Sunday, January 9, 2011

Review : The Legend Of Zelda : Ocarina Of Time 3D

Considered by many players as the best game of all times, The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina Of Time was originally released in 1998 on Nintendo 64.
This 3D version will be launched in spring 2011 on Nintendo 3DS, will this remake be worthy of its reputation ?

The demo presented at Nintendo World 2011 proposes 3 stages, I played all of it : 
  • Kokiri Village
  • Deku Tree
  • First Boss

3D
First image : Link in Kokiri Village in front of his house, with some fireflies around. 
First impression : "Whoah !!", the graphics has been significantly improved, but the original atmosphere is still there, and the 3D realization is high quality, really deep and beautiful, I felt that 3D gave a better perception of the situation.

Comparaison with the Original Game
Some details had been redesigned, like the herb where you can get some rubies in the Kokiri village or inside Link's house.
Animations have also been improved from the original game, for example when the Kokiri that don't let you go to Deku Tree gets out of your way, he shows an exaggerated walking style so that the situation is quite more funny, or when the Deku Tree Boss is disintegrating after you beat it, the body progressively falls during the disintegration.
Those improvements are cool if you know the original game like your pocket because it makes you feel like rediscovering. 
Another modification is the menu, it still works the same way but the appearance is modified. You can access the Quest, Map and Item screens on the touch screen, this will pause the game. Those menu screens have been reorganized and redesigned (except the map inside Deku Tree), the result is pretty good.
Those are the only differences I saw compared with the Nintendo 64 game : no sound differences (except menu screen transition sound) and no added or modified stuff so far.

Touch Screen and Gameplay
The touch screen use is not only to access the menu, but also to see the map, see the X and Y items, use up to 4 items (including the X and Y ones) and launch first person view. When the view is in first person mode, you can move the 3DS in the air to look around, this is also true for weapons first person view ! But you can still use the stick, the gameplay is improved !
Unless the item and first person view use, the controls are very instinctive if you played the original game, because exactly the same, I felt like native Zelda gamer.


Conclusion
The Nintendo World public choose Zelda, with up to 150 minutes waiting to play 8 minutes, and the public was right !
I believe this demo was the final version, I've been very impressed by the exceptional quality of the 3D, playing in such a little screen disturbed me at the very beginning compared to a TV, but I can ensure that it is worthy ! I really had pleasure playing the demo, and look forward to the release !

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