Your welcome :)

I actually don't mind that if it's done right. Ocarina of Time has lots of instances where extraneous items/abilities can come of use. Beyond the obvious example of the Scarecrow's Song, I think the single most notable occurance is the use of Fire Arrows in the Shadow section of Ganon's Castle. These instances are obviously meant to reward the thorough player. The problem is, as you say, that they often completely break the intended difficulty of the passage in question. The Shadow section actually is an exception, illustrating a good use of extraneous items by providing an alternate (but not entirely trivial) solution. Hence, I think that, when implemented correctly, the idea itself is sound. It's the same principle as with the dungeon items. Most Zelda dungeons show the utility of their designated items by letting the player use them in such a way as to trivialize any previously difficult passages before introducing new puzzles. It makes things seem more worthwhile by making the game (temporarily) easier.

It's exactly the same.  This is a criticism of OoT in general.  Though one could argue that the 3DS version is easier due to the inclusion of the new Shiekah Stones which offer "visions" (i.e. show you exactly what you need to do to proceed).

I see what you're saying, and I agree the concept is sound when better implemented.  But the example I gave was a little irking to me only because most players would have Din's Fire already by the time they get to the Forest Temple - which ruined a really clever puzzle.

So the shiekah stones show you visions of what to do. I can choose whether to use it or not right?

I would disagree. The ability to approach a problem in different ways is what makes the games better. I find it more irksome when there's only one solution and they go out of their way to make other solutions impossible, and prefer to experiment with all sorts of ways of fighting different enemies or engaging certain challenges

That's right, Mr Khan - emergent and open-ended puzzle/dungeon design is one of the things that make the Temple of the Ocean King such a great dungeon (for the record, I'm just about to finish PH). It is important to remember, however, that this emergence is still very much directly controlled by the game developers (unlike, say, a strategy game) - I'm sure they had a reasonably optimized route in mind when designing the temple.

Fundamentally, it's a balance act between pre-scripted content (ala Monkey Island) and emergence (ala Minecraft). Zelda, I think, leans more towards the former, with some notable exceptions.

I will get a lot of trouble with the Cave of Ordeals. Like you said, the ice enemies are maybe the hardest to beat. And agree, The Wind Waker is the easiest, and with the help of the Granny's Soup, well... I think Majora's Mask will be pointless to do given the fact that side-quests are the point of the game.

Are you planning to do with Master Quest? Is not that dificcult, at least the cube version. And talking about OoT, how hard/easy is Ganon on 3DS OoT? I see on YouTube that is easier than N64/Cube.

BTW, no Zelda II love?

I will be getting oot on 3ds and It has master quest on it right? If it does i'll 3 heart it and the original.