General Zelda How Do You Feel About The Concept of "Time"?

[Justac00lguy]

Within Zelda there have been some common themes and concepts that have reappeared some more than others but one concept that I feel is quite evident is "time".

Now the reason why I pick out time is because it's quite an odd theme to reoccur, however within Zelda it seems that this idea has become, somewhat, staple. Now I know that some people exaggerate when mentioning time in Zelda games, because when it is featured, it usually only plays a small role in the grand scheme but one can't deny that it is a reoccurring concept.

Now if I recall, time has been present in seven installment thus far, nearly half of the franchise and each time it has played somewhat of a different role. The likes of Ocarina of Time used at as a plot narrative while games like Oracle of Ages and Majora's Mask include the manipulation of it, then you have a game like Twilight Princess in which the idea of time makes a brief appearance.

So how would you describe your feelings towards the concept of "time" in the Zelda series? Do you think it has been successful or do you think it has been rather redundant?

 

[HylianHero]

I think Zelda has done a fairly good job with the concept of "Time". To me, it feels like the series has done a great job of incorporating a time-something into almost half of the games without making it feel repetitive or conflicting. The way time is used is different in each game, and never feels super obvious or already used. The series has done a great job of making the sure the way time is used in each game doesn't conflict with any of the other game's usage of time, and I've never questioned all these different usages of the idea of "Time".

 

[Ventus]

Time has overall been pulled off considerably well within a few entries: Oracle of Ages, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess. Otherwise I don't particularly care for it.

I think it's been overused a bit and its well needs to be replenished, but it's still an EFFECTIVE concept. Just needs to sit back for a while.

 

[The_Doctor]

Time is like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey... stuff.

Serious note: I have absolutely loved the use of time travel in the Zelda series. In OoT, it made the game. The time travel was very unique and well done and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In SS as well, the time travel was okay. Very different from OoT, but not bad. Much smaller of course, but fun and useful. I'm glad it didn't make more timeline mess though.

Time travel in MM was iffy. I love Majora's Mask, but the time travel could have been better and more consistent. The overall concept of the repeating 3 Day cycle was great and I loved the time limit after getting used to it, however, I really hated losing all your disposable items! It makes no sense to keep your bow but lose your arrows. Things on Link's gear should not have gone away (except for story quest items). But aside from that it was pretty good. I also kind of disliked how dungeons restart themselves when you go back in time, but it does add to difficulty and replay value which can be a plus.

TP's inclusion of time travel was pretty minimal, but it was fine. Nothing wrong with it really.

I have yet to play the Oracle games.

 

[The Jade Fist]

Within Zelda there have been some common themes and concepts that have reappeared some more than others but one concept that I feel is quite evident is "time".

Now the reason why I pick out time is because it's quite an odd theme to reoccur, however within Zelda it seems that this idea has become, somewhat, staple. Now I know that some people exaggerate when mentioning time in Zelda games, because when it is featured, it usually only plays a small role in the grand scheme but one can't deny that it is a reoccurring concept.

Now if I recall, time has been present in seven installment thus far, nearly half of the franchise and each time it has played somewhat of a different role. The likes of Ocarina of Time used at as a plot narrative while games like Oracle of Ages and Majora's Mask include the manipulation of it, then you have a game like Twilight Princess in which the idea of time makes a brief appearance.

So how would you describe your feelings towards the concept of "time" in the Zelda series? Do you think it has been successful or do you think it has been rather redundant?

Disregarding official time line.

As i like to call it the Hero of Time Saga
And clearly related, OoT , MM, and Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons, all had a time mechanic, that was integral to the game.

And frankly those were the best days of Zelda.

Don't get me wrong there great games out side of it, but they were just fantastic games.

edit: also refresh my memory what time travel elements in TP?

 

[Sydney]

Time has overall been pulled off considerably well within a few entries: Oracle of Ages, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess. Otherwise I don't particularly care for it.

I think it's been overused a bit and its well needs to be replenished, but it's still an EFFECTIVE concept. Just needs to sit back for a while.

^ This, all of this. The concept of time has been one of the more successful concepts of the Zelda franchise. Even at that, I really can't say that I care too much for it. It's not like it's a bad concept or anything of the sort, it's just something I can't particularly show much appreciation towards. Even though, like Ventus said, it's a very effective concept, it's become a tad overused (and slightly overrated IMO). It needs a break before it becomes severely overused.

