 Well, the big day finally came. Z-Day. Video Gamer X went to his local game retailer five minutes after the store opened with his preorder slip and argued with the video game department about promptly coughing up his game. "We haven't logged them into the system yet." The clerk said. "They'll be ready in 45 minutes." I said that I didn't want to wait that long, and she gave me a dirty look. I walked around the store for 15 minutes and returned to the electronics pick-up window. A small crowd of folks were gathered there. There was another guy who wanted Zelda. The clerk opened the window and I was the first one to grab a copy of Zelda from the store. No, I didn't cut in front of the other guy in line, it's just that nobody seemed to be in a line. I got the box and it was collector's edition, with foil embossed front cover and golden game. Like collector's edition actually means anything anymore, I thought to myself. But it was nice to have the golden game, just for a nostalgic touch. I mean you can buy Edy's ice cream limited editions, but who collects ice cream? Everything seems to have a collector's edition or be in "limited editon" these days. A soon as I arrived home I immediately unsealed the game and unveiled the golden cartridge. "The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time" - finally. I had waited four years for this moment. I was holding the acclaimed Miyamoto masterpiece that many of the magazines had been raving about for years. I had drempt of this day, yes it was Z-Day. I didn't even look at the instruction manual. Like Indiana Jones inserting a golden idol into a keystone I carefully placed it in my Nintendo 64 and turned on the power. A moon slowly set on the horizon as Link galloped courageously over a grassy plain. The flaming Zelda: Ocarina of Time logo appeared. With utmost anxiousness I pushed start. After entering my name, (Link, of course) my quest began. Young Link was sleeping in a hut, shivering. The voice of the Deku Tree talks. He was having a nightmare of Impa with Princess Zelda galloping away from the castle being chased by a knight in black, Gannondorf. The narration describes that Link was the only one of the Kolkiri who did not have a fairy. The voice of the Deku Tree summons Navi. It directs her to accompany Link on his quest to fulfill his destiny of leading Hyrule to the path of justice and truth. Navi flies through the Kolkiri village until arrives at Link's house and awakens him. After he wakes up, Navi introduces herself to Link, and tells him that the Great Deku Tree has summoned him. After leaving his house, a Kolkiri with green hair, Saria, approaches him and wants to talk. I noticed that there was some drawings on the tree that Links house was built on. It looks link a dinosaur, a stick man, and a sun above them. Could this mean something? Saria is happy to see that Link has a fairy. I start pressing all the buttons to see what they do, and quickly learn what they do. "A" is an action button. It allows you to do things like speak. climb, dive, jump, check, grab, attack, etc. "B" is for equipped weapons. The lower three "C" buttons are for items and weapons like the slingshot, deku sticks, and the fairy ocarina. The top "C" button is for talking to Navi when she says, "Listen!" and for switching Link's view to first person. This is a good way to look up close at people. The "Z" button is the attention button. It centers the camera behind Link or focuses on an enemy or character. "Start" allows you to see the map, Link's status and items, his equipped items, and other items. "R" is only used when Link has a shield. It puts up his shield to defend against an attack. I wandered around in the Kolkiri Village for awhile. I talked to the guy pulling on the rocks, and the guy pulling on the weeds. I found rupees hidden everywhere. There was a blue one behind a house, there were many hidden in grass, and inside rocks or in pots. I eventually found my way to the small entrance where the sword was held. I actually bumped into the rock that was rolling around in there. I lost 1/4 of a heart. Big Deal! I found some blue rupees in there. The animation for when Link gets an item from a chest was suspenseful. I then bought a Deku Shield from the shop for 40 rupees. In the "Training Area" I found out that jumping off the fence near the opening to the sword passage would give me rupees. After I was done fooling around I went up to Mido, who was blocking the passage to the Deku Tree. He made fun of me, but when he saw I had a sword and shield he let me pass. The Great Deku Tree said that evil was pervading the land. He said that he was cursed and that It was Link's duty to break that curse to prove his courage. What's with the "Dost, thou, thee" stuff. It's seems too midevil to me. Before entering the dungeon I walked around the tree and discovered a strange stone with an eye on it. When I checked, there was a message that said it's one eyed gaze pierces into Link's mind. When I slashed it with the sword it said "The current time is 12:00" So far the point of these things has escaped me, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the future. I completed the Deku Tree Dungeon rather quickly. At first I had trouble figuring out how to get out of the slingshot room until I saw the ladder on the wall above the door. At this time I had no idea what the Skulltula Coins were for but I found out later in Kakariko Village. Somehow when I saw that the ground was stretchy in the middle of the dungeon I knew that I had to climb to the top of the room to break through it. I thought it might be a trap at first, but it turned out to lead to the rest of the dungeon. I soon figured out what the deku sticks were for and caught one on fire and burned down a spider web. I did pretty good on defeating Gohma. I used my Deku Nuts to stun her when she was on the ground and slashed her eye. |