarina of Time 3D, it would be the same. But there isn't anything, in that sense they stayed a little bit too faithful to the original game. And it wouldn't be hard to add something, just place a new hidden grotto somewhere leading to a new minidungeon. Even another Cave of Ordeals clone would have been fine, in fact I would have liked something like this. They could have added enemies from Majora's Mask to make it more interesting. The item menu has two open slots, which is weird, so why not use them for some new items? An item like the Telescope or Hawkeye from previous games would have been awesome in 3D. Or add Pegasus Boots to make Link walk faster. Anything. But the lack of any new content is really disappointing and prevents this remake from being "perfect".


Other Changes

There are some small changes here and there, which should be noticed. Overall GREZZO really tried to be faithful to the original game. So faithful in fact that they even preserved some "bugs" like back flipping over fences. On the other hand they made a series of questionable weird changes.

Some of the sound effects changed like breaking pots, like in the Four Swords Anniversary Edition they are not really better or worse, they are just different for whatever reason. And there's a cool new detail, where adult Link twirls the sword while fighting an enemy like he does in Twilight Princess. That's really cool, I totally love it!

In the normal quest all puzzles that required you to spin through bars to activate a crystal switch were removed. There was one in the Water Temple and one in the Spirit Temple. They just placed the crystal switches in different locations for whatever reason. In Master Quest these puzzles are still present, so it's not a problem with the new engine. They must have thought that these puzzles were too tricky for the average or inexperienced player. However, this raises the question why they added the Sheikah Stones in the first place. They could have easily added a vision that shows Link spinning through bars. It's much better than dumbing down two entire puzzles.

Who also got dumbed down is Dark Link. It's now easier to fight him with the sword instead than with the Megaton Hammer or Din's Fire. Well, I guess, it definitely turns this fight into a more dynamic sword battle, but it also destroys an old phenomenom in this game. They could have at least preserved the old Dark Link for Master Quest.

Cojiro doesn't crow anymore in the Lost Woods. It's not really important, but it's also a part of the game's original atmosphere missing.

And if you would ask any Zelda fan how to improve Ocarina of Time, they would all give the same answer: mute Navi! She's such an annoying little fairy and this was the best chance to make her a little bit less annoying. But instead they made her even worse. Now she also bothers you in dungeons telling you to visit one of the Sheikah Stones or to take a pause from playing. And like this wouldn't be already bad enough, they added a blinking NAVI sign on the lower top screen. "Hey, listen, Link, hey, listen, listen, hey, hey!" It really distracts you from the 3D, which makes ignoring her even harder than in the N64 version.


Conclusion

Ocarina of Time 3D is all about reexperiencing an old love. At first you will reexperience it thanks to the visual makeover and marvel about all the new models and textures. Then you will experience it's mirror version in the new Master Quest. And this is great, replaying Ocarina of Time never was as exciting as on the 3DS. The lack of any new content is definitely very disappointing and some of the changes are actually questionable, but this still should be considered to be the ultimate version of the game. If you've played Ocarina of Time 3D, you never want to go back to the original version. Is it worth buying a Nintendo 3DS for this game? No, definitely not, just pick up an older version for ten bucks and save yourself some money. Don't buy a 3DS for this game. But if you ever decide to buy a Nintendo 3DS, this game shouldn't be missing in your shopping cart. It's probably the best game on the 3DS so far.

+ faithful remake
+ rexperience an old love with new looks and through the mirror
+ Mirrored Master Quest with double damage
+ new improved item menu
+ easier handling of Ocarina and the boots
+ new Boss Battle and Sheikah Stone features
+ fast text
- lack of any new content
- varying level of details
- questionable use of map
- inconvenient way of switching arrow types
- Navi as annoying as ever
- some weird changes

Ocarina of Time 3D Master Quest Log 3

100%. I've also cleared the Master Quest Boss Gauntlet. Nothing left to do.

Well, there isn't much to talk about. The only new graphical detail, which I've noticed, are skull shaped winds when you ride the boat in the Shadow Temple. I didn't notice that during the normal quest, where I probably was busy with the Stalfos. But I got really efficient at fighting them, so this time I had plenty of time to actually enjoy the boat trip and look around.

I got really stuck in Gerudo Training Grounds. Which is interesting, because I've cleared the same dungeon on the GameCube not long ago. Well, problem was, that I was missing a key and I couldn't find it. It was the key in the room with the two Torch Slugs and the black Iron Knuckle, inside a treasure chest protected by a ring of fire. But I didn't know how to let the chest appear. There's a hidden crystal switch behind the Gerudo symbol above the door. You can't see at all in this version. But naturally I tried to shoot the Hookshot at the symbol, like you would do in the Fire or Water Temple, but nothing happened. It turned out that you actually had to use your bow...

