Game of the Month #80 (September 2021) - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Simultaneously released with Oracle of Seasons, this second Capcom-developed Zelda game is widely regarded as the more difficult of the two adventures, Oracle of Ages sees Link embark on a similar quest to that in Oracle of Seasons, in that he must rescue a beautiful woman from the clutches of an unspeakable evil. Link's adventure begins when he awakens in a strange forest deep within the land of Labrynna. By using the Harp of Ages, Link is able to transcend the very fabric of time, allowing him to jump between the past and present as the need arises.

I’ve always thought of this and Oracle of Seasons to be the most obscure Zelda games at least to me, so I’m pleasantly surprised it won! This is one of three single player Zeldas I have not played yet (the others being Oracle of Seasons and Zelda 2), so I’m excited to start!

I’ll be starting it soon one of these nights, if not tonight. I’ll be playing it on the 3DS.

Not gonna lie, I voted for this game kinda half-jokingly, alongside Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heartbreak. Looks like I have to live with the consequences now.

But, uh, I mean, people seem to really like it, and I trust that this game is still worth playing today!

Im actually going to participate in this one cause I heard this and Oracle of Seasons were very good. Hype!

This is one I've been meaning to try, so this Game of the Month is gonna push me to try and finish it in a similar way to Super Metroid I do think. I've heard of it both as an underrated gem and one of those games people only bring up BECAUSE they're obscure, so the quality will be interesting to look at. Capcom having made three Legend of Zelda games in general is wild for most people to think of today. Excited to try this one out!

Too bad it can't be a double feature with Oracle of Seasons, though.

I'll join on this one as well. This also gives me the opportunity to try playing a Game Boy Color game on the GameCube's Game Boy player. I've never used it for anything other than GBA games.

Well I wanted to buy it for the 3DS, but as it turns out, you no longer can pay with a credit card, without making a deposit of a fixed value - making it extremley overpriced :C
So i have no other option, but to emulate it.

I mentioned I would start playing this later on in the month as I'm really into the other games I'm playing (Nier Automata and Trails in the Sky), but it's The Legend Of Zelda so I can't really compose myself.

I don't know how fast I'll be making progress but I'll finish it before the end of this month for sure. I played Oracle of Seasons when that game came out, but I never finished it.

Enjoy your playthrough everyone! I'm looking forward to all of your opinions on this game!

So here's a question: you can play the Oracle games as two halves of a whole and make one a sequel to the other via passwords. To that end, which order should they be played in? I know there are some differences if you play one as a sequel to the other, but I don't know what all they are or which is preferable.

So here's a question: you can play the Oracle games as two halves of a whole and make one a sequel to the other via passwords. To that end, which order should they be played in? I know there are some differences if you play one as a sequel to the other, but I don't know what all they are or which is preferable.

It's actually very complex. There are many plot and gameplay spoilers in there, but this article explains the interaction between the games very well.

https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/Linked_Game

When you link games, the story is a linear continuation of the previous game, and NOT another story or a paralel story. When linking the games, you also get an alternate ending at the end. Also, your choices in the games influence to continuity of the story and some items that will carry over. In theory, to 100% the games and access all zones and dungeons and story plots, you would need to play Ages --> Seasons AND Seasons --> Ages.

So here's a question: you can play the Oracle games as two halves of a whole and make one a sequel to the other via passwords. To that end, which order should they be played in? I know there are some differences if you play one as a sequel to the other, but I don't know what all they are or which is preferable.

Time to consult our handy Zelda Timeline…



But yeah from what I’ve seen there's no official order so it’s ultimately up to us, which I think is kind of cool. And I knew there was a code to connect the games given at the end I didn’t know it influences the story of the other version, so I’m actually excited about that whenever I get to Seasons after playing this!

It's actually very complex. There are many plot and gameplay spoilers in there, but this article explains the interaction between the games very well.

https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/Linked_Game

When you link games, the story is a linear continuation of the previous game, and NOT another story or a paralel story. When linking the games, you also get an alternate ending at the end. Also, your choices in the games influence to continuity of the story and some items that will carry over. In theory, to 100% the games and access all zones and dungeons and story plots, you would need to play Ages --> Seasons AND Seasons --> Ages.

Thanks, but I guess I was more soliciting opinions on whether to play Seasons as a sequel to Ages or vice-versa.

Thanks, but I guess I was more soliciting opinions on whether to play Seasons as a sequel to Ages or vice-versa.

AFAIK the "official" order is Seasons > Ages, according to Nintendo's latest decisions on the matter.

AFAIK the "official" order is Seasons > Ages, according to Nintendo's latest decisions on the matter.

I would legitimately be interested in a source for that.

I would legitimately be interested in a source for that.

It comes from the Hyrule Historia book. That one lists Oracle of Seasons as the first game. I'd recommend starting there too. It's generally seen as slightly easier because its focus is on combat. By playing it first, you save the more difficult experience for last.

This site has the text from the pages showing the order of the games. Fair warning that it does get spoilery though. I'm going to be going through Seasons first. Wanted to replay them both anyway haha.

Also, if you want to read the actual page, you can find the full book pdf pretty easily. It starts on page 98 of the book.

I would legitimately be interested in a source for that.

What Alex said basically (P.S. ty Alex) ^

I think it was in the newer Encyclopedia too but I'm not sure.

Thanks y'all! (Funny enough, I have both the English and Japanese editions of Hyrule Historia, but I never read it. :S)

It comes from the Hyrule Historia book. That one lists Oracle of Seasons as the first game. I'd recommend starting there too. It's generally seen as slightly easier because its focus is on combat. By playing it first, you save the more difficult experience for last.

