Ocarina of Time Vs A Link to the Past

  • Which one do you prefer? 13

    1. A Link to the past (3) 23%
    2. Ocarina of Time (9) 69%
    3. Neither is that special for me. (1) 8%

    I know Erin's work back from Newgrounds but I think his sequelitis is of the stuff I enjoy the most. I particularly like this video because it dares to tear the "OoT is the best N64 aura" aura that seemed to permeate the Zelda discussion - Now MM seems to be the one being hailed as the Masterpiece.

    Anyway I really want to hear your opinions on Arin's opinions, haha.
    The video last around half an hour but brings excellent points even just from the game developing angle.

  • It's odd. I tend to disagree with egoraptor about pretty much everything. But his Sequelitis videos have always been *spot on* for me.

    I don't think OoT is a bad game, but I generally agree that it is deeply flawed and doesn't deserve to be on the pedestal that people place it on.

  • It's difficult for me to find any real flaws in A Link to the Past. I can come up with nitpicks, but it's close to being a perfect game from my perspective.

    Ocarina of Time interrupts your first attempt to open a door by forcing you to sit through an explanation of door opening by Navi. Navi in general is a pretty damning flaw of the game, often interrupting play at strange times and for no good reason. Then there's Kepora Gaebora who does the same thing, only longer, and with fuckin' annoying tricks to force you to listen to him over again if you weren't paying attention.

    Ocarina of Time is great, but its got a lot of problems.

  • Arin makes a lot of good points, it's crazy to know the dude had been writing that script for years. Personally I didn't play alttp and to be honest it really isn't as appealing to me as the newer 3D games.
    Like I don't really have a lot of counterarguments to things he said, but I don't understand how he had problem with bomb bowling.

    I'm not getting old, I'm killing myself before I hit my 30s

  • I think it is ALTTP, it is my first game. OoT has the praise but I think LTTP is more better than OoT.

    OoT is nor my second or third one, it is sixth, and the story was a bit of awesome but LTTP is better from my eyes.

    And it is with a lot of bugs too.

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  • OoT is better, just got more enjoyment out of the game than I did with Alttp. Probably because it was my first Zelda, so playing a top down Zelda after a 3D Zelda was an adjustment. Alttp is in my top five for sure, but it ain't solid gold for me.

    I'm curious, do you have any specific disagreement with reference to the video?

  • I never finished ALttP but I am familiar with the arguments of it being now balanced, lively and full of activities. There is also the similarities in plot. I think the impact is similar how for many TP's overworld felt emptier and duller in comparison.

    I grew worth OoT. I am blinded by nostalgia. However ALttP will always have my respect. It was a very important game. It was the one that unified the formula incorporating elements from the two past Zeldas, building upon them and adding its own elements. For most of us what we expect from a Zelda game to be a Zelda game have to do with this. Even if we haven't played it because almost every Zelda after it never went too far from aLttP format.

    I don't understand how he had problem with bomb bowling.

    I thought bomb bowling was actually something he saw as an improvement from Ocarina. Despite the jabs at SS if I recall correctly he likes the trajectory blue line as worth OoT it was chaotic to get the bomb land where you wanted.

  • Oh sweet Jesus, Egorapter. Ugh... I gotta fix this shit. A Link to the Past was never given enough credit for the amount of effort and significant parts of the game in which would be extremely cinematic for the time period, especially against it’s NES ancestors The Legend of Zelda and Link’s Adventure. This being said, the opening scenes and now cliché elements of the games content was something that everyone enjoyed back in that time period. Those who don’t understand this, that this time period (1991) hasn’t seen something unique or interesting at this time, will never understand it.


    The Link to the Past and now it’s new title that made it even better A Link Between Worlds, using a new element, the Wall Phasing. But, the entire plot of A Link to the Past was extremely laxxed, but well though out. The Light World and the Dark World. This dual world dynamic appears in a number of other Zelda titles, but Majora's Mask's unique brand of time traveling is the only variation that really explores the idea as carefullly as Link to the Past. The connection comes up constantly, whether draining the water level on one side of the world to flood another, or finding a way to reach a seemingly unreachable heart piece. It has the effect of making a large world seem even larger, as everything becomes significantly more complicated once Link steps onto Ganon's golden pyramid for the first time.

    The Dark World is also notable for hosting some of the toughest (and most interesting) dungeons in the entire game. Beating Thieves' Town famously involves rescuing a maiden and trying to lead her out of the dungeon, only to find that the light transforms her into the boss -- a sort of inverse Ico, if you will. Skull Woods, meanwhile, has Mothula, which must be defeated while riding a conveyor belt surrounded by spikes, resulting in more than a few sudden deaths.

    The puzzles could also be incredibly complicated -- moreso even than even than Ocarina of Time's infamous Water Temple. All of them typically feature multiple floors that end up interacting with each other in one or another, and later dungeons like Turtle Rock and the Ice Palace seriously tax the magic meter by requiring the use of items like the Fire Rod. Most of the dungeons seem more interested in providing raw challenge than being a unique setpiece; for better or worse, it feels more like a videogame than some of the later installments.


    BUTTTT!


    Lets not get ahead of ourselves, as Ocarina of Time also has many good elements that this game even lacks, so lets go ahead and explain why Ocarina of Time is the better title.

    Ocarina of Time may or may not have the best overall dungeons in the series, but there are two aspects of the dungeons themselves that do work out a lot better than all the other games in the series. For starters, they are extremely varied; it’s really hard to confuse any one dungeon as being the same place because they all give off their own unique vibe. Not many games can lay claim to that fact, so it’s definitely something worth noting.

    Beyond that, the dungeons feel like a natural extension of the world. Too often in Zelda titles a dungeon or two feel almost forced – like they don’t make sense geographically or within the world itself. Why would this area exist for any other purpose but gameplay? Ocarina of Time doesn’t feel that way, as each dungeon feels like it belongs in the world, even when the game isn’t taking place. The dungeon in Death Mountain feels like it should be there even when nothing is going on to drive Link to it. The forest temple? Same thing. In fact I am hard pressed to think of any dungeon in the game that truly feels like it’s out of place.

    Growing up as a kid, knowing only about 3D games, gave me a completely different approach to 2D games such as Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. But for those, who understand that games are about becoming emerged into a story and becoming someone you're not, fighting for something that does seem real... it brings a child to life. Imagination is what makes us happy. Miyamoto crafted Zelda by exploring his neighborhood as a child, why can't we do the same and say that both games are equally good.