Boss Challenges went pretty smooth, except for Bongo Bongo. The most critical point of the fight is right at the beginning. If you fail to target the hands properly, you're dead. They can cause four hearts of damage in Master Quest. After the beginning it's all pretty easy, as long as you're quick. But while struggling with Bongo Bongo at first, I cleared the Boss Gauntlet on my first try. Only Phantom Ganon could cause a critical hit with two hearts damage. So, I was on the edge during the Volvagia and Morpha fights. But the big chest after Morpha gave me a red potion to heal myself.

The Boss Challenges itself became harder in Master Quest, you don't get any recovery items like Milk or Red Potions. As a kid you only have three hearts in all fights and as an adult only five. The Boss Gauntlet was exactly the same as in the normal quest though, the only difference was the double damage and that you start with three hearts. But you get the same items and everything. I don't even think that the content of the two treasure chests is random. Because I got exactly the same stuff this time. Here's a list:

• Gohma
  Small Chest: 10 Bombs
  Large Chest: ???
• King Dodongo
  Small Chest: Recovery Heart
  Large Chest: ???
• Barinade
  Small Chest: Heart Container
  Large Chest: ???
• Phantom Ganon
  Small Chest: Empty Bottle (you need this for potions)
  Large Chest: ???
• Volvagia
  Small Chest: Longshot
  Large Chest: ???
• Morpha
  Small Chest: Green Potion
  Large Chest: Red Potion
• Bongo Bongo
  Small Chest: Heart Container
  Large Chest: ???

As you can see, I mostly opened the small chest so far. The Heart Containers are important, so are bombs and the Longshot. I only opened the large chest in case of Morpha, because I knew that the Green Potion would be useless for me (you only need little magic during the Bongo Bongo fight). But I will keep playing and testing what items I'll get. From what I've seen on GameFAQs/Gamespot people were getting completely different stuff than me (like the Bigger Quiver) despite always opening the small chests... It was just weird, that I got exactly the same items as in the normal quest.

Well, I'm done here. Expect reviews of both the Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Ocarina of Time 3D soon here on my blog.

Little Update: If you've cleared everything in the normal quest, the Sheikah Stone turns red and doesn't move anymore. To clear the Final Battle I had to save right before giving Ganon the finisher. So, don't forget to save at this point if you want to clear everything.

Ocarina of Time 3D Master Quest Log 2

Well, let's start with some good news. All the puzzles, that require you to attack through bars in different manners to activate switches or light torches are still present in Master Quest and work the way they used to be. However, this raises the question, why did they change the puzzles in the normal quest in the first place? Did they think they were too difficult? But what did they add the Sheikah Stones for? If something appears to be too difficult for the average costumer, just add a stupid video that shows how to do it instead of removing the puzzle.

However, that the "spin through bars"-puzzles were still intact let me hope that in Master Quest I'm going to face the same old Dark Link, the one that's hard to beat with the sword. But no, he acts the same as in the normal quest... in fact, it's even easier now to fight him with the sword instead of using the Hammer. Since I had full weaponry this time I used all different techniques on him. And using the sword worked best.

I got quite good at fighting Stalfos again. I'm saying "again", because they didn't really give me any trouble back in the day. And they certainly wouldn't bring me down like they did in this new version of Master Quest. Well, the best way is just spam-attacking them. If you hit them before they hit you, they don't deal any damage. I just spam them with the Biggoron Sword and everything is fine.

The Forest Temple was pretty interesting. If you got the Longshot, you can actually skip two locked doors and save yourself a lot of backtracking. You can pull yourself to a treasure chest on the ledge surrounded by water in the second outdoor area. There you can built yourself a staircase using these Song of Time blocks. And from there you can enter the area with the falling ceiling without using the twisted path from above. I still got the two extra keys and opened the doors for the sake of a 100% completion, but for a speedrunner this might be interesting.

One nice thing to notice is, that they "unmirrored" the frogs in the frog minigame. Their positions still correspond to the button layout, so the outer left frog is triggered by the L-button. I previously feared that the controls might be mirrored in this minigame, which would have been confusing.

