The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, often shortened to Ocarina of Time, is the fifth installment of The Legend of Zelda series, and it was released on the Nintendo 64 in late 1998. It is the first title of the series to feature 3D graphics. In 2000, the game received a direct sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Prior to its release, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was one of the most highly anticipated games of its time. Upon its release, the game won numerous awards, and many publications placed it on lists of the greatest video games of all time. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released on a 32-megabyte cartridge, which was the largest capacity Nintendo had produced at that time. It also introduced the target-lock system and context-sensitive buttons, which have subsequently appeared both in later The Legend of Zelda titles and similar games of its type, such as Star Fox Adventures.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time eventually received a few ports, and even had its own remake for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, titled The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

Story
The game is introduced by the Great Deku Tree, who tells that every Kokiri of the Kokiri Forest have their own fairy, except for Link. Link has a nightmare of a young girl fleeing on a horse from a man in black armor. The Great Deku Tree is nearing death, and he assigns Navi to be Link's guardian fairy, and also requests her to bring Link over. Navi wakes Link from his nightmare and directs him to meet the Great Deku Tree.

After equipping with a sword and a shield, Link and Navi go to meet The Great Deku Tree. The tree tells them that he was cursed by a "wicked man of the desert", who seeks to conquer the world, and that Link is the chosen one to stop him. The Great Deku Tree provides a test of courage to Link to enter inside him. After Link defeats the Queen Gohma within the Great Deku Tree, he rewards Link with the Kokiri's Emerald, the Spiritual Stone of the forest, and instructs him to visit Hyrule Castle to speak with the princess of Hyrule. Just after providing this instruction, the Great Deku Tree dies.

Link leaves Kokiri Forest and goes all the way through Castle Town and to the Hyrule Castle, where he sneaks past some soldiers to meet with Princess Zelda in the Castle Courtyard. She explains about her dream of Link and his guardian fairy, Navi, bearing the Kokiri's Emerald and slashing through the darkness. She points out the evil Ganondorf, whom she believes was represented by the darkness in her dream, and that he is seeking to steal the Triforce from the Sacred Realm. Zelda instructs Link to retrieve the other Spiritual Stones so that he can enter the Sacred Realm and claim the Triforce before Ganondorf.

Link sets off to both Death Mountain and Zora's Domain, where he successfully assists both the Gorons and the Zoras against Ganondorf's forces in their pursuit of the two other Spiritual Stones. Darunia, the leader of the Gorons, rewards link with the Goron's Ruby while Ruto, the princess of the Zoras, rewards Link with the Zora's Sapphire.

Link returns outside of Hyrule Castle, where he witnesses the same events as in his nightmare: Zelda and Impa are fleeing on horseback from Ganondorf, who attempts to steal the Ocarina of Time from them. Zelda quickly throws the Ocarina of Time into the moat for Link to obtain. When he obtains the ocarina, Link receives a telepathic message from Zelda, who teaches him the Song of Time and instructs him to play it at the altar of the Temple of Time. At the Temple of Time, Link opens the Door of Time by playing the Song of Time and using the three Spiritual Stones. There, he finds the Master Sword in the Pedestal of Time and draws it, unlocking the Sacred Realm. Link successfully wields the sword, although he remains trapped in the Sacred Realm. Ganondorf sneaks into the Sacred Realm, believing that Link had the means necessary for entering the Sacred Realm. Link helplessly watches Ganondorf entering the Sacred Realm and obtaining the Triforce.

Seven years later, Link is awakened in the Chamber of Sages by an old man named Rauru. He reveals that Link is the Hero of Time, who is the person that can pull the Master Sword from its pedestal. He also explains that Link's spirit was locked away in the Sacred Realm because he was too young to be the Hero of Time and defeat Ganondorf. Rauru also tells Link that Ganondorf used the stolen Triforce to transform Hyrule into a land filled with darkness and monsters. He then instructs Link to find the other missing Sages, who have the collective power to trap Ganondorf within the Sacred Realm. However, five of the Sages are unaware of their identity as one, so Rauru grants Link with the Light Medallion and instructs him to find the other missing Sages.

Link returns into the Temple of Time, where he is greeted by Sheik, a survivor of the Sheikah tribe. He further guides Link by instructing him to free five temples from Ganondorf's control and allow each temple's Sage to awaken. Link had befriended the five other Sages during his childhood: Saria, the Sage of the Forest Temple, Darunia, the Sage of the Fire Temple, Ruto, the sage of the Water Temple, Impa, the Sage of the Shadow Temple, and Nabooru, the Sage of the Spirit Temple. After awakening every Sage, Link returns to the Temple of Time, where Sheik tells another legend of the Triforce, explaining that it to be a fusion of three triangles that represent the three virtues governed by the Golden Godessess: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. If the person holding the Triforce has a balance of these virtues, then they can obtain the Triforce intact. However, if that person does not have a balance of those virtues, then the Triforce splits into three pieces, and the owner only keeps the piece of whichever virtue they most strongly believe in. The prophecy is a reference to Ganondorf's case, where his strongest belief was in power, and therefore he lost the other two parts of the Triforce. The legend further states that the person must strive to acquire the two missing parts, each one being safeguarded by a person with the crest of the goddesses on the back of their hands.

Ganondorf had managed to conquer the Sacred Realm, but felt that his acquisition of power was not enough. Ganondorf, wanting complete control over the world, started a search for the two missing pieces of the Triforce. Sheik reveals that Link holds the Triforce of Courage, just before taking off his own disguise, revealing himself as Princess Zelda. She reveals herself to be the seventh Sage and the safeguarder of the Triforce of Wisdom. However, by exposing herself to Link, Ganondorf finds out, and he traps her within a large crystal and retreats with her into his Castle.

Link rushes outside of Ganon's Castle (where Hyrule Castle had originally stood). With help from the six other Sages, Link manages to travel through the castle. Link eventually enters a room with Ganondorf and Zelda, where he engages in a battle against Ganondorf. After their first battle, Link frees Zelda from her crystal. Ganondorf destroys the Castle in an attempt to kill both Link and Zelda, who manage to quickly escape from it.

Ganondorf emerges from the castle's rubble, and with the Triforce of Power, he transforms into a beast named Ganon. Just before the second battle, Ganon knocks the Master Sword out of Link's hands, and encloses both of them within a forcefield, preventing Link from retrieving the Master Sword. However, with Zelda's help, Link manages to retrieve Master Sword, which he ultimately uses to destroy Ganon. With their restored powers, the seven Sages banish Ganondorf into the Dark Realm. Since Ganondorf still has the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf vows to get revenge on their descendants.

Zelda instructs Link to return the Master Sword in its pedestal, closing the path between the two timelines. She then plays the Song of Time and returns Link back into his childhood. Link still retains the knowledge of the entire incident, and revisits Princess Zelda in the Castle Courtyard, informing her of the whole incident to prevent it from happening again.

Ports
In 2002, the game was re-released on the Nintendo GameCube with the title The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Bonus Disc, which features the original game and the newly playable Master Quest mode.

In 2003, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was included on The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition as one of the four playable games. That same year, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released as a launch title for the iQue Player (a traditional Chinese translation was discovered to be under development in 2006 but was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons. )

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was later released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007. In 2015, the game was ported to the Wii U's Virtual Console.