This is Part 4 of my series: The Legend of Zelda Inspired Artist.
We’ve been exploring the worldbuilding and storytelling techniques in the early Legend of Zelda games. (Less is more!) We discovered a community of speedrunners and applied the idea to speedrunning a novel. As an artist and writer, I take where I’ve traveled (in-game or in real life) and create my own art or write my own adventures. I’ve become a Zelda-inspired artist, but it had to start somewhere. So, bear with me as I reminisce about the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and why I replayed it so many times.
Although I don’t have an official play count and I can’t boast about replaying it like a speedrunner, hundreds or thousands of times, I did have an impressive replay value on this game. I replayed with different names and different challenges, like the three-heart challenge, one-handed, without targeting, and in master mode, to name a few.
Ocarina of Time was the first Zelda game I beat. I was finally at the right level of gaming but also determined. I bought the game guide to bypass all the giant boulders from my childhood nightmares. It was my gaming companion, that cool older brother/cousin/friend down the street, who told me the best strategies. No puzzle would trap me, and no roadblocks to stop me from beating the game. Even if it meant renting the Nintendo 64 game system three times! (When you could still rent games and game systems.)
The N64 allowed the Zelda games to move into 3D. There was a new gaming tool called Z-targeting which let the player lock onto an enemy or an NPC (non-playable character) allowing you to easily navigate within the 3D environment. It was revolutionary and they used a fairy character called Navi (short for navigation?) to explain how it worked. (Here’s a video explaining some of the game development.)
The World of Ocarina of Time
Navi appears during the game’s opening scenes, a glowing ball of light with wings. She becomes Link’s partner. Unlike the other children of the forest, Link didn’t have a guardian fairy. It is a significant moment for him and ties directly into the gameplay. You can see her introduction in the opening, video linked here.
With Navi around you have a way to interact with everyone. She becomes your guide and helps you focus on the important things. She cries out, “Hey Listen!” and rings like a bell whenever she has important information. (I loved my fairy, Navi. I don’t know why people found her ‘hey listen’ annoying. Maybe because it rings so often?) She gives you hints if you ever get stuck.
And without Navi, it’s harder to target enemies and survive the many dungeons in this world. (It is possible to play the game without Z-targeting because I did this once as a challenge.)
In the beginning scene, we see Navi waking Link from a nightmare. She gives him a message. Link nods but doesn’t say anything. “Yahoo!” his friend Saria cries as we emerge from our small treehouse and climb down a ladder for the first time. Link never says Hi to her or anyone else. The game doesn’t have voice acting. You read everything. There are no dialogue trees or back-and-forth conversations. It is all one-way, as people, trees, or fairies, speak to us and tell us stories.
This storytelling pattern is most obvious after we defeat the first dungeon.
The pattern of play: exploration and dungeons
All Zelda games feature a similar style of gameplay. You explore the world and dive into dungeons full of enemies and puzzles.
In Ocarina, Link has been called by the Great Deku Tree, guardian of the forest, to destroy the evil festering inside its trunk. You venture into the tree’s mouth for the first dungeon. You learn new skills and gain new equipment, including a slingshot. It will help you take on the giant monster boss Gohma, who is hanging out deep within the tree. You emerge triumphant and the Deku tree gives you two rewards. The first one is the green and sparkling spiritual stone of the forest.
The second reward is a story about our past and how the future of the world depends on you venturing beyond the forest. Usually, Kokiri children are not allowed to leave, but Link is different and we must go and find Princess Zelda in Hyrule Castle. Then the great Deku Tree dies from his internal wounds, leaving you bereft and facing a long journey and many more adventures.
The hero’s journey within Zelda games
Your journey continues after you leave the forest. Like Joseph Cambell’s hero, we leave the familiar ordinary world behind and face new dangers, find new allies and new enemies.
A nosy Owl greets you at the edge of the forest, imparting important information. You cross Hyrule Field, which has day and night now, and you approach the lively castle town, where many distractions await. There are side quests galore: meet the dancing couple, the beggar, and the lady and her puppy in Castle Town. Or break pots for money and play games with your slingshot. Talk to Malon, a horse-obsessed girl visiting town with her father. (She’s important for getting your horse Epona later!) These new characters add to the festive atmosphere before you sneak your way into the castle to meet Princess Zelda.
