Ocarina of Time Top 5 Reasons Why People Should Stop Looking to Ocarina for a Great Game

[GameFreak]

ocarina of time is a classic, people grew up on it, and its also sickening people actually made a thread to complain about it, its a zelda game, and if people say its the best one, then thats their opinion, some reasons why it was the best because the dungeons were simple and basic, and each had their own characteristic, and could play it for endless hours, and is probably the most played and repetitively played zelda game out there.

 

[ihateghirahim]

I feel like some people just like to bash something because it's great. They can't just leave something awesome alone, and must instead hate on it.

 

[Phillers]

1. The story is grand in its simplicity (although it really isn't that simple) and the way the music, atmosphere, and actions all combine to form a narrative rivaled only by the bizzare MM stories.

2- what you talkin bout? the gameplay is rewarding and fun. Each item is unique and fun to use. Each one have cool roles and puzzles to solve. I only wish the Megaton hammer got more use. The boss battles are all memorable, challenging enough, filled with tension, executed in a cinematic style. The only bosses who can even compare are those epic TP bosses, but even they fall shot of Volvagia's epic flying battle, Bongo's bongo, Phantom Ganon's painting battle, Ganondorf's ping-pong style game, and the dreaded King Dodongo.

3. The soundtrack in fantastic. The Ocarina songs are memorable and interactive, and it's fun to play each one out and even make your own. I also enjoyed the background music stupendously. It is brilliantly blended with each aspect of the game to help build the epic atmosphere.

4.Hyrule Field. I have no problem with Hyrule Field. It does have enemies, hidden caves to find, trees and rocks to mess around with. It's also a general hub. I mean I'm usually so engrossed in the game I rarely notice the distances. One can also point out how the horse and warp songs render the field short and even avoidable. I mean come on, Hyrule field is nothing compared to the boredom of the WW sea.

5. What? I mean the rupees are there for whoever wants them, and they let you buy whatever you want. You can have all the rupees you want and then some. Does having rupees bother people? I don't see what the issue is.

Is nostalgia to blame for my words? Nope. not at all. OoT and MM blow all others out of the water.

I couldn't agree more.

Rupees: Who cares? Honestly.

Music: This is one of the better sound tracks on the N64 and still holds up today. Have you ever been to the lost woods, the forest temple, or the temple of time? Sometimes, I will talk to the owl just to hear the music.

Hyrule Field: There is plenty to be found, if you look around. Have you even played this game?

Narrative and game play are both fantastic. There are so many characters to interact with, plus lots of items that just get more interesting as the game moves along.

 

[Ayn Stein]

...The choices you made to argue this here are against technical limitations of the day....

That pretty much sums it up. I'd say it was pretty damned good considering the amount of real estate that you had to work with. All of the logic, 3d models, textures, audio, etc.. is being crammed into a cartridge that holds up to only 8 megabytes. It's funny considering all the games that you see using up 2 gigs of space or more, and yet don't hold a dime IMO.

 

[Clank]

That pretty much sums it up. I'd say it was pretty damned good considering the amount of real estate that you had to work with. All of the logic, 3d models, textures, audio, etc.. is being crammed into a cartridge that holds up to only 8 megabytes. It's funny considering all the games that you see using up 2 gigs of space or more, and yet don't hold a dime IMO.

Wasn't OOT a 32MB cart?

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

While you're at it, make a video of you setting it on fire. It's garbage; worthless. Don't waste your time with that game.

actually i did,i burned the camera too cuz dat **** don't work....or maybe it wasn't plugged in,i don't know

 

[Vampire Squid]

A few people have made the allusion that those who put OoT atop their list are doing so purely because of nostalgia, or are fanboys. I find those comments insulting. It's as if some fans and ZDers can't accept that someone may like the game for legitimate reasons. If you don't, great, there are plenty of valid reasons to feel so, but don't de-legitimaze someone else's opinion by using the "nostalgia glasses" reasoning.

