Why Ocarina of Time sucks

[Drake]

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time for the N64 reached high critical acclaim during its release. It received a lot of perfect scores from different game critics. I wasn't impressed by the game though. Here's why I think it sucks:

*boring story - it doesn't have a very engaging story to tell
*bad cutscenes - compare it to the likes of Final Fantasy and you'll see what I mean
*lame dialogue - it seems like the dialogue is aimed to kids alone
*bland environments - I didn't feel a sense of wonder as I was journeying though my through the world of Hyrule

 

[Lienx]

I can't really say I agree with you.. as a long time Zelda fan I thought it was a great game. I loved the different things you could do, I loved how challenging it was and I thought the easter eggs and story were actually pretty good. Not only that but the music was fantastic and the controls were easy and engaging.

as far as dialogue aimed at kids.. it's a Nintendo game.. they generally market to the younger generations.. but that doesn't make a game any less enjoyable imo.

 

[TheGrey]

Yeah... not agreeing with you either. It might be dated in some ways, but I think a lot of the environments are pretty awesome. Especially some of the dark areas you visit as adult Link, and the bottom of the well you visit as kid Link. Some legitimately creepy moments to be had there. 

I think the cut scenes were due to hardware limitations... so it's not really fair to compare it to Final Fantasy (I assume you mean 7?), a game that took up 3 discs. Or four discs, if you're referring to 8 or 9.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

I disagree with you as well, I loved the game and still do. I still remember being in shock from how awesome the game looked and at the time the game was pretty much at it's best.

 

[Ridge]

I must respectfully dissagree as well. The game was goddamn ground breaking when it came out, even if Mystical Ninja did some of the same stuff a little earlier. The game's puzzles still hold up to this day.

Couldn't help but notice you brought up Final Fantasy. Are you just restarting an arguement you (I'm assuming a proud PS1 owner) and a nintendo fan had on the playground like 15 years ago?

 

[thejamal]

Ouch, this one hurts. Ocarina of Time was probably THE game that got me into playing video games in the first place. I'm sure many others feel the same way. I just disagree with a lot of your points about the game though. It's still one of the best game play games to this game. There's actual content in the game that takes time to get through, unlike a lot of games today where you can beat the campaign in one sitting. 

You can't really say anything about graphics or the landscape either, as that's simply all that was accessible for gaming at the time. As for pure story, game play, replay ability, and fun, very few games are better than Ocarina of Time. 

 

[Baz]

Going to continue the trend here and disagree. Ocarina of Time had everything a gamer needed, and it is still a game you can go back and play again and again. Also you can't compare cutscenes to other games as this game had it's own target audience so was tailored to that.

A sign of a true quality game is how much it sells for these days, and when a used version of the game sells for around £20 and a sealed version of the game is in the region of £500 you can tell it's quality.

 

[gamerboy]

I am not agreeing at all. Honestly I think that the legend of Zelda Orcarina of time has to be one of the best Zelda games that I have ever played and I must say that I had lots of fun playing it and the story line is far from being boring to me.

 

[Enrothe]

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time for the N64 reached high critical acclaim during its release. It received a lot of perfect scores from different game critics. I wasn't impressed by the game though. Here's why I think it sucks:

*boring story - it doesn't have a very engaging story to tell
*bad cutscenes - compare it to the likes of Final Fantasy and you'll see what I mean
*lame dialogue - it seems like the dialogue is aimed to kids alone
*bland environments - I didn't feel a sense of wonder as I was journeying though my through the world of Hyrule

I'm a fan of jRPGs and I can see your point, some of my favorite games are ones that put focus on an engaging story with interesting dialogue, which zelda doesn't do. But people have different tastes, it wouldn't make sense for game makers to make people like you and me their target audience with every game they make.

