Score: 10
Personal Score: 9.5
Ocarina of Time released on the Nintendo 64 in 1998 to critical acclaim blah blah blah first 3D Zelda game blah blah blah reinvented the series and broke new ground for video games yak yak yak considered the best game evar blah dee blah blah Water Temple yada yada...
Before I started doing all these reviews, I stated I would work my way down from Skyward Sword and end with Ocarina of Time. I've since decided that I won't be doing an Ocarina of Time review. At this point in all of our lives, we've all heard from countless publications and gamers that Ocarina of Time is super great, and many of us are quite tired of it. I don't feel the need to contribute to the bloated pile of praise this game has received, as I fear it's become cliche to cite Ocarina of Time as the "best Zelda game ever" or even the "best video game ever."
Don't mistake this for an opinion that Ocarina of Time doesn't deserve the praise it has received over the years. It truly is a sublime game, and for many gamers (myself included), was an introduction to The Legend of Zelda. I'll never forget the first time I ruined the Windmill Man's life, or scouring the land of Hyrule in search of the Gold Skulltulas, or watching the credits roll over familiar faces following the final defeat of Ganon. There are so many special moments present in Ocarina of Time, all wrapped in one of the most polished gameplay packages seen in the medium. To many gamers, Ocarina of Time is the unreachable bar of quality by which all other games (not just Zelda games) are judged.
It's for precisely those reasons I've decided not to write an in-depth review of OoT. What can I say that hasn't been said by countless other fans and publications? If I had deigned to write a full review in the style of my previous reviews, you'd likely find no unique elements therein. The points of praise and contention I'd touch on are present in just about every review of the game ever written. My first experience with Ocarina of Time is no doubt one that numerous others have also had. In all likelihood, not a single person reading this very blog has NOT played OoT at least a few times.
I cannot bring myself to review the game, regardless of how spectacular of a game it is. In addition to how over-exposed the game is, I find myself quite burned out on writing reviews. I've been wanting to move on to other things for a while, and would only be going through the motions with a review of OoT.
With that, stay tuned for some Zelda-themed blogs of a different flavor in the future. I promised a long time ago that I'd dedicate an entire blog entry to the music of the series, as I blatantly forgot to touch on the orchestration in my initial reviews. I'd also like to do some character examinations, as well as some ideas that haven't quite taken a decipherable form within the primordial ooze of my creative process.
Thanks to those that have been reading my reviews thus far!
Aaaaaaaand that's all folks.
