Topic: Do you think Ocarina of Time is overrated?

[Ratty]

I do. Now, it's not bad, probably even great for its time. I recognize that it was genuinely innovative and it still looks good for an N64 title. But it doesn't strike me as the "best" action adventure I've ever played, certainly not the best RPG. Full disclosure: I've never finished it, I got to the forest Temple two years ago and recently tried to pick the game up again, can't do that of course. Totally lost as to what I'm supposed to be doing and how. As my signature no doubt gives away I've been itching to replay Twilight Princess, my first 3D Zelda, which just seemed to do everything better. Most importantly the story and characters, which I personally really need to care about for a game to hold my attention past the 14 hour mark.

But I'd like to hear some conflicting opinions on this, what do you all think? A lot of people seem to believe very earnestly that it's the best Zelda game and it'd be cool to hear why you think it is or isn't. Or where you'd personally rank it in the series.

PS- When it comes to Twilight Princess, I'm talking specifically about the Gamecube version so the sun sets and rises in the right directions, Link is left handed, no Wii waggling and all is right with the world. Except Nintendo deciding to be dicks and not provide a widescreen option (like there was on the Wii) that is.

[Belmontoya]

I loved Ocarina. But I enjoyed the hell out of twilight princess.

But i think the best zelda will always be A Link to the Past.

[X]

But i think the best zelda will always be A Link to the Past.

Abso-f**king-lutely! AlttP was and still is in my mind the best that Zelda has ever done. It took what Made the first game good and vastly improved upon it.

With regards to OoT, I think it is and at the same time is not overrated. It was innovative for the day and it looks even better on the 3Ds with all the souped up graphics and such. What I feel is overrated about it is the fact that this game was made to replace AlttP as the official origin point of the whole series, completely throwing away previous story efforts. And though I've played it lots I still don't enjoy it nearly as much as AlttP. The other aspect of the game is  that it's fully 3D rather then utilizing the traditional overhead view of the older titles (at least Zelda's Quest on the Phillip's CDi got it right with it's 3D overhead view) It's clear from a designer standpoint that they wanted to immerse the player in the vast Hyrulian world, however due to the N64's limitations the world felt more enclosed rather then open. And if you climbed up to certain points in the world map you can see the emptiness beyond the textured walls. Very distracting if you have issues with that sort of thing. Fortunately that was fixed in the 3Ds release (thank god). The over world theme was very strange. You could hear the slight familiarity of the Zelda theme, but it was a complete garble of other tunes thrown in and it just felt wrong to me. At least Majora's Mask fixed that issue.

I was also kinda alienated by the many different races that were also introduced. Especially the Zora race since they looked nothing like their SNES and NES counterparts. Who were they and why were they not in the other titles, considering this was an origin story to boot? There was no explanation for it and not even to this day with the release of the official Hyrule Historia we don't know why they aren't (at the very least history-wise) in the decline timeline of the SNES and NES games. They should not have appeared in the prequel, but rather a sequel...if Shigeru Miyamoto ever decided to do one. And why was Ganon a Gorudo? I had always thought that Ganon (due to his full first name being Ganondwarf) was actually a Dwarven character. Dwarves and Elves have always been at odds with each other so it made sense that he would naturally be the enemy of the Elven hero Link. And that's another issue. Suddenly they are no-longer Elves, but Hylians. What was so wrong with calling them Elves since that's what they bloody-well look like to me. That part also alienated me just a tad.

I'm not sure what Shigeru Miyamoto was thinking when he made OoT, but I feel he went a little too overboard on this one. Maybe he wanted to recapture the success of AlttP but was overambitious on the whole. And that in a nutshell made the game feel divided. And not just the game itself, but also the fans. You either like OoT, you tolerate it or you hate it. I'm kinda in the middle ground with this one. It's okay but not awesome by any stretch. AlttP was awesome!

[Abnormal Freak]

Except Nintendo deciding to be dicks and not provide a widescreen option (like there was on the Wii) that is.

Which actually turned out to be a blessing considering widescreen Wii games are anamorphic and the horizontal resolution is no higher than 640 pixels and looks like ass compared to the GameCube version. The Wii version just expanded the playing field but not the actual resolution.


As for Ocarina, no way is it overrated. When it came out, it did so many things right that most games weren't doing. One of the first 3D games to have a camera that felt essential rather than annoying or "just there," and its at the time expansive world really captured the imagination of 12-year-old me.

I'll agree that Twilight Princess improved a lot of the ideas, but by the very fact that I've played Ocarina so many more times, I consider that to be the better game. TP, however, wins for atmosphere hands down.

[Ratty]

I was also kinda alienated by the many different races that were also introduced. Especially the Zora race since they looked nothing like their SNES and NES counterparts. Who were they and why were they not in the other titles, considering this was an origin story to boot?

I dunno man, I dig the 3D Zoras. The subplot with the orphaned Zora in TP was sweet and sad, and Princess Ruto is hands down the most memorable and funny OoT character to me. I just always assumed the other/older Zoras were a different variety, possibly controlled/corrupted by Ganon. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that in the timeline where AlttP/the original game happened (where the hero of time is defeated) Ganon simply killed all of the Zora who wouldn't submit to him, perhaps twisting those left into more grisly and effective weapons for his army.