1) The narrative is weak
People will throw many puzzled looks at my direction, but the fact of the matter is that hte narrative is weak. You get spurts of main plot action after every dungeon or so, but nothing else goes on. The world is devoid of any human interaction, with NPCs shouting the same tired lines over and over and over again without fail. The Sages are among the flattest characters Zelda has ever seen. And the poor implied romance at the end? Please don't get me started. OoT is everything cliché, and therefore it is completely bad.

Has Zelda ever had an especially strong narrative? WW/TP/SS might have extra cutscenes but their stories aren't anymore simplistic at face value. OoT did have memorable characters and moments, as others have explained before me (like Link and Darunia's relationship). Sure some of the NPC's were weak and said the same lines, but that was per the norm at the time.

OoT's story didn't break any barriers, but it was a solid, enjoyable story with a few twists that kept it interesting. It also had a few more subtle points that modern Zelda's do not as they seem to prefer throwing everything into your face and leaving no room for personal interpretation. OoT did that well, it created a deep world that we had to explore and learn about ourselves and at times had to use some imagination. I loved it.

2) The gameplay is basic
It may have been hailed as the greatest of its time, but those are the keywords: of its time. The items are not used to their maximum potential. Ocarina lacks flash. It lacks precision. It lacks depth. The enemies in the game are incredibly monotonous. If they can't be handled with one simplepress of the B button, then they are handled with two. The foes that could pose a threat - Iron Knuckles and Stalfos - spend their time under armor or constantly shuffling with their shield held up. The boss foes are incredibly easy to defeat, all making use of the blatant "here's my weakpoint please hit it" formula. In all Ocarina simply doesn't compare with the more recent entries of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.

Basic gameplay isn't a bad thing. Zelda was jumping from 2D to 3D and it thus had an excuse to be weaker, yet it went beyond what was expected. It was intuitive, allowed for variety and was extremely smooth and streamlined for the time. To me the N64 version still feels smooth compared to many games of it's era. It worked for it's purpose, and beautifully.

TP and SS are awful examples for item use, so many were one dungeon only and were utterly useless beyond. OoT may not have struck a perfect balance (the Hammer and Boomerang for instance were underused to a fault) but I feel it did a better job, I felt most of the items were versatile and used all throughout the game.

3) The musical score is weak
It's all catchy, but it's MIDI grade and frankly not up to par. They couldn't be bothered to fix this even in the 3DS remake. The music is literally lifeless; it's like elevator music that you tune out due to how damn annoying it can get after the 20th exposure.

I've heard complaints about OoT's soundtrack and never understood it, I thought it was amazing. To me it is easily one of the best in Zelda, if not much of gaming. It's music was memorable, fitting and catchy. There isn't a song I don't like, it's one amazing piece after another that fit the world and story and mood amazingly. How anyone can say it's lifeless is beyond me. I felt it added a lot of energy and flavor to the game. If your issue is the format...Well I think it's a weak argument. It sounded good, and MIDI's were per the norm then so it's hard to put that against it. As for OoT3D, that's another issue as I am discussing the original.

4) Hyrule Field is empty
I'll be damned if someone claims the Sky to be empty, because the fact of the matter is that Hyrule Field is infinitely emptier, if that even makes sense. It's literally lifeless. There's nothing but a plain, a few gates, and trees sparsely located in "key" positions. There are hidden grottoes, but what little there are feature absolutely no substance at all. Just, pathetic.

Limitations of the hardware. I never felt it was too empty, it wasn't too huge to be an issue for me, but I can see how some would have an issue with it.

5) Rupees.
Yes, that is the reason. Rupees. Ocarina's economy is so jacked up, like, it's to the point where it seems Nintendo WAS working on it, but the jackstands just gave into the weight and it all came crashing down. BAM! SPLAT! KERPOW! And thus the screwed economy was born. I have never played a game where rupees were so darn useless before.

I agree with this, for me it's the one true big flaw of OoT, but not enough of a flaw to hurt the game much.

There are many more reasons than I could look for, but those are the top five. What are your opinions? I'm frankly tired of all of this Ocarina rubbish I hear throughout the fanbase. We need to look towards the FUTURE, not reminisce in the past. :/

Simply put, Ocarina is not the game we remember it as. It's mediocre; 6/10 material.

