The Legend of Zelda: Master of Time + Remastered
The Legend of Zelda: Master of Time is a homebrew hack of Ocarina of Time, originally released on 13 July 2020 with the remaster being released on 2 June 2023. It’s a full remake of the Ocarina of Time game taking place in the land of Abello with all-new characters, maps and challenges.
You can get the patches for both hacks on the download page by using the password saveabello
. One of them uses Flips and the other is xdelta, so be sure to use the right patcher. The file you need to patch is The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time (USA).z64
.
About Master of Time
Link, having saved both Hyrule and Termina, found himself adrift without a quest. Unsure of what to do next, he embarked on a journey that stretched far and wide. Contemplating the time manipulation he had wielded, Link questioned whether he truly embodied the hero’s role or if he was merely a pawn in the stories that unfolded around him.
As his fixation with time deepened, he sensed its passage slowing until it came to a standstill, trapping him in an eternal day. Exhausted and on the brink of collapse, Link stumbled upon a new land – Abello.
Abello is a vast and perilous world where Link is tasked with restoring the flow of time. With the assistance of Nite, a fairy companion, Link navigates the challenges of this unfamiliar realm.
Zelda: Master of Time is a mod/romhack for the Nintendo 64 version of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Created by Don Camilo, the game unfolds in Abello, following Link’s triumph in saving Hyrule and Termina. The central plot revolves around the complete freezing of time.
Key features of Zelda: Master of Time include approximately 20 hours of gameplay within a newly crafted overworld, custom cutscenes, and music. Additionally, players can discover 100 skulltula tokens and 20 hearts, among other treasures scattered throughout the game world.
The remastered version includes an upgraded model of Link as well as some new textures for maps and items.
Review and conclusion
I had a play though the beginning area of Master of time and I must say that I really do love the way it’s built. Unfortunately I had some trouble getting my video capture working so I spent so much time troubleshooting that I didn’t have time to get through much more after that.
The entire world is brand new, all the characters are unique and have their own personalities and the puzzles really make you think outside of the box in terms of what Ocarina of Time is capable of.
What I didn’t like is that a lot of the interior areas in the game are very cramped, which makes it quite difficult to navigate. There are also a lot of little ledges and platforming challenges, which are very common in OOT hacks, but weren’t used much in the original games.
The dialogue does seem to be a bit… much. It doesn’t have a ‘Zelda’ feel to it, kind of like it wasn’t proofread or it was trying too hard to be weird and edgy. However, if you go into the story with that in mind, it shouldn’t be an issue.
I do really like the music, it’s a bunch of midi files that have been given the Zelda soundfont. I found the Mission: Impossible embassy theme in the indoor areas to be a bit distracting, but welcome. Also the music in the intro and ending is from Turok 2.
Overall, I’d say you should give Master of Time a go. It is bizarre and weird for a sequel to Ocarina of Time, but welcome nonetheless.