The guides are useful for finding all the sidestory stuff, but getting through the main areas to just beat the game is straightforward enough on your own.

I recently finished OOT for the first time (I didn't get the N64) about a month ago. The game took me ages to beat, probably about 3 months but I played it on and off between new releases. I enjoyed it a lot and it was definitely something special but I don't think it is the best Zelda i've played. I enjoyed Twilight Princess more and still think A Link to the Past is the best in the series but my opinions would probably be different if I had played it back in the day I guess.

I own Wind Waker but never finished it so I will probably go back to that soon.

It's the dungeon with the huge propellor room that generates a constant stream through the dungeon, forcing you to revisit rooms many, many times trying to find the right path to get to the next chest. After a while, all orientational skills are useless and you're confused as hell.

Maybe it was Miyamoto's or Aonuma's attempt at replicating the feeling of dizziness through gameplay :S 

I remember that!!! Man that temple was a ****! Scratch the other water temples, this was the one that will actually make you insane if you don't beat it afterwards!

Amazing choice..i did this at the beginning of this year.... i didnt beat the final boss at first.. i was looking for all the gold skulltulas.. maybe ninty should do a remake... Amazing Game.. Adelante Amigo!

 The Stone Tower Temple is supposed to be worse, but I'm not there yet... I think can make some time to get there this weekend.

Looking forward to it!

I haven't been able to play much. I don't have as much time as I used to.

Now I feel like I am forcing myself to play this game, which is something I hate. Now I thinking I maybe won't finish it. Lots of people posting in the thread have not finished the game for some reason.

I understand now why this game is so wordshiped. For the time, it was an amazing breakthrough. But I don't think is posible to reach a concensus about "the best game ever". It is too subjective. And the industry review system is broken. It doesn't work for me. Nostalgia is playing a damaging role in it and it shouldn't be that way. New games should be reviewed for what they are and not compared with other older games. I know is esier said that done, but it has happened to me too many times that an older game considered better than the sequel it turned out to be a dissapointment for me. For example, I played Final Fantasy VIII and found it great, but everyone said the VII was the better game. Well, not for me. I am not saying this is the case of Zelda OoT, yet, but it just may be.

This game would have been a great game to have back then when I was in school with lots of time at my disposal. But now I am a different kind of gamer, maybe more casual, I don't know. In fact, when I first tried to play it without a guide I got lost and bored right away. It is funny to realize thar in terms of gaming, it seems that the older I get, the less patience I have.

I am not giving up just yet. I am just saying that it is hard for me to find the time to sit down and play for a couple of straight hours, and sometimes, I feel like I am losing the addiction.

Thanks everyone for posting and sharing your enthusiasm. (That is actually the real reason why I keep going, because I am finding the game not as awesome as Zelda TP)

See you guys next update

Oh no! I'm really sorry to hear that. It's impossible for those who played the game when it came out not to see it for what it was: sheer brilliance. I don't think I could divorce nostalgia from my opinion no matter how hard I try. But I sympathize with your point of view.

For what it's worth, I hope you do finish it - but whatever you do, don't force yourself.

im in the same position as Wii_hardcore as i expained in earlier posts but am absolutely loving the game so far. i can understand by people loved and still love it to this day. the water temple yes was pretty difficult but i managaed to pass it within 2-3 hours without a guide, so i wouldnt dismiss it as unplayable or too difficult to pass. maybe 10 years ago when it first came out and i was a 9 year old beginning my gaming life with all these amazing Nintendo 64 games, it would of probably, no definitely been a lot harder.

what i love most about this game is that there is a lot of the unexepected that happens and a lot more of what you have to do in the game and in dungeouns is very original. say for instance when you need to give the last mask to "you no who" its quite hard to figure out how to do it, but if it was TP then all you would really need to do was find this specific person then give it to him and you would have passed the sidequest. if that makes sense

twilighlight princess for me even though i loved that game was too straight forward as in you pretty much no for sure where to go next. In Ocarina of Time its different. theres always little things everywhere that make you excited about the game. the sub boss in the water temple. after finishing the water temple going to where you need to go next to continue the main quest and what happens etc. it just gets you exciting and i can certainly imagine what it would have been like when you were 9 or so playing this for the first time.

im loving it so far ill and it seems that me and Wii_R2_Hardcore are the 2 unlucky ones who dismissed this game when we were young and have both somewhat ironically decided to play it ten years later at roughly the same time so see what all the fuss is about. I love it, he seems to think otherwise. the fact is if your playing it to see what the fuss is about and concentrate on everything thats been said about the game instead of actually playing it then your not going to feel any experience, your just going to expect and the game might not reach your expectations. everyones thoughts on this game is when they played it for the first time so long ago so you cant expect to feel that what now about it playing for the first time because where in the future now and have seen all the developments of games, whats changed, how theyve been developed. so a game like Ocarina of Time wont really suprise a first time player now because where so used to other amazing aspects of gaming.

i will post again when im finished doing whatever happens after the water temple but my point is i just hope that Wii_R2_Hardcore just stops thinking about every little aspect except the game and just play Ocarina of Time for what it is. you seem to be concetrating on every little aspect except the game!! every outside concept in relation to it like "this is different because im not playing way back in 98 when i was young and had more time" and "this is suppose to be the best game ever but im not liking it whats up with that" and so on, (maybe not in the same tone but similar) and its affecting your experience.

THIS GAME HAS CHARACTER its original it is one of the best. it wouldnt of touched millions of gamers if it wasnt. yes you could be right in the fact that if you had played it 10 years ago you would of felt that nostaliga to it. the same goes for Mario 64 if you played it now you probly wouldnt feel the experience and appreciate it as much. Play ocarina of time without any expectations, without thinking about anything. just play it for fun, for me your delving into too much depth and other things instead of playing it and when your 9 years old playing this for the first time you wouldnt be thinking about anything else except playing this fuking amazing game and ENJOYING IT.

ANTICIPATION HAS A HABIT TO SET YOU UP FOR DISAPOINTMENT

I really hope you can post again, continuing on the way you started posting because it was fun. so this time post having some fun and making some progress, like if you were 9 again with your N64 without a worry in the world. just a sword and a shield and a beautiful game.

As a Zelda fan it's a duty to beat Ocarina of Time. Keep trying!