Game Debate #124: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

[Reed Rothchild | 9,586]

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Oof. Tough one. I gave it a 10/10, but that could be nothing but nostalgia blinders. I haven't played or beat this game since the year it came out. No clue if it still holds up today or if the controls are like some other 3D N64 games I've revisited and weren't as nice as I remember. Controls would be the only thing that could knock it down to a 9 for me.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

I gave it a 10/10, but like @Philosoraptor said, I'm going from 1998 my memories of it. I beat the game on Christmas morning that year which was memorable as well. I haven't played any of the remakes either to see if my opinion would change now, but I thought it was an amazing game back then.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Bearcat-Doug

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

7 minutes ago, Philosoraptor said:

I haven't played or beat this game since the year it came out.

 

1 minute ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I'm from 1998 my memories of it.

 

Correct this behavior at once gentlemen.

10/10. In my top 10 games of all time. Played through at least one every 3-4 years. Took Zelda from being an amazing game series to absolutely legendary. The best game on the N64. Absolutely 10/10.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Just now, CodysGameRoom said:

 

 

Correct this behavior at once gentlemen.

10/10. In my top 10 games of all time. Played through at least one every 3-4 years. Took Zelda from being an amazing game series to absolutely legendary. The best game on the N64. Absolutely 10/10.

I've been meaning to play Link to the Past again too. I'm slacking.

[mbd39 | 2,029]

6/10

I got bored and quit long before beating it.

On the other hand I've played through A Link to the Past many times.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

I remember thinking it was great when I first played it. I have recently (this year) played through it again with my 6 year old daughter, I still think it’s great and so does my daughter. Great game.

[phart010 | 1,708]

I remember it being really exciting and fun when we first played it (Christmas morning). Probably overplayed it because it’s not really interesting anymore.

Never really had the urge to play the Master Quest. If it were available from the start, could have used the excitement momentum to get through it. But by the time Master Quest became available, I was already done playing Ocarina of Time. Maybe if they reskinned some of the textures it would have been more persuasive 

Personally, I prefer Majoras Mask

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by phart010

[Nintegageo | 582]

9. Though really 9.5. My main gripe with it is the boots changing, I think they coulda improved that. I think they did with the 3DS though not sure.

[OptOut | 8,892]

10/10

[B.A. | 1,139]

I had it pre-ordered and bought it the day it came out.  I completed it then but didn't really care for it. The few times I have tried to play though it since to see if I can find what I'm missing since it gets so much praise, I quickly lost interest.  Does nothing for me.  

[JamesRobot | 5,834]

Probably was a 9 at some point, but honestly it's a once in a while game for me.  I generously give it a 7 and that feels about right.  It's a very good game.

[Brickman | 4,014]

10/10. One of my favourite games of all time.

We’re going to get some edgy hipsters in here giving it something like a 2. Just ignore them, they don’t know what they’re talking about.

If you haven’t played it in a while the 3DS upgrade was really good.

I’m personally not one of those people that tries to compare MM vs. OoT. They’re both 10 in my book

[RH | 4,970]

9 of 10, but I'm another 9.5 with this one.

You guys are being soft, though.  This game is 1,000x better than Majora's Mask.  I can't get into it and I don't see the appeal.

(Shots fired!)

[Brickman | 4,014]

4 minutes ago, RH said:

9 of 10, but I'm another 9.5 with this one.

You guys are being soft, though.  This game is 1,000x better than Majora's Mask.  I can't get into it and I don't see the appeal.

(Shots fired!)

When MM was released I also couldn’t get into it either.

I gave it another go on the 3DS and loved it.

It feels like an extension of OoT because they re used a lot of assets and has an interesting concept with the three days thing. 

[Makar | 1,946]

Gave it a 9 only because there are other zelda games I enjoy more like link to the past and wind waker. Botw and oracle of seasons, oracle of ages and links awakening may compete with it too but could be 9s as well. 

[Makar | 1,946]

27 minutes ago, RH said:

9 of 10, but I'm another 9.5 with this one.

You guys are being soft, though.  This game is 1,000x better than Majora's Mask.  I can't get into it and I don't see the appeal.

(Shots fired!)

I agree with you. The backtracking and time limit became annoying after a bit and I was always bummed most of the masks didn’t do anything significant. 

[Philosoraptor | 468]

3 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I've been meaning to play Link to the Past again too. I'm slacking.

Hey, at least you've played it! I've had the cart for nearly 10 years but I still haven't. 

[elprincipe | 142]

I've beaten it but I did quit and come back to it later, despite getting it on release. It seemed a huge step down from LTTP and I still hold that view. The gameplay is in most ways inferior and it was sad going around mostly empty areas like the central field. I loved exploring the map in LTTP and it wasn't nearly as fun in OOT. Still a good game but also clearly surpassed by its successors. 6/10

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, Philosoraptor said:

Hey, at least you've played it! I've had the cart for nearly 10 years but I still haven't. 

