The Friday After - Ocarina of Time 3D

I love any chance I get to play Ocarina of Time, but this is different. A.) It's portable, B.) It's got enhanced graphics, and C.) It's in 3D!

I'm really enjoying the game so far. I've just gotten past the Water Temple (not nearly as difficult as I remember or have heard other people griping about). The 3D isn't intrusive, and doesn't rely on gimmicks. It increases the overall depth of the game, and compliments the game's established efforts at creating depth in the scene.

I've seen several small aspects of the game that I've enjoyed immensely. For example, in the first scene after Link's opening dream, we see the Deku Tree talking to Navi. In the original version, this was a fixed, uninteresting camera angle of Navi in front of the Deku Tree. In OoT 3D, the camera follows Navi as she enters the grove, and cuts to different angles to make things interesting. The camera in various cutscenes behaves in a much more sophisticated fashion than in the original.

The design of the settings is much improved as well. Shops and buildings have much more personality, especially when you see the insides. Shops have various merchandise and such scattered about, and houses have individualistic identities that reflect their owners in some ways. The Mask Shop even reflects some small references to OoT's sequel, Majora's Mask.

The interface is much improved - the dual screen works quite well. Along with that is the inclusion of the iron boots as an item rather than a piece of equipment - this made the Water Temple SO much easier.

Nintendo also included a new feature, objects called Sheikah Stones. They resemble Gossip Stones, yet they are placed at key points (next to Link's House in the Kokiri Forest and inside the Temple of Time, from what I can tell). They allow the player to view hints about specific areas if they are having trouble. I haven't used it (hey, I don't need to, I've played the game so many times I've practically got it memorized).

I'll post again whenever I start the Master Quest after beating the main game. It shouldn't be too long at this rate.