Having just played it again recently, I couldn't disagree more. 10/10.

 

[Salem]

I have a feeling Ventus just wanted us to compliment OoT for him....

A few people have made the allusion that those who put OoT atop their list are doing so purely because of nostalgia, or are fanboys. I find those comments insulting. It's as if some fans and ZDers can't accept that someone may like the game for legitimate reasons. If you don't, great, there are plenty of valid reasons to feel so, but don't de-legitimaze someone else's opinion by using the "nostalgia glasses" reasoning.

That, I agree with 100%, nostalgia isn't the only reason some people like all games, NES Zelda is one of my favourites, I only beaten and appreciated it last year.

 

[Shadsie]

*Without reading the surely heated replies, my own two Lincolns in regard to what was said above:*

I like Ocarina of Time a lot. I always have a lot of fun playing it and I can see why it has so many ardent fanboys/fangirls who claim it as the bestest game evar! It was groundbreaking and formed a lot of what came afterwards in the series. That said, coming from someone who first played the older games (LoZ/AoL/ALTTP) and then played Twilight Princess before hitting Ocarina, I can see weaknesses in the game. I'm pretty forgiving of them, though - since I figure "the technology of the time was a certain way/ the 3D style was new/the original cartridge could only hold so much data." I think OoT was doing a lot of finding its feet, so I find myself forgiving a lot that I might not be so forgiving of in a current game.

As for the points given:

1. Weak Narrative - I would say that you have a point. I think it had a pretty strong narrative given games of the time, but standing up to the kind of very story-heavy games that gaming companies are trying to give the world now, it's not really on par with the whole "fleshed out as a novel" thing. The story of OoT also hits just about very High Fantasy/Fairy Tale cliche there is. If it were a novel, OoT would probably be seen by most literary critics as a bad novel, even as it's a good game. Even within the series, later titles improved on the story, I think. Majora's Mask improved on NPC characterization and themes... it tried to make you care a little more about what happened to the people of the world you were trying to save. Twilight Princess had an epic story of a betrayed people and two torn kingdoms. Skyward Sword had a great myth of ancient lands and ancient gods. Now, they still aren't exactly epic novels, being that Nintendo series tend to be more about the gameplay and the player discovering things, but I think there has been improvement in narrative since OoT. Some see this as good, some as bad... depends upon how story-heavy you like your games.

Sometimes, a simple story is best. Take my very favorite game - a Sony title. Shadow of the Colossus. You really couldn't get more simple than that game's story. Your character is trying to resurrect a dead girl by slaying sixteen giants in a ritual for a death god/demon. No NPCs to interact with, just you and your horse in vast, empty land, fighting boss-monsters. Its sister-game, ICO, is similiar - your character is a little boy who has been left in a ruined castle as a human sacrifice to the evil queen and her dark spirits and you meet a strange girl there - the objective is to solve architectural puzzles and get out of the castle. Very simple stories that invite the player to mentally add to them, yet both games, with their stark, stripped-bare stories that are arguably even simpler than that of OoT consistently make "Videogames can be High Art" lists. A simplistic story isn't bad - it's all in how it is executed.

2. - Basic Gameplay. I don't know. I think it depends upon what you're looking for in a game. I don't mind the fairly straightforward gameplay of Zelda titles. I suppose after you've played a particular game many times, the things that were meant to surprise you just don't anymore, which is why you might want to reach for a different game / different series every once in a while. Maybe I just don't have much of a problem with this. Another favorite of mine is We *Heart* Katamari and you don't get gameplay simpler than "roll a big ball around and collect stuff."

3. - Music. I just don't really compare early Zelda music to latter titles. I do think they've really improved. The only exception to this is maybe the Dark World Score from ALTTP... I like hearing remakes of it in orchestration, because even the Midi version of it is awesome. That's just a bit of genius that Nintendo hit upon early-on.

