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[Ein Bear]

I feel like a lot of the enjoyment of Majora's Mask comes from the fact that Ocarina of Time was such an incredible game to begin with, and the freshness of them going in such a different direction with the sequel.

For as much as I love MM, I can't call it better than Ocarina. You need the 'traditional' game to exist in the first place to put a 'non-traditional' twist on it.

 

[Yoshi]

I have read the op but I think it's a stupid experiment, thus, please have 2, 3, 5 and 11.

I don't think OoT is the best Zelda game, actually, it's rather low on my 3D Zelda list, ranging behind Skyward Sword, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess on spot 4. However all four of these games certainly are masterpieces I would not want to miss and OoT definitely is the most innovative of these four games. Skyward Sword, which heavily builds on top of OoT, is among the few select games I consider best of all time, so OoT at least contributed to what I consider the best game of all time.

 

[Greddleok]

I don't think it is possible to choose a "best game of all time" and a more interesting question is:

Should everyone play Ocarina of Time?

I think yes. It's a fantastic game, even by modern standards as it holds up very well. It highlights how well 2D can translate to 3D. It informed hundreds of game designers who are currently making games and set the standard for action/adventure games for years.

It's one of my favourite games of all time, but it also should be on the "Required play list" for anyone with more than a passing interest in video games.

 

[Ruud_Luiten]

It's not 60fps.... so it's a 7 max!

 

[hatchx]

I was amazed how well OOT held up when I replayed it on the 3DS. It's an incredible game, and one that I think in 1998 was certainly the best game of all time. Now, that's highly subjective and down to people's personal tastes and nostalgia.

I think Metroid Prime is the best game of all time.

 

[Jonneh3003]

It's still great, I'm not saying otherwise. At the time it was mindblowing, wholly original and creative with its puzzles and dungeon design and everything you mentioned. Technically it's been surpassed obviously by now, and it's flaws are much more apparent now too (performance being one that you mentioned).

Games like Super Metroid and Link to the Past hold up much better and I think have a better claim to best game of all time.

Obviously the title for best game of all time is subjective but I think Ocarina holds up magnificently, the world is small enough to make traversal not feel like a chore but large enough to justify Epona. When you first enter Hyrule Field you make your way to Hyrule Castle only for the gate to close meters from you and you have to spend the night fighting monsters (granted you didn't run backwards or roll like crazy). There are so many memorable moments and perfect design choices. Breaking out of Lon Lon Ranch with Epona, walking out of the Temple of Time 7 years later, exploring the eery depths of the well.

I respect those who say personally to them another game deserves the title but the Ocarina of Time hate that's been going around for the past couple of years is crazy to me. I play it multiple times every year and fall in love with it every single time.

To actually be relevant to who I'm quoting, to me it holds up. Went on a bit of a tandem.

 

[Vow of Silence]

I'm only 7 should I play this game is it good?

 

[PrinnyBomb]

I have it 7th in my top 10

 

[jdstorm]

Its a great game, the story is timeless. But mechanically it feels the efects of being an early 3D era game pretty badly.

I still say its the best game ever if asked on the spot. However it has been surpassed mechanically for a long time.

 

[Jonneh3003]

Its a great game, the story is timeless. But mechanically it feels the efects of being an early 3D era game pretty badly.

I still say its the best game ever if asked on the spot. However it has been surpassed mechanically for a long time.

Out of curiosity what mechanics feel old? I suppose the lack of a dedicated camera system but Z targeting provided a solid alternative imo.

 

[Ebisumaru]

In my opinion it is the game of all time. Now it's difficult to see through the eyes of those who played it on the original N64, but believe me, those who did it will never forget it. I was 7 at that time I think.

 

[n64coder]

That being said, the game does have some mechanical flaws, which egoraptor details here in an excellent analysis. Most of the fans who tout its greatness however do so more based off the memories and emotional feelings evoked from them during the game, which Really Freakin' Clever does a fantastic job of discussing. While perhaps not the best game of all time, it was and incredible game when it was released, and shaped the future of the zelda series and 3D gaming in general forever. None of this is actually serious, I'm running an experiment thread to see how many people read the OP before posting in a thread.

I had to parse this block at least 7 times to realize that these reviewers don't exist. I kept looking for their posts in this thread. I agree that this game was very innovative and is one of my favorite Zelda games.

 

[Jonneh3003]

In my opinion it is the game of all time. Now it's difficult to see through the eyes of those who played it on the original N64, but believe me, those who did it will never forget it. I was 7 at that time I think.

I really don't think it matters when you play a game, I've played hundreds of 80s and 90s games in the last few years and so many of them surpass games that are released today. I believe most of Ocarina's iconic moments will still wow people playing it for the very first time. I played it about 7-8 years after its release and it was the best game I'd ever touched. It still is.

