OoT-N64 Ocarina of Time Vs. Skyward Sword

[chris112]

Well, as we all know, Ocarina of Time is considered to be the best game by some people and had received a perfect 10/10 from ign.com. Skyward Sword also got 10/10 from ign.com and some people might consider that it can beat Ocarina of Time. In this thread, post which game you think is better and why.

I like Ocarina of Time better because the controls are better, it's a true classic and the story is just great.

So, what about you guys?

 

[TheWind]

My vote goes to OoT just because it did soooo much with so little. SS didn't really bring me anything new besides motion controls... which are far less fun than they sounded.

 

[Batman]

Ocarina of Time has always been my favorite Zelda game and I consider it a masterpiece of the video game industry. It is an amazing game with an amazing story. However, Skyward Sword has become my new favorite Zelda game. Not by much, but to me, Skyward Sword is a better game. The story is absolutely superb and has brought the Zelda franchise to a new standard.

 

[MW7]

I like Ocarina of Time more. They're both great games, but if I'm on a desert island and can only choose one, it's OOT without question for me. Chalk it up to nostalgia or whatever, but that's how I feel. Now if it's OOT or MM, that's a tougher question for me to answer.

The things I like about OOT that put it over top of SS for me are things that some people would see as flaws. The story is less in depth, there is less to do between dungeons, and there isn't a set path through the game. Dungeons are by far my favorite part of the games, and I love how it's possible to go straight from one dungeon to the next in some instances. You could beat the Forest Temple, run back to the Lost Woods to the warp to Goron City, and be in the Fire Temple within a minute if you can stop the rolling goron fast enough. I think it comes down to the fact that I'd prefer there to be no story at all in Zelda games because that would be more time actively playing the game. Also nonlinearity plays a role and OOT has a decent amount of it. Since Zelda games will probably never be as simplistic in their storytelling again, I think I can safely say that I will enjoy all future installments in the series but not as much as OOT or MM.

 

[Migeme10]

I like them both. Sometimes I like OoT more and sometime SS. It's hard for me to choose though because MM is my favorite.

 

[TriFrog77]

Oh, the voting is close! I loved them both and ooT heavily hits on the nostalgia for me, but I did like Skyward Sword better (even though the controls or rather the Wii Mote technology kept failing me). Skyward Sword was more challenging and it was a more emotional game - I laughed and cried more playing Skyward Sword; I put WAY more hours into SS too (serious game play anyways). But I still do prefer Epona over the loftwing, that's for sure!

 

[misskitten]

Nostalgia wins out for me. As much as I love SS, I love OoT even more, that's just the way it is. It was my first Zelda and I love it from beginning to end

 

[Heriod77777]

I like Ocarina of Time more. They're both great games, but if I'm on a desert island and can only choose one, it's OOT without question for me. Chalk it up to nostalgia or whatever, but that's how I feel. Now if it's OOT or MM, that's a tougher question for me to answer.

The things I like about OOT that put it over top of SS for me are things that some people would see as flaws. The story is less in depth, there is less to do between dungeons, and there isn't a set path through the game. Dungeons are by far my favorite part of the games, and I love how it's possible to go straight from one dungeon to the next in some instances. You could beat the Forest Temple, run back to the Lost Woods to the warp to Goron City, and be in the Fire Temple within a minute if you can stop the rolling goron fast enough. I think it comes down to the fact that I'd prefer there to be no story at all in Zelda games because that would be more time actively playing the game. Also nonlinearity plays a role and OOT has a decent amount of it. Since Zelda games will probably never be as simplistic in their storytelling again, I think I can safely say that I will enjoy all future installments in the series but not as much as OOT or MM.

Actually, you have less to do between dungeons in OoT than in SS.Things you could do in OoT between dungeons, get Big Poes, do the Goron Sword trading sequence, bring the masks to the people that wanted them, get Epona, get more songs. Now when I look at Skyward Sword, get gratitude crystals, get money, bugs and treasure so you can get upgrades which are awesome, search the sky for Activated Goddess chests, help the fortune teller with his broken crystal ball, help Fledge get strong, find the rattle for the potion brewer. Help the Lumpy Pumkin Owner for the chandelier you break to get the heart piece. Yah, Skyward Sword has more to do between dungeons, but if I missed any tell me. Well your one of those people that skip storyline, if you listened you would like it. The storyline in Skyward Sword is amazing, and so are the dungeons and their bosses. I personally went linear in OoT and did Forest Temple, Death Montain, Water Temple, Shadow Temple, Spirit Temple. I don't care if a game is linear unless it makes me annoyed that I cant get something or do it. OoT was linear there, I couldn't be a adult in the beginning which annoyed me. And I also couldn't use what I gained in the present or future all the time. -.-

 

[Fullmetal]

Oh, this is such a hard question. I voted both of them since I can't really decide. I really enjoyed Skyward Sword's game play and mechanics, but Ocarina of Time is classic and innovative, so I'm split between these two. I'm leaning more towards Skyward Sword, but I just can't say directly that I like Skyward Sword more without thinking about Ocarina of Time. I have to say both.

 

[8skar]

I voted Ocarina of Time (for now) because I have yet to play Skyward Sword, and I've heard great things about it, but I've also heard deterring things about it, so I find it hard to believe that the game could really be better than Ocarina of Time was (for its time).

