Gaming like It’s… 1998: The Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time

I very much enjoy and value the occasional gaming session, especially now that I am haunted by a protracted cold and what seems to be my first sinusitis. (Fuckin’ hell…) I will survive, but my exploding head and general energy level force me to take non-business hours slower than usual: time otherwise spent out and about lends itself to be spent in front of a gaming device. This state of blissful indolence won’t last forever, though, so I will document my adventures in video games here, in the hope of returning to them in more hectic times and actually finishing them.

I am starting with a true classic of video game history, by many considered as one of the best games of all time: The Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time. Because sick time is Zelda time. And autumn time is Zelda time!

…

Any time is Zelda time, really.

But which version should I play, and on which device?

My Inventory

Here are my choices:

I had to go with the last option and try to get this source port running on my modded Switch. This promised to be a perfect little tinkering exercise with a lot of potential game enhancements. And wow—little did I know what kind of treat I was in for!

To get started, you will need a PC (Windows/Mac/Linux) and a legally obtained PAL ROM of either the N64 or GameCube game. Then go through the steps of their README’s Quick Start section or follow one of the setup guides. The documentation is really good, and after mere minutes I had everything I needed to fire up the game.

Additionally, I added GhostlyDark’s OoT Reloaded (SoH) HD texture pack to the mix to make the game look even more gorgeous. If you also want to play on Switch, make sure to download the HD files, not 4K! The Switch is nowhere near powerful enough to handle, let alone appreciate them. There is even a request for a 720p version.

The structure of the folder that I merged into the root directory of my Switch SD card looked like this:

switch
  └── soh
      ├── mods
      │   ├── Reloaded_v10.4.2_HD.otr
      │   └── Reloaded_v10.4.2_HD_LinkAnimatedTextures.otr
      ├── oot.otr
      ├── soh.nro
      └── soh.otr

Setup and First Steps

The first couple of minutes after starting Ship of Harkinian I just sat there, stared at the Switch screen, listened to the Zelda music, and freaked out a little about how beautiful everything looked. And that was even before turning on the HD textures!

Title screen of The Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time with the game emblem in the front and main character Link in the back, sitting on horse Epona close to a river that runs through a grassy plain. There is a blue sky in the back and mountains on the left.

So before starting to play the game, I pressed the minus button to open the SoH menu and tweaked a couple of things:

Finally, it was game time: I found sword and shield in Kokiri Forest, slayed the first boss Queen Gohma inside the Deku Tree, and made my way to Hyrule Castle. It was glorious and I cannot wait to play more.

Link from behind, looking at Hyrule Castle on a sunny day with blue sky.
I’m ready for the adventures that lie ahead.

2024-09-28: Gorons 💛 and Save Game Spawning

After meeting Zelda and taking a good look at Ganondorf, I made my way to Kakariko Village. I did not remember it being that creepy—Jeez! Some weird stuff is going on in that town. But I cannot complain: I found two heart pieces, a Hylian Shield, and helped the lady with her Cuccos, earning me my first bottle.

I traveled to Goron City and defeated Dodongo is his cavern. I also made it to Death Mountain and met a Great Fairy of Magic.

Not bad for one session.

I also learned two important things about the Ship of Harkinian port:

Last but not least, I want to demonstrate how the HD texture pack improves the game graphics:

Link inside the Deku Tree, in front of an opened treasure chest. Standard-definition textures. Link inside the Deku Tree, in front of an opened treasure chest. High-definition textures.
Use the slider at the bottom to overlay the standard textures with the mod.

2024-09-29: Inside Jabu-Jabu and Mapping the Lost Woods

I have already collected 11 Gold Skulltulas, so I had to go to Kakariko to check whether I can already cash out. And luckily yes: I got the wallet upgrade and can carry 200 Rupees now.

I also grabbed Sun’s Song while in Kakariko; I saw the melody engraved in stone the last time, but tried to play it without checking the stone first to trigger the obligatory cutscene. I also found some more heart pieces which increased my number of heart containers to seven!

Feeling pretty good about myself, I made it to Zora’s domain. I found Ruto’s message in a bottle, then Ruto herself inside Jabu-Jabu (That dungeon was a pretty trippy experience. I felt like I was dropped in a Gaspar Nóe movie.), defeated boss Barinade, and collected the third and last Spiritual Stone. And how bad-ass is the Boomerang? Best item so far, hands down!

I seem to end up in the Lost Woods again and again and because of its confusing hub-nature, I decided to map it out with Trizbort.io, a browser mapping tool for adventure games that I’ve been meaning to try for a while now.

A map of the Lost Woods area, stylized as a flow chart.

That was a fun exercise and I bookmarked Trizbort for further experiments. Feel free to import my JSON export of the Lost Woods map and play around yourself.

2024-09-30: Damn, Hyrule… you’ve changed!

Being in possession of all three Spiritual Stones, it was high time for me to pay the Temple of Time a visit. And that’s when things came thick and fast: Master Sword, Ganondorf’s treachery, time travel, Sheik, and a dystopian Hyrule that has been turned to absolute horse shite.

Link stands in the center of Castle Town’s market square. Only ruins are left, the sky is dark, nobody is on the street except two roaming zombie-like creatures.
Future Hyrule is a dark and dangerous place, where the streets are infested with ReDeads.

It is astonishing to me, that this almost 30-year-old game manages to create such an eery atmosphere with only a few pixels. The visible devastation that Ganondorf has brought upon the land really moved me, and I experienced a sense of urgency to make things right again. That’s the kind of emotions that only a masterpiece can conjure up.

I spent the rest of today’s session trying to find my way around this new Hyrule and reaching the entrance of the Forest Temple.

2024-10-05: Forest Temple and Real-World Inventory

Today’s progress update is very short: I reached the entrance of the Forest Temple and completed it! And: The Hookshot might be even more badass than the Boomerang!

On a slightly different note, I thought I’d present my “secondary” items in my inventory for this gaming project. I tried my best to gather everything I have on Ocarina of Time and take my time to fully immerse myself in the lore of the game. This is by no means necessary to have a good time with it, but to me it has been very appealing to browse the original printed walkthrough or listen to an orchestral version of the soundtrack.

Secondary literature and music of Ocarina of Time layed out on my kitchen table. I am writing more about the individual items in the following text.

So what do we got? (Starting in the top left and going clockwise.)