A Brief History of Time (Ocarina of Time)

This room is actually a lot more difficult than I'm painting it out to be. Like the room with the Dragon Head statues in the Water Temple, this room has a strong current in it. You'll need to use your Longshot from particular spots and target the right Hookshot targets in order to pull yourself into the rupees. You can also try your luck at riding the current, but that's a crap shoot at best. To make matters worse, a large number of those clam-things-whose-name-escapes-me-at-the-moment hang out on the bottom of the pool, waiting for Blondie to fall. Just be patient, kill the clams first, and you'll be fine.





Well it may have taken, oh, 80% of the game but we finally get to see an upgraded version of the Lizalfos that we originally met in Dodongo's Cavern. Unfortunately, this is a case of too-little-too-late. You'll be seeing more of these guys later in the update, so I'll talk about them then. There really isn't much to talk about, in all honesty.

A short while later, Blondie finds himself back in the main lobby of the dungeon with six keys. Alright, we have everything we need. Let's go get the Ice Arrows.

It's true, we did miss four keys. But we have everything we need to get the Ice Arrows with these six. Here, let me show you!



Once you enter the northern room, you'll be presented with two locked doors. One is on the east side and one is on the west. Open the western door, turn on the Lens of Truth, and look up. You'll see that the chain link fence that separates all the paths in this room leads up to a small room with yet another key. This gives us six keys to work with. Continue following the western path, opening each locked door you come across (the path is extremely linear so it's impossible to mess this part up). You'll need to use all six keys, but you'll eventually come upon...





Well, we didn't actually beat the Training...but by my standards, we did. So screw it. Let's take it and run.

Sounds good to me. Let's go try these things out!

An excellent idea, Blondie!

No, I didn't. There's still three keys to find and dozens of secrets that I didn't reveal.

Yeah, pretty much. You'll just have to find those other keys on your own!

I know, right? God forbid I give you an reason to play a classic game.



oooooh so pretty





As you can see, the Ice Arrows freeze any enemy they hit. They're never used in any puzzles or boss fights, and you can't get them until extremely late in the game. As such, the Ice Arrows win the award for Most Useless Item Ever� (although Deku Nuts came in a close second). I always always always get them, though. Why?

Because they are so awesome looking.

That's pretty sound reasoning to me.

Yes, but technically you two are the same since he wrote all your lines.

Yeah but...you know...I mean, did you see it? WHOOSH

I agree. It was totally awesome.

Totally awesome.

You might even say it was cool!

...

...

I'm sorry.

Hey, you know what? I've got an idea. We've been dicking around for a good twenty or thirty minutes now. You know what we should do? Let's go ruin Ganondorf's day.



Click title to view video!

Video Summary: Sheik and Blondie meet for the last time, and some major secrets are revealed. Meanwhile, Alex talks about some complete nonsense. Did you know that Ocarina of Time is a total rip off of a Foreigner song? It's True!�



Click title to view video!

Video Summary: Why is it pink? "Oh well she's a girl so she gets a pink magic spell prison." That's a bit sexist, isn't it? Anyway, more major secrets revealed while Alex continues to be a massive idiot.



Alright! Now we're getting somewhere! No more b.s. No more sidequests or errands or collect-a-thons. This is it. We're right in the thick of it. We are on the Devil's doorstep, we've got a world to save, a Princess to rescue. Let's do this!

YEAAAHHHH LET'S DO THIS

Let's go show him who's boss!

...but first let's solve some more puzzles.

Oh what the hell?!

*sigh*



See? I told you we'd be seeing more Beamos in Ganondorf's Castle. I'm not really sure why these two are here, though. It's far too easy to maneuver around them.



As you can see, Ganondorf has erected some kind of magical barrier that prevents us from climbing the tower to face him. The barrier is being powered by six...uh, thingys in six rooms that surround the tower. Destroying each thingy with a Light Arrow causes the barrier to weaken and, eventually, disappear. Each room is themed after one of the Temples and they can be beaten in (almost) any order. You'll always want to tackle the Shadow Temple room first since the Light Temple room can't even be accessed without the treasure you find in the Shadow Temple room, and the Fire Temple can't be beaten without the same item. There's another reason too but...surprises, you know?

In case you're ever in need of supplies, there's a secret shop at the base of the Tower. Protip: green potions restore magic energy and you may want one of those for the final encounter. As you'll see next update, you don't need a Green Potion, but it certainly makes things easier.





Remember how I said the Fire Arrows were essential to beating the game?







