Every few years, a game is released that takes an entire genre and showcases how it should be expertly crafted. To say, "This is how it's done." And for years after that, others will try to replicate or build off of it, either to expand and bring play✱ers something ne🤡w, or to slip past the social awareness never to be heard from again.
In 1998, Nintendo released the seminal The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and there was no one, no where, who wasn't impressed. Whether it deserves to be praised as the best in the series is debatable. But there is no denying how important to the landscape of the gaming world it truly is. Better games with better mechanics have obviously since come out in the past twenty years. But at the time, and for a good while after its release, it was the crown jewel of the action ad🐟venture genre.
But what some don't realize is that one of the greatest video games of all time was almost something entirely different. Just like the chests for which Link scours dungeons for, there is a literal treasure trove of behind-the-scenes secrets about what Ocarina of Time could have been.
From different mechanics to unique character traits and designs to entire locations that were completely left out, the history behind the making of one of Link's grandest adventures is an intriguing one. Here are 25 amazing things deleted from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that would have changed everything.
25 ⭕ Di♔fferent Music For The Fire Temple
This is definitely the most famous changes made to Ocarina of Time. The original music for the Fire Temple featured Islamic prayer chanting over some perc🔯ussion. But as Nintendo usually tries not to feature any real-world religi൲ons in their games, the chanting was changed.
The percussion remained the same, but the vocals were changed to something much more ominous.
You can still 🤡find both tracks on YouTube and other places. But since the music was set inside an incredibly dangerous (and active) volcano, the change to something less p𝕴eaceful made sense on two levels.
24 ♕ It Could Have Had A Hub World 🌠
The mid 1990s saw a lot of developers struggle with how to approach 3D gaming for the first time, but Nintendo had knocked it out of the park with Super Mario 64. The title launched with th꧃e Nintendo 64 to massive acclaim.
When Ocarina of Time was in early development, the team working on the title thought about giving the game a hub world. Ganon’s Castle would have operated the same way Princess Peach’s had, with Link reachi💧ng new areas through porta🔯ls. That idea was eventually condensed to the fight with Phantom Ganon, who goes in and out of paintings.
23 It Was Originally A Remake Of Zelda II 𒁏
That’s right, one of the best games of all time was originally planned to be a remaster of a previously released game. Nintendo wanted to bring the second game in the series, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, to the SNES by using the same Super FX chip that gave us the original Star Fox.
What was different, however, was their desire to have a greater focus on sword combat than previous entries. While the project never got very far, it did evolve into what would become Ocarina of Time.
22 🥀 It Could Have Been First-Person ✱
This may sound incredibly bizarre, but the reasoning behind it actually make🧸s a bit of sense. Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind the entire series as well as Mario, wanted the game to be from a first-person perspective.
They were building a massive, beautiful world in 3D for the first time, and he wanted players to be able to experience every detail.
The game would switch to third-person for combat. . The choice to scrap the first-person idea was definitely t💞he right one.
21 ♐ It Could Have Had Pre-Rendered Cutscenes 🍃
While pre-rendered cutscenes can often give games a more cinematic feel, it’s something Miyamoto has never had much interest in. Ocarina of Time could 🐻have had pre-render🌊ed scenes, but he fought against it.
His logic is sound, however. He can sometimes make last minu✤te changes to the story, wanting them implemented right away. Pre-rendered cutscenes would cause huge delays in these scenarios, needing to be reworked to fit with his changes. Not using pre-rendered cutscenes also made it so the in-game graphics matched those of the cutscenes.
20 It Was Originally A Nintendo 64DD Exclusive ꦐ
This might not sound like a big deal, but the changes Nintendo had to make because of it altered Ocarina of Time forever.
The Nintendo 64DD was a Japan exclusive add on, but it never made it to America due to incredibly poor sales. Nintendo was forced to scrap the idea of having Ocarina of Time be a game for the disk drive and just released it in cartridge form inဣstead. It would have utilized an in-game clock 🐠and an impact feature. For example, if Link cut some grass, it wouldn’t regrow when he returned to that area.
19 🅺 Fado Could Have Played A Bigger Role
While mꦍost of the Kokiri solely serve to teach the player the simpler mechanics at the beginning of the game, the two that are more fleshed out are Saria and Mido.
But there could have been a third.
Fado, a Kokiri girl with big bushy pigtails, has an alternate design from the other Kokiri that is buried within the game’s code. She also has much more varied dialogue than the others, referencing the bossyও Mido whenever Link talks to her while wearing different masks. She may have been part of something cut when the game was still a 64DD release.
18 ﷽ The Iron K♌nuckles Are Gerudo Pirates
Nabooru, the lead Gerudo Pirate, gets💧 captured while Link is a kid and forced to act as an Iron Knuckle until Link can come back as an adult seven years later to save her.
But she is not the only Iron Knuckle you fight.
The others just burn away and vanish once defeated. But by positioning the camera a certain way before the fight begins, you can glitch it through the helmet to reveal the face 🌟of another Gerudo pirate. Some players believe this means the sinister Ganondorf captured other pirates and forced them to fight for him.
17 🍎 Thꦉere Was Originally Going To Be A Light Temple
Once Link acquires t🐈he Master Sword, he meets the Sage of Light, Rauru, who instructs him what to d🔯o next. He also gives him the Light Medallion, adding his power to his. But there were originally plans for a Light Temple, and Link would obtain his medallion just like he does for the other Sages.
There are remnants left in the game that are linked to this, such as the song Prelude to Light, which traꦡnsports Link to the Temple of Time. But for whatever reason, the temple was scrapped early🅷 on.
16 🌳 The Forest And Water T🦄emples Could Have Been Different
Originally, the Forest Temple was the Wind Temple while the Water Temple was the Ice Temple. There are a couple of clues left in the game that point towards this. The m🥂edallion for the Forest Temple looks like a fan while the medallion for the Water Temple looks like a snowflake.
But there are also the puzzles found in Ganon’s Castle. The Forest room centers around♉ a wind puzzle while the water room centers around an ice one. It’s unclear why they were changed, but I for one wish we lived in a world whereꦚ the Water Temple didn’t exist.