I started up Master Quest mode in Ocarina of Time 3D the other day, and it threw me for a much bigger loop than I’d expected. I finished Master Quest on the Wind Waker pre-order bonus disc many years ago, but this is different still. In this version, the entire world is flipped around.
Actually, I can’t recall if the bonus disc Master Quest was flipped or not, but I certainly feel like I’d remember such a thing.
Anyway, I’d heard about the mirrored world before the game’s release, but shrugged it off as an insignificant change. After all, I never had any trouble adjusting to the mirrored courses in Mario Kart. Why would this be any different? Oh, maybe because I haven’t spent as much time with all the Mario Karts combined as I have with OoT. I’ll admit that in my old age I can’t remember where all the heart pieces or gold skulltulas are, but I have the maps and puzzles quite clearly committed to memory. The only game I know better is Super Mario 64, though not by much.
Anyway, playing the mirrored OoT is terribly unsettling. I can only describe the sensation as being like walking into your kitchen and finding that someone has exchanged the contents of every drawer and cupboard. It’s weird. Almost alien. It’s far more disorienting than I imagined, and it’s almost frightening that I constantly find myself getting lost in Kokiri Forest. I can’t imagine how much trouble I’m going to have navigating the Lost Woods and Gerudo Fortress.
Oddly, the Deku Tree’s flipped version didn’t make it any harder. Maybe there were so many other changes that my brain just interpereted it as an entirely new dungeon with some familiar scenery. Hopefully the rest of the dungeons go as smoothly.
On the flip side, it’s kind of nice to have a new challenge. Remixed dungeons are all well and good, but now the entire world has an air of freshness to it. Yeah, it’s just backwards, but I can’t just cruise around Hyrule on autopilot anymore. I actually have to put a bit of thought into which way I’m headed. Twice now, I’ve walked out of Castle Town and wondered where Kakariko Village went. And I’m sure it’ll happen several more times before I’m finished with the game.
In other Zelda news, the three extra stages in Four Swords: Anniversary Edition are so awesome. Grezzo needs to remake even more old Nintendo games. Or just re-release Four Swords Adventures with similar extras. As much as I like handheld Four Swords, the big screen version is just so much prettier. And has a little more variety.
Oh, I’m getting all excited about Zelda now. If there’s a surprise last-minute delay on Skyward Sword I might pop. Or play Wind Waker again. Know what? I should probably just do that anyway. It’s a crime that I’ve finished Twilight Princess more times than Wind Waker. Ramble, ramble, ramble…