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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time REALLY the best game of all time

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televator

Member
It's one of the games that became the formative basis for modern 3D console games. It's elegant and simple. A very pure experience worth visiting for any console game players with an apreciation for gaming history.

I personally don't have a "greatest game of all time" because there are so many great games after so many generations, but OoT is definitely amongst the greatest.
 
Do Ocarina and FF7 get so much hate for being popular? I don't get it, both of them are brilliant games that are worthy of being praised as some of the best of all time.
 

Indigo Rush

Neo Member
People still think this?

It's certainly the biggest groundbreaker of its generation, but it's far from the best game of all time. It's incredibly easy to argue other better games (let alone other Zelda games) before and after OoT's initial impact. Besides which, we talking 3D adventure games, or just games in general?
 

Forkball

Member
Do Ocarina and FF7 get so much hate for being popular? I don't get it, both of them are brilliant games that are worthy of being praised as some of the best of all time.
Many lives were lost in the great Link vs. Cloud GameFAQs battles over the years.

OoT is my personal favorite Zelda and in my top 10 games of all time.
 
I thought it was Undertale. : p

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A Link To The Past and MM are both better.

Chrono Trigger is the best jrpg ever made. FF7 has nothing on it.

OoT is still a fantastic game, but not the goat.
 
Do Ocarina and FF7 get so much hate for being popular? I don't get it, both of them are brilliant games that are worthy of being praised as some of the best of all time.

All popular games are going to get blowback as many people get sick of others telling them how great x is and flail out in annoyance.

I'm not convinced on FF7 as one of the best of all time though, as the story sucks. What is great about it is the materia system and some of the cool set pieces, like the fort condor battle and the honeybee inn prep, as well as the cool secrets the game is packed with. It would make top 100 I guess.

OOT is probably a top 50 game, though I wouldn't place it in my top 20 for sure.
 

The_Lump

Banned
Judging what is "Best" would require us to set a complex set of metrics with which the gauge games.

Since that doesn't (and never will) exist, it's purely subjective.

If we're simply going by the metric of "Which game has won the most 'Best Game of All Time' polls" then I bet OoT is right up there. Virtually every multiplatform magazine had it and Half Life at the top of their lists for much for the 90's early 2000's.

My own opinion is that, ignoring how it aged (since that really shouldn't matter in art), it was a truly groundbreaking game that set the gold standard for console gaming for the next decade. It turned Zelda into one of the most hotly anticipated series in gaming and it defined gaming for a generation. It's my favourite game ever, and it's the game I have played the most.

People still think this?

It's certainly the biggest groundbreaker of its generation, but it's far from the best game of all time. It's incredibly easy to argue other better games (let alone other Zelda games) before and after OoT's initial impact. Besides which, we talking 3D adventure games, or just games in general?

I don't think you get the concept of 'opinion' ;)
 

cireza

Member
I find those games way too boring and the pacing too slow. For me, the best Zelda games are the first two games.

It pretty much became casual oriented walk in parks afterwards.
 

zoukka

Member
I find those games way too boring and the pacing too slow. For me, the best Zelda games are the first two games.

It pretty much became casual oriented walk in parks afterwards.

lol

OoT is pretty challening compared to modern AAA games.
 
I don't think A Link To The Past has been topped yet though.

ALBW & LA both come very close.

For ALBW, I think if it had a totally new map, it would have been better, but the similarities worked against it - the whole 2D mural mechanic was a stroke of genius for puzzles, and the fighting's better then ALTTP imo.

For LA, if it was just a bit bigger and didn't need constant button remapping, I think it would be better.

Zelda 2 is amazing but a totally different kind of game.
 

EVO

Member
I'm sure it was amazing back in the day, but like most games from that era the technical aspects haven't aged well at all. I think the best game of all time should look and feel as good today as it did at the time of release.
 

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Best game ever? Kinda hard to say, what with Super Mario Galaxy existing, but it (along with LttP) is definitely my favorite Zelda, by far.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
People still think this?

It's certainly the biggest groundbreaker of its generation, but it's far from the best game of all time. It's incredibly easy to argue other better games (let alone other Zelda games) before and after OoT's initial impact. Besides which, we talking 3D adventure games, or just games in general?

What? This thread is not about Super Mario 64, you know...
 
Even as someone that was there for the zeitgeist that was the original release of OoT I never really understood the praise the game received. It wasn't until WW that the 3D Zelda formula really grabbed me and that game remains to this day my fave 3D Zelda. I can surely recognize OoT as a solid game, but in my mind it'll never be the masterpiece many claim it to be.
 

ugly

Member
I think it's a great game, my only gripe is the whole trope of "collect seven stones to progress" was and still is really played out.
 
