So this was really something. I played the newest public database version, so before the Dawn adds but after many, many fixes and upgrades. The amount of work, time and thought that went into this is obvious. It is epic in scope and can easily provide 30+ hours of gameplay. It is quite hard, especially the first half when one only has the green tunic, but never overwhelms. I wouldn't call it a challenge quest. The bosses are mostly well designed and tough but fair. The dungeon layouts are confusing but mostly fun to explore. I can't give something made with this much content, care and feeding any less than five stars.

Having said that I do agree with points made in the reviews that this quest can walk the line between fun and tedium at times. There is a LOT to do. The overworld is big and navigation is a pain until a certain ability is unlocked. Sometimes what needs to be done between levels can take an hour or longer. Some of the fetch quests feel like busy work. I played this over a long period of time (2 months or so) and I would often forget where I had been or forgotten a place where I could later come back and advance once new abilities were gained. I had to make more trips to the help thread than I prefer and even consult a video at times to find that hidden room or lost key or solve a "how do I get THERE?!" mystery. I don't like too much hand-holding but this flirts with the other end of the spectrum. Having said that I was motivated to finish and overall had a lot of fun with this. It's a top-tier quest in the database in terms of both ambition and execution. I suspect this wasn't completely true of earlier versions, but it's true now. Play it if you haven't.

So let me get something straight first: i base mostly a game on how fun and engaging it is, the biggest sin a game can commit to me is being boring and this quest wasn't. I had a blast from start to finish. Now with the review.

Graphics: 5/5 - I'm biased (and don't honestly care) when it comes to the gameboy Zelda games, I love the graphics of those games to death and this quest used those graphics really well to me.

Overworld: 4/5 - I think the overworld has a good design, with each area feeling distinct. The main, not gonna say issue, but slight annoyance is the somewhat high aumont of backtracking. The shortcuts and the warp song did help greatly to alleviate this, so it's not a big deal. I just feel it could use some more minor improvements.

Dungeons: 5/5 - This quest has some really well designed dungeons. They never felt overly complex and convoluted, that's how like my Zelda dungeons. The puzzles were pretty well designed too and their difficulty curve is pretty balanced too. I did get stumped a few times, but it was because i wasn't noticing some obvious stuff.

Boss battles: 5/5 - This quest had some really cool boss battles. They were challenging (they actually posed a threat), had some cool attack patterns and overall fun to fight. The Mecha Zora made me laugh and the level 7 boss was really creative. I honestly never thought a boss comprised of those laughing faces from ALLTP would actually work as a fun boss battle.

Challenge - 5/5 - It had the right aumont of challenge, nothing felt cheap and unfair. Also liked that some items were optimal at killing certain types of enemies, it made me use other items besides the sword (which is an issue i have with some official zelda games).

Music: 5/5 - The choice of music was really good. I specially love Gly'cov Forest song, level 6 Magic Shrine music, level 7 Sacred Sanctum music and level 8 Deepwood Tower music. Overall, it has a solid selection of music.


So yeah, 5/5 from me.

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Edit: Staff contacted me an basically told me that I'd have to bump up my rating for all quests I have ever reviewed by one star. Note that this does not reflect my own opinion on the matter, or the quest, but just that it was something I was made required to do.
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I'm on the fence if I should give this quest a rating of 3 or 4. But at the end of the day, I find ratings to be pointless in the first place, if you want my opinion, read my review, not the rating!

So, The Flow of Time. Is it a good quest? Yes. Is it worth playing? Yeah. Certainly, I think it has a few flaws, but you'd be hard pressed to find a quest that does not have flaws.

So what is flow of time? It's a very linear quest that is inspired by the Oracle games. Most dungeon features puzzles mechanics that are unique to it and follows similar logic to the ones found in the oracle games dungeons. Though, the gimmick in level 2 and 3 are very similar, and some dungeons don't have, or don't focus on, these puzzles. Dungeon design is not incredibly streamlined, there is a fair amount of backtracking and running around in circles to progress. Most people probably won't have a huge problem with this though, but it's worth baring in mind that the dungeons are fairly long as a result.

The overworld is not your standard fare either, the majority of it is segregated into sub areas, and connectivity is fairly low. You can still get around quick enough via the games warp system, so it's not an issue per-say. But get from point A to point B (sans warping,) is as roundabout at the end of the game as it is at the start.

