What would be your general thoughts on Ocarina of Time based on the low score/placement? I'm always curious to see the big divides like that in Zelda fans.

@Scamsley

I appreciate your curiosity!

I should probably just get my thoughts together on OOT and write a full review, but in short:

My younger self would probably have agreed (along with the press and most N64 players) that OoT was the best game ever made. But the reality is that I had invested a lot of interest and, if I'm being honest, identity into anticipating its release and therefore enjoying once it arrived. I excused things that actually bothered and disappointed me.

Further in short: my negative play experience with the outdated-before-it-launched Twilight Princess (2006) and my very positive time with Shadow of the Colossus (2005) helped me see OoT as the codifier of the "amusement park" style of Zelda that replaced the genuine thrill of adventure.

@Ephemeris I can 100% understand your view-point. I think Ocarina of Time is a great game, but it fully finishes the transition A Link to the Past begun into the series being less about an aimless sense of adventure and discovery into a series of highlighted events and thrills. The exploration is entirely guided, for example, with much less player input on how it actually all goes down.

What makes you like Majora in spite of this? I wouldn't say it's too different or anything after all.

@Scamsley

Good question (should also just write a full review for Majora)!

It's true that MM differs little from OoT on the linear vs open trajectory. But I love it for entirely different reasons.

The real-time clock mechanic is so unique in games (maybe I'm ignorant, but are there any other titles besides Last Express and Outer Wilds that use it?) and put to such great effect for its themes -- I find MM thought-provoking to this day. There's so much pathos in its characters that it all makes OoT feel rather shallow and cartoonish.

In OoT's defense, the movement mechanics feel weighty and solid (a feeling that is lost in WW and TP), and MM obviously benefits from this wholesale, being made with the same engine, but MM puts that framework in service to a story and game experience far more compelling, IMO.

@Ephemeris I think a lot of other games utilize the time-loop mechanic, but almost all of them are at least partly Zelda, and presumably, Majora's Mask inspired.

I understand your statements generally speaking though. I haven't quite finished Majora yet (and need to get around to it) but it's almost entirely different from Ocarina in its strengths. I wouldn't necessarily put down Ocarina's storytelling or gameplay by contrast, but Majora obviously puts a lot more focus on specific elements rather than Ocarina of Time's more wide focus. Dealing with individual character arcs that span over the course of several days on an actual timer inherently means you're put a lot more detail there as compared to Ocarina of Time which really only shows the necessities. Both are valid approaches though I'd say.