72. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)
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Ocarina of Time follows our hero Link as he leaves the safety of the Deku Forest and ventures out in to Hyrule in order to stop the evil Ganondorf from getting the triforce and taking over the world.

This is played in typical Zelda fashion. Enemies will usually appear as if from nowhere and you slash at them with your sword. You also get some nifty gadgets like a boomerang and arrows, which serve different purposes. Also different boots and clothes for different situations. Link is the only playable character, but he does get to ride a horse, so yeah.


General impressions:
Ocarina of Time is one of the first games I ever played. The only game I played before it was Tekken 2. So it was certainly my first game with a deep story and long term goal. I do still very much enjoy the game, although it isn't my favourite Zelda game by a longshot. Still, it has a certain feel to it that I haven't found in other games. It does a great job of creating atmosphere, especially in the future where you can see and feel just how desperate times have become, and young Pumpkin often had to switch back to a child just to see the bustling town and get away from the scary parts.

Story:
I would say this is the strongest part of the game. From the first dungeon, it feels like an adventure, it invested me, it made me care about this fictional world. I had dreams about it. I wanted to save it. And I was sad when the time passed and the world was so horrible. I wanted to rush through and beat it, not just to get it done, but so the people wouldn't have to suffer any longer. There are some truly touching moments, which can be hard to accomplish with a silent protagonist.


Gameply:
Zelda games will never have my favourite type of gameplay, but it's fun all the same. A lot of the dungeon puzzles really make you use your noggin. Riding the horse was awesome and a lot of the side quests were a lot of fun as well. The gameplay could be improved, but I still found it enjoyable. There's also some fun mini-games.

World:
The world in this game is great. You get such a wide variety of areas, all interesting in their own way, and all providing their own challenges. After the time shift, the world changes accordingly, and its sad to see what used to be such bustling, happy places turned in to... well. My favourite was Zora's Domain because come on. Water everywhere. I would so live there.


Characters:
This isn't really a character centric game, which might be why I didn't like it as much as some other games. Link is a cool dude, doing all that world saving stuff just because. You do meet some interesting people, like Princess Ruto and Saria. But sadly most of the game is spent alone, and it's very lonely in some cases.

Overall a strong game, especially if you're a fan of the series. The story is awesome, the tone is perfect, and the world is vast and beautiful.