Twilight Princess

[Arceny]

Well, I dunno. I used to hold OoT to a high point (being the game that let me want more of the franchise; I had the first one, but didn't like it )

 

But I kinda like ALttP better.

 

Now, I'm not saying OoT doesn't deserve some respect. I believe half of our "complaints" were due to the fact that Nintendo went through so many freaking scraps and changes (Zelda64 DD, first person, kid/adult) and were really pioneering some uncharted aspects (the team responsible for the character movements actually cried because Link kept glitching through walls), such as the in game camera, the z lock targeting (although I believe that system has been done in Mario), and swordplay. Remember, this isn't jumping,punching, or shooting. The sword had to match its mark (even though people complain that it took some time to hit the pots, that never really occured to me; it even says in-game to thrust). And the horseback riding, to me, an interesting feat.

 

 

Now don't get me wrong, but I'm not really one to nitpick things in life. So, maybe I'm missing the picture?

 

I just have to buy TP, play it, maybe come back in a few months and see my PoV then...

 

 

And no,  I'm not going to fanboy about OoT. I just think its a good game like a whole lot of others. It just was groundbreaking in 1998; that's a fact. But would it stand to today's standards? No. That's just like four star movie classics that are just faulty (as in quality, effects, etc.) compared to today. But that doesn't mean it didn't make a mark in history, and people hold them as "special".

[giadrosich]

I have an interesting relationship with both OOT and TP.

 

My first memory of OOT was walking into my mom and dad's bedroom and my dad was playing on my N64 this game he had rented. He was out in the field and it became night. Stalchildren popped up and he looked at me and said "this game might be too scary for you." At that time, he always played the games before giving them to me. That's why I didn't get Banjo-Kazooie when I was younger, and only have played it for the first time in the past year or so.

 

Eventually though, he caved with OOT because it didn't have an innuendo-filled storyline and was actually pretty good. Plus he liked it, so that was a point in my favour.

 

Ocarina of Time was my childhood game, I will always see it as the game me and my dad played together. We rented it from Blockbuster probably at least 30 times trying to beat the game. We got so obsessed over it that we actually wrote down the serial number for the game and asked specifically for that one so it would have our save on it. Eventually, my dad looked at me and said "Hey, perhaps we should buy it."

 

So we did. There was so much awesome between me and my dad playing that game together. We didn't use a guide except on Ganondorf, because we seriously couldn't figure out how to beat him. The fond memories I have of that time will always take precedence over whether or not the game is "good". It will always be my favorite because that game brought me and my dad closer together. Nothing will ever replace that. Ever.

 

So, then I got Majora's Mask. I was hyped up for this one. I was all over the early screenshots with Zelda Gaiden, riding Epona, all that.

 

Then I got the game. I was massively disappointed, because the first thing I saw was the timer. "Oh, no. This game has a timer." That was my thought. I hated it instantly because of that. I didn't play it as much as OOT mainly for that point.

 

However, the funny thing about that is I pretty much got married because of Majora's Mask. My husband and I are LPer's on Youtube, and he invited me to co-commentate on his run of MM. I agreed and we hit it off pretty well. Two years later, we got married and I now call MM the reason we got together. So, it's ALSO my favorite Zelda game because of that.

 

Next up is Twilight Princess (Nothing happens with Wind Waker, it's a snooze to me).

 

TP to me involves more character development. I think the fact that Link starts out as this farmer kid who is shoved into this overall grand scheme is pretty awesome. The character development of Link and Midna in the story is fantastic, there's no hiding that she becomes less selfish during the story, and Link starts to fit into the role of Hero a lot better. He goes from thinking about saving the kids who were kidnapped to saving all of Hyrule.

 

I know how to speedrun TP, so I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the story, hate some of the gameplay aspects mainly due to the problems of speedrunning, there's a TON of luck-based events you have to get through. I love breaking it though, messing with the flow of things, glitching it, everything. I suck at glitching OOT so TP is a great replacement for it. (BTW, the Wii version for TP doesn't exist in my book, GC all the way!)

