It benefitted from being able to reuse many of its assets from Ocarina, so development time could be spent on building a world that feels weird and different from other Zelda games in an absolutely delightful way. Even though it only has 4 main dungeons, all the NPCs' interconnected stories make the game feel deep and immersive.
As far as the N64 Zeldas go, I give the edge to Majora's Mask. It's not afraid to be a darker, gloomier Zelda tale with some real emotion baked in. Plus the time loop mechanic adds just the right amount of dread to really drive the feeling home. Everything that was rock-solid about OOT transfers over nicely too ---- the gameplay, the items, the world, the dungeons ---- all still good here as well.
A game that needs more than a few hundred words to describe how perfect it is and why it ages like fine wine the older it gets and you. Microcosm of cause and effect under the blanket of impending doom and the feelings that are garnered from hyperawareness of your mortality. Beautiful, haunting, and endlessly curious. My favorite game ever.
This game does "unsettling" in a really neat way. It's not constantly smacking you in the head with creepy shit but it's definitely different to a more typical Zaleda world. I also love that Link as a character feels like a nobody in this world; he's not some chosen hero, people don't even know who he is, most of his accomplishments are attributed to other people but he still acts heroically. My favourite Zelda game by far.
This is a polarizing game for me to play. On one hand, I do love the atmosphere of the game, even if its ugly, lol. I also love the music and the side quests that this game delivers, it's some of the best side content a Zelda game has ever had. And some of the dungeons are fun and memorable..so why exactly do I rate it so low? The time!
I hate the time gimmick so much, even though there's ways that you can control the speed of time....the problem for me that wants to 100% complete all the Zelda games is it feels super stressful to try and get everything done within a certain time limit. There are times where it becomes super frustrating, especially if you're on the final day. Sometimes i can't get a dungeon done in time and I would have to do everything all over again in a dungeon, it's totally not cool.
The other main issue I have with it is the sense of starting over, and everything goes back to how it is...like the movie Groundhog Day...you keep repeating days over and over that for whatever reason irritates me to no end!
It's a game I would go back to eventually, but it's one of my least favorite mainline Zelda games.... -_-
I hate the time gimmick so much, even though there's ways that you can control the speed of time....the problem for me that wants to 100% complete all the Zelda games is it feels super stressful to try and get everything done within a certain time limit. There are times where it becomes super frustrating, especially if you're on the final day. Sometimes i can't get a dungeon done in time and I would have to do everything all over again in a dungeon, it's totally not cool.
The other main issue I have with it is the sense of starting over, and everything goes back to how it is...like the movie Groundhog Day...you keep repeating days over and over that for whatever reason irritates me to no end!
It's a game I would go back to eventually, but it's one of my least favorite mainline Zelda games.... -_-
One of the first games I ever played. I was but a wee lass in kindergarten and even then I knew this was perfection. Obviously I wasnt old enough to figure out how to beat it but I had a blast playing it nonetheless.
A story that still touches your heart no matter when you play it and a theme so rooted in grief and sorrow that even as a kid it made me emotional. To this day I hum the song of healing randomly when I feel like I need an emotional boost to get through things.
If you just want to vibe in the throes of despair this is the game for you.
No really the story and themes really hit, the soundtrack is great and it manages to reuse so many Ocarina assets without feeling cheap. 10/10 would play it again and again
A story that still touches your heart no matter when you play it and a theme so rooted in grief and sorrow that even as a kid it made me emotional. To this day I hum the song of healing randomly when I feel like I need an emotional boost to get through things.
If you just want to vibe in the throes of despair this is the game for you.
No really the story and themes really hit, the soundtrack is great and it manages to reuse so many Ocarina assets without feeling cheap. 10/10 would play it again and again