 

[sbkodama]

I never bothered to finish it at release or after, a classic for some things it brought to gaming but not a "best" to me.

 

[Bill S. Preston. Esq.]

Played it when I was 7. Best game ever (along with TLOU)

 

[SmokedMeat]

I don't have a greatest of all time game. I've played hundreds of incredible games in my lifetime and could never pick just one as being above the others.

Ocarina was pretty awesome in its day. Since that time other games have come along and done things better. Even among Zeldas I'd say I enjoyed Wind Waker more.

 

[mikeGFG]

It wasn't even the best game in it's release year..

 

[Jonneh3003]

I'm either blinded by my own judgement or I just don't like Egoraptor but I found his video pretentious and one sided, if his video was a post on a forum I think most people would ignore it but in a video with a linear channel of communication he can be far more convincing. Humbly state your views and use cartoon snippets to entertain, I see why people followed his views but it's completely changed the general consensus of the game which begs the question, why? Why when a famous YouTube figure speaks his views to we realise "oh whoops he's right I don't like this game". I also disagree with nearly every point he brings up.

Also OP your experiment worked, I only saw the Egoraptor part because of the commenter a couple of posts up. I read most of the OP before posting though if that counts aha.

 

[Atomski]

A lot of people would say Final Fantasy 7.

I for one think those people are crazy.

But then again I also think OoT has its issues. I never see people complain about it but the final boss really left a sour taste on my tongue.. I beat him on the second try. It felt so easy and unsatisfying.

You think after the third reflect he would have been like OK this isn't working.

 

[TannerDemoz]

Nostalgia plays a huge part, probably the biggest, in determining what many people will call the greatest game of all time. For me it is OOT

 

[hemo memo]

It's no Majora's Mask.

This. It's is timeless.

 

[Jonneh3003]

I for one think those people are crazy.

But then again I also think OoT has its issues. I never see people complain about it but the final boss really left a sour taste on my tongue.. I beat him on the second try. It felt so easy and unsatisfying.

You think after the third reflect he would have been like OK this isn't working.

I use to think those people were crazy too. Played FF7 years back and didn't even make it out of Midgar. Tried it again in like 2014 and realised how stupid I was to stop playing so early. FF7 is the best RPG I've ever played. I think the opening hours are bit slow and constrained but everything else is perfect and the game wouldn't be the same without the first slow couple of hours.

 

[Semantic Continuum]

It's a solid 5/7 in my book.

Spoiler

OoT 3DS is better

 

[Firemind]

I can still watch and enjoy 100% OoT speedruns. Dampe trolling never not cracks me up. Wind Waker just bores me to death and nobody speedruns Twilight Shitness.

OoT, like Mario 64, will always hold up. Bless Miyamoto. (._.)7

 

[manueldelalas]

Parts of it haven't aged well, but it's still an incredible game. The pacing is excellent. Works building too, Zelda games today are still based around this one.

I remember one summer playing this 7 or 8 hours every day I could.

I loved the freedom it gave you, and I'm glad BOW is going in that experimental direction and we end all this guided games that came after it.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

So it was the fifth Zelda game I played (first was 2 which I played when it came out, went back for 1 later, played 3/4 when they came out on the SNES/GB)

I think OOT is a great game, but it probably wouldn't even make my top 20. I think the 3D zelda games are a lot of fun, but they've never captured my attention like the best of the 2d ones have.

Only zelda games for me that could make the top 20 would be 2/3/4 & ALBW.

Best game of all time candidates for me would be games like Super Metroid, Shining Force 3 s1-3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis and the SNES Prince of Persia.

 

[DragonElm]

Never played Zelda games....well I did but I was a wee lass so don't remember much.

Just got a new 3ds, which game do I start with?

 

[Dusk Golem]

Nostalgia is a powerful thing that influences many people's favorites.

 

[BossDarkseid]

It's one of the best, for sure.

But not the best. I mean opinions etc and how are you meant to gauge what is the best but I don't think it really fulfills all of its promises. It has aged pretty well though, although I suspect that's partly because of how influential it is on action adventure video games in 3D spaces.

 

[Notor!ousG]

Not a single game can be the greatest game of all time.
It's a very subjective matter that every person will look at it from a different angle.

These kind of competitions need to stop.

 

[redcrayon]

For me the best thing about OOT was creative dungeon design moving away from the square rooms, bombs, pushing blocks etc of Zelda, LTTP and LA. Not to say it doesn't have any of those elements, but the hub rooms, dungeons being stuff other than a collection of square chambers, puzzles that require different thinking than geometry and shortcuts that loop back on themselves have been a feature ever since.

 

[JimJamJones]

Absolutely. It's a game that most modern games just don't come close to.

