Why is the “Ocarina of Time” the best game of all time?

Lee here, taking a lengthy look at “The Legend of Zelda : The Ocarina of Time”, I’ll be telling stories, discussing music and graphics, basically having a big ol’ Zelda rant.

[xflo360]

Its not. Its not even the best zelda ( thats wind waker )
For me its between metroid prime, tomb raider and shenmue.

[ItemGet]

If you read my piece, I do say at the end Windwaker is my favourite!

[xflo360]

Fair play to you, its good to see that there are people with good taste in games.

[LastDance]

Personally I thought wind waker was trash compared to OOT

Saying something is the "best of all time" is pretty silly because its all subjective, however for its time OOT was absolutely ground breaking and that's why it is so special.

[ljh217]

Windwaker was my favourite as well, but it wouldn't have been possible without Ocarina. Ocarina stands out because it has one of the best forumlas of all time, and it did it first.

[Hisiru]

For me it's between Super Metroid, Mario 64, A Link to the Past and Donkey Kong Country.

[fatboyfsx]

Link to the Past is my personal fave, but OOT is badass too in it's own ways.

[InfectedDK]

Mario 64 is mine

[Peppino7]

It was until uncharted 2 came out.

[admiralthrawn87]

Wind Waker, Shenmue 2, and KoTOR are the best games

[Ranma1]

Final Fantasy 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10, one of them is best game ever (make your pick)

[kb8mvp81]

Easy, Final Fantasy 7 is the best ever made.

[TenkoTAiLS]

Final Fantasy 8 was rubbish, hated the story, characters and magic system, and 10 was way over hyped. I prefer the SNES ones, 4 and 6 were badass. I liked 9 because it was paying homage to the old games and had a great story.

It's a series that's changed so much and moved quite far from its roots and what people loved about it in general. A lot of series have done that actually. Then again like what's been said already, rating games and saying what is bad or good is subjective and down to personal taste. What one person may hate another may love.

[dark-hollow]

People need to realize that when ocarina of time was released, it was the ultimate masterpiece
!

It had arguably one of the biggest impacts on the 3D gaming realm and influenced tons of developers after it.

People too young or didn't try OOT at release can't enough feel the magnitude of what this game has brought.

Now I admit that it's not my favorite zelda game (that will be majora's mask) but back at the day, it was THE game to beat!

[TheDivine]

Great post you really nailed it. Games like OOT, Mario 64, MGS, and FF7 all need to be looked at when they released. OOT and Mario 64 turned 2d gaming into 3d worlds and set the standard for cameras in 3d gaming. They invented a whole new era in gaming and gave birth to gaming as we know it. I still remember going to Toys-R-Us and seeing a N64 displayed with Mario on. OMG!!! It was REVELATION! I can run forward? This isnt Mario, but, it is Mario? What is this stick i use to move? The music, puzzles, and living breathing world OOT expertly crafted was amazing. These games had to be experienced to be appreciated.

All 4 games i listed may not be the best or your personal favorite but they all deserve a shot at best game ever imo and OOT would most probably take the cake for the impact and how well it was made.

[Reverent]

So agreed. I guarantee that OoT influenced a lot of the games we see today. Anyone who doesn't believe it has obviously never played it. Also, Majora's Mask is my favorite too >_<

[christian hour]

I came here to make the same argument, for its time it was gruondbreaking, I dont think I'd ever played anythign like it before in my life, and I'll never forget the day I was walking to primary school and a guy in the year above me was waiting at the end of his road for me to walk past just so he could say "I beat OOT last night", I'd never talked to him before this but it sparked a wonderful friendship! (he had overheard me talking about it on the schoolyard a few days prior)

Like the 60's, it was a time and a place you had to be there to experience, no amount of explaining will relate it to people who werent around for it or too young to remember it. OOT set a formula that influenced so many developers since.

Though I do agree with a couple of people posting above and the articles author, Wind Waker is my all time favourite Zelda game :)

I remember it being teased in a tech demo for the GameCube by showing link fighting ganondorf with realistic yet stylised graphics and then a year later its unveiled as a cel shaded cartoony game, and I think thats what split the fanbase with windwaker, people were expecting what they eventually got later with Twilight Princess.

Personally I loved the cel shaded look of wind waker, I felt it was more in touch with its bright pixelated origins and fitting for the series.

[kb8mvp81]

If anybody played Final Fantasy 7 they would know its the best game ever made!!!

[LiamIRL82]

There is no best game ever, sure it's ONE OF the best games ever made but THE ABSOLUTE BEST.......

[Snookies12]

There can be best games in their genre. XD

[h311rais3r]

It's a matter of opinion.

[Snookies12]

Seriously at all the disagrees? Of course it comes down to opinion, but if you put all the games of a genre in a poll, you'll always find that there are a few certain ones that come out on top.

[Son_Lee]

It's not. It's my favorite Zelda tied with A Link To The Past but bottom line is favorite game will always be up for debate. It's one of the most important games ever released, for sure.

[browngamer41]

Twilight Princess is my all time fave..I know it's everybody's favorite one to bash but to me the pacing(except for the first hour or so),graphics,story,music,and length are unsurpassed by any other in the series. I've been a devoted fan since I saw my babysitter as a five year old pop in his new copy of the first Zelda and TP still resonates with me the most which is why I play it yearly without fail..

[Reverent]

I think people bash it because it didn't make up for the hype. It was still an incredible game, and I honestly loved every moment of it... But it was almost nothing like I thought it was going to be at the same time. Years before it came out, just looking at pictures of it, I imagined an entirely different adventure than the one I was given. Granted, the one I was given was great, but again, like I said, it just wasn't what I expected.