This is why. I've never actually tried doing this with Din's Fire so it may be possible. But considering that the Fire Arrows are free, easy to obtain, easy to use, and cost less MP, there's really no reason not to get them.



As you can see, the Shadow Temple room has it's fair share of Lens-of-Truth-able platforms, in addition the ones that appear when you light the torch. The platforms that appear when you hit the torch with the Fire Arrows only appear for a limited time. Should the platforms disappear, there are torches at both ends of the room, so you can always make them reappear. After hitting a switch, Blondie finds his last piece of real treasure:



Fun Fact: when Blondie raises his hands to hold up the Golden Gauntlets, he is wearing the Silver Gauntlets. The second the Golden Gauntlets are directly over his head, the gauntlets on his hands switch from Silver to Gold. Kind of random! The Golden Gauntlets are essentially the same as the Silver Gauntlets, but there are a few particular areas where they come in...handy. Get it? HA!

Part of me wonders why the Golden Gauntlets are even necessary. After all, we only very recently got the Silver ones. Now, this close to the end of the game, we're getting an upgrade? I just don't see a point.



Here is the first of the aforementioned...uh, things. I don't know what they are exactly, but they're powering that barrier so they've got to go.







Not pictured: Impa, because I totally missed the screenshot. After you destroy each barrier, the corresponding Sage appears floating over Blondie and teleports him back to the main lobby. This is more evidence for the whole "are the Sages dead?"-thing, since this can be interpreted as the ghost of each Sage helping Blondie out. But, again, it's never been definitively addressed in any Zelda game so it's really up to you to decide what happened.



Anyway, let's leave.

Wait, what!?

I kind of lied. Now that we have the Golden Gauntlets, we have one task left to complete. Don't worry; it's extremely close by.

Looks insanely huge, doesn't it? Didn't we just pick up an item that lets up lift insanely huge things?




What the hell!? How di...what!?

Yeah, I've been working out. Lots of strength training. Some light cardio, you know? Gotta keep that flab off.







And we've finally found our last Great Fairy's Fountain. I'm almost sad to see them go. Whose cleavage will I take creepy screenshots of now?



Seriously? So I've got a sword that does double damage, an indestructible/reflective shield, magic arrows, and I take half damage. Can you say broken?



You know, I've shown a lot of different angles of the Great Fairies, but this angle is probably my favorite. I couldn't even tell you why. I just love the half-covered-in-shadow-look.

Umm...you just told us why. Right after saying you couldn't.

Why you gotta be a dick, Navi?



Green is my favorite color so let's tackle the Forest Temple room next. Wolfos? Yeah, okay. Whatever you want, game.





Earlier in the Let's Play, someone mentioned this particular puzzle when I said that the Fire Arrows were mandatory. As you can see, Blondie needs to use Din's Fire to light the ring of torches, and another lies outside of Din's Fire's range. The Fire Arrows are the obvious solution, but you can also shoot a regular arrow through one of the Din's Fire-lit torches and light it that way.









Despite being in the Forest Temple's section, this room features a gimmick from the Shadow Temple. Blondie will need to put on the Hover Boots and time his hovering so that the fans on the wall blast him forward. It's all pretty straightforward.

That's two barriers down; four to go!



The Water Temple room is closest to our present location, so let's head there next. Oddly enough, the Water Temple rooms have nothing to do with the Water Temple and everything to do with the Ice Cavern. Hope you like Freezards and ice block puzzles!









...wow, really? That's it? Hell, you've already seen me do the blue fire and ice block tricks before. Man, this is getting kind of old!

It may sound like this section of the game is boring. It is not. The Temple rooms in Ganondorf's Castle throw everything the game has at you. It's all things you've done before, and it's all things you've seen me do before, so there's not really much to talk about. But this section of the game requires full use of Blondie's arsenal in order to finish. It's like the chapter test before the final. "Oh, so you think you know how to beat a Zelda game, eh? Here's every type of puzzle in the game." It's like that. But it isn't very interesting if you're not the one doing it. You've seen me solve these types of puzzles before. Ho hum. But actually doing them? That's something else entirely.





Ruto destroys the barrier blah blah okay Fire Temple time!



Now we're getting somewhere! The main platform in the center of the room sinks while Blondie walks on it, as do the other individual blocks. The blocks sink much faster than the main platform does, however.





As if that's not enough, there are flame dispensers and flaming skulls to torment you as well.





There's insanely huge boulders too!