When you finally meet Princess Zelda, she tells you a story about how the world and the triforce are in danger from the power-hungry Ganondorf. This is momentous, and she says: “Link! We are the only ones who can protect Hyrule!” She sends you to find the other spiritual stones.
Guess what happens next?
You leave behind the familiar again to enter Karkariko Village and encounter new characters: Anju with her lost chickens, the graveyard kid imitating Dampe the graveyard caretaker, the carpenters running around looking busy, and the gate guard, who wants a mask from Castle Town. Explore, discover, and get sidetracked. This is the Zelda formula that works so well. It is a fairly traditional hero’s journey too.
Zelda Games Always do this
New Zelda games, like Breathe of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, also use this pattern of encouraging exploration and providing stories as rewards through various character encounters and flashbacks.
Ocarina was my first time experiencing Zelda’s magic. I spent hours playing this Zelda game and obsessing over the script. (Back then you couldn’t just search for a game text dump online, which I found recently. ) To get the story you had to play the game.
Playing with Dialogue
Even though Link never talks, it doesn’t seem to matter. Instead of speaking, Link runs and jumps and rides his horse Epona. He climbs up mountains and jumps down wells. The dialogue is all one way. Never changing. Although, I found out you can change your perception of it.
Once, I replayed the game giving Link the name ‘Zelda’, just to see Zelda’s character dialogue read “Zelda? Strange…it sounds somehow… familiar”
And again with the name Nabooru, just to hear the character of Nabooru say “Nabooru? What kind of name is that?”
I was a strange child.
Encountering the unknown
In Ocarina of Time, talking to people gives the world its vibrancy. It builds up the world around you, such as when you encounter the delightful windmill man and learn his secret song. The twin witches are tricky but memorable. You defeat them and they continue to argue all the way to the afterlife. There’s the graveyard ghost offering you a new weapon if you play his game and the Kokiri children who teased you as a child. They do not grow up, but you meet them again after you have and it is bittersweet. The adventure within Ocarina of Time was truly epic, and it comes from your encounters.
In books and films, dialogue is pivotal, but the Zelda games use conversations differently. You play. Swing a sword. Shoot a weapon in response. You are interacting with the world and people, but without speaking. It reminds me of traveling to a different country. You can still go about the world buying food at stores or books at a bookstore, never speaking, but gesturing instead. Want one pastry? Then point at it, hold up one finger, and nod your head at the server. You don’t need words. But remember to thank them!
The Player and POV
In a way, the main character of the game isn’t as much Link, as it is me personally. You are the player. And I am the player. This is why I can confidently state I came to save Hyrule and defeat the evil Ganondorf. I was there when Zelda fled Hyrule castle and when she revealed herself seven years and seven temples later.
The adventure is personal. You don’t have to name the character Link either. The beginning allows you to pick your name. That’s how I was able to play the game as ‘Zelda’. It’s fascinating to think about. Second-person point-of-view is rare in novels. Games might be the best way to describe the experience of a second-person POV. It is a ‘you’ and sometimes a ‘we’ experience. We adventured me and Link together.
Why did Ocarina inspire me so much?
I could write essays upon essays about this story and adventure. (We didn’t even talk about the time travel in this game!) What is it about this game?
I think it’s the dialogue. The stories. Previous Zelda games had sparse conversations. Link never spoke, but occasionally you encounter someone who does, like a shopkeeper or the old man with a sword. In Ocarina, giant sentient trees request your aid, because the world is in danger and they have a story for you.
That story has inspired me in so many ways. It has followed me through my artist life making me the Zelda inspired artist I am today.
Fairy companions. Talking owls. Mysterious forests. These are present in my writing. Especially the Fairy Doctor series, the Thorn Path, and Changeling Fate. And probably will continue to. Traveling to new places in real life or a game gives me ideas. We encounter others, and experience a life that is not ours, and that changes who we are and what we make as artists.
This is not a new idea. It is a critical part of the Artist’s Way, known as artist dates. It’s also a beautiful way of living and creating. So be inspired. Play the Zelda games. (Or other games.) Go experience something new and see what happens to your art.
Have you played Ocarina of Time? Which is your favorite Zelda game?
Are all games written in a second-person POV?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.