Welcome to a new edition of Horror Gaming and we check out the Zelda 64 beta creepypasta. If you were unaware, Zelda 64 was an original name for Ocarina of Time when it was in development from 1995 to 1997. There was, in fact, a demo of the beta shown at E3 1995 as the video showcased early 3D models of Link and Zelda in a castle. Even magazines and game news sites showed images of another early build in 1996 with more environments like a forest and mountain areas. I decided to start keeping track of cliché moments as well as any tropes used poorly by putting numbered strikes. The plot is about a lone person finding a cartridge of the beta itself that so many claimed existed. Will this be an interesting find of what Ocarina of Time could have been? Or is this a project Nintendo didn't want anyone to know they worked on? Let's begin... For once the story starts out normal with no usual tropes like wanting to relive their childhood or the strange seller giving away haunted games. A lone person mentions years ago, there was an early build of OOT that many magazines covered when the guy was younger. He continues to mention images of the beta and how different it was from the final product. The guy does bring up how it was due to the concept being designed after the original Zelda on NES. The original idea for Zelda 64 was based on this and a great deal of free roaming was involved. The character isn’t lying as its well-known technology as the time was incapable of such gameplay. Ocarina of Time and Elder Scrolls on PC were the only things close to this concept. As you can tell the author didn't miss a beat as the beta, he's talking about does in fact exist. Back in the mid 90's, during the E3 1995 show, Nintendo showed off the earliest demo of Link guiding Zelda through a castle. Of course, stuff from a later build also was covered by magazines in 1996. It's funny how different OOT was in its early development as the images did resemble the first Zelda on NES in terms of concept. If only Nintendo used CDs for the N64 then OOT would've been an even bigger game for its time. Despite the solid setup there is our first strike already as the writer for some ridiculous reason resorted to the torn and obscure label trope. It's explained that he found a red colored N64 cartridge at his friend’s local game store. Why do these writers always have to copy and paste the same thing by using undistinguished cartridges and labels to make it creepy? It's literally an overused trope to the point none of this is terrifying—using a torn cover with its title scribbled in sharpie is downright stupid. As for the beta somehow getting leaked and is found in a local game store in North America, this will get brought up later in the review. However, the next part that intrigued me was the starting screen highlighting a ruin with a placeholder title. His explanation had enough to tell me how strange the environment looked. I mean, the game drops him in the middle of the dark outside with a temple looming in the distance. Now, the way the guy describes the temple being sinister and the textures being disgustingly dark truly added immersion. Even the part where he heard murmurs as the man got closer to the building, it's those nice touches which make certain parts eerie. I also enjoyed the blood spots indicating traps as that is something no 3D Zelda ever did not even in Breath of the Wild. There's no doubt these elements in some form made it into Majora’s Mask as the writer probably took inspiration from that game. The next part isn’t a strike by any means but more of odd moments that had me scratch my head. The character would find low polygon models of dead adventurers and a few items that automatically worked thanks to no menu screen. It's this part that annoyed me a little because the guy explained the beta had better graphics than the final builds. How the hell is that possible, I mean are we looking at the same images available since the 90s? Most know by now that said beta from 1996 showed low polygon textures. Is the story telling me Nintendo water down the graphics for unknown reasons? It just sounds so absurd considering the Nintendo 64 was a powerhouse system. The man does arrive in a large room where a statue had a slashed eye and another that looked like the Lens of Truth. Moaning, depressing sounds and scratching happens in a loop which again, added to the moment. It’s the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen next is what made that scene great. He does run into another statue face inside, but this time was cracked, and turns out the thing was a mini boss. Of course, the next part was those odd moments I mentioned before, and it was when he got startled by Brownian noise. That happens after the boss's defeat, so this begs the question, why did the guy freak out over Brownian noise? Now, remember a screen from the OOT beta that showed Link in the desert? Well, the writer went into full detail with adding things that were never there as the man explained. The image the author used was from the 1997 beta showing Link in an Oasis. We do know this