Once you collect all of the silver rupees, you need to stand on the sinking center platform and Longshot over to the exit. It's normally pretty easy, but using my Dual Shock made it much harder than it should have been. That's kind of been a theme of this LP, hasn't it? Don't use Dual Shocks when you're emulating, folks.

I know it's childish, but doesn't he look constipated? I mean, look at him! Tell me he couldn't benefit from some Tums or Pepto or something.





Light Temple room door found! And that's it for the Golden Gauntlets, folks! Let's give 'em a hand!

No, seriously. That's it. They were put in the game to solve the puzzle in the Fire Temple room, open the door to the Light Temple room, and get to the last Great Fairy. And nothing else. Everything else they can do you can do with the Silver Gauntlets. Weird, isn't it?



Invisible monsters are the worst kind of monsters.



Play Zelda's Lullaby, get a key. Haven't we done this enough times yet? Well, actually, yes we have! This is the last time we need to play Zelda's Lullaby!

About damn time!

'fo reals.





Boulders, silver rupees. You know what to do here.



Sorry but the Light Barrier thingy you were looking for is in ano-



Oh here it is.



Hey, what's up Ambrose Burnside?



No one? Come on!



And last, but certainly not least, it's Spirit Temple room time. Silver rupees, blow up the Beamos, dodge the spiky things, Longshot the one on the ceiling etc. etc.



Hitting the crystal through the bars (with either a bomb or arrow or your sword) causes a chest with Bombchus to appear. Looks like you little buggers will be needed again.

And there you have it. That's it for Bombchus. Two puzzles, and the game gives you a minimum of 20 for free (the chest here and in the Spirit Temple). So that's 18 you can use however you like, in addition to two shops that sell nothing but Bombchus. All that...for two puzzles. Almost as crazy as the Golden Gauntlets! Not quite, but almost.

Alternatively, it's kind of awesome that they went to all that trouble just for two puzzles.





Let there be lig-

Oh please!

Yeah, even I think that's stupid and I wrote it.













And there you have it. No more barriers. It is officially on like Donkey Kong.



Click title to view video!

Video Summary: Hey kids! How would you like a boss gauntlet? You wouldn't? Well, too bad!

Next Time on A Brief History of Time: So sure, some of those puzzles were a bit stale. And some of those bosses were a bit lame. But who cares? Guess what's coming up now? The climatic encounter between Blondie and Ganondorf, followed by an intense escape from a near death situation, followed by The Best Boss Battle of All Time�. Stay tuned.

Protip: in the Fire Temple room, you can stand on the central platform indefinitely if you wear the Hover Boots!

Well, it had to end eventually. I've been putting it off for quite some time. I mentioned last update that the perfectionist part of me really wanted to do this section of the game justice. And that's true; so true in fact that I beat my own record. I mentioned last time that I went through three different variations of the last update before finally deciding on the one you all saw. This update saw something closer to ten. I tried in vain to find the words that would make you all understand just how much this game means to me. Just how awesome the thrill I get from staring down Ganon is. Just how fun it is to interrupt Ganondorf's ultimate attack. I searched and searched for the words, but they just weren't there.

So I recorded some sarcastic and/or ridiculous comments and made some videos. Sometimes, you've just gotta stick to what you know.

Yes, today's update is entirely video based. I apologize for the inconvenience if you're reading this at work and are unable to view them, but I don't see any other way to do it. The escape sequence probably didn't need to be in video form, but as I sat down to redo it today and take screenshots, I decided that I've kept everyone waiting long enough. It's time to put this thing to bed, even if it's imperfect.





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Video Summary: The time has finally come! Blondie faces his greatest foe, the Evil King (or is it King of Evil?) Ganondorf!

Remember that ultimate attack I mentioned?



Well here it is. As you can see, it's fairly simple to stop. Ganondorf will raise his hands up in the air (as if he jus' don' care) and start gathering energy. You can wait for him to release the attack and dodge it...or just shoot him with a Light Arrow while he's powering up. Ganondorf is completely defenseless while preparing this attack, so you really don't have an excuse for getting hit by it (Jim I'm talking to you).



Click title to view video!

Video Summary: I believe it was Andross in Star Fox 64 who once said "If I go down, I'm taking you with me."



Click title to view video!

Video Summary: This is the greatest boss battle of all time. No joke.

There's that ol' censoring bit again. Enough of that. I won't let Nintendo take this moment of glory away from me!



Hell yeah. That's how it's supposed to be.



Click title to view video!

Video Summary: As Ocarina of Time draws to a close, Alex reflects on a bunch of random stuff that has nothing to do with anything.

