you should realy save your opinion until you've played windwaker. its actually the most unique and individually beautiful game in the whole series. doubts about the cartoon theme go away literally within the first 5 seconds of playing this game, becuase so early on you come to realise just how amazingly well made this game is. the themes are unique, the sailing and exploring put you in this epic position with link which positively adds to the gameplay. the ideas put into the sidequests are original and everything about the world and adventure makes it one of the better if not best 3d zelda games.

Ocarina of time is the original, which without a certain degree of nostaliga to it, one cannot truly realise why its considered the best game ever. when it first came out it was so different to anything ever experienced. its the game that started everything and changed gaming as we no it. yes if we play it now 10 years on, we realise that the game has been improved and been made bigger but not necessarily better in countless of other adventure games which makes it increasingly difficult for first time players to appreciate it. so many aspects of its gaming have been copied in many other games aswell. the fact is this game originally set the bar. other games looked to build on this and improve any way possible. so players who have gone on to play this 10 years after its release for the first time struggle to appreciate what makes it such a masterpiece. because they've had the experience of playing modern games with better graphics, ever improving gameplay etc so theyve basically seen the concepts in this game copied and made much more powerful in modern games without realising that Oot started it all. they think okay i can play Tp for example, its bigger has better graphics, been polished up so therefore it must be better. but it seriously lacks the originiality and character in OoT. OoT is such a beautiful experience, and the original ideas that had been created in OoT cannot be matched because they were the original and the ideas with the most character, which had many gamers touched from there first playthrough. nothing in gaming touches the wandering dampe in the graveyard or the mysteries of the gerudo fortress and beyond and how they change throughout the game and how progessing in the game effects the characters and areas within the world of hyrule, and how these changes intertwine and affect link. just experiencing this is something of a privledge.

TP although indeed a great game to play never had that emotionally attachment to it as OoT did. the reason because it was basically a copy. a game created for the wii to try to replicate OoT, with the modifications of trying to make it bigger and better graphically and lenghtwise. they may have succeeded in doing this but they failed in making it a better game. it lacked the character and amazing original ideas and charming storyline that made a generation of people fall in love with Oot. TP can be looked at as a game that is fun to play definitely not a bad game, but one that wont leave u with lasting impressions or anything that hit an emotional note because it was just a copy. still a great game but one which lacks everything that makes OoT so great. Windwaker is much better than TP so do not judge it before you've experience this absoulte masterpiece and probably the same goes for even Majora's Mask which i am yet to play. i stand by the opinion becuase they all share originality, character and uniqueness, which TP, although a great game to play very much lacked.

Sure. I agree to some extent. To the extent of make it a subjective truth but not an objective and universal truth. In other words, I can put myself in your shoes, and see OoT how you see it. But from my fresh uncontaminated experience I say that I have played better games now. It is something like saying that the Atari 2600 was so much better, and it still is, than the Nintendo 64, because the the firt one was the first cartridge success in the gaming consoles.

How has it being this self imposed gaming experience of playing Z OoT, just to gain the right to talk about it? Well, let's put it this way:

It is like a was in college trying to get a degree in videogames design an some teacher would have told the class: "if you want to pass my subject, if you really want to make awesome games and become a top game designer you must  play Zelda Ocarina of time. In fact, let's make it an assignment: for the next monday everybody should have played and finished Zelda OoT."

In that imaginary situation some people of that imaginary class would say: "this a fantastic homework, I can wait to do it". Some other could say. "Well, the teacher has a good point and I really want to be the next Shigeru Miyamoto". If I where in that situation I could say.: "What? But I had plans for the weelend: I wanted to play with my new 360!"

The thing is: I am not in college, I do not have to play that game to judge another game for what it is by itself. I play games for fun. PERIOD! Why is that we have to look at games as if they were something intellectual, something academic... I mean, I don't mind going to the movies just for the experience of eating pop corn and watch a flick, it doesn't always have to be an academy award winning movie! It is like we, the self called hardcore gamers, were about to become something like the Royal Academy of History of Hardcore gaming. Yiaks!!! Please, count me out of something like that!