It is an early 3d game , so it is debatable. Complexity took the back seat for a few years during that transition. In retrospect I prefer the ambition of MM nowadays.
 
Completed it for the first time recently on 3DS (I did start it a few times when it came out with a friend, but we were around about 7 at the time and never had the attention span to finish it) and it was still a wonderful experience. I'm not sure if it's the best game of all time, but it's certainly a timeless classic.
 
Yeah Chrono trigger is timeless while OoT has some elements that haven't aged well like the big empty Hyrule Field. Obviously in 97/98 when it was new that shit was mind blowing, now its just needlessly big and empty.

Yeah, that's a great way to put it. Everything that made Chrono Trigger stand out as a masterpiece back in 1994/95 still holds fast even today, while some of the elements that made OoT so legendary back in 1997/98 aren't as impressive today.

Chrono trigger.
Fight me

No need. Because you're right! <3
 

geardo

Member
Yup. It's the greatest of all time in my book. I played it when it came out. Weirdly enough, I wasn't sold on the first half of the game at the time. I got hopelessly stuck on the water temple and didn't play the game for 6 or 7 months. When I picked it up again, I finished the water temple without much trouble - turned out I missed some stupid switch somewhere. Isn't that how it always goes, lol? The game really clicked with me after that. I played it earlier this year and think that it still holds up pretty good too.
 

Mohasus

Member
I played the shit out of it on the N64, so when the 3DS remake came out I was like "ah, it probably won't be as good as it is in my head".
I was wrong, still wonderful, and even better when I played Master Quest for the first time.

I don't get the praise LttP receives, even though I loved ALBW.
 
I like it less than the games in the series that came before it, even at the time I felt like it was a lesser version of ALTTP but in 3D, and also think it' one of the lesser 3D Zelda's.
Still a great game though.
 

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
I'm sure we'll have people saying Galaxy has aged in about 10 years. People love to say things have aged.
Well I did play it again a few weeks a go and I will say I think (since I will need to replay those too in order to see if my memories of them hold up) the later three 3D Mario titles did improve upon it. It's a good game, but there are some niggles that have become more apparent when we have other similar games to compare it to.
 
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.
Pretty much found myself agreeing with this.

As others have said, it's a futile exercise to try and pinpoint the "best game of all time". It's highly subjective. Even if everyone had the exact same tastes in games, people still would have played different amounts of games in different orders, which will shape how you look at these titles. The most derivative game can be a masterpiece in the eyes of someone that lacks the perspective to recognise the lack of creativity or ambition for instance. My nephew things Angry Birds Epic is the best game ever made, and any other answer will be seen as ignorant to him.

I don't think A Link To The Past has been topped yet though.
Opinions and all, but from my point of view, I'd say it was topped almost immediately by Link's Awakening, and continued to be comfortably topped by every subsequent Zelda release since.

I associate aLttP with under-designed, puzzle-starved dungeons without too many noteworthy features. With items that are barely used, even in their featured dungeon. Barebones characterisation of mostly unmemorable NPCs without names, creating one of the most flavourless worlds in the series. Where most bosses were either sword-fights, or a drain on consumable resources without a means to refill them in battle.

A Link to the Past was a big step up from Zelda 1 and 2, but I can't help to group it with those first two games. It is a pre-Link's Awakening game, which I consider the start of the "modern" Zelda game. A lot of the franchise's foundation was laid on the Super Nintendo, but that's where I think its legacy ends for me. A Link Between Worlds pretty much improved on aLttP in every single aspect, most notably in terms of dungeon design.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and Majora's Mask are all better 3D Zelda's IMO. If we bring in 2D, than I'd say a Link to the Past is better.

Also I'd say Super Metroid puts it to shame on any day ending with y.

Ocarina of Time is a timeless classic, IMO it's far from the greatest fame ever made.
 
When they came out, I ranked Final Fantasy 7 higher but OoT is the one that I've replayed by far the most. If you include the Master Quest and 3D, I'm sure I've replayed the game like 7 times. I think I played FFVII like twice.
 
Still one of the games I'm personally fond of but can't argue it's the best because it does show it's age. Amazing game regardless and I game I return every few years. Was the game that got 3 of my nephews recently to become zelda fans so it's still got appeal.
Lttp and links awakening were the zelda games I was crazy about.
 
You could say it was one of the most influential games in history for sure, but "best"? As others have said, I don't even consider it the best Zelda of all time, let alone best game.
 

Yarbskoo

Member
Well it's certainly my favorite.

Followed closely GTAIV, SoulCalibur, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.

Also, what's with all the sevens? Did I accidentally stumble into a meme thread?
 
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