Game Debate #99: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

3 hours ago, Estil said:

My point exactly.  An RPG is where (except in Dragon Quest 1) where you have a team of characters ...

And Ultima.  And Fallout.  And Elder Srolls.  And... well, like a shit ton of them 

[Estil | 1,261]

5 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

And Ultima.  And Fallout.  And Elder Srolls.  And... well, like a shit ton of them 

Yeah isn't Ultima like the granddaddy of 'em all RPG series?

[RH | 4,895]

5 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

And Ultima.  And Fallout.  And Elder Srolls.  And... well, like a shit ton of them 

This is why we use to break out RPGs into "Japanese RPGs" and "Western RPGs".  Both have their roots in DnD style mechanics, but were implemented quite differently. 

Today JRPGs are often no longer turn based and are much more action focused.  Western RPGs became more about free-range hack-and-slash fests, but in a way the two are more similar than they use to be.  I think they both fit in the RPG descriptor, but if you consider them to be brothers from the same root, they both took very different paths as they matured.

Zelda and old school action/adventure games don't fit the mould of either because they were not based on the DnD, level-up style of mechanic that utilizes some form of stats-leveling.  I'm not saying all games that have stats-leveling are RPGs but if you're familiar with DnD, you can see the influence in all games marked as "RPGs" from early on in the 80s to today.

Edited May 27, 2022 by RH

[cj_robot | 540]

Silly humans... always trying to fit their heptakaidecahedron pegs into their perfect round holes.

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

Game sucks it’s overrated 

[Tabonga | 2,313]

17 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

Game sucks it’s overrated 

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

20 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Links awakening is better

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

It’s

1.tloz 

2.link’s awakening 

3.oot 

done.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

1 minute ago, docile tapeworm said:

Links awakening is better

Ummm try again...

[Tabonga | 2,313]

7 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

Links awakening is better

[RH | 4,895]

1 hour ago, cj_robot said:

Silly humans... always trying to fit their heptakaidecahedron pegs into their perfect round holes.

With enough confidence, we can accomplish our goals!

[wongojack | 211]

I gave it a 10, and the original LoZ would be a 10 for me as well.  NES Zelda is an extremely important game for me.  It was probably that FIRST game where I felt like I truly accomplished something by finishing it.  As a result, I tend to overlook the obtuse clues and poor translations in there.  The challenge of figuring out which bushes to burn with the candle was part of the fun for me, and after a while, there were patterns that emerged that you could predict.  Once you got in tune with LoZ, you could figure it out which is what made the 2nd quest so much fun.

Anyway, for LttP, the game is obviously better in so many ways, but removing the game's weaknesses also meant changing the experience a bit.  Yes, better game, but I'll always feel a different sense of connection and accomplishment from the original.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:23 AM, RH said:

With enough confidence, we can accomplish our goals!

That gif omits the NC-17 ending 

...kinda makes me think you don't know it's true nature  

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

There are a dozen old threads that got bumped to the first page. Some people must really take the amount of thought they put into these seriously.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

17 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

There are a dozen old threads that got bumped to the first page. Some people must really take the amount of thought they put into these seriously.

Challenge accepted

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

7 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Challenge accepted

I just go with my first impression. I don't want to overthink these things and get a headache.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

2 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I just go with my first impression. I don't want to overthink these things and get a headache.

Pace yourself!  That thing needs to drive you to Hooters!

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

Pace yourself!  That thing needs to drive you to Hooters!

That's where I do my voting. I like to have my mind clear, like temporarily erased so I can focus.

[RH | 4,895]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

That gif omits the NC-17 ending 

...kinda makes me think you don't know it's true nature  

Um... nope. 

 

[RH | 4,895]

A guy going by "Jammin Sam Miller" on YouTube has been "restoring" SNES soundtracks.  He defines restoration by painstakingly hunting down all of the audio samples game soundtrack writers were using to make their audio.

If you're unaware, the SNES didn't have a synth chip but instead sampled audio which it then used for various notes and sounds.  This meant that the samples were heavily compressed.

Sam takes the original audio from the game, dissects it, looks for the original keyboard sounds samples that were used for each layer of every track and then he rebuilds each song with uncompressed samples.  The end result is considerably faithful music that sounds extra-crisp and clean.

He finished up DKC earlier this year and has just started working on A Link To The Past.  If you go to his channel, he's already posted the first few songs (I'll post one below for reference) and if you scroll down on his channel page, you'll see former live streams where he walks through the process of reconstruction and even tells you how and where he's found the sound files.  I'll post his most recent live stream too, which is a good place to start.

Link to the Past - Opening (Restored)

 

Sam's Last Live Stream, talking about making this audio:

 

[Tanooki | 4,929]

I've seen (heard) this before.  Shocking his subs are so low given the work involved and on this of all things.  This is a parallel world of what really could have been.

Not so much what was done in the first 2 years, but after, had Sony tried not to contractually trap and rip Nintendo off with license fees with the CD add-on.  These samples would have been largely what you would have had had the DKC trilogy and Super Metroid launching in 1994-6 would have given us with uncompressed audio on the CD.  It's great just how good the SNES was at music on its own, but had it been unhindered by the cartridge size and related limits for the excessive need to compress the audio, THIS is what we would have experienced 30 years ago.

[Foochie776 | 1,051]

I just finished this one this week and while I understand the allure, I don’t think I will ever return. 

[G-type | 2,476]

This is on my list... I have it on the SNES mini. maybe after Super Metroid.

[Estil | 1,261]

I don't suppose we've come any closer to solving the mystery of whatever became of Chris Houlihan?  

[Tanooki | 4,929]

11 minutes ago, Estil said:

I don't suppose we've come any closer to solving the mystery of whatever became of Chris Houlihan?  

Maybe this?

Can not more strongly suggest checking this guys stuff out as it's an utter crime the few subs he has given the content is largely all original and super well researched.  I guess coining douchebags deserve it more?