After the Forest Temple I cleared the Bottom of the Well. Then I hunted Big Poes, got the Biggoron Sword and cleared the Gerudo Fortress to make my way into the desert. I basically cleared all possible sidequests before entering another temple. Maximum heart containers and stuff. And now I'm going for the default order of the dungeons... I did the Fire Temple first without any surprises. Then I went for the Water Temple and Shadow Temple will come next. I was thinking about some other crazy order, but I already experimented with the dungeon order in Master Quest just recently and I also played the dungeons out of order in the normal quest, so playing them in their intended order is actually quite refreshing.

Their was an interesting change in the Master Quest Water Temple. In the original Master Quest their was a spare key right in the room, where you would find the Boss Key in the normal quest. Now, in Ocarina of Time 3D there's actually a second locked door now, right next to the room with the spare key. So, the spare key isn't a spare key anymore.

Ocarina of Time 3D Master Quest Log

Have you ever taken a picture of your home and flip it horizontally on your computer? Or look at your home through a mirror just to see how it looks like? It looks strange, yet familiar. Sometimes it even looks more comfy. It is this kind of feeling, that you get while playing the Master Quest mode of Ocarina of Time 3D. All graphics have been flipped horizontally to add to your confusion. What used to be on the left, is now on the right. The Lost Woods are now in the West and the Gerudo Desert lies in the East. Everyone, who has played both the GameCube and the Wii version of Twilight Princess, knows what I'm talking about. And it can be confusing. It's like you know where everything should be, but you lost your sense of orientation. It's not always as easy as "I would need to go left, so I go right", because certain places may look like completely new places alltogether. Or you just mix it up. It has been 12 years since the last time I got lost in the Lost Woods, but now I constantly run into the wrong direction. However, there are also places, where I really enjoy the mirrored version. Mostly Zora's River, I like this area somehow more, can't really explain it. And all places with a fixed camera, like Hyrule Castle Town, can be quite interesting.

But while it can be confusing, I think the mirroring is still a good thing, because it really adds to the replay value. Otherwise it would be very boring to play Master Quest right after the normal quest. All of the overworld and all the sidequests would be identical. There aren't many enemies on the overworld, so the double damage doesn't really bother you outside of dungeons. And the rest of the game used to be the same, so you basically spent half of the time doing things, which you've just done before. And that would be really, really boring. But thanks to the mirroring it all feels like a different experience. You might be doing the same things, but you're too busy getting used to the mirror world that you would care.

The double damage itself can be troublesome. It might not sound so bad at first, but it can easily kill you, if you're careless. The most thrilling part might be the Deku Tree dungeon, because you only got three hearts and you don't have any bottles yet with fairies inside to revive you. Making two mistakes in a row kills you here. A Gold Skulltula already does two hearts of damage. And there are giant Deku Babas and Gohma Larvas all over the place. The key to winning is abusing the hell out of the Slingshot. You can destroy the Gohma Eggs by shooting them, so that the larvas won't hatch. You can even kill the giant Deku Babas from safe distance. With these easy but helpful techniques I made it through the dungeon without dying once.

Naturally one of the first sidequests I did outside of the forest would be getting the first two bottles. But I wouldn't really need them until my first encounter with a Stalfos inside the Ice Cavern. Their Jump Strikes are hard to dodge, can't be blocked and deal four hearts of damage. The only more dangerous thing in this game would be Iron Knuckles. But I have yet to face one.

My course through the game so far is pretty basic. Right now I'm at the Forest Temple. I did all possible sidequests as a child, not only because I always tend to do sidequests as early as possible during a replay, but because every single Piece of Heart counts. As an adult I would get the Horse and the Hookshot first, then I got myself a Goron Tunic (less damage from fire) before heading to the Ice Cavern. And before the Forest Temple I made a detour to the Water Temple to get the Longshot. I just don't like the Hookshot, it's too short. A nice thing of Master Quest is that in three out of five temples you get the dungeon's main item early in one of the first rooms. So, if you want the item, but don't want to play the rest of the dungeon, you can just make a little detour. Which is what I did in the Water Temple, you basically get the Map, the Compass and the Longshot all right after meeting with Ruto in the same area. Well, I had to fight three Stalfos and got my ass kicked again, but it was worth it. The Longshot is very useful in this game. With it I can get Nayru's Love right after the Forest Temple (or even earlier, but I'll doubt I could make it through the mirrored desert without the Eye of Truth), which will help me a lot with the nastier fights.

In Master Quest the Sheikah Stones are gone. Leaving them would have been stupid anyway, the Sheikah Stones are meant for beginners and Master Quest is meant for people, who are looking for some extra challenge. But all other guides are still in the game. They could have improved Master Quest by muting Navi. I already played through the entire game, I don't need her guidance! So, why is she still telling me, where I should go next? Like I don't know that! I guess they wanted to preserve the feeling of the original Master Quest, but that train left the station when they mirrored the entire game.

