Ocarina of Time - The Hero of Time Awakens

So, here we are. We have the 3 Spiritual Stones, and the Ocarina of Time. Now we must head to the Temple of Time and get the Triforce, right? So you head to the temple, and who can forget their first look at it? You walk up and place the stones and play the song of time, and everything is wonderful and you are gonna rock this.

 

 Or... not. You are 9, remember? And 9 year olds aren't really ready to use the Master Sword, so we are gonna have to go ahead and put you in stasis for about 7 years. Oh, and one more thing, Ganondorf was watching the whole time and is able to grab the Triforce while you are doing a stasis thing and turn Hyrule into a dark and depressing place.  Sucks, doesn't it? I was always a little peeved at how trying to save Hyrule ended up dooming it (at least until you return to set things right).

But at least you get all videogame-hunky and are brought back to seriously right some wrongs. And you get to meet one of the most memorable Zelda characters:

Sheik is pretty cool, and He does tell you where to start your journey. One you leave the Temple of Time though, you are on your own. You head up to Kakariko Village, and but not without taking note of the complete destruction of Hyrule Market, and the Red cloud circling Death Mountain. In Kakariko you see all the remaining citizens who lived in the Market and you get one of the most useful items you will get in this game, the Hookshot. Speaking of, let me take this moment to discuss things I hate that are in almost every freaking video game; I hate races, quests with time limits, and escort missions. So "racing" to get the Hookshot is aggravating to me. Extremely. So very aggravating. But you get it.

Eventually you decide to go check out your old stomping ground and find it very different. You see, it has a bit of a monster infestation and every one is inside, and blames you because this started once the Great Deku Tree died. Good thing they don't recognize you as an adult! You run to Saria's special place, only to find that SURPRISE! It is your first Temple! YAAAAYYYY!

I really do enjoy the Forest Temple. It actually looks like it could have been a Temple, and the music is nice and creepy. The only thing that really ever nagged at me about the Forest Temple is these ladies:

This great pic by VanEvil from Deviant Art!

I really want to learn their back story. Obviously they are the guardians of the Temple, but they are also the souls of dead sisters. So is it possible they are some sort of nun for this temple? They are dressed for the part. That is the only explanation I can think of is that maybe ol' Ganondorf killed them when he corrupted the temple, or that they died before the temple fell into ruin or something.

The boss fight is pretty easy and gives you a great preview of what you are going to be up against when you battle Ganondorf. But the real stuff comes after when you meet the Deku Sprout who essentially tells you that you are adopted, aren't a Kokiri at all, and now you get to go explore more temples or doom the world! He really knows how to pile all the news on at once!

The cutest little asshole in the game.

One more thing though, this is a prime opportunity to go see how our old friend Malon has turned out. One thing you will notice as you explore this new and increasingly depressing land is that certain areas actually change the atmosphere as you approach them, I'm guessing from the evil curse on them. Lon Lon Ranch becomes heavy with fog and the sky turns gray the closer you get. You then find out Ingo the ranch hand has been given the farm by Ganondorf, and he is just fine with that. To a creepy degree. Anywho, he lets you ride the horses, and it turns out Epona is still there and remembers you (once you play her song, of course)! You chat with Ingo and end up racing him for Epona. Yes, racing. You can imagine my elation every time I play this part. If you win though, he still continues to be an asshole.

Whatevs. Just hop the fence and you are home-free! I suggest getting Epona as early as you can, because she is quite handy throughout the game.

Lastly a little something I found. I am not a Minecraft player, but I enjoy looking at the things people build. So I'm just going to leave this right here. I highly suggest you browse through!