This site has the text from the pages showing the order of the games. Fair warning that it does get spoilery though. I'm going to be going through Seasons first. Wanted to replay them both anyway haha.

Also, if you want to read the actual page, you can find the full book pdf pretty easily. It starts on page 98 of the book.

That one lists Oracle of Seasons as the first game. I'd recommend starting there too. It's generally seen as slightly easier because its focus is on combat. By playing it first, you save the more difficult experience for last.

Yeah I’ve heard people say Seasons is easier before. That said I’m not the greatest when it comes to combat in older 2D Zelda games (particularly when there is projectile spamming) so I honestly feel like Ages might be the easier one for me to start off with since I’m generally pretty good at the puzzles.

Anyways I started it tonight and made it through the first dungeon. I’m certainly liking it so far and it doesn’t feel as ancient as I thought it would be so far. Granted it came out in 2001, which I didn’t completely realize it’s more recent than Majorca’s Mask until I saw Tingle and this guy:



I’m always a sucker for time travel stories and mechanics so I’m looking forward to seeing all they’ll be doing with that!

I’ve played through the second dungeon now (which I felt the boss was rather annoying, although easy once I figured it out). I can definitely already see why this one is considered more puzzle oriented too, there already were some complicated ones in the second dungeon, that’s not a bad thing though.

I remember hearing awhile back that some of the music in this game isn’t on par with the rest of the series, but for the most part I had been liking it (especially Nauru’s Song) until I was graced with this wonderful piece 😬.

I'm too wrapped up with other Zelda Games right now to consider doing Oracle of Ages, but I would love to in the future. Fingers crossed for the gameboy games on switch rumor to be true.

I'm too wrapped up with other Zelda Games right now to consider doing Oracle of Ages, but I would love to in the future. Fingers crossed for the gameboy games on switch rumor to be true.

I saw those rumors too, it would be certainly nice! I’ve always felt the biggest weakness of the Switch for me is I can’t play as many classics as I could on the 3DS and Wii U since they stopped doing the virtual console. For some reason I feel like we usually get a direct in September, so maybe it’ll be announced (or even released) then.

I've completed two dungeons. I thought they were pretty straightforward. I'm enjoying my time with this game. It reminds me of Link's Awakening, but it adds that little bit extra with the additional characters and challenges.

That having been said I'm now at the point where I'm trying to get my stuff back from the Tokay, which I thought was hilarious until I had to play a mini-game for 10 rupees to feed all the Tokay. I threw away 110 rupees, my money is finished and I can't for the life of me give them all their meat... I now have to go around the island to find ten rupees to do the challenge again. I checked and if you want your shovel back you need to do this. There's no other way. I can't go on without the shovel because I won't reach the dungeon... I would've been annoyed if this mini-game was mandatory anyway, but the fact that it costs 10 rupees annoys me even more

I'm stuck and I might even quit the game because of it.

I've completed two dungeons. I thought they were pretty straightforward. I'm enjoying my time with this game. It reminds me of Link's Awakening, but it adds that little bit extra with the additional characters and challenges.

That having been said I'm now at the point where I'm trying to get my stuff back from the Tokay, which I thought was hilarious until I had to play a mini-game for 10 rupees to feed all the Tokay. I threw away 110 rupees, my money is finished and I can't for the life of me give them all their meat... I now have to go around the island to find ten rupees to do the challenge again. I checked and if you want your shovel back you need to do this. There's no other way. I can't go on without the shovel because I won't reach the dungeon... I would've been annoyed if this mini-game was mandatory anyway, but the fact that it costs 10 rupees annoys me even more

I'm stuck and I might even quit the game because of it.

Yeah that mini game was oddly tough. I just played it yesterday, took me like 5 or 6 tries. I wish I could give you a tip of how to beat it, but unfortunately I felt I just had to power through it and not make a mistake, since you’re guaranteed to fail if you miss a throw... The easy way I make rupees is digging with the shovel everywhere, so I generally have at least 500 rupees at all times.

Yeah that mini game was oddly tough. I just played it yesterday, took me like 5 or 6 tries. I wish I could give you a tip of how to beat it, but unfortunately I felt I just had to power through it and not make a mistake, since you’re guaranteed to fail if you miss a throw... The easy way I make rupees is digging with the shovel everywhere, so I generally have at least 500 rupees at all times.

Thanks for the tip! I found a way to power through. I had ten rupees and every time I lost, I quit the game so that I could reuse those rupees 😂

I'm now walking around with my shovel digging everywhere in case another one of those mini games shows up.

I finished the third dungeon. I'm now on my way to the fourth. I'm still loving the fact that the game resembles Link's Awakening, every new enemy type that is introduced is a blast from the past (apart from the bosses which are unique).

Thanks for the tip! I found a way to power through. I had ten rupees and every time I lost, I quit the game so that I could reuse those rupees 😂

I'm now walking around with my shovel digging everywhere in case another one of those mini games shows up.

I finished the third dungeon. I'm now on my way to the fourth. I'm still loving the fact that the game resembles Link's Awakening, every new enemy type that is introduced is a blast from the past (apart from the bosses which are unique).

That was certainly a good idea! Also this is how it always looks whenever I have the shovel equipped 😂.



And yeah I’ve noticed too that the enemy types are pretty much the same as Link’s Awakening so far, granted I played the Switch remake of that so it’s been nice seeing them how they were back in the past.