Yeah, that's just wrong.

[twiztor | 855]

i also had it preordered and bought it on release day. was obsessed with it back then. i'm talking about dreaming of the game. sitting in class jotting down ideas for how to solve puzzles or weird stuff to try. if i had a free second, i was immersing myself in this game. loved every second. that is, until i completed it.

now, i'm terrified to ever play this again, as there's basically 0% chance that it will live up to my nostalgic warm fuzzies. so it will forever remain a perfect game, just one i won't allow myself to ever pop in again.

10/10.

 

p.s. not really a fan of Majora's Mask.

[cj_robot | 546]

Yeah, I could never get into this one. Have tried a few times, but never got much farther than the first dungeon before I usually get bored and lose interest. I'm not sure what it is, because ALTTP had me hooked from beginning to end, but none of the 3D Zelda games have ever given me that feeling.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

Eh an 8, simple as that.  In good conscience then and now I can not overlook problems the game has, corners that got cut, and odd design choices that made it less fun than it ended up being.  Not saying it wasn't fun, but it got grating at points.  It still bothers me that fanboy trolls loom over this ones nintendo bj happy press of the era ranking it as the #1 game of all time, kind of a real kick in the teeth to superior titles as it's hardly flawless.

The story is fantastic with the time shifting, it just works well with a nicely crafted land that opens up in the most unsuspecting of places. The area designs are largely quite good, the bosses are excellent, the music is great too.  A lot of thought went into how bad early 3D control, camera and angles work creatively making up the z-lock on system.  That made the game a chore for challenge, not a chore for fighting the garbage game engine, and so well done other games used it.  Some to great effect like Indiana Jones which took a windows painful to tolerate playing title into one you really could move around in smoothly.

The thing is in various places of the game it slips, good long repetitively boring sparse areas or just backtrack hell.  Then there's the utterly dopey omission of no jump?!  Stupid as all get out, every 3D title since saw the error in that blunder, it makes the game toxic annoying in spaces where you could make the basic leap but the bad design won't do it.  And despite the fixes to the engine, it had some very horrible camera and camera/confusion points most famously the water dungeon...ugh.

Is it a great game?  Enough so yes, it is fantastic...ehhh...no if you're not a fanboy, and perfection... hell no, not even to its own franchise let alone gaming in general.  Ocarina to Time is to N64 as Final Fantasy VII is to PS1 -- fanboy fodder, millions of loaded trolls willing to die on a cross preaching the excellence and perfection that both aren't there who go to such lengths to gang up and troll dumb polls for years, decades since, famously like the game/character battles gamefaqs has.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,586]

@Tanooki You've got me curious... have you given any game a 10 yet?  Or have I managed to neglect all of your favorites?

Serious question.  You're very passionate, and I'm curious as to what games do tick all of your boxes.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

2 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

@Tanooki You've got me curious... have you given any game a 10 yet?  Or have I managed to neglect all of your favorites?

Serious question.  You're very passionate, and I'm curious as to what games do tick all of your boxes.

Honestly, I'm not sure.  Long ago when I worked in game media, and before when I did it for sport in college and ran a site, handing out 10s was like finding a unicorn almost.  To me a 10 is perfection or just a hair off of it, nothing is perfect.  I tended to use a half point scale so I'd be more likely to hand out a 9 or a 9.5 on something I saw little to nothing wrong with.

To get a perfect would be hard to explain I don't really have some checklist.  I'd have to enjoy if present enough to matter the story.  The gameplay would have to both physically for the hands be tight, but also the internal mechanics of the game shouldn't make you ever ever feel like you're fighting against the controls or camera as that's counter intuitive, and not confusing either. Audio and visual just has to really fit what is going on with the game, blend well, not feel out of place, and special love could be given to some amazing attention to detail on either in some respect.  With that an old game like Pac-Man could be a 10 for the time as much as a game like Breath of the Wild could be a 10 too for its visuals, comes down to intent, limits, perspective, expectations.  Game length would likely never factor in in general, unless it was made so long it can lose interest or so short that you feel like what was sought to be done really wasn't to expectation.  The other point would be challenge, kind of tricky, depends what someone is shooting for because sometimes easy is perfect, and sometimes sadist is too so something like Duck Tales could get high marks on challenge as could Super Ghouls n Ghosts, so it comes down to how and why that challenge is there and if it succeeded in a good way presenting it.  Cheap deaths, shitty controls, bad enemy placement, stupid leaps of faith, that would bury a challenge score.