The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons

[Grazza]

And... completed! Finished Oracle of Seasons (linked game), which means I have finally completed every Zelda. I believe there are 15? Every proper console and handheld Zelda, anyway, plus Four Sword Adventures.

 

@Jonnas was right - I did much prefer Seasons to Ages. It's a much more straightforward game. If Ages is about dual-world thinking and abstract puzzles, Seasons is characterised by tough bosses. In all honesty, I think they would have been too tough for me on the original cartridge, but thankfully we now have Restore Points!

 

Oracle of Ages frustrated me with its dual worlds, and how much planning it took to reach certain areas of the overworld (although many Zelda games use this mechanic, I don't think any do to the same extent). Oracle of Seasons may sound even more difficult (after all, there are four seasons, as opposed to two worlds), but it's not. Changing the seasons never really gets more complicated than standing on a tree trunk and turning it to Summer, for instance, to make some vines grow; or to Winter, in order to create a snowy bridge.

 

Towards the end of the game I started linking back to Oracle of Ages, in order to get the Level 3 sword, shield etc (you can probably guess which ones they are!), which I found very helpful when fighting the later bosses. They are definitely meant to be played as a linked game - there is actually a square in Ages I spent a long time trying to access, only to find out it was impossible unless I had played Seasons first (and carried the password over). Truthfully, I'm glad to be done with these two games. If there's one word I'd use to describe both of them (and together as a whole experience) it's "arduous". For me the whole idea is too complicated and, and I hate to say this, but also too ambitious.

 

I'm grateful to have been able to play Oracle of Ages/Seasons on the Virtual Console, but personally they go into my lower tier of favoured Zelda titles. Don't get me wrong, the quality is absolutely there, I just find them a bit too "much" for my liking. When I bought the Oracle of Seasons cartridge in 2001 and hardly got anywhere into it at all, I thought I was growing out of games - getting too old to bother with their intricacies - but I suppose the truth is that, as far as Zelda goes, these two are simply for the most hardcore of the hardcore.

[Jonnas]

Seasons is a game that rewards exploration and rarely makes it obvious where to head next. Best thing you can do is look around and search for a path, or a clue, and it will work.

Meanwhile, Ages has a clearer sense of progression, and a world that feels more "whole". If one can think about their surroundings, the path is clear.

 

The combination of both games feels like a grander adventure than any Zelda that came before or since. Definitely a hardcore experience, like Grazza put it

[Rummy]

And... completed!

 

No no no, you need to put your Hero's Secret back into Seasons and play them the other way round!!

 

(I half joke, having read the rest of your post, but truly...you aren't finished til you do. And hero's cave too! :p)

[Grazza]

No no no, you need to put your Hero's Secret back into Seasons and play them the other way round!!

 

(I half joke, having read the rest of your post, but truly...you aren't finished til you do. And hero's cave too! :p)

 

Groan... I half suspected this.

 

If I start a Hero's game of Ages, does that mean I can still link back to Seasons and get my Level 3 equipment to use in my Hero's game? (I've already got them in Ages, but I mean if I started again.) I was under the impression a Hero's game was more like starting again than a linked game?

 

I have done the Hero's Cave in Seasons, including that incredibly difficult boomerang throw in the penultimate room! Bah... Will these games ever leave me be?

[Rummy]

Yeah it's starting again. I didn't realise this originally - and started again on my original again first, if that makes sense. I think the ONLY thing you can carry over are the rings.

 

So the idea is for example from scratch; play Ages get code put into Seasons - get hero's secret(it may actually have another name) - put it straight back into Seasons to start an 'unlinked' Seasons game get code put into Ages.

Or of course, the other way round. But you essentially are sort of meant go: Unlinked Game1->linked Game2->Unlinked Game2->Linked Game1. I don't believe there is any final benefit(I haven't done it all through or the hero's caves) except experiencing the games both ways. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of tiny easter egg for it somewhere though.

[Grazza]

Yeah it's starting again. I didn't realise this originally - and started again on my original again first, if that makes sense. I think the ONLY thing you can carry over are the rings.

 

So the idea is for example from scratch; play Ages get code put into Seasons - get hero's secret(it may actually have another name) - put it straight back into Seasons to start an 'unlinked' Seasons game get code put into Ages.

Or of course, the other way round. But you essentially are sort of meant go: Unlinked Game1->linked Game2->Unlinked Game2->Linked Game1. I don't believe there is any final benefit(I haven't done it all through or the hero's caves) except experiencing the games both ways. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of tiny easter egg for it somewhere though.

 

Ah, thank you, that's the bit that was confusing me. I was thinking of putting it into Ages.

 

I believe you start a Hero's game with four hearts instead of three. It's quite easy to get full hearts just with a linked game, but of course, that wouldn't be until Ages. I did write my Hero's Secret down, so I'm tempted to do it when I haven't got anything else to play. Some of the transferable rings would certainly help a great deal.