Unfortunately, due to some sort of emulator error that I wasn't able to correct, there was a significant delay between the video in the end credits and the music. I highly suggest you all check it out here. You'll be hard pressed to find better ending credits music in a game (although Shadow of the Colossus comes pretty close).

Ocarina's ending credits is one of the best moments of the entire game. The music is powerful and full of emotion, while the takes you on a farewell tour. It's a whimsical and bittersweet goodbye to a wonderful and colorful world full of eccentric and interesting characters and locations. You all should watch it. It, like Shadow of the Colossus after it, shows that sometimes you can convey much more raw emotion through action and expression than you can through dialogue.

And that's that. It's been a ridiculously long ride, and I am sorry about all the delays. Between the technical problems, life occasionally interfering, and my own quality control issues, this took a lot longer than I had originally envisioned. But, as always, I'm glad you all stuck it out and kept reading. I'm grateful to each and every one of you who followed along.

The main thing I've gotten out of this Let's Play is that I don't know anywhere near as much about OoT as I thought I did. But even more important than that, I learned that some things can never die. Ocarina of Time is still just as fun now as it ever was, even after playing through it twice (and replaying many sections just to make sure I got the video "right" or the screenshots "right" etc.) in a short period of time. For a long time I wondered if this game was worthy of the accolades I usually give it, or if nostalgia was getting in the way. No. It really is that awesome. Not just for being important in the history of gaming, but for just being so damn fun.

Fun?! Are you serious? Is this guy serious?! Do you have any idea what I just went through?!

I also learned that Link is a complete asshole.

Fantastic LP dude! I distinctly remember my OoT copy having red blood and it was awesome.

- Eddie

p.s. I think your FF6 thread should be called "Esper? I barely knew her!"

yaaaaay

Twilight Princess: Ocarina of Time 2.0, or a failed attempt to get lightning to strike twice?

I'm guessing you had one of the initial print golden carts, produced before Nintendo received complaints about and got with a hacksaw to the blood and Islam stuff. The cart I played wasn't golden, but it was one of the ones which had that edited temple theme but still retained the Islam star stuff (like on the shield) and Ganon coughing up red blood.

Strangely enough, while I played OoT all the way through on N64, I lost interest before nearing the point where Ganondorf coughs up phlegm on the further edited Gamecube compilations.

I've got the gold cartridge myself, red blood, chanting and all. The main highlight is in glitching Epona to pull stuff like the Hookshot out, but aside from some weird effects there's nothing really big it has over the other versions.

Anyway thanks for the fun, Alixsar!

...I like timed sequences.

I have two questions: what happens when you go to get the Master Sword, and you stand there on Zelda's side of the fire?

And is the lighting seriously the only reason why you call that the best boss fight of all time? Because, you know, it's cool, but it's no Mother Brain.

I have a gray cartridge that I'm pretty sure is totally unedited.

1) Ganon just continues his "oww I'm hurt animation" until you step back into the fire.

2) No. It's just a combination of everything. The music, the lightning, the set up...it all just screams "Holy crap this is epic." Let's break down what we just witnessed.

A young warrior scaled a trap filled tower, fought the evil and tyrannical king of Hyrule, and ran out of a crumbling castle while fighting off the last remnants of the king's army. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. The warrior started searching the ruins of the castle to discover the source, only to have the king reappear from the rubble. Using the last of his strength, the king used a magical device to turn into a hideous abomination. This beast is so horrifying and terrible that the weather is thrown into a state of chaos. What once was a quiet and desolate place is now a violent maelstrom. Fire encircles the warrior, the sun's rays stop shining, and only quick bursts of lightning illuminate the castle ruins. The beast manifests two giant swords and knocks the only weapon capable of defeating the beast from the warrior's hand.

And then you take over.

You have no weapon, you're trapped, there's a giant monster who really wants to kill you, and you have no choice but to fight. The world around you is literally being torn asunder just because of the presence of this...thing. The only way to exploit Ganon's weakness is to get close enough for him to be able to hurt you. If you get hit, you take a lot of damage. There's no second chances and everything is on the line. It's pretty damn intense.

I'm willing to admit that the fight itself is fairly easy. Once you know what to do, it's entirely possible to go through the fight without ever breaking a sweat. So maybe Mother Brain has Ganon beat in the actual "fight" aspect. But the atmosphere this fight (and the events leading to it) creates is something that Metroid can never touch.