Combat wise the quest is now more in-line with a reasonable experience, you get the defence upgrade at a much more realistic time and the difficulty curve scales much better than previous versions of the quest. Magic management has also been made more reasonable, and the candle is a much more viable weapon then it previously was. Some of the scripted bosses come across as a bit unrefined, but they work, and it's certainly more original than just using the standard ZC bosses. The ball and chain guys over flood the final part areas of the game though, so those get a bit dull.

Graphically the quest is what you'd expect out of an Oracle game. And I mean that literally; All overworld palettes are straight up the same as those in the Oracle games and most graphics are just lifted from it. The dungeon palettes are new though, so those spice things up a bit. But generally, graphically you're not going to see anything too original in this quest, but it still looks good. The tilework is a bit hit and miss, nothing stands out as too amazing, and a few places look a bit off. It's not too problematic graphically, but some of the tilework do get in the way of the gameplay.

There is a fair amount of obfuscation in the screen design, which forces you to take long ways around things. This makes travelling around less enjoyable than what I would have wanted it to be. Steps have been taken to minimise the issue with this in later updates of the quest, but certain screens I feel should just have gotten a complete redesign. This is one of those things that people in generally are not going to take notice of, but it still hampers the experience; So I have no doubt that most people won't even notice this when they play the quest.


I may come of as harsh here, but I'm trying to describe what the quest has to offer. And I do genuinely think it's a quest worth playing. But it's worth baring in mind that the quest is very dungeon heavy, and that exploration is very low priority in the experience offered.

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You can read my old review from a previous version of the quest below. Though bare in mind that a lot has changed since then, so it's not accurate to the quest that you can download here.

Finally finished this amazing quest. Level 9 was a toughie, and the final boss had me on the edge of my seat with tension (don't die, don't die, I kept telling myself!).
Okay, this quest easily is my second-favorite after Isle of Rebirth for 2.5 quests I've played so far. That and the nostalgic feel of the Oracle games/Link's Awakening (all of which I absolutely adore) made it all the more fascinating. Obderhode outdid himself with the polishing it seems. With the scripting and such this game truly feels like a worthy successor to the Oracle games. The Oracle of Ages feel of time travel was done superbly and there were MANY things to find, secrets to unveil, and challenging, unique dungeons to explore. Each one has its own special gimmick, and said gimmicks appear later on, both in the overworld and in the final level, so you need to remember what you've done to succeed. The soundtrack is amazing (my personal favorites are the Swamp theme, the Dungeon of Trials 2 and the second-to-last boss fight in the game.) As previously stated, the gameboy tileset is used to nostalgic effect, mimicking that of the Oracle games and Link's Awakening, and has the feel of all of those games rolled into one. The portals that appear after a miniboss is slain in a dungeon is another aspect I loved, as they also appear in the handheld titles on the GB. The quest IS tough, though, so be prepared to die quite a bit if you aren't careful, especially in the early game. In total, I died 59 times, which overall I don't consider too bad, as the quest is quite brutal at some points. As it goes along though, you will get stronger, finding better items and weapons to use against the deadly enemies you encounter. Speaking of the enemies, alot of them have a special weakness you cannot exploit with just the sword, you must find another way, using another item. That is another cool thing. Travel around the world is slow-going at first, but eventually you learn a way to travel around the overworld more easily, and that's good. The bosses are all custom and done very well, some a bit on the difficult side (I'm looking at you, level 8 boss...), and until you find the right items to use, they can wreck you over and over again. But they're still very enjoyable to fight.
All in all, this is a fabulous quest, Obderhode and I cannot wait to see what you unveil next. Please tell me you are going to do another quest at some point, because your design ideas are quite excellent.
Solid 5 with this one. Challenging, yet very enjoyable, and the nostalgic effect of the GB titles makes it all the more entertaining! Excellent job!

A really large world... to few save points (especially after time warp, if you die and start from a spot you cannot get back where you were without warping around). Also a lot running arround, To activate the owls by sword instead of after finishing a boss would help a lot. Coudn't find out what to do next after getting the two pair of boots and the magic meter was soo annoying.

BTW, i completly failed already cause the mountain level (Nr. 2 i think, too big) in the older version, but I loved it already back then.

how different is it from months ago when i played about 2 hours
is it worth it that i restart it?
sounds really like it is to me
so i will give it a shot soon

Where did you find the music for the special Dungeon 3 ? that sound epic for the last special dungeon where you find the Red Tunic :0

i've only just started but a few tracks have obnoxious crackling in them and it hurts my ears?? the house theme in particular has this problem.