Ocarina of Time is one of those games that just sticks with you. You start as young Link in Kokiri Forest, learning the basics—swinging your sword, rolling into trees for rupees, the usual—but before long, you're pulled into this huge, eerie world where everything feels alive. The first time you step onto Hyrule Field as the sun sets and that music kicks in? Chills.

What really makes it special is how the ocarina isn’t just some gimmick—you actually use it. Play the right song, and time shifts, or a storm rolls in, or a bridge appears. And the dungeons? Brilliant. The Water Temple gets a bad rap, but figuring out how to raise and lower the water levels with those boots was weirdly satisfying once it clicked.

It’s not just nostalgia, either. Even now, the way the world connects—meeting characters as a kid and seeing how they’ve changed years later—feels way ahead of its time. Ganondorf’s still one of the best villains out there, too. That final showdown? Absolute theater.

If you’ve somehow missed this one, it’s worth carving out the time. Just don’t blame me when you start humming Saria’s Song for weeks.