Ashley's Thoughts on Zelda

[Ashley the Witch]

Personally, I had fun with the game, it was really fun to just explore around and finding all the different secrets on my own. I probably could have done it without any help actually. In fact, I was expecting the game to be hard on finding the secrets, but I found pretty much all of them very easily. And it actually got me wanting to play one of my least favorite Zelda games again, Breath of the Wild. I've said it before and playing the first Zelda game really confirms my belief that Breath of the Wild is a literal 3D remake of Zelda 1 gameplay wise. As for the important quotes to take away from the game for my Zelda timeline I plan on making in a future thread, there's not much things to note other than Hyrule was taken over by Ganon after obtaining the Triforce of Power, and Zelda split the Triforce of Wisdom. Link has to collect it. The Master Sword and Triforce of Courage wasn't mentioned yet. And Link saves Zelda

 

[thePlinko]

BotW literally could not be any less similar to Zelda 1. OoT is far closer to being a “3D remake” of it than BotW is.

 

[Malon]

BotW literally could not be any less similar to Zelda 1. OoT is far closer to being a “3D remake” of it than BotW is.

Mmmm... OoT isn't 100% open world, and you have to do the dungeons in a specific order.

 

[thePlinko]

Mmmm... OoT isn't 100% open world, and you have to do the dungeons in a specific order.

Yup, just like in Zelda 1

 

[Malon]

Yup, just like in Zelda 1

Are we talking about the same Zelda 1? lol

 

[thePlinko]

Are we talking about the same Zelda 1? lol

If you’re talking about the very first game titled “The Legend of Zelda” released on the NES, then yes.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

BotW literally could not be any less similar to Zelda 1. OoT is far closer to being a “3D remake” of it than BotW is.

I beg to differ, Zelda one you can go to multiple dungeons from the get-go, It's pretty much open world with limitations. Breath of the Wild is the same way with the first four shrines, then the game completely opens up allowing you to tackle anything with the right items. The only time you're ever given a choice between dungeons in Ocarina of Time is choosing between the Fire and Water temples, then it's straight back to linearity. You're never good even as much freedom as you are in the first legend of Zelda game. Another thing to mention is that The secrets are never told to you unless you actively search for them, without knowing what you're searching for. Ocarina of Time doesn't really give you this sense of exploration as the first Zelda game does. Breath of the Wild follows perfectly with the exploration of Zelda 1

 

[Malon]

I beg to differ, Zelda one you can go to multiple dungeons from the get-go, It's pretty much open world with limitations. Breath of the Wild is the same way with the first four shrines, then the game completely opens up allowing you to tackle anything with the right items. The only time you're ever given a choice between dungeons in Ocarina of Time is choosing between the fire and water temples, then it's straight back to linearity. You're never good even as much freedom as you are in the first legend of Zelda game. Another thing to mention is that The secrets are never told to you unless you actively search for them, without knowing what you're searching for. Ocarina of Time doesn't really give you this sense of exploration as the first Zelda game does. Breath of the Wild follows perfectly with the exploration of Zelda 1

Adding on, Zelda one has Lynels and Wizrobes. Not the most common enemies.

 

[thePlinko]

Ocarina of Time is choosing between the fire and water temples, then it's straight back to linearity.

Objectively untrue. Throughout the entirety of the adult portion of the game the only restrictions on dungeon order are that spirit goes after water and shadow goes after water and fire. Apart from that there’s no restriction.

Meanwhile the majority of dungeons in Zelda 1 are locked behind getting the stepladder out of 4, which itself requires the raft out of 3. Sure it’s more open than OoT, but not nearly to the extent that it’s in any way similar to BotW.

Another thing to mention is that The secrets are never told to you unless you actively search for them, without knowing what you're searching for.

Zelda 1 literally came packaged with a map that told you where a large portion of the games secrets were, including the locations of the first 4 dungeons. The game itself also directly told you to look at said map for further instructions. The number of secrets that the game doesn’t tell you about is very much comparable to OoT.

 

[thePlinko]

Adding on, Zelda one has Lynels and Wizrobes. Not the most common enemies.

Yeah, but it also has peahats and stalfos, which were in OoT but not BotW. It’s a very surface level quality.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

Objectively untrue. Throughout the entirety of the adult portion of the game the only restrictions on dungeon order are that spirit goes after water and shadow goes after water and fire. Apart from that there’s no restriction.

Meanwhile the majority of dungeons in Zelda 1 are locked behind getting the stepladder out of 4, which itself requires the raft out of 3. Sure it’s more open than OoT, but not nearly to the extent that it’s in any way similar to BotW.


Zelda 1 literally came packaged with a map that told you where a large portion of the games secrets were, including the locations of the first 4 dungeons. The game itself also directly told you to look at said map for further instructions. The number of secrets that the game doesn’t tell you about is very much comparable to OoT.

