Oracle Of Seasons/Ages The Oracles: Misunderstood Titles?

[A Link In Time]

Arguably no main Zelda installment other than Zelda II: Adventure of Link receives more hatred than the Oracle games. Today, I would like to ask the Dungeon Gaming Network why this is? :hmm:

The two titles both were revolutionary in their own right for featuring multiple overworlds-Oracles of Ages boasts two with past and present Labrynna and Oracle of Ages five (depending on how you look at it) with Holodrum in the four seasons of the year and Subrosia. Both games also had plenty of items, a unique connection feature, and a slew of other quirks.

While we're on the topic, what is your opinion of the Oracles games? Do you believe they deserve the negative press they garner? Sure they copy Link's Awakening overhead 8 bit style but is that really a bad thing considering their achievements as listed above? If you love one or both of the Oracles games why is that so? Questions, questions. Hope you enjoy responding.

 

[Vanilla♥Hero]

Well, I’ve played Ages only, and while I haven’t beaten it yet I am very close to the end. I have to say that I absolutely love the game and I really didn’t know that they were so disliked – I think that there are some pretty brilliant or interesting things to Ages, for sure, and I bet the same is true for Seasons.

I guess here are a few reasons that I like the game so much:
I really love the items, to begin with. I think the usage of the seeds for different things was great – from warping to catching things on fire. While thinking of seeds, the Seed Shooter is a really fun item, sort of like a gun in a way. My favorite item is the Switch hook/Long hook, though – it’s such a unique thing, and I absolutely love it. The Cane of Somaria is also pretty interesting, as I really didn’t foresee there being an item that allows you to MAKE blocks. Also, I thought the Harp of Ages was used in a very neat way, with each new tune giving you more freedom to move from the past to the present. Having the dual overworlds is great, too, and I’ve found that, in my opinion, it’s made the exploration of the world really fun. While I'm at it, I've loved the last few dungeons immensely and I've enjoyed the puzzles a WHOLE lot.

Overall, I just love the game and I don’t see how people could hate it and Seasons so much. Truly, at this point Seasons is the number one game on my list right now after experiencing Ages and adoring it. So… I really don’t see why they would be so disliked. I’ve enjoyed Ages just fine. :>

 

[A Link In Time]

Well, I’ve played Ages only, and while I haven’t beaten it yet I am very close to the end. I have to say that I absolutely love the game and I really didn’t know that they were so disliked – I think that there are some pretty brilliant or interesting things to Ages, for sure, and I bet the same is true for Seasons.

I guess here are a few reasons that I like the game so much:
I really love the items, to begin with. I think the usage of the seeds for different things was great – from warping to catching things on fire. While thinking of seeds, the Seed Shooter is a really fun item, sort of like a gun in a way. My favorite item is the Switch hook/Long hook, though – it’s such a unique thing, and I absolutely love it. The Cane of Somaria is also pretty interesting, as I really didn’t foresee there being an item that allows you to MAKE blocks. Also, I thought the Harp of Ages was used in a very neat way, with each new tune giving you more freedom to move from the past to the present. Having the dual overworlds is great, too, and I’ve found that, in my opinion, it’s made the exploration of the world really fun. While I'm at it, I've loved the last few dungeons immensely and I've enjoyed the puzzles a WHOLE lot.

Overall, I just love the game and I don’t see how people could hate it and Seasons so much. Truly, at this point Seasons is the number one game on my list right now after experiencing Ages and adoring it. So… I really don’t see why they would be so disliked. I’ve enjoyed Ages just fine. :>

Thank you for your thorough response, mam.

My situation is the exact opposite of yours-I have only played Seasons and enjoyed it thoroughly. The link feature is certainly enticing me to buy Ages and see the combined ending.

 

[Leonomonn]

The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons was the 2nd Zelda game I ever played and I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, as I was a stupid child I got stuck and never finished it, but I still like the idea

 

[Tetra's Wink]

I recently finished both. I thought they were decent enough games, but for some reason I much preferred ages over seasons.... I think it's because ages had more story, where seasons seemed to be lacking.

Still though, I always thought these games weren't universally bashed as much as PH (which I love) and ST...

 

[link97]

i think the orcales games are beast

 

[S. Mario]

I've never heard the Oracle games getting any hatred. Nearly everyone I talk to likes them. I think they're great because they have a similar style to the original Zelda and have about the same difficulty. I'm stuck halfway through Seasons, but I'm almost done with Ages, and I really like all the items in it. Those games certainly make you use the items to their fullest. I was also amazed by how much exploration they required. The world looks small at first (compared to newer games), but because of the different seasons and different time periods in them, the world seems to grow to more than twice its size. I personally like the 3D games more, but I think the Oracle games are the 2nd greatest 2D Zelda games (the 1st greatest being A Link to the Past).