So... OoT almost ruined Zelda TP for you... sorry. I, in the other hand, enjoyed it very much! And It REALLY could "leave me with lasting impressions and something that hit an emotional note" TO ME. Why? Because I never played OoT and didn't know and neither cared about TP being a copy.

My point? (This is not definitive, it it still under construction). Nostalgia is killing the joy of gaming. Sometimes it is not good going to the past. Further more, I think that what Nintendo is to some extent doing is the right thing to do: DESTROYING THE PAST. Only in that way, there could be  new future.

^Kinda harsh to say it that way, but I see your point. Most of us said the exact same thing some post back(including me), but with more subtle words...

While I do agree that many people have their minds clouded by nostalgia, I think your oversimplifing the mindset and underestimating personal preference. It's a common defence when someone disagrees with someone to say that their minds are clouded by nostalsia when someone likes an older entry more, or that they are not open-minded enough when they prefer a newer entry.

Although you may believe TP to be the superior game, you have to realise that there are a lot of legitimate arguments as to OoT being the superior game, and likewise visa-versa. However you seem to have somewhat of a reflex action to call anyone who believes OoT to be the better game blinded by nostalsia, largely ignoring the factor of personal taste. There are things I believe OoT does better than TP, and things I think TP does better than OoT, but its my own personal taste which leads me to value the things OoT did better over the things TP did better and thus in my mind OoT is the superior game, and of course I assume the inverse applies to you.

Nostalsia is most certainly a factor in what we each see to be better or worse, but it's not some end-all perspective which determines what we like as you imply. There will be people who despite having played the N64 previously will prefer the experiance delivered by the Atari 2600, and likewise there will be people who despite having played TP before will prefer the experiance deliverd by OoT, evidently however, you are not one of them, and possibly I could accuse you thinking this because of the notalsic factor you have with TP, after all you did play it first, however I find it far more likely that it was because of your own taste in videogames. Nostalsia is a factor but it is noway near as big an influence as personal preference.

@mikescrap12

I'm in the same boat you are.

@Wii_R2_Hardcore

I finished TP before even playing OoT and still felt like TP was somewhat lacking compared to OoT. Maybe the zelda feeling is kinda diluted in TP because it's way too long. OoT is very concise and ultimately sort of short. In other words, by the time I finished OoT I wanted to play more of it, on the other hand, when I finished TP I was already tired of it.

BTW are you gonna keep on playing OoT or are you gonna give up on it?

ZZetaAlec:

Fair enough!

You know what happens? It is just that I don't like fanboys. And some Nintendo fanboys keep on saying that OoT is STILL THE GREATEST GAME EVA! And I just think that it is not the case anymore. It is a very subjective matter. I am myself a great Nintendo admiror, but not a fanboy. So I agree with most of the posters of this thread when we say that OoT is a groundbreaking, great, awesome (you name it) game. Specially if you look at it IN PERSPECTIVE, taking into account the games that existed in those days. But I've read too many times posts about OoT still being at the top of the reviews in gamerankings, without considering that those reviews were made around the time the game was released and in relation with the other games OoT was competing against. But they keepon saying it like the actual games are no match for OoT and that is not true! I think there are plenty of games that already surpassed OoT, having grated that OoT was the father of all of them.

Dante G

To tell you the truth, I don't know. You know why? Because that game is competing for my gaming time against current generation games I just bought which I actually consider fun. In the meantime, playing OoT for me  is like... work. I do it because it gives me something to post when I come here and doing that is fun. IF ONLY I COULD FIND A DAMM WIRELESS GAMECUBE CONTROLLER! But it's been impossible! So everytime I sit down to play OoT I have to do it when my five years old son is not around running and juping. I don't want an accident with my Wii. That is a factor that I must confess has killed the experience for me a little bit.