That is blatantly untrue. Have you ever played Ocarina of Time legitimately? Unless you're using glitches, you are completely bound by the dungeon order, no if, ands, or buts about it. Also, not many people have the manual for Zelda 1 anymore, and the game itself never tells you to look at the map, it only says to look at the manual for further descriptions on the items. Not once does it ever say to look at the manual for a map. I don't know what you're smoking, but that is simply untrue. You are forced to enter The Deku Tree without giving a chance to get any items, except for the first Deku Stick upgrade. Zelda 1 allows you to go to a lot of dungeons, and even get a lot of heart containers, the moment you get the sword from the old man.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

I realize this is a double post, but I'm going to make it clear. I know I went overboard with my previous message, I tend to be passionate about the things I love, which causes me to get in to heated debates a lot of the time. I realize might be wrong about some of the details of what I said in my previous message, but my point still stands. However, I am sorry for how I responded, it was quite rude. I think I should point out that the next Zelda game I plan on playing for the timeline I plan on making is Breath of the Wild. Which is going to be a doozy.

 

[thePlinko]

Now you mention in your next comment that you realize you might be wrong about some of the things you said, but I don’t know which is which so I’m just going to respond to all of them.

That is blatantly untrue. Have you ever played Ocarina of Time legitimately? Unless you're using glitches, you are completely bound by the dungeon order, no if, ands, or buts about it.

Nope. Everything I said is true without glitches of any kind. The only caveat is that you can’t get the map out of the Fire Temple and a single key out of the Water Temple, but you can still finish the dungeon itself. Heck, the game even intendeds for you to do Shadow before Spirit, even though Navi tells you to do Shadow first.

Also, not many people have the manual for Zelda 1 anymore

And? It was still intentionally designed so that you would have that info on hand. The fact that not many people have it nowadays doesn’t really change that.

and the game itself never tells you to look at the map, it only says to look at the manual for further descriptions on the items. Not once does it ever say to look at the manual for a map. I don't know what you're smoking, but that is simply untrue.

It tells you to look at the manual for details. It doesn’t specify what details. The map is still a part of the manual regardless.

You are forced to enter The Deku Tree without giving a chance to get any items, except for the first Deku Stick upgrade. Zelda 1 allows you to go to a lot of dungeons, and even get a lot of heart containers, the moment you get the sword from the old man.

I’m not debating that. Ocarina of Time certainly does have a more restrictive intro. That’s why I went out of my way to say that Zelda 1 is more open than OoT. My end point still stands, however, that it restricts your progression in a similar way to OoT, and for a similar reason.


I didn’t find your response rude at all, btw. A little intentionally ignorant, sure, but not rude.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

Now you mention in your next comment that you realize you might be wrong about some of the things you said, but I don’t know which is which so I’m just going to respond to all of them.


Nope. Everything I said is true without glitches of any kind. The only caveat is that you can’t get the map out of the Fire Temple and a single key out of the Water Temple, but you can still finish the dungeon itself. Heck, the game even intendeds for you to do Shadow before Spirit, even though Navi tells you to do Shadow first.



And? It was still intentionally designed so that you would have that info on hand. The fact that not many people have it nowadays doesn’t really change that.



It tells you to look at the manual for details. It doesn’t specify what details. The map is still a part of the manual regardless.



I’m not debating that. Ocarina of Time certainly does have a more restrictive intro. That’s why I went out of my way to say that Zelda 1 is more open than OoT. My end point still stands, however, that it restricts your progression in a similar way to OoT, and for a similar reason.


I didn’t find your response rude at all, btw. A little intentionally ignorant, sure, but not rude.

I think I see where you're coming from, although I still disagree with your statement, I can't argue that, this isn't true. I still feel the focus on exploration is best captured with Zelda 1 and Breath of the Wild. But might I say, every Zelda game in the franchise has certain items that are required to get to important story events. Breath of the Wild is no exception, with the Gerudo Outfit to enter Gerudo Town, Zora Armor to climb up waterfalls, and possibly not required the armor needed to access hotter and colder climates.

 

[thePlinko]

I think I see where you're coming from, although I still disagree with your statement, I can't argue that, this isn't true. I still feel the focus on exploration is best captured with Zelda 1 and Breath of the Wild.

That’s the thing though. All games inherently “focus” on exploration. Zelda 1, BotW, OoT, SS, even the multiplayer games. It’s the methods they use to give that sense of exploration that sets games apart, and BotW goes out of its way to change the main method the series had used since Zelda 1.

But might I say, every Zelda game in the franchise has certain items that are required to get to important story events. Breath of the Wild is no exception, with the Gerudo Outfit to enter Gerudo Town, Zora Armor to climb up waterfalls, and possibly not required the armor needed to access hotter and colder climates.

I’ll give you the Zora outfit, but outside of the times it’s required to progress through the Vah Rutoh quest line it’s usefulness is pretty limited to the Lanayru region and select parts of the Faron region.

The Gerudo outfit almost counts but it’s really only used for one thing. It would be like equating Zelda’s letter in OoT to a full item. It really doesn’t accomplish the same task as a full item.

The Goron and Rito outfits… kinda? They serve a similar purpose as the Goron and Zora Tunics in OoT (or the Varia suit in Metroid). They’re a technically optional item that can be skipped if you know what you’re doing. The problem is that while skipping the tunics in OoT or suits in Metroid is treated as an extra challenge meant for experienced players, skipping the outfits in BotW is just treated as a thing you can do and nothing more. It’s not particularly difficult just because of how easy it is to fill up on healing items.

So overall theres basically only one time that the game even starts to resemble the classic item structure Zelda 1 had.