Oasis is actually outside the Spirit Temple however, the guy explains he came across huts and even tropical forests. That continues to make us wonder how different OOT could’ve been if the concept as Zelda 64 stayed the same. The writing continues this with the protagonist discovering another dungeon likes before and coming across runes with a unique language. Even though the guy never went into detail about what these runes had on them but if anyone has played games like this then your imagination will guild you. He then brings up the fact that his instinct was the guild by now and would go where the next areas were at. The gameplay being explained here sounds very similar to BOTW in nearly every aspect. By him using his instinct to progress is what I literally did when venturing through the Lost Woods for the first time in BOTW. It’s truly a relatable moment the writer explained considering this was published before BOTW saw a release in 2017. Another odd moment appears again in the next part as he becomes obsessed with something stupid. The Character explained how his feeling leads him to an upside down pyramid with another standing upward on top. He brings up how it was like the last level but that there was a staircase leading which took two hours to climb. There is strike two as first the character gets freaked out over Brownian noise. Now, to become obsessive over climbing endless stairs straight out Super Mario 64 for two hours was downright ridiculous. That's like me running up the endless stairs in Super Mario 64 for two hours, but any sane person would've given up on the two-minute mark. No wonder why Murray Goldberg (from the sitcom The Goldbergs) calls so many people morons as these characters are no different. In fact, from now, I am calling most Creepypasta characters Morons when I catch a glimpse of them acting like one. It's interesting how this ends with him telling the reader the game knows when someone is playing it—that it knows one’s instinct with experiencing the beta as to why the world gets set up in each play session. A decent ending with no contrived BS like explaining their story despite being moments from being killed or worse dead already. That was our first Zelda Creepypasta and honestly, the plot was pretty good at using OOT's beta. The atmosphere for the levels he described was vivid and how the ruins made it easy for me to picture. Its theme was dark and had an eerie dungeon-like feel with things such as dead explorers' remains and blood spats which indicated traps. The idea here reminded me of Majora's Mask due to the dark nature of the game's theme with the only difference is it wasn't as morbid. Another thing that adds truly brings more mystery not only for the beta, but its world which seemed to always change. I think this is possible that Shigeru Miyamoto was trying to recreate a similar experience to the original Zelda with the N64 title by making an open world. Those game magazines showed vast areas in a cavern, on a mountainside and in a large forest. That helped me picture these environments he described, and it's because they were actually created. Of course, the Nintendo 64 had its limits despite being a powerhouse. Even if they used CDs, it still would have been impossible to develop a game in this form in 1998. Anything close to that concept would not appear on a console until the seventh Gen systems came out. Probably one of the best features is the way the mystery and creepiness that was written well compared to Zelda 3 Prototype. There is a couple of problems with this CP, and it suffers from minor clichés found in most stories. How does an international corporation like Nintendo let their databases leak so easily? Usually betas are stored on software files and activated on an emulation of the system it was designed on. Unless Nintendo is an incompetent company that lets their assets get easily leaked then, it would’ve been impossible. Let’s say Nintendo did in fact put the tested games on a format, it would still be locked away in their offices. Of course, there are ROMs on cartridges and CDs that are available on emulation websites—meaning that these internet users ripped these games from their physical media to program them to work on emulators. That comes off unrealistic as a company never leaks entire betas on a physical format, even if they actually developed one. Then there is an implication that this was haunted, but at the same time how can it? There is no systelian specter (like Ben Drowned) causing the game to constantly change. The author should have written it in a way where the character comes across the beta through an ROM that some hacker got years later. Then the guy happened to find the said ROM on some obscure emulator website. That would’ve been more believable than a lone person finding this at a friend’s game store. Rating: 7.5/10 Good Source The Story: creepypasta.wikia.com. Zelda 64 Beta. Anonymous. http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Zelda_64_Beta
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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