4. - Empty Field. I can both agree and disagree... mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I mentioned my favorite game, Shadow of the Colosuss. It takes place in NOTHING BUT "empty-field." However, the setting it takes place in is HUGE. OoT's field is... small. Hyrule is a puny kingdom in that era. I've never like that about OoT. Even the 2D games beat it out on that aspect. LoZ and AoL had lots of overland and varied country. AoL had lots of towns. I forgive OoT because of the "new technology and limited storage space" aspect, but am glad that Twilight Princess tried to improve upon Hyrule Field by giving it more country and an illusion of greater depth. Wind Waker, too, has an awesome overworld - lots of little islands to explore. Nintendo has definitely improved on the aspects of field and space since OoT, in my book.

5. - Rupees. I actually found them more useless in Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass. It was like they were giving money away. TP had the magic armor, which I'd use money for when doing the Cave of Ordeals to save on potions (and I found it hilarious to have Link wear it when almost out while riding Epona, only to get bucked off HARD when the money ran out)! But, still... it seems like most if not all Zelda games have "Money for Nothin' and your Cuccoos for Free." I don't really find it any more annoying in OoT than I do in any other Zelda title.

 

[Pyro99]

I'm a total TP fanboy and I think that OoT is completely average. I hate trying to talk about Zelda in general and everyone being all "Yeah, but OoT..." I DON'T CARE!

 

[r2d93]

I do agree in some aspects but I have a few quarrels with your findings.
Saying the gameplay isn't as good anymore because its not up to the times is like saying pong was a terrible game for the same reason. I feel when comparing games from differen time periods, their gameplay AT THE TIME is what we should look at.
And also I have no clue at all what you are talking about concerning the musical scoring. OoT has the most iconic music of the series in my opinion, and I feel others agree as well.
The flaws I find in OoT are:

Its desolate overworld in adult link's Hyrule
The tediousness of your objectives and lack of fun time wasting elements
The patchy narrative
The multiple useless items

 

[Salem]

Oh OH, Ventus, you forgot to mention the text crawl speed, it's too damn slow. YES, another flaw.

 

[ihateghirahim]

It appears at a reasonable rate, and I read it. It is not a flaw.

 

[Phillers]

One thing that really puts OoT in a league of its own is how playable the game is today. Let's face it, we all grew up with some games that we loved, but have been ruined by much more advanced games in the same genre. For example, I spent a lot of time playing Shadows of the Empire and Goldeneye, and I loved these games. I mean, Goldeneye is legendary. Unfortunately, both games are now completely unplayable. The play control is horrible; everything is choppy. They just didn't age well. Games like Call of Duty / Halo / Battlefield are light years ahead of them.
OoT, on the other hand, transcends video game generations. There are no aspects of this game that feel too dated to play. The entire experience is just as enjoyable 15 years later.

 

[Majoras-Light]

Okay. OOT is the first out of 8 Zelda games I have played, and it remains to be my favorite game to this day. I absolutely love EVERYTHING about this game. I will talk about each of your points.

1. Weak Narrative- Well... okay. I agree about that. I wish you could've at least skipped some of the Deku Tree's lecture. Yeah.

2. Basic Gameplay- You are looking at the set-up of millions of games. Different stages (dungeons), weak narrative, and special, weird characters. The gameplay in my opinion, wasn't awful... just not amazing. But it depends on what you like.

3. Music- Really? The music/ soundtrack for this game was AMAZING! The classical Song of Storms, Lost Woods, Song of Time... I could go on forever. Yes, newer games have clearer, better songs, but OOT remains to hold my favorite songs.

4. Empty Field- Uh... this never really bothered me. I always thought that things should be in the towns or "provinces". I wouldn't have minded if Hyrule were a bit smaller, finding the entrance to Kokiri was a PAIN.

5. Rupees- I thought the idea and way they were spread around was pretty good. Where as in TP, they kind of handed them to you. In SS I could've maybe dealer with a bit less. They kind of handed them to you in SS too. I think that OOT and MM had similar rupee techniques.

Overall, I think people SHOULD go to Ocarina for a great game, but I suggest they play it when they are younger, because nostalgia just adds to the amazing feeling of this game.