Which actually turned out to be a blessing considering widescreen Wii games are anamorphic and the vertical resolution is no higher than 640 pixels and looks like ass compared to the GameCube version. The Wii version just expanded the playing field but not the actual resolution.

Ehhhh still would have been nice to have the option though.

I'll agree that Twilight Princess improved a lot of the ideas, but by the very fact that I've played Ocarina so many more times, I consider that to be the better game. TP, however, wins for atmosphere hands down.

Fair enough, but do remember you've had about 8 more years in which to replay OoT

[Abnormal Freak]

But the thing with OOT is I pretty much played through it again right away, several times. :p And it's still fun to go back to.

I've yet to finish my second playthrough of TP that I started a few years ago.

(Whoops, I meant to say "horizontal resolution" in my last post, derp.)

[PFG9000]

I think it's overrated.  I could never really get into it.  I tried several times and always gave up partway through, not out of frustration or confusion, but out of boredom.  I did finally play all the way through it on the 3DS version, but I just don't enjoy it like I do the first four games in the series.  The world just doesn't draw me in, and the overload of text with all the different characters killed it for me.  I cannot understand what is so great about it that people call it the greatest game ever made.

To be fair, I haven't been able to get into any of the Zelda's after Link's Awakening.  I absolutely adore Zelda, Zelda II, a Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening.  I've tried most of the Zelda's after that and just don't care for them.  I do intend to give Wind Waker another shot, as well as the two Capcom gameboy Zeldas.  I even have two of the three CDI Zeldas and I'd love to try them, even though my expectations are rock bottom.  But for some reason, the series has not been a priority for me ever since Ocarina of Time came out.

[Ratty]

But the thing with OOT is I pretty much played through it again right away, several times. :p And it's still fun to go back to.

I've yet to finish my second playthrough of TP that I started a few years ago.

Yeah as kids we didn't have so many real life responsibilities and other games to distract us, so I can understand why you'd have such memories and affection for the game. You can only do something for the first time once I suppose. In that vein I'll say that thanks to some egging on from friends and the excellent hand-holding walkthroughs at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheZeldaDungeon?feature=watch I've decided to finish OoT. The water temple was beautiful. I love to see the transparency and light effects on the N64 play across those big bulky polygons. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. And I didn't even have an N64 growing up! Hmm, in a way it's kind of appropriate that shortly after making the 7 year in-game jump I jump ahead a few years in real time to finish my playthrough.

I'm now just about at the Shadow Temple, and I think I've figured out one of the other big reasons I didn't care much for OoT 2 years ago. That being that playing Kid Link just wasn't very fun after being introduced to 3D Zelda with TP. He feels underpowered and "silly" for lack of a better term, so maybe I missed out on the thrill a lot of people felt back in 1998 when they finally got to be grown Link and ride Epona, to me it just felt like that's the way it always should have been.

[Ratty]

Just as an update I finished OoT and will say it's got a better story and characters than I had given it credit for from the first 2/3rds. But I still think TP has a better story and is more fun over all (and it has Midna!) so started replaying that to confirm.

[crisis]

To be fair, I haven't been able to get into any of the Zelda's after Link's Awakening.  I absolutely adore Zelda, Zelda II, a Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening.  I've tried most of the Zelda's after that and just don't care for them.

This applies to me as well. HOWEVER, A Link Between Worlds does look intruiging, and will be my first legitimate Zelda purchase since Oracle of Ages/Seasons. And, shit, I'm considering buying the Figma Link action figure so I have a companion to sleep with at night

Figma LINK (Skyward Sword) Action Figure Review

[GuyStarwind]

Personally yes I do. I was talking about this with my sister last night. Personally for me the biggest upset with OoT is it's too easy. I've yet to play master quest but I can't imagine it being that much harder but we'll see. One thing I'm a huge supporter of is a hard final boss fight. Ganondorf/Ganon are some of the easiest bosses ever!!! I complain about this to my sister all the time and I'm sure she's tired of it hahaha. OoT is fun but I enjoy ALttP and TP a lot more.

On a side note I'm really excited for A Link Between Worlds though.

[Rugal]

Majora's Mask is a far superior game in every way.

No, I don't think Ocarina of Time is overrated. That's just silly.

[Kale]

No, I do not. The fact that I can probably go back to it and playthrough it, had I the time... I can't really call it overrated.

Majora's Mask is better than it in many many many ways, but the 3d days thing becomes tedious and can get really annoying.

[Intersection]

Time has flown -- and times have changed -- since Ocarina's first release. It wasn't anywhere near overrated when it appeared; but modern 3D is no longer the same, so the game naturally feels dated.
And there's no denying that the OoT has its own quirks and singularities; nowadays, you can't it expect it to appeal to everyone. So here's another platitude for you: it's all a matter of perspective.

[Lashen]

I don't think it's over-rated; I just feel that some of the other titles have been under-rated because of its fame.