Temple of Time

Faithful Zelda lovers, you already know this more - than - legendary place of old from other Zelda games, mainly Ocarina of Time. But in this new iteration, it takes on a whole new form, and you get to play in it like a dungeon. This is totally new, and the first time the Zelda series has ever done something like this. When the surprise came out, fans’ tongues were literally dropping out of their mouths, and the fact that this temple seemed to get it just right as a dungeon gave all the more power to belief. 

If you remember, from playing a prior game called Ocarina of Time, Link first runs into the Temple of Time, places three stone orbs there --- one green, one red and one blue --- and plays his song from his ocarina, and the doors to the Temple of Time open. Link then walks through those doors, pulls out the legendary Master Sword from its stone sheath inside, and warps 7 years into time. The Temple of Time is truly timeless, a memorable place for anyone who knows Zelda at all…..

And this Twilight Princess version of the Temple of Time, though not quite as remembered as its predecessor, is still able to kick some butt. Here, you go as Link, but this time, to get your third shard and hopefully start putting more of that Mirror of Twilight together, unlocking more story revelations and gaming confidence as you do so. Feels good, does it not? You could make it this far, so I believe the rest is cake….in a sense. You got this. 

There are 8 floors inside of this particular dungeon, and it seems that all of them lead higher and higher upwards. It all looks like a tower. There is one more thing I will mention, since it has weighed down on many players’ minds already, and it is the fact that, though this version of the Temple of Time was still cool and all, it got a mixed reaction….particularly a negative one from hardcore Zelda : Ocarina of Time fans, of which I was one, as well. 

When Twilight Princess came out in 2006, and made its own version of the Temple of Time, something far different from what this place was known to be in Ocarina of Time, there was a very mixed reaction like I said ; some totally hated the notion while others enjoyed something new. I am not sure, personally speaking, exactly where I stand in the midst of all of this. I do enjoy that the Zelda series took a different spin on things here, testing the waters with something new and more innovative in regards to the Temple of Time. But, at the same time, I can see where the hate from the hard - core fans is coming from, and here is why…..

Take the very concept of sacredness, or holiness, into account. Anyone in any religion or spiritual belief system, and even those outside of one, will still recognize the value that it can hold. And the reputation that the original Temple of Time held, and still maintains, is one of utter sanctity, in every respect. The Temple of Time was a quiet place, surrounded only by sacred, holy music playing in the background ; it was, in a sense, very hard (if even possible, by the spotless, immaculate interior look of things, as well as the general ‘purity / holy temple’ type of vibe that this sanctified place gave off) for any evil or dark spirit to enter there. It truly was, and should still be, a holy place of utmost reverence, an immaculate place of interior beauty wherein only pure hearts are allowed to enter, so then, that begs the question…...why on earth is it now an inhabited dungeon of foul creatures, where you have to fight through and can potentially lose everything? 

Many of us just feel like this Temple of Time was ‘dumbed down’ a bit, or like the original, perfect concept of it was thrown in the garbage by Nintendo’s storyboard. It sort of feels like what the creative directors (who were not so creative after all, it seems, by their lack of knowledge and careless choices) of Star Wars Episode 8 : The Last Jedi did with their movie, entirely tossing out all the good, strong elements that the last 7 movies of the Star Wars franchise had hoped to establish in the first place. Why on earth would anyone do this? And though the change from one Temple of Time to another is not as drastically negative as that of the tremendously flawed movie I just mentioned (which thousands of hard - core Star Wars fans agreed was an absolute waste of time and pure, fresh garbage altogether), one can still note that it ‘alters’ the franchise in a way that it was not originally intended to be altered in ; I mean, if any past storyline establishes something, and is successful in doing so, it should not just undermine the establishment and completely rewrite itself in a way that makes no sense or is far less popular than what fans have come to know and love --- that is just an easy way for any movie or video game company to lose money and fans. 

Don’t get me wrong. This Temple of Time is not God - awful, like Star Wars 8 is in the public eye. But it’s just not all that it could be, and why remake the original Temple of Time, when the original was perfect? Except for the reason of gaining new fans who have never played Zelda, it is not really a good move. 

But fighting the Armogohma, in this Temple of Time version, is pretty cool. So it has that going for it, at least. And getting the Dominion Rod, also called the Rod of the Heavens, here, is also a neat little experience, but that’s about it…..