(The game won't even let Link use his slingshot anymore, even though it's still sitting right there in his inventory.) The marketplace that surrounds the castle is a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the first living creature Link encounters tries to paralyze him, climb atop him, and drain his life force (a maneuver that looks a lot like sexual assault, in hindsight). When he wakes up, he's an adult, and the idyllic world of his childhood is gone. Link steps through the Door of Time and goes to sleep for seven years. Midway through the game, everything changes. Later, one of those ninjas says something to the effect of, if only you were a few years older, thus the origin of this recurring joke. 'A kid like you has no business there,' a guard tells Link if he attempts to enter the fortress of the Gerudo, a group of all-female ninjas. Certain shopkeepers don't want to do business with him, and soldiers think his quest is a joke. It's not just Link's gear that's infantilizing-other characters constantly remind him that he's a stupid little kid. These situations call for mere toy-like weapons: Kid Link is armed with a slingshot, a tiny wooden shield, and a sword that looks like a toothpick. In the early game, Link faces obstacles that befit a child's imagination: clearing out the cobwebs inside a talking tree, sneaking past castle guards in hopes of spying on the princess, letting a giant fish eat him. They're scared of darker woods that surround their home, where those who become lost turn into monsters. Protagonist Link begins the game as a kid who lives in a village in the forest with a group of elf-like children who never age. This metaphor is especially compelling, because the theme of OoT itself is becoming an adult. OoT is the point where video games finally started to grow up. In fact, OoT should be viewed as a kind of doorway that leads from the simple room of video games past (think Donkey Kong) to the vast palace of sophisticated, immersive experiences gamers expect today (think Red Dead Redemption 2). It's the true OG all subsequent great games (including Zelda's own descendants, like last year's Breath of the Wild) must acknowledge it as inspiration. OoT is remembered for its rich open world, advanced graphics, accessible combat system, and replayability-all of which were revolutionary for the time. Since its release on the Nintendo 64 system two decades ago, OoT has earned wide recognition as one of the best video games of all time, if not the best. On this day in 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ( OoT) first hit shelves in Europe.

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