Some other thing I hate about playing OoT: the menu system. With Zelda TP it was way simpler. In OoT I got to pause the game a lot to play the ocarina, to choose the items, to check the map, to wear the boots, etc...

One question: whenever I am done with the water temple, is the game a down-hill-joyride from there?

Well everyone hates fanboys, but you must remember that likeing a game and being willing to defend its quality does not necessarily make you a fanboy, it just makes you a fan. Bulldozing one's opinion through and disrespecting others does indeed make one a fanboy and it's important to distinguish between the two.

You're right that it's all subjective but that has to work both ways. People are ALLOWED to belive it to be the best game of all time (I know as it's my personal favourite game of all time) as long as they don't blugeon others with their views but that means those that don't belive it to be the best game ever, or the best in the series must extend the same courtesy.

As for your final question; that depends on which order you proceed to do the final two temples in (yes you can choose). The shadow temple I personally find to be the least interesting of the post-adult dungeons, on the other hand the Spirit temple is in my opinion the best dungeon in the game with the best music, best enemies, most interesting puzzles and best overall design.

I agree with ZZetaAlec. It's not nostalgia for all of us who prefer OoT over TP. Just after buying the Wii, I bought Wind Waker and loved the game. I thought it was better than OoT. Then I downloaded OoT and played it again after many years. I didn't remember a lot of things so it was almost like playing it for the first time again.

I just don't know why, but I loved it! Thinking what to do or where to go, or where were the pieces of heart or skulltulas..... At the end of the day, I remembered why OoT is still my favorite Zelda. I just think it's perfectly balanced, good story, big world but not so big to bore you traveling, lot of items, secrets, many people to talk but not too many to distract you from your main quest, epic final battle, lovely ending etc....

Windwaker was great, I loved sailing in that game, but I can see why many people didn't like it (and changing the wind while sailing was incredibly tedious).

I've only played TP for a few hours, where I left the game it was getting REALLY good, but at the beginning it was a bit boring, my eyes hurt in the Twilight world (maybe that will change with my new TV ;) ) and I hated the monkey sounds in the first or second dungeon. Also I read it's a looong game, like 50 hrs. I don't have enough free time, and just thinking about it..... ugh!

Anyway, I will play it again soon because I want to play it on my Plasma TV. Maybe I'll start a thread like this =)


About your question, I liked the Shadow Temple, and agree that the Spirit Temple was my favorite in the game. It was not too difficult, it was linear which I liked after playing all the other dungeons. However the music and the boss were cool.
After that just remains Ganon Tower, which is easy, and I absolutely loved the final battle and the ending of the game.

EDIT:

@ Wii_R2_Hardcore:  Did you used a guide for Twilight Princess?

I don't know where you are in zelda:tp, but it keeps getting better and better. I'm at the sky temple at the moment and I've been playing for 40 hours already, so yeah it's a pretty long game, but that's not a bad thing because it keeps getting better and better. Story is great as well, can't wait to know the full story. The first temple was the most boring temple imo and it's been a long time ago since I've been in the twilight, you only go there at the start of the game. It would be cool if you made a thread like that btw :)

I didn't play it much, I rescued the Zora child and went to his mother graveyard. I thought those parts in the game were amazing! I'm sure it will get better.

I can't talk much about it if it's better or not than OoT, but I wanted to point out some flaws I had with the game and didn't have with OoT. I'm sure it will have better story and more epic moments, but for some reason I feel it will also have more "meh" moments and at the end OoT will have a more balanced gameplay. Will be interesting to make a similar thread and see if my theory it's true

The game being too long is really an issue for some people like myself. To finish it I will have to play it daily for a month or so, which I know is difficult to do. And what about the replay value? I'm the kind of person that like to play more than once my games. OoT takes like 20 hours the first time, and after that you can finish it in 8 hrs. But TP how much it takes the second time? 20 hrs???