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[Shard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqKGl6exyyY

Boss Keys is an on-going research project to analyse the level design of the dungeons in The Legend of Zelda. This time, it's the turn of Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.

 

[Greatest Ever]

Always been meaning to play these. Which one to start with?

 

[ghostjoke]

His dungeon mapping system is awesome. I'd love to see a complete list of them from the start to see how they have evolved over time.

 

[3DShovel]

Oh man, can't wait to get home so I can watch. I have such fond memories with these games.

 

[Syril]

Always been meaning to play these. Which one to start with?

The whole gimmick is that after you finish one, you get a password to start the other one with that turns it into the sequel game, so you can play either one first. Seasons leans more towards action and has shoutouts to the original game, while Ages leans more towards puzzles and has shoutouts to the 3D games.

 

[Grenchel]

The whole gimmick is that after you finish one, you get a password to start the other one with that turns it into the sequel game, so you can play either one first. Seasons leans more towards action and has shoutouts to the original game, while Ages leans more towards puzzles and has shoutouts to the 3D games.

That's a really cool concept. I definitely need to check out these games.

 

[Luigiv]

Always been meaning to play these. Which one to start with?

They're both great but Ages is the better of the two. Use that to decide, I guess.

 

[Barrylocke]

I'm not a mega Zelda fan but I always loved these two, especially Ages. I'll definitely watch it when I can.

 

[gingerbeardman]

Game Makers Toolkit is my favourite YouTube channel.

 

[Astral Dog]

Some motherfuckers were hard to find.

 

[ieptbarakat]

Felt like he spent more time in the video talking about his new graph system rather than the game's dungeons.

 

[Memento Mori]

Always been meaning to play these. Which one to start with?

Seasons then Ages. Ages is the more difficult and better game so save it for last.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Would love to get some kind of refresh where the only thing they change is having the ability to have more than two items equipped at a time. Roc's Feather and Power Bracelet can be painful to have to constantly switch back and forth.

 

[2San]

Felt like he spent more time in the video talking about his new graph system rather than the game's dungeons.

Pretty much, was expecting some Oracle of Ages and Seasons goodness and I got graphs. Not sure what the main takeway is.

 

[DrkSage]

Always been meaning to play these. Which one to start with?

Oracle of seasons then move to Oracle of ages.

Oracle of ages is The better game

 

[Shard]

Pretty much, was expecting some Oracle of Ages and Seasons goodness and I got graphs. Not sure what the main takeway is.

I think he was really impressed with his new graph.

 

[NathanS]

Game Makers Toolkit is my favourite YouTube channel.

He took a massive hit in my opinion when he plagiarized from Patrick Holleman's: "Reverse Design: Super Mario World"

 

[DragonKnight]

Love these two games and the connectivity between em.

I second playing Seasons first and then transferring your save to Ages.

 

[OnFire331]

The Oracle games have the best dungeon design in the series. They've got complex layouts (but not overly so), they ramp up nicely in difficulty and they've got some really creative puzzles and ways to use items.

 

[Shard]

The Oracle games have the best dungeon design in the series. They've got complex layouts (but not overly so), they ramp up nicely in difficulty and they've got some really creative puzzles and ways to use items.

I wish Flagship has been able to go on and build the DS Zelda titles.

 

[Fallout Phoenix]

I prefer Seasons because it doesn't have that Goron dancing game that to this day I still can't do.

 

[Peltz]

They're both great but Ages is the better of the two. Use that to decide, I guess.

I preferred Seasons.

 

[Deleted member 465307]

Felt like he spent more time in the video talking about his new graph system rather than the game's dungeons.

Yeah, I appreciated the video a lot, but it didn't follow the previous videos' format. Past ones represented deep dives into the specific games, while this one felt like it was equally about how his video series is evolving. Personally, I quite enjoyed the episode, but I'd likely have titled it slightly differently to reflect the content.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I need to finish this, but I was pretty mad the last time I played it and found out what I needed to do to get to the next dungeon.

 

[Articalys]

For what it's worth, he did post a response to the comments about the focus of the video being too much on the graph system:

Hey all - thanks for the comments. Appreciate the feedback that i didn't really talk about the Oracle games in as much depth as other games. That's fair - i apologise and will make sure future episodes are more squarely focused on the specific games in the title.

just to explain where i'm coming from - this is literally a documentation of my ongoing understanding of how nintendo makes dungeons. so while it might seem like a review or a retrospective on the games (and i can only blame myself for setting it up like that), it's really about my research.

but hey - no reason it can't be both. so next episode you can be sure i'll go into a lot of depth on wind waker's dungeons. if i mention the shadow temple in that episode you can shoot me.

 

[aett]

Seasons is in my top three all-time Zelda games. I've beaten it numerous times. Ages... I start it each time I finish Seasons, but only bothered to finish it once.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Seasons is in my top three all-time Zelda games. I've beaten it numerous times. Ages... I start it each time I finish Seasons, but only bothered to finish it once.

What order do you recommend collecting the shapes to unlock the gate? I got like one or two on my last playthrough before I realized what they were for and now I have to backtrack to get the rest. I figure it could've been avoided by getting them as go. When do you usually collect each?

 

[OnFire331]

For what it's worth, he did post a response to the comments about the focus of the video being too much on the graph system:

So, he'll go more in-depth on the Zelda game with the worst dungeon design (at least of the 3D games).

 

[TetraGenesis]

Everyone saying Ages is better is really bumming me out. I only ever owned Seasons (and loved it as a kid) and never got the full experience after beating it by moving on to Ages. I had the strategy guide that included both so I was always taunted with the experience I was missing out on.

 

[Magicpaint]

Both are really great, but I prefer Seasons. Ages has more of a story focus, but Seasons was prettier and I preferred its concept. The dungeon design in both games are really fun.

 

[Shy]

Great episode.

Really looking forward to WW. As it's my favourite.

Game Makers Toolkit is my favourite YouTube channel.

It's god-tier.

 

[jackal27]

This show is so good. Can't wait to watch this in a bit.

The whole gimmick is that after you finish one, you get a password to start the other one with that turns it into the sequel game, so you can play either one first. Seasons leans more towards action and has shoutouts to the original game, while Ages leans more towards puzzles and has shoutouts to the 3D games.

Seasons is definitely the easier game so I always say to start with that. They're great. Except some of the music...

 

[SoundPulse]

Always been meaning to play these. Which one to start with?

Either, but Seasons is easier to breeze through.

 

[Yoshi]

Everyone saying Ages is better is really bumming me out. I only ever owned Seasons (and loved it as a kid) and never got the full experience after beating it by moving on to Ages. I had the strategy guide that included both so I was always taunted with the experience I was missing out on.

Well, they are basically independent games. Other than an additional boss and some sidequests you don't lose anything by playing the games separately from each other. I can recommend to play Ages now. It's available on Virtual Console if you don't feel like using a Game Boy system again. Otherwise, I'd recommend the GBA SP for that endeavour of course ^^.

 

[MAtgS]

They're both great but Ages is the better of the two. Use that to decide, I guess.

I feel the season changing was the more innovative gimmick between the 2 & am inclined to prefer that game.

PS Din is best Oracle.