 

[Skittles]

edit: also refresh my memory what time travel elements in TP?

The Temple of Time. You go back in time to when it actually existed in their world as a temple and not in ruins like it is in TP Link's time.

Really, I rather like the time element, it adds more to the 'legendary' and 'mythological' feel to the games to have something that connects them. SS does this too (with the whole craziness going on with Demise and stuff) and even WW shows some of that. It has a kingdom under water frozen in time. Even when it's not at the forefront (like in OoT) it's one of the elements in Zelda along with the hero, related villains, and Zelda that often connect the games...

 

[ihateghirahim]

If the timeline is good for anything, it's showing that time travel hasn't been handled well by Nintendo. I mean three paths from a single game, what's up with that? Time travel has been done enough. Granted, games like MM have done it well, but it just creates so many plot holes and non-sensical changes in places where a different plot device could be used. Why can't we jump to a new land or dimension or something. Time travel has left us with mountains of nonsense and our o so wonderful timeline. It's been done right a few times, but it just has to stop.

 

[ILU]

I personally think it's at the point where it's just plain overrused. At this point, it's a big part of the series. At least, that's how I see it. Personally, I'm not that big on time to begin with. I think Nintendo has done an excellent job with it, but once or twice was enough. It was very impressive in OoT, and using it again but in a different way in MM was perfectly appropriate for a sequel. But, I feel like after that, they didn't need to mess with it anymore. There are more interesting plot devices and gameplay mechanisms than "time" to be messing with, and I feel like Nintendo is just reusing it because of how successful they were with OoT. I'm personally one of those people who nitpick the tiny inconsistencies associated with games and other forms of media that incorporate time into their stories. I love the timeline sooooo much, but even the creators had to acknowledge the plotholes and inconsistencies when they created Hyrule Historia.

I think it's time (hah) that Zelda left time alone and focused on something else. There's plenty out there, and Nintendo has some of the most creative teams in the gaming industry. They can amaze us with something else just like they did when they used it in OoT.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely love the concept of time travel. It's one of my favorite tropes to use, and I like how Zelda has handled it so far. MM's 3-day cycle is my absolute favorite usage of this, as it allows you to really explore the lives of the people and affect them in unique ways, as well as driving home the point of that Link being the Hero of Time. SS's localized time-shifts is also a really cool take on the concept; driving around the Sand Sea watching the sand transform into a lush sea around you and back again was simply breath-taking. The crazy part is, there's still so much more they can do with the whole concept, such as divergent timelines (which I guess breaches over into alternate dimensions as well, now that I think about it), encounters with your past and future selves all Back to the Future style, travel to several different places in time and seeing how your actions affect the world at a later point (hmm, wait that's Chrono Trigger...), having the villains also be able to time-travel and have you chase them around fixing all their shenanigans, and so much more.

That being said, I do sorta see why people see it as being overused lately. I don't want every new game from now til kingdom come forced to use time travel at some point as some sort of obligation, and I do want to see other themes delved into as well. For starters, SS opened up a whole other can of worms with fate and destiny, let's roll with that for a bit.

 

[snakeoiltanker]

I dont see how its been over used, you only "traveled" through time in OoT, Manipulated it in MM, and Timeshift stone in SS dont count, in ALttP that was not time travel, that was Dimension crossing, as far as TP it was the "Temple of Time" and only made sense, and the way they did it was so awesome and new to the franchise that i dont see how it even counts as time "travel" in order to get the rod that the hero left behind, you need to walk through a watery void/timegate to get to the Temple as it was.

I dont know i just dont see where you all get that its over used. and i think its just somthing that is part of Zelda now, so i just dont understand the fuss i guess

 

[Spirit]

i just let the concept of time happen in Zelda, i dont give it much thought anymore, time travel in recent Zelda seems to be an excuse for retconning things so whenever time travel comes into it i kind of get jarred out of the story and pick up on the paradoxes. Gameplay-wise it can be fun but i think with Ss it has run its course now, i'd like to see more games go for different concepts since it doesn't feel special anymore, just a box to tick if they're stuck for ideas.