A lot of people would say Final Fantasy 7.

A lot of people would be wrong.

 

[Yoshi]

I really think this "timing" argument is rather weak. Granted, some people may have been blinded by the graphics or impressed by the freshness of some things that were copied often afterwards. But what makes OoT so great is its well executed level design, excellent pacing (I'd say: Best pacing in the 3D series, and most likely best in the whole AA and RPG genre), the right size for the world to make it worthy of exploring yet not tedious to travel (as opposed to modern open world games...) and the spot-on mechanics. Even the dual world aspect is really well executed with the right balance of familiar and fresh / exciting between the two worlds. Going away from what is really important (Gameplay) to secondary aspects, the atmosphere, music and, yes, visuals, are well composed and efficiently transported.

OoT is a masterpiece that definitely can stand on its own independent of the timing of playing it. Whether you consider it the best of all time, that of course is highly subjective, and as I already said, I personally like three other 3D Zeldas more (Definitely not Wind Waker though, that one is the black sheep of the 3D Zeldas. Looks great, has garbage pacing with a boring, empty and vast overworld and too simple dungeon design though).

 

[Dr. Buni]

It isn't even the best Zelda, let alone best game of all time lol

A lot of people would be wrong.

Including yourself.

 

[Yoshi]

Never played Zelda games....well I did but I was a wee lass so don't remember much.

Just got a new 3ds, which game do I start with?

On 3DS? Ocarina. Majora's Mask is better in some ways, but it is also very complicated and can be off putting. It's better to first get accustomed to the general gameplay. A Link Between Worlds is a great game as well, but I would play ALttP before (which is on SNES Virtual Console for New 3DS though, right?).

 

[BGBW]

I'd say the 3DS version's metacritic score of 94 is more apt today than the 99 score which is approaching 20 years old at this point. The fact it's still over 90 does show that it has aged well, but the hype of being the first ever 3D Zelda has settled at this point.

I played OoT proper on the Wind Waker bonus disc, before then I'd only played it at friend's so never really got far, and I was rather down on it. For years I considered it overhyped, but in the back of my mind I was cautious that I had perhaps let the hype cloud my opinion. Come the 3DS release I decided to go in with an open mind and just enjoy it for what it is and as a result I had a much better time. I wasn't rushing through just to finish it and got more from it.

What OoT has over the other 3D Zeldas is that it does little wrong. It's the competent Zelda. The other titles excel in other areas (MM for story, WW for exploration, TP for dungeons, SS for gameplay for some general examples) but are hampered in others. OoT may never reach those heights, but at the same time there's very little really wrong with it. It's a good all around package and that's why I think its held up.

Best game ever delves far too much into personal opinions, but OoT is indeed worthy of its praises and I say this as someone who for years almost hated on it.

oh and

egoraptor details here in an excellent analysis

HA HA
HA HA
HA HA HA

 

[Ultra Numb]

OoT has really suffered from that "so many people say its the best, that more people have started being more vocal that its not" over the years.

Obviously from a certain stand-point its far from the best but in terms of legacy and the package overall for the time, I do think it has to be at least top 3.

 

[Neff]

Even as a massive Zelda fan, I probably wouldn't even put it in my top 20.

It's an extremely good game, though.

 

[HolyJonte]

It's second best after ff7.

 

[Nags]

Always bored the shit out of me. Tried playing through it about 5 times and always lost interest. Truly the most overrated game.

 

[DistortionOfReality]

This must be like the 7th thread this year to come out about Ocarina, but I don't even care. Hands down still my favorite game of all time, and yes I'm fully aware how much of that is probably down to nostalgia. Great thread.

 

[zoukka]

Majora's Mask is deeper and more rewarding, but also way more difficult to get into. Ocarina is a better experience for most people, especially for people with no prior experience in Zelda games or 3D action games in general.

OoT truly is GOAT.

 

[Machina]

This thread proves that GAF can furiously debate pretty much anything.

 

[Ekid]

It's definitely a serious contender for the title. But I think Super Mario 64 take the crown, because it is more than one of the greatest game ever made, it represented the most important evolution in gaming, the passage from 2D to 3D.
It was so much ahead of his time, I don't think another game come close to it.

 

[jblank83]

When OoT 3D came out, I played the game for the first time in 10 years.

It was as great as I remembered.

More than that, it was nice to see all the people who played it for the first time and "got it", who loved it. Imo, it really is one of the best ever.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Post #7 nails it.

 

[Hutchie]

I would say its up there. I just sad i only played through once.

 

[Scrawnton]

Ocarina of Time isn't even a top five Zelda game.

 

[kraspkibble]

definitely not the best game of all time. might have been when it released but it has been 18 years.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Chrono trigger.
Fight me