So that's not what Zelda 64 tries to be. Zelda is usually labeled as an Action RPG, but neither the action or the RPG parts are it's strong suits. I'd call it an adventure puzzle game with a little bit of story added on, and in that context it's an excellent game. Solving the puzzles in zelda dungeons is fun, and going around exploring discovering what's there in the world is fun too. And the story, while lacking depth, serves it's purpose in tying the different aspects of the game together and giving you a reason for going around doing the things you're meant to do. Plus it has excellent music, and for me at least that increases the games ranking by quite a few notches.

If you want a Zelda game from that era with a good story story I'd like to point you towards Majora's Mask instead, which has a much more interesting and engaging story and a lot more depth, possibly the deepest of any Zelda game.

 

[VTEC 9/12/44]

I once had a version for the N64 I got used that had most of the game finished on one saved game. I loved just wandering around as I pleased and playing around with all the stuff. I didn't care much about the quests. It was fun finding out just how many places I could call Epona from, swimming underwater with the Zoras, trying to compose my own ocarina tunes and everything.

 

[rmiyashi]

You gotta realize that this game wasn't trying to be Final Fantasy 7 (since that was your comparison). Nintendo wanted to stay true to a long-standing franchise, just as Sony wanted to stick with themes in Final Fantasy. However, Nintendo knew that this was a game that had to reach to children and adults alike, whereas Final Fantasy 7's direction had much more mature themes and had a very dark story. Final Fantasy also had the benefit of a 45 Million dollar budget, something unheard of for a video game back then. Meanwhile Ocarina of time shared mechanics with Super Mario 64, and some of these mechanics were ultimately used in Super Mario 64 instead since it was released first (Source: Nintendo Power). 

I love both of these games a ton and they absolutely accomplished what they were made to do, but at the same time, it's important to recognize developmental constraints/assets for both. 

 

[Conker]

If your intention was to generate a lot of replies, you succeeded! ^_^

Most people hold OOT dear, and with good reason. The music and characters are iconic and the gameplay is a great mix of action, puzzling and childhood inducing moments. All the elements you mentioned: story, cutscenes, dialogue and environments are crafted not to woo the payer by pure impact but by subtlety, in ways that impact you without knowing. This is why I'm still unable to properly point what made Ocarina Of Time stick with me after all these years. I just like it, dearly.

 

[Fauxpeux]

*boring story - it doesn't have a very engaging story to tell

It's not the best story of the Zelda series, but I still think it's a very rich story with complex characters and an interesting conceit. 

*bad cutscenes - compare it to the likes of Final Fantasy and you'll see what I mean

This is an apple and oranges argument. The N64 just couldn't handle FMV as well as the Playstation did (for the obvious reason that one's cartridge based and one's CD based). For what the developers were working with, I think they did a really good job with on-the-fly cut scenes. 

*lame dialogue - it seems like the dialogue is aimed to kids alone

Well, ostensibly, it is. The game is meant for a wider audience. It isn't meant to be "edgy" or "mature." It's not laughably bad, but I think picking at the dialogue in an N64 game is a little reaching. 

*bland environments - I didn't feel a sense of wonder as I was journeying though my through the world of Hyrule 

You might have a point with this. The areas can be a bit graphically bland. I happen to like them, but I can see where other people might just be bored with them. 

I notice you left out the important aspects, though. How is the gameplay? What did you think of the button layout? Was it too easy? Too difficult? Was it at least fun? 

I hate pulling this argument, but I think it comes down to a "right place, right time" sort of situation. If you had originally played it around the time of its release, you'd realize that there just wasn't anything like it. At least not on the N64. Hell, the N64 should not have even been able to handle a game like that. But, if you've first played it within the past ten years, I can see why you'd get bored. There has definitely been better games released since then. OoT isn't the best game in the world, it's not even the best game in the Zelda series, but it's still a pretty good game.

 

[Brian3265]

I see some of your points and I guess I can concur a bit. But I personally thought Ocarina of Time was a fabulous game especially for its time. The story could have been better yes, but I thought the gameplay pretty much made up for what the story itself lacked. It was an N64 game so it couldn't be astoninshing as far as graphics and cutscences, but I do believe that the game earned those perfect scores and high ratings for a reason.