I recently rewatched Egorapter’s (Arin Hanson) Sequelitis
episode on A Link to the Past Vs. Ocarina of time. For those of you not
familiar with it he makes some pretty good arguments about the flaws in OOT and
why LTTP is superior. He has a good eye for design elements.
That said he is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Arin’s argument centers around game play and exploration
elements, present in LTTP but downgraded in Ocarina. He argues that
cinematics were used as a substitute for compelling game mechanics and that
waiting and time consuming tasks were used as a substitute for exploration and
difficulty. In the original Zelda you’re given an open world to explore with
little to no hand holding. Link to the Past cut down on free exploration but
still had a seamless interface between combat and exploration. Once we get
to OOT the exploration had been downgraded and a divide had developed
between combat and exploration.
I recently praised the original Legend of Zelda's exploration and difficulty, so I am
somewhat open to Arin’s arguments. Many of them hold water. Free exploration in
OOT is minimal compared to LOZ. Hyrule field is amazing the first time you
enter it, but eventually you realize there isn’t much there. It’s a hub for other parts of the game. Neither the camera nor the combat is as well
developed as in later titles, though both are very good for late 90’s 3D
graphics. The game has not aged poorly, but compared to LOZ and LTTP it has not
aged well. Later re-releases of LTTP and LOZ had only minor touch-ups compared
to the graphic overhaul of OOT for the 3DS.
If a good video game is just a collection of good mechanics
and level design than Link to the Past is probably better than Ocarina of
Time. But a good video game is more than mechanics and visual design. It’s how
the game engages you that define the experience. LOZ was a lot of fun but had
very little immersion. LTTP had much more complex puzzle and level
design but failed to engage me on an emotional level with the exception of a few
well done scenes and stages. OOT on the other hand drew me in with its 3D
graphics and well done story elements. Ganon wasn’t just some pig-man I had to
beat, he was a devious sorcerer who destroyed Hyrule and had plagued me since
childhood. Zelda was a wise woman who guided me through the destruction of
Hyrule. I had real empathy for the characters and their world. LTTP tried to do
this, but with mixed results. The early game is very compelling, some of the NPC’s say very cryptic lines that really get to
you, but overall the story is delivered as pure exposition at the end of
dungeons and fails to trigger any sort of emotional response.
LTTP is a title I have a lot of mixed feeling about. It’s a
great game, at least 9/10 but I really didn’t grow up with it.. The puzzles and
level design are all improved from the original, but at the same time it has
faults. The dungeons kind of blur together, and while it has a great story to
tell, it doesn’t tell the story very well. LTTP is a longer game than LOZ and
without the immersion element it can get old fast. It often seems like LOZ did
exploration better and OOT did story telling better, leaving LTTP with only good level design.
Arin levels several complaints about the transition to the
3D environments. Bats are no longer on level with the player and are a pain to
kill. Enemies and objects come at you from outside the camera view and the
camera forces a separation between combat and the environment. While these
critiques are partially true they are not compelling. The transition to 3D by
necessity means perceiving the world in a new way. Just like in real life, in a 3D game you have to mentally
map out your surroundings through a mix of looking around and guesswork. It
doesn’t always work as well as the top down model, but it adds a degree of
immersion to the environment that the top down perspective doesn’t offer. There are advantages to the 3D design. Just as LTTP used its limited up down
axis to introduce more advanced maps and environmental puzzles, OOT uses its
fully 3D environment to take environmental puzzles to a much greater level. Even
simple block puzzles require a greater degree of thought and awareness. OOT draws the player into the
game in a way that LTTP could not.
The combat system of OOT is a weak point as Aron
suggests. It is far weaker than later 3D entries in the series. It’s not bad by
any means, but it is repetitive and the game constantly holds your hand through
battles. Combat in LTTP is also repetitive but the saving grace is that it
does not hold your hand. LTTP also had some of the best boss fights of any
Zelda game. But other than the boss fights I did not find most of LTTP’s combat
enjoyable.
The reason I entertained the idea that LTTP might be better is
because of how the games have aged. After playing OOT for decades and watching
graphics advance, the game no longer has the same impact it did when I was in grade
school. Back then OOT blew my mind. The first fight with Queen Gohma seemed
hard, and even a little scary with how dark the room was. The graphics were the best I had ever seen, and the game had some of the best
combat I had ever seen. Today I can look
back and say: “Wow, this was really well done”. But it’s no longer mind
blowing. By contrast I never appreciated LTTP as a kid, but as an adult I see
its charms and its excellent design which has aged so well. However I never saw
it as equal to OOT, and never considered the question until others suggested
it.
For many gamers in our 30’s Link to the Past and Ocarina of
time helped define our childhoods, so it can be hard to approach them
objectively. In the last few months I’ve really immersed myself in Zelda so I
thought I would give it a try. Immersion is one of the main reasons I play
video games, so for me a game that does not offer that will always be missing
something. OOT was a masterpiece of immersion so it was hard for me to see any
faults in it. In that sense I thank Arin for making that video. I’ve said
before I’ve never played a perfect game, and both OOT and LTTP have their
faults. While I strongly argue that OOT was superior, that in part comes from
what I look for in a video game. I can understand that not everyone looks for
the same thing and I can see why some would prefer LTTP. They’re wrong of
course, but it’s also personal preference. To me OOT does something that LTTP
tries to do but fails: it draws you into its world in a way few games before or
sense of done. That’s why to me OOT is the Zelda game that originally captured my
heart.
-Gedaemon
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