That's just me though.

[NovusTerminus]

My favorite Zelda is either, A Link to the PAst, or Majora's Mask.

My favorite game is a very huge toss up... Monster Hunter, PSO, FFVII is tied with Final Fantasy Tactics.

It is impossible for me to choose a 'favorite' game.

[PopRocks359]

I guess you could say it defined a generation. Kind of like the band Nirvana. When it boils down to it, its a generally pretty good experience. But the kicker is it inspired many young people who all grew up with that particular era.

[StarFox]

nah Majoras Mask is my favorite zelda and favorite game of all time also

[NastyLeftHook0]

The best games of all time are between

The Metal Gear Series

The Zelda Series

The Uncharted Series

The Mario Series

The Half Life Series

Demons/Dark Souls

Gran Turismo

Crash Bandicoot

The Elder Scrolls Series

The Assassins creed series

The Fallout Series

Deues Ex Human Revolution

God Of War series

The Gran Theft Auto Series

The Silent Hill Series

The Resident Evil Series

ect ect ect
zelda is in my top 5 greatest franchises but...
There is no definitive game

[TopDudeMan]

Yeah, you can go ahead and cross off Deus Ex and fallout from the list. While they are decent games, they're not exactly best game of all time material.

You could argue a case for the rest of them, however. The rest is just subjective for each person as to what they want from a game, but those 2 games don't belong mentioned in the same breath as some of the other games on that list. Again, I liked fallout 3 and DE:HR, but realistically, they wouldn't even make top 20.

You'd never see me rank games in order of how much I enjoyed them, because it's just too hard and nostalgia is very clouding, but I will say that out of your list; Uncharted, Demon's/dark souls, MGS and GTA would be in my top 10.

On subject though (Sorry for the tangent) I've been sheltered from Zelda and never got to play ocarina of time until it arrived on the 3DS, but I didn't think much of it. It was kinda fun, and I get that a lot of other awesome games have taken ideas and inspiration from it, but I didn't think it was amazing. Again, I never played it when it originally released, so I don't have nostalgia for it, which I think is a lot to do with people's love for the game.

Anyway, I think it goes without saying that these statements are just my opinion and you shouldn't take them to heart.

[ginsunuva]

Yeah take off the Souls games and everything from AC and below

[Louis_Guzman]

Yeah..no. Souls games are legion.

[Summons75]

it's not. It's really good but it's not the best of all time. Personally I think LTTP is the best Zelda and my personal favorite game of all time is tied between MGS3 and Shadow of the Colossus

[DigitalRaptor]

There are so many "best of all time" candidates, that arguing about it will prove that opinion rules. But my personal best/favourites are Shadow of the Colossus, MGS3 and Shenmue (1 and 2).

[8bit_Nes_Rambo]

Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Ocarina of time is a force of nature in the gaming world. Though I'm not going to argue with the guy up top that likes Shenmue, game is a masterpiece as well.

[InTheLab]

OOT is the best game of all time if you've never played Metal Gear Solid...

[byeldell34]

im a big zelda fan...but how Minny times are we going to here this?.... i don't know about the best.its more like the top 5

[MadMen]

the flute, duh

[omarzy]

Ocarina of time is the only video game that i consider to be perfect. Just beat it again a few weeks ago, and i realize once again that no game in the last 14 years since its release can come close. I'm not the one who considers it perfect, or close to perfect because Ocarina of Time is the best reviewed, and highest rated video game of all time. Just a fantastic title that puts almost everything to shame. Only skyward sword, and final fantasy 7 come close to this game.

[kb8mvp81]

Final Fantasy 7 is the best ever made.

[omarzy]

final fantasy 7 is amazing, but i forgot to mention shin megami tensei also competes will ocarina of time. persona 3, and 4 are games that should never be missed by rpg fans, or real gamers in general.

[NeoBasch]

Tried it once on the N64. Lost interest. Tried again on GameCube. Same, lost interest. Tried again on 3DS. This time I made it halfway through before again... losing interest. I don't know what it is about this game, but it just doesn't grab me.

The sense of adventure is lost. The NPC's aren't terribly interesting, and the story isn't any good. The gameplay seems formulaic and doesn't capture the spirit of adventure as well as a game like Oblivion or something like that. It just seems all too... meh. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I really don't think it's that great of a game but I suppose I should finish it first.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't really like mascots or symbols (for those select few who know what I'm talking about narrative-ly speaking). I like to be more fully immersed in my games and actually care for the characters, world, and setting. Nah, I'll stick with Final Fantasy and SMT.

[StrawberryDiesel420]

Demon's Souls is a true classic and will be remembered for years to come just like Ocarina of Time.

[ninjahunter]

Best game of its time of all time.**

[Treian]

Final Fantasy X is the best game of all time in my opinion.

[ChunkyLover53]

I think it has to do with the time it was released, Nintendo was changing their franchises and making them more 3-D, and some for the first time like Zelda and Mario.

OOT offered a unique style of gameplay and was absolutely ahead of anything out at the time. Its really hard to judge games and say one is better than the rest, but I do look at OOT as a true turning point in games.

[Rock_On_PS4]

mid to late 1990s some of the best games of all time were released: Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, etc.

[Tzuno]

Because you are obsessed with it that's why.

[jjb1981]

The immersion of the game made me love it, from the music to the puzzles to the water cavern. It was all great, it is MY favorite Zelda game.

[yabhero]

I lied Skyward Sword better, but that's just me... SS is defibtely my favorite Zelda