Ocarina of Time 3D: How to Play the Ocarina

No, this isn’t anything new, it’s just my putting together little tidbits that we’ve all heard here and there on how the Ocarina is going to work. Some people were worried that it would be like the Spirt Flute in Spirit Tracks and involve blowing, which just doesn’t suit a lot of people. Thankfully, that’s not the way Nintendo/Grezzo have gone. Jump inside for my little summary of what we know on playing the legendary Ocarina of Time, and Fairy Ocarina, to be fair.

First off, the Ocarina has its own permanent place on the touch screen for quick and easy access whenever you need it. There’s no need to assign it to any of the four item slots, controlled by either touch or the face buttons. The Ocarina can be found exclusively tucked neatly in the bottom left corner, and rightly so – it is the game’s titular object after all.

Looking at the image at the top of the post, we see the screen that shows you the notes to each of the songs as you learn them. In that screenshot, four of the songs have been learned, and the other eight have not. I have to comment on the further ambiguity of the order: Forest, Fire, Water, Spirit, Shadow and then Light. It’s the same as always, yet provides no help in defining the temple order. Most people don’t want it defined anyway though., so moving along.

That screen also shows Zelda’s Lullaby being played using X, A and Y. From there you can touch the icon on the button right of the screen to play the songs yourself. Looking at the shot I took out of a video below, we can see that the X, A, Y, L and R buttons are used to play the Ocarina, and I’d wager that the touch screen can also be used by the looks of those big icons. I wonder whether the thumb pad will control pitch like the control stick did in the original, seen as it is not used for playing. So, are you happy with how Nintendo and Grezzo have re-engineered the Ocarina interface? Would you have preferred to use the thumb pad and the A button? It looks fine in my opinion.