Ocarina of Time How Ocarina of Time Almost Sucked

[SinkingBadges]

It's always interesting to see how people react to IGN's articles (especially the ones about Zelda) and I'm interested on what the ZD gang thinks of this one. I'm not sure how many of these things would actually be considered bad ideas, but they sure are interesting.

http://ds.ign.com/articles/118/1182438p1.html

Any thoughts on it? Maybe somebody will prove IGN wrong or agree with them?

 

[JuicieJ]

My thoughts on each portion.


All the dungeons were originally going to take place in Ganon's Castle
-Everything taking place in Ganon's Castle definitely would have been terrible. Glad they made the overworld.

Lon Lon Ranch was originally going to be burned down by Ingo
-I definitely wouldn't want to see Lon Lon Ranch burn down, but I don't think it necessarily would have been a bad thing for the story. Maybe not great, but it wouldn't have ruined everything.

Hyrule Field was originally going to be in the game due to "system limitations"
-This basically repeated the fact that all the dungeons would have been in Ganon's Castle

Navi was originally shaped as a triangle
-Navi as a triangle?? I mean, I know the N64 didn't exactly have smooth graphics, but...

The original development team was just 3 people
-I guess more than 3 people developing a game is better, especially with a game as massive as Ocarina of Time is.

 

[skybird11]

if any of these had come true i'd have screemed. but the burning of the rance would have made am interesting (side?) story. nah but i need to hear epona's song in the background every now and then

 

[Luigidude64]

Navi as a triangle??!!! All of the dungeons in Ganons Castle? Well, it would be easier to get to each of them that way. . .

 

[zeldahuman]

Navi was originally shaped as a triangle
-Navi as a triangle?? I mean, I know the N64 didn't exactly have smooth graphics, but...

Navi as a triangle??!!!

What they actually meant by that was that Navi wasn't gonna be in the game at all, but when you locked on a triangle would appear above the enemy. But, they then decided on making the triangle a fairy. But then two new things happened: Link looked weird being the only person with a fairy in Kokiri, and Kokiri Forest was such a big area, not everything could be loaded at once. You know how when you're far away from someone in Kokiri Forest you can see the fairies but not them right away? Nintendo did that on purpose so you knew where everyone was while not making Link look weird being the only one in the forest with a fairy. And then that was like a stepping-stone to the "only boy without a fairy" plot... yeah.

Hope that cleared everything up.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Ugh. Well, let me start by pointing something out. The reason that just about every single one of these things is being regarded as a completely bad thing is because of how the game is now. While you can argue that you wouldn't have liked the game as much, I can pretty much guarantee you wouldn't have been horrified, because you wouldn't know any better.

That said, I'm actually not that bothered by the idea of any of these. I don't think any of them would have made the game suck. I am glad that it turned out how it did. I wouldn't trade Ocarina of Time how it is for something else, but none of the ideas are bad, really.

Within a single castle? I came up with a Zelda fangame idea that was similar, and really honestly, if you still had a Zelda-like open world WITHIN a massive structure... that's just a fascinating idea. At least for one game, I don't see how one could consider that a bad thing. Especially when you think about how they would do dungeons and different environments within the castle. The creative possibilities are awesome. Besides, this is basically what Metroid does. Metroid nearly always takes place within a single cave network or space station, with rare exceptions (mainly in the Prime series).

Lon Lon Ranch burned down... that only sounds bad because of the ranch how it is now. I don't like the idea as much as having the ranch intact, but it's not an inherently bad idea. Would have been interesting. As for Hyrule Field disappearing? Well, I was never a big fan of Hyrule Field, so I don't think it would make that much different for me personally. The Epona gameplay on the field (for the most part, the only place where you get to really use her) is not compelling, at least for me, so she's mostly fast transit, which is only made necessary by the field being there. Navi shaped as a triangle... that's really just a basic targeting system. OoT invented that kind of targeting system, but other games have made it work without it being a character, so of course OoT could have. I'm ultimately satisfied with it being a character though.

Development team being only three people? There's no way that was ever going to stay that way. That's sounds like a preliminary planning, brainstorming, or prototyping team to me. That's almost not relevant in the game "sucking", to me.