And I still love the Master Quest dungeons. They are really fun and most of them got a completely different flow from the original. For example it's nice that you don't have to carry Ruto around inside Jabu Jabu's Belly. She basically stays in one room all the time. In the normal quest she could be a pain in the ass. Things that used to be important in the normal quest are gone now and the focus is clearly on other ideas. And I like that.

I also noticed two more general differences between the original Ocarina of Time and the new 3D version. A very cool adition is that Adult Link now twirls his sword while L-targeting an enemy like he does in Twilight Princess. For some reason I haven't noticed this until now, but it definitely wasn't in the N64 version and it's really cool. However, there's also a poor change. Originally when you entered the Lost Woods with Cojiro he would crow. It doesn't do that anymore, no crowing. That's completely missing from the game for no reason.

Ocarina of Time 3D Quest Log 5

Well, after beating the Spirit Temple I didn't have many options. So, like in my Master Quest tour earlier this year, the Fire Temple came next to last. Well, you can't play the Shadow Temple unless you cleared the first three temples, which triggers the event in Kakariko Village. But like I said, I didn't have many options. And again I was entering the Fire Temple with the Mirror Shield equipped, which looks badass.

The Fire Temple was nothing special, but Volvagia was quite cool in 3D. Then I would enter the Shadow Temple and get the Hover Boots, only to leave the temple again and play the Gerudo Training Grounds first. I guess you can beat the Traing Grounds without the Hoverboots, but it makes things a little bit easier. Well, after getting the Ice Arrows I went back to the Shadow Temple and then made my way to Ganon's Castle. Pretty basic.

Nice new graphical details? The ship inside the Shadow Temple got completely redesigned. Instead of a bird it now features Death himself as the figurehead. And there's a door on deck. The ship looks really cool now. And then there's the new bridge to Ganon's Castle, but you've probably seen this already.

But there are also some graphical downgrades. I'd say the new textures of the Like Likes and Deadhand look even worse than in the original. Especially the Like Likes look very "mushy".



I also cleared all of the Boss Challenge including the Gauntlet. In the Gauntlet you start with five Heart Containers and only the basic items. Slingshot, Boomerang, Bow, Hookshot (not the Longshot!), Megaton Hammer, the Eye of Truth and all shields and tunics. No boots, no potions (like in the individual Boss Challenges) or bombs or anything. But after each boss, two treasure chests spawn, a small and a large one. I'm guessing that it's similar to the Goron Target Range in Spirit Tracks, the small treasure chest has the good stuff. It's mostly random, but in case of Gohma the small treasure chest always gives you Bombs, which helps a lot in the King Dodongo battle. And before Morpha I got the Longshot from the small treasure chest. I also got two Heart Containers and one empty bottle, which later only got filled with a Green Potion (small chest before Bongo Bongo). But save for the Bombs and the Longshot it all didn't really matter, because I didn't get hit a single time! I'm not joking, I cleared the entire Gauntlet without getting hit. I wish it would have been the Master Quest Gauntlet, where you only get three hearts and where a single hit can kill you... I bet I will never be able to do such a perfect run again and I will have huge problems with clearing the Gauntlet in Master Quest, lol.

When battling Ganondorf there's still this noticeable slowdown after hitting him with a Light Arrow. I don't know if that was on purpose to "preserve the game's original feel" or if the 3DS actually couldn't handle all the special effects.

The additional credits are nice. Not only that they added the orchestrated track, but there are monochrome images from the game shown in 2D and then slowly morphing into 3D and color. That was really nice. But they could have used the touchscreen to display the names of everyone like they did in the Four Swords Anniversary Edition, so that the names don't overlay or get in the way. But on the other hand, you would never read a single name then...

I also checked out the Sheikah Stones for the first time. There's one video I didn't clear called "Riding on Farore's Wind", I guess I should have used this item at one point. I never use it, I usually play dungeons in one session. I used Nayru's Love though, when fighting the Iron Knuckle as Young Link. Just as a precaution. In Master Quest I will probably use it more often though.

Talking about Master Quest, I have now unlocked "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Master Quest". I'm going to start this tomorrow. I'm excited how much trouble the mirroring and the double damage will give me.

