Play as * in Ocarina of Time

Play as * doesn’t refer to any one particular hack, but rather a group of several different hacks made by spinout182 (also known for making Zelda’s Birthday). I don’t know exactly when they were released, but my estimates are 2011 based on the wayback machine and 2012 based on the HTTP response codes. There is also a similar project he made back in 2009. It really is ambiguous.

You can download the patch here by using the password playas*, or by using the official website. Then, apply the patch by using PPF-o-Matic on an Ocarina of Time debug ROM called ZELOOTMA.Z64.

Since this hack comes in three parts, let’s look at them one by one.

Play as Dark Link

Dark link is available as a playable character in this hack, but only as adult Link (Young Link is still the same). The game is identical, except that you can now role play as the T-1000.

Funny enough, his hand when using certain items reverts to the default hand from the original game. It’s a little bit unsettling when you’re not expecting it.

Strange, but interesting.

Majora’s Mask Link and Kafei

This version is a two-parter: young link is replaced with Link from Majora’s Mask, and Adult Link is replaced with Kafei.

You can’t really see it in the screenshots, but the video above shows short Kafei really is when walking around. The model is a lot shorter than the normal Adult Link so he ‘overs’ above the ground and doesn’t appear in certain cutscenes with headshots.

Play as *

This one is a bit weirder, but I’ll just make a quick note of it for completion. Also known as Playas, this allows you to replace Link with any model from OoT. However, it isn’t a PPK file like the others, but rather a compilable C program. I don’t want to get into how to run it, but it’s there if you want to give it a shot.

The lost characters

The page where the above hacks were included have some other characters including Deku Link, Fierce Diety Link, Goron Link and Zora Link (all from Majora’s Mask). However, there isn’t a download link to any of these on the website, so we’re just left with some screenshots.

Conclusion

This is a great little hack that you can run which allows you to role play as a different character while you play Ocarina of time, just for fun. Seeing all the cutscenes with Link being another character just adds a bit of comedy to a game we’ve all played over and over again.

There are a few things, however, that hold it back. That mostly has to do with the ROM that you patch it to. It’s both the Debug version and the Master Quest version. This means that you start the game with every item, heart piece, song, spiritual stone and medallion. This makes it a lot more annoying if you want to do a full playthrough since most of the content will be complete before you get there. You also have to deal with this being the less-popular Master Quest.

On the other hand, if you just want to mess around and see your character in a weird place, you can jump straight to it without having to play through the whole game to get there, Like I did with Dark Link in the Water Temple.

Give it a go, and let me know your thoughts!