Also, in regards to the censoring, I briefly detailed it in...uh, I think the Spirit Temple update. All gold carts and first run gray carts are uncensored (I had an uncensored gray cartridge back in the day). Second print gray carts have the Fire Temple music and green blood edits (this is the version I emulated). The Gamecube reprints see the Muslim crescent and star symbol removed from the Mirror Shield, in addition to the blood and music edits. I think all of the instances of censoring are kind of unnecessary, personally.

I haven't gotten around to watching your vids, but this is one of my favorite boss fights of all time.

It's interesting to me how TP does it backwards. The Final sword fight in that game is awesome, and it is nice to go toe-to-toe with Ganon for the first time on more-or-less equal footing. And it's still pretty hard! For that game, at least, I think they got it right. But OoT's ending was soooo cool. I love how after all the colorful boss titles, the last one just says GANON.

Very Thanks, and I can't wait to see what you do with FFVI.

(Oh, yeah, i had a first-run grey cart, and I know I had blood, and I'm pretty sure I had chanting.)

EDIT: Huh, just saw this today. First I've ever heard of it: http://www.infendo.com/2009/10/09/di...ecret-soldier/

I really enjoyed this LP!

You may be right about that. I can't think of a better one off the top of my head. You're definitely right about the significance of the supposed Zelda timeline.

Furthermore, I agree with the preceding post.

I never knew about that either. I never thought to go look around the back alley right after getting the Ocarina. That's pretty cool. Pretty crazy that after eleven years (and countless playthroughs) I still see something new every once in a while.

And this was a fantastic LP. I agree with you about Ganon, too - I remember way back in the day when I first got to him how creeped out I was that he had no subtitle. It made me feel like "This guy is such a badass that just his name is needed to instill fear in me." And before I knew how to beat him? He kicked my ass. Being only 12 at the time, having to replay the escape sequence was pretty harrowing, too. That whole end sequence to the game really stuck with me.

Yeah, I don't think I never noticed that. See? Like I said, I really don't know as much about OoT as I thought I did. Ah well. On to my next game that I love but presumably don't know much about in comparison to the rest of the internet.

The whole end game is just really fantastic. Playing through it now it kind of shows it's age a bit during the escape sequence, but by and large, it's still really thrilling. I still get chills when Ganon makes his big appearance. Whenever you start throwing around things like "best _____ of all time (of all time)", people will inevitably take issue with it. But it really is just fantastic. And again, I stress that everyone should watch the credits. There really isn't any other way they could have ended this game. I'm just sorry I couldn't record it myself so I could extend my rant about Zelda's timeline is b.s.

I'm really surprised I didn't mention the dying soldier when you played through that part. He's one of my favorite parts of the game. (See also: GANON.)

I wonder if it had to be so out of the way to get past the censors.

Hey man, I learned stuff from your LP. A lot from your Forest Temple posts in particular - and that says a lot, because that's probably my favorite temple. And I've beaten this game more times than I can count.

The music. Yeah, right before you regain control of Link, as he stares up at this hulking beast without his sword, the music that plays is fantastic. I think that is my favorite part of that sequence.

And I wouldn't mind reading an extended rant about Zelda's B.S. timeline. Of course, that might provoke arguments, so I understand if you don't want to.

Thanks for doing this, I've enjoyed it thoroughly from beginning to end. Count me in for favorite last boss as well, whenever the tune pops up on my MP3 it sends shivers down my spine, I personally think this game has some of Koji Kondo's best work in it. Also, you probably already know this, but you can totally get away with not using light arrows in the last fight, just run towards him and roll through his legs.

Great LP. I'm impressed by how much stuff is there I didn't know about.

Finally got around to watching your last vids.

I'm with you on the timeline thing. I always took the "it's actually a legend" approach, as in, you are getting different versions of a similar story told by different cultures, i.e., The Flood or Creation Myth.

Also, one detail I forgot about in the Ganon fight that you didn't mention that I always loved was how if you do take a hit, Zelda screams in fear. Little touches and all that.

The stories are connected; they're definitely not just unrelated retellings. Not caring about the connections is perfectly fair, though. I guess.

He.. He was talking to me!

The ending is great. The bells that ring in the Temple of Time give a joyous . It does owe some thanks to the Ewok party at the end of Return of the Jedi. Also, parading around the various locales from the game is a direct callback to the way they ended a Link to the Past. It even almost ends on the shot of the Master Sword. Sadly there is no line about how "the Master Sword sleeps......forever." That line always moved my twelve year old self.

Thanks Alixsar, I've very much enjoyed following your trials and reliving one of the greats.

This was a fine LP.