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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

by James Dawson - June 10, 2013, 10:33 am EDT
Total comments: 5

8.5

A puzzling adventure.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages was one of two Zelda titles developed by Flagship for the Game Boy Color, the other being Oracle of Seasons. Both titles feature mechanics and presentation similar to The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. However, unlike the standalone Link’s Awakening, the Oracle games are meant to link together, allowing you to continue the story from one version in the other.

Unlike Seasons, Ages forgoes the combat/puzzle balance of the traditional Zelda experience to focus more heavily on puzzle solving. The game’s puzzles range from your usual block pushing puzzles to more complex ones that take up a large portion of the overworld or dungeon. Because of the difficult puzzles, I found Ages to be a much more confusing game than its counterpart. When I played Seasons a year ago, I never had to resort to using a guide, but I found myself stumped several times in Ages.

Time travel, using the Harp of Ages, plays an important part in the game. Certain areas on the world map are only accessible in either the past or present, but not both. Early on in the game, Link can only time travel at specially marked spots on the overworld. This can feel daunting, as many overworld puzzles require you to move between the past and present several times, and time travel spots are not in the same areas in different time periods. This leads to a lot of backtracking early on, but adds a rewarding complexity to the overworld puzzles. Thankfully, this is remedied later when you learn a new song for Harp of Ages that allows you to time travel from any area.

In addition to traveling through time, Link also traverses the overworld with the help of several animal friends. However, they only exist long enough for Link to complete a certain task. It’s a pity that the developers didn’t make them a larger part of the game.

Ages may differentiate itself with its difficult puzzles and lower enemy count, but deep down it’s still a fairly conventional Zelda title. Nevertheless, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is a solid entry in the Zelda franchise that is worth the time of any fan.

Summary

Pros
  • Challenging puzzles
  • Enjoyable bosses and dungeons
Cons
  • A lot of backtracking early on
  • Some puzzles are too difficult

Talkback

Pixelated PixiesJune 10, 2013

I have to be honest, I got really stumped on Level 6.

Up until that point the game had, for me at least, never made it clear that the dungeons existed in both time periods. I, therefore, never even thought of going back to a dungeon in the past in order to make paths available in the future. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I found that dungeon to be pretty frustrating. It also didn't help that I had apparently obtained one of the Mermaid keys but not the other one. Surely if it's the same Dungeon in both time periods, and seemingly the same door, it would also be the same key? Well, apparently not.

Overall, however, I've been really enjoying this game. Puzzles and exploration have always been the reason I come to the Zelda series, and having heard that 'Ages' focused on puzzles over combat it was that game, rather than 'Seasons', that I decided to play first.


Also, I have really had a lot of fun with the items and power ups in this game so far. The hookshot equivalent is arguably cooler than the Hookshot itself (I love the sound it makes when you use it), the punching Kangaroo was hilarious, and the Mermaid suit was pretty surprising also.

Manthony ChopkinsJune 10, 2013

Going through it right now. Having a lot of fun. I remember always having to ask my older brothers to help me with the old GB and GBC Zelda games. It's fun going through this on my own. :cool;

Art_de_CatJune 10, 2013

My only problem with Ages was the dancing game to get the mermaid keys.  I could never beat it to get to the dungeon. Im hoping it will go better with the 3ds version.

Pixelated PixiesJune 12, 2013

And I thought Level 6 was bad. Level 7 is downright awful. At one point I got stuck and spent two hours randomly clinking my sword against walls. The cause? A stupid design oversight.

The following is an excercise in catharsis. I recommend that nobody read it as it contains no interesting content whatsoever. This was written purely to get something off my chest. It was a choice between writing a long, rambling, bitching post, or throwing my 3DS out the window. I chose the cheaper option.



When wearing the Mermaid suit the player has to repeatedly press the
directions in which they want to swim (which by the way is a f***ing stupid
idea) and at one point in level 7 you come across a lock which is submerged
underwater. I didn't have a key when I found this part of the level, so having
found the compass I was able to discover a chest which gave me a key to use.
Simple enough right? So I return to the submerged lock, constantly tapping left
on the D pad to swim towards it, and instead of the lock opening as it normally
would I simply bump against it unable to proceed. I try 5 or so times, slower
this time, grinding myself against the lock and surrounding wall to make sure
that there wasn't something I was missing.

Defeated, I spend the next few hours checking every nook and cranny of the
dungeon, growing increasingly more frustrated. The whole dungeon is based around
rising and lowering the level of the water (sound similar to any other
frustrating Zelda Dungeons?), so my thinking was that there must be a way to
lower the level of the water so that the lock is no longer submerged, because
clearly I'm not able to use keys underwater.

After banging my head against a brick wall (which in the game I did
literally) I finally watched a youtube video in which some player seemingly
does the impossible. They use a key underwater! And they do so to bypass
the very lock that had defeated me! I was clearly not the only one who
was gobsmacked by this miracle. Many more people had apparently
been brought to their knees by this all-powerful lock because the
comments were flooded with players who were in awe at
this youtube prophet who had performed the unthinkable.

As it turns out, however, it was not a miracle. It seems that in this one
very specific spot in the game pressing in the direction of the lock
while in possession of a key is not sufficient. In this one very specific
instance, and for some bizarre reason, you need to HOLD in that direction
for a second or two. Now, you might think that sounds like a dumb mistake to
make, but hear me out. All throughout this game the manner in which you open
these locks has been to walk through them when you have a key in your possession
('through' being the important word). So when you find one underwater,
your natural inclincation is to try to swim through it, right? How do you swim in this
dungeon? Answer: You repeatedly tap in the direction you want to go.
Logically swimming through the door should work. But it doesn't!

For some unknown reason the designers deemed it necessary for the direction
to be held down rather than tapped. Holding down the direction makes sense when
you're walking, but when the game requires you to tap the direction you want to go
rather than hold, then why should a tap be deemed insufficient? Why would holding the button be necessary if it doesn't actually propel the character through the door? IT MAKES NO SENSE!


Sometimes I f***ing hate video games!

reyemaiJuly 09, 2013

Quote:

It’s a pity that the developers didn’t make them a larger part of the game.

Please delete it. It's not true. From a certain point on: You can use one of the 3 in every moment.

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages Box Art

Genre Action
Developer Capcom
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Release May 30, 2013
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Zelda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Kinomi Jikū no Shō
Release Feb 27, 2013
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Release May 30, 2013
PublisherNintendo
Rating7+
aus: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Release May 30, 2013
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral
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