 

So I say all of this to say that each game holds a certain place in people's lives. You might think that OOT's story is boring, dull, ect. But I don't look at the story when I see OOT. I see me and my dad playing the game. So you're never going to convince me that OOT is overplayed, or overrated, or anything like that. I admit I look at it with nostalgic goggles, and personally I think it's great. I think that games these days don't hold a candle to it. Who wants to play the same old boring, brown and grey shooter game (seriously, I can't tell the difference between any shooters) when you have OOT?

 

I might have rambled far too long, but Zelda games hold a special place for me, so there ya go.

[Conker]

Who wants to play the same old boring, brown and grey shooter game (seriously, I can't tell the difference between any shooters) when you have OOT?

 

I can think of plenty of "brown and grey" (also, you're abusing a stereo type that isn't even true; if a game's color palette was only brown and grey, there'd be a huge, major difference in how the game looks compared to whatever shooters you've played/seen) shooters I'd rather play over OoT, due to them being much, much funner on many levels.

 

Another thing, too: you'd be very surprised how easy it is to tell shooters apart if you didn't look at them with such negativity and bias.

 

Personal, not-related-to-your-post opinion coming up, not an attack against you(I think you're a cool person):

I, unlike many people, don't let myself get blinded by nostalgia; I'm not going to let such a thing force me to put any game in such high regards when it doesn't deserve it. See, I am nostalgic about a lot of games, some I even know are bad/boring/whatever, but a few good memories aren't going to make me put them on a pedestal and worship them. Then I'm nostalgic about games that I thought were good, and still haven't got boring. Anyways, I went off on a mini-rant.

 

 

---

Sent from my cell phone, because fuck ancient satellites from across the cosmic web.

[giadrosich]

Stereotype is a partially true, that's how it gets the way it is. I'm not saying all shooters are like that, heck I've played 'em, they just aren't for me. It's just when I see screenshots of them, they don't look very fun, and I've played more than enough Halo 3--I had a short time as a game tester with Microsoft/Volt, and I had to play way too much of that game. So to me, I'm bias for a reason. I didn't want to play another shooter ever again. XD

 

If you are nostalgic about games that are bad/boring, then you should know where I come from. A lot of people are nostalgic about Wind Waker--that was their first Zelda game, and they think it's the best Zelda game ever. I think it was boring as anything. It's not fun to glitch or to play (ya know those shards), so it loses points in both fields for me. It's hard for me to argue with people about WW because their love for it is part of them.

 

Frankly, the discussion about OOT is a moot point, because it all comes down to opinion.

 

To look at a different series for comparison, there's the Pokemon series. The original games are shite, but there are MANY people who refuse to say they are because of nostalgic reasons. Never going to really tell them otherwise.

 

Another interesting way to view it is from the Assassin's Creed angle. The first game was fun, but really repetitive and boring. But then they got WAY better in regards to story and gameplay. No one really regards the first one as a masterpiece from nostalgia. Everyone--the company included--knows it was boring and repetitive.

 

I think the discussion should really go in the way of why people think it's great vs "is it really great". We know that games lack certain things, there's never going to be a "perfect" game--either the story is bland, or the gameplay is bland, ect.

 

But people's experiences is what makes a game great or not great. And that's really why people think of the game as great. If you didn't have a great experience with OOT, then you aren't going to think of the game as great, plain and simple.

 

And off-topic from Zelda, the game I think is terrible and just should be burned is Star Fox Adventures. I thought that game was horrid, not even story-wise, but gameplay/so-much-backtracking-wise. But many people see it as amazing. I admit the graphics are great and it's a very nice-looking game. But that's all it is. The reason? Because I had a terrible time with it.

 

The key is experience. And this is mainly what my previous post was trying to make the point of. Experience is what makes games great. You could read 10 reviews reading how horrible the game is, but then you might go play it and just have a blast with it. You might read 10 reviews on how awesome a game is, and then find out it's the worst thing ever.

 

And I know you aren't attacking me or anything, you're fine. If I got uptight over every comment directed slightly at me, then I wouldn't be on the internet. XD

 

EDIT: Also, Skyward Sword just felt horrible to me as a Zelda game, not nearly enough exploration available.