Ocarina of Time 3D Quest Log 4

Originally I wanted to take the classic course through the game, nicely playing the temples in order like it's your first time. Now... this is how my path looked like so far: as an adult I went to the Ice Cavern first, then I've beaten the Forest Temple. After the Forest Temple I went back in time and played the Bottom of the Well. Then, back to the future, I cleared the Gerudo Fortress and then played the Water Temple. And after that I played the Spirit Temple. Only Fire and Shadow Temple left. So, you can't really call this the classic course, but that would have been boring anyway.

It's been a while since I played the classic Ocarina of Time dungeons. In the last years I usually played Master Quest and I'm more used to the MQ dungeons. So, it sometimes feels a little bit weird. In the Spirit Temple you run into a silver Rupee floating in the air, in this boulder halfpipe room. So, for a moment I actually thought I need the Hover Boots to beat the dungeon. But luckily you can get it with a roll jump combined with a Jump Strike. And then there was a rusty switch in the large room with the Desert Colossus statue and for a moment I thought I need the Hammer to beat the dungeon. But it turned out, that this rusty switch only opens the shortcut from the entrance.



The Water Temple went really smooth. Switching the Iron Boots with a button, like in The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, made playing the dungeon much more comfortable. The navigational lines reminded me of the water pipes in the Great Bay Temple in Majora's Mask, just not as complicated. However, there was a reason why I skipped over the Fire Temple. I've heard that Dark Link became significantly easier, so that you can beat him using your sword only. So, I avoided getting the Hammer to force myself using the sword (or Din's Fire just in case). And it's true. You can defeat him with the sword, it's a joke now. And I don't like this change. It's Dark Link we're talking about here, the final boss of Zelda II. This guy is supposed to kick your ass in a sword battle. That you had to rely on cheap tactics like pounding him with the Hammer or using Din's Fire only showed how mighty he actually was. And they took this away... they made him look weak now.

Another noticeable change are switches placed behind bars. There aren't any. In the original game you would use a Spin Attack through the bars to hit the switch. A simple puzzle, which should still work in the 3DS version. But in both the Water Temple (the room with Skulltula behind bars) and Spirit Temple (the mirror room) they put the crystal switch somewhere else. In Master Quest there were puzzles in the Fire Temple, where the crystal switches behind bars were hidden in boxes. I wonder if they destroyed this as well... I'll see.

And while going through the Water Temple something odd happened. Something that has never happened before in my Ocarina of Time... Navi called me for no reason. "Hey!", "Listen!" What the hell? She does that outside of dungeons all the time in case you're lost, but never inside dungeons. But now she tells you to visit a Sheikah Stone in case you're lost. Damn... Ocarina of Time is known as simply one of the best games ever, but if there were any complaints about the game, then it was about Navi being annoying. There's even tons of fanart making jokes about it like Link squishing Navi to death. And Grezzo seriously thought they should make her even more annoying? Come on!

And the way how they handled the Magic Arrows is stupid. I hoped you can cycle through them by pressing R, like in the Wind Waker. But you can't. Now there's a little submenu icon above the Bow icon. If you click on the submenu icon a submenu with all four Arrow types opens... This is even more inconvenient than in the original game! Why can't I switch the arrow types in real time?

But there are also some positive improvements. Like the fast text. It always annoyed me in the old version that the text was so slow. Especially if you can't skip the text. For example when talking to the carpenters imprisoned inside the Gerudo Fortress, it took forever until the fight started. And you had to listen to the same text four times, which was annoying. After Ocarina of Time all Zelda games offered the option to fasten the text or just got fast text in general, so it's nice that this improvement finally made it into Ocarina of Time.

Another nice improvement is the Shard of Agony. It reminded me of hidden grottos, which I had log forgotten. For example the one behind the carpenters' tent. Or in front of the center entrance of the Gerudo Fortress, behind some boxes. There isn't really anything to get in these grottos, which is probably the reason why I had forgotten them, but it was nice to be reminded, that they were there.

As for graphical details, I like how you can see Hyrule Field from the embrasures inside the Ghost Shop. And there are some nice reflections on the floor of the Temple of Time, though this is a fake reflection using simple shaders. And I like the design of the Biggoron's Sword, it even got its own sheath now.

Well, and the Goron Bracelet still gets lost in the menu after collecting the Silver Gauntlets. This always bugged me and I hoped that this would be fixed in Ocarina of Time 3D. But it wasn't. I mean, you don't actually lose this item, young Link still wears it. So, why does it and all information about it get lost in the menu?

Sidequest-wise I got all Pieces of Heart by now and all except 12 Golden Skulltulas, 10 in the remaining temples and two at Death Mountain. The only larger sidequest left is beating the Gerudo Training Grounds. I'll do that after getting both the Hammer and the Hoverboots.