I actually went and read the other articles that this one linked to, as well. Interesting stuff. Them and this provide some pretty cool insight into OoT's design process. Good find Badges! ^^

 

[ZoraDeadpool]

Miyamoto wanted to get Lon Lon Ranch burned down? that's actually quite funny, not the Ranch burning down i wouldn't want that because that would man the death of Malon, i just find it funny because it shows that Miyamoto has some sort of love for destruction

 

[biggreenhawk35]

Well luckily none of the things in that article came true but still Navi as a triangle is hard to believe and if lon lon ranch was burnt down i would cry

Well now that i think of it the game could have been more dramatic if lon lon ranch was burned and could have made the story deeper so not a totally bad idea i mean as a kid you see the ranch all happy but then as an adult you face the harsh reality of its charred remains...
I contradict myself as now i think that it seems to be the only positive or not totally gloomy place when you are an adult

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

Actually this article was quite funny. I know non of these facts before.

About the castle thing and Lon Lon Ranch burned down, well interesting. At least the first idea could still be realised. I would love to see a new Zelda Advnture in such a style (I mean the idea with the castle) on the 3DS. This would be absolute unique and different.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Miyamoto wanted to get Lon Lon Ranch burned down? that's actually quite funny, not the Ranch burning down i wouldn't want that because that would man the death of Malon, i just find it funny because it shows that Miyamoto has some sort of love for destruction

That doesn't automatically mean Malon dying at all. People survive fires. Like all the time. :bleh: I think Miyamoto gets crazy about interesting ideas, and I'll admit burning down the ranch would have been intriguing for the story.

I agree with GreenHawk, I just think the way they went was probably ultimately for the best. I liked the Adult Link Lon Lon Ranch story.

Actually this article was quite funny. I know non of these facts before.

About the castle thing and Lon Lon Ranch burned down, well interesting. At least the first idea could still be realised. I would love to see a new Zelda Advnture in such a style (I mean the idea with the castle) on the 3DS. This would be absolute unique and different.

^ YES. The idea of an entire game in a castle is perfect for a spinoff, and especially for something on the 3DS I think. It's the perfect time to experiment with something like that. I really want to see this idea revisited now! They could even use OoT 3D's style. It would work fine for something like this.

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

It's nice to see someone other like me is thrilled for such an idea on the 3DS, Axle. This would be a nice spinoff. But unfortunately, this may be a bit to risky for Nintendo ;(

 

[JuicieJ]

Ugh. Well, let me start by pointing something out. The reason that just about every single one of these things is being regarded as a completely bad thing is because of how the game is now. While you can argue that you wouldn't have liked the game as much, I can pretty much guarantee you wouldn't have been horrified, because you wouldn't know any better.

Oh, of course. But these things definitely wouldn't have benefited the game as much as what is in the game.

 

[425]

I personally like seeing how a couple of these ideas somewhat still came into being in other Zelda games or in Ocarina of Time itself. Think about it:

Although all the dungeons in Ocarina of Time do NOT take place in Ganon's Castle, that idea did still come to light to a much small extent in Ocarina of Time itself. The Ganon's Castle dungeon, in essence, starts out with six "mini-dungeons," each one causing a part of the barrier around the central part of the castle to break. I could definitely see a game with these "mini-dungeons" being carried out to a larger extent released as a WiiWare game that would take maybe 4-5 hours to play through (the first time, then knowing what you were doing, 2-3 hours). Such a game could be a quick, entertaining little Zelda adventure, even if it had no place in canon and little story.

Although in Ocarina of Time the developers thought it more prudent to use a fairy for targeting, after the Nintendo 64, when system capacities increased, both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess did use the original concept of a triangle appear over the enemy's head. As Axle mentioned previously, there were some other reasons for using a fairy, such as for a plot device or to make the Kokiri Forest easier to load (plus Tatl served as a plot device in Majora's Mask to an even greater extent than Navi in Ocarina of Time). However, Nintendo seems to not consider these reasons as valid or necessary, as they have still included "helper characters" who could act as plot devices and give hints without having be a fairy. As it looks like Skyward Sword will also use the arrow targeting system, it seems like the original idea that was inconvenient to use in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask is now the prevailing system in 3D home console Zelda games.

 

[biggreenhawk35]

What else and what i said earlier about navi being a triangle now that i think of it wouldn't be so strange i mean with the triforce and then that one weird crest thingy when you target an enemy and the triangles like here

 

[Y2K3]

I honestly think some of these ideas are actually really cool. While all the dungeons taking place in Ganon's Castle may have been a little boring compared to what we have, I think still think it would be neat.
And the idea of the ranch burning down, I'd actually be all for - not because I like destruction - but rather because it would show a more ruined future. One thing I didn't like about OoT was that I never really thought of the future as appearing all that ruined in the future (minus Castle Town), and since the future was supposed to be n ruins, I felt it could have been better, so this would have really added to the game, IMO.

The other ideas I'm rather indifferent about.