 

[guapo2003]

I'm sorry, but nothing is going to ever beat Ocarina of Time in my opinion. It was my first really through Zelda game and it's a memory I'll never forget.

 

[MW7]

Actually, you have less to do between dungeons in OoT than in SS. Things you could do in OoT between dungeons, get Big Poes, do the Goron Sword trading sequence, bring the masks to the people that wanted them, get Epona, get more songs. Now when I look at Skyward Sword, get gratitude crystals, get money, bugs and treasure so you can get upgrades which are awesome, search the sky for Activated Goddess chests, help the fortune teller with his broken crystal ball, help Fledge get strong, find the rattle for the potion brewer. Help the Lumpy Pumkin Owner for the chandelier you break to get the heart piece. Yah, Skyward Sword has more to do between dungeons, but if I missed any tell me. Well your one of those people that skip storyline, if you listened you would like it. The storyline in Skyward Sword is amazing, and so are the dungeons and their bosses. I personally went linear in OoT and did Forest Temple, Death Montain, Water Temple, Shadow Temple, Spirit Temple. I don't care if a game is linear unless it makes me annoyed that I cant get something or do it. OoT was linear there, I couldn't be a adult in the beginning which annoyed me. And I also couldn't use what I gained in the present or future all the time. -.-

I'm not completely sure if you understood me- I mean the fact that OOT has less things required between dungeons is a positive in my eyes (I wasn't very clear sorry- I stated it more as overall things to do including sidequests rather than required things as I meant). Most of the things you can do between dungeons in OOT are optional. I mean like having to get the Goron's Bracelet in OOT to reach the second dungeon versus traversing Eldin Province and finding the five key pieces in SS. The required things in OOT: get sword/shield, visit Zelda, get Saria's Song, get Goron Bracelet, get Silver Scale, find Ruto's letter, get hookshot, talk to the goron named after you (this is actually skippable if you complete the water temple before the fire temple and get the scarecrow's song- no glitches required), do ice cavern, do bottom of well (I usually skip this though so it's not really required), and do Gerudo fortress are much less in depth than Skyward Sword's required things. I guess I mean that I prefer 5 minute things between dungeons to half an hour to an hour of things between dungeons. What it gets at is that if you're just looking at what's required to finish the game, about 80% of OOT is spent inside dungeons whereas SS felt like 40%. The areas outside dungeons were very interesting and fun in SS, but I'd just rather go straight from dungeon to dungeon. It wasn't quite possible to do this in OOT but it didn't take as long between dungeons as in SS. My wish would be for Zelda games to be more like ALTTP in which in several cases once you have a certain item you could go straight to a dungeon.

You said I'm one of those people that skip the story- it's true that I'd like to but the game prevents you at first. I would have liked to skip the storyline, but SS (as did every other game in the series except TP) requires you to watch cutscenes on your first playthrough at least. I liked the story, but I'd rather have had the option to be able to skip it right from the start. This was one of my biggest complaints about OOT 3d as well. They rereleased a 13 year old game and require you to watch the same cutscenes from the original game (with prettied up graphics but I don't care at all about graphics) and never give you the option to skip them. To see this from my perspective imagine having played OOT about 20 times. Even movies which have much better stories than OOT I can't watch 20 times without getting sick of them (with exceptions of course). I've seen the stupid cutscenes of the game so many times I never ever want to see them again. Options are always a good thing because it won't bother people who would want to watch the scenes every time. SS at least let's you skip some things in hero mode but giving more options would have been much appreciated by me. Some people might say they don't want to see a prompt to skip interrupting the scene or that they don't want to accidentally skip. These problems could be easily avoided. I wouldn't care (that much) if I had to enter in some completely random sequence of buttons in order to skip a scene. I just want the option.

I did OOT linear at first but now I never do it linear. It just adds replayability for me. It's all about options and that they are never a bad thing. It doesn't bother me at all if people want to play through the game the same way, but why does a game have to prevent me from playing it as I want to. And you're right- OOT is primarily a linear game. However, compared to Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword (to a lesser extent, TP was a claustrophobic's nightmare though-most notably through the first 3 dungeons) it's practically an Elder Scrolls game (or the original LoZ). I've calculated it out and there are 274 orders (without any glitches) to progress through the quest in OOT. In SS I haven't completely figured it out but I believe the possibilities are 6 because of the Song of the Hero which can be completed in 6 different orders. I'm fairly certain the number of unique orders possible in Twilight Princess without glitches is 1. It all comes down to options, and IMO options are something that are disappearing in Zelda games without reason.

With the exception of my want of more options, most of my rationale for liking OOT more is just personal preference. I like being able to go from dungeon to dungeon quickly and in any order I like, but clearly that's not for everyone. I think providing more options is just common sense. They wouldn't get in the way of people who like the status quo, but they would greatly enhance the enjoyment of the games of the people who feel like I do. It's that simple. Someone might say SS is a 10/10 as is whereas I would say 9.5. If the designers would add options, there would be no reason whatsoever for the person that already felt the game was perfect to not like it as much since they could play through the same way that they could otherwise. Also I would enjoy the game more.

 

[TrueChaos]

OoT got 10/10 at the time, if that game was released now it wouldn't get that high a score. it's a great game but SS is better