268: Hey, Listen, I Like Navi
- Thread starter Brendan Main
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I only really disliked her when she told me "Hey maybe we should go to Death Mountain!" three times while I was ON THE WAY to Death Mountain. Anyways, "Hey! Listen!" isn't even the worst catchphrase the Zelda franchise ever gave us. Even the owl doesn't get that horrifying honor. [spoiler (it isn't pretty)][/spoiler]That's right. Straight out of Link's own mouth. MAKE IT STOP!!!
Never found either Navi's chatter or the water temple that annoying, really. The progression from glowing fairy to Midna, though, was a nice one. Midna has story. Navi just has skillz.
Navi was my favorite video game pal when I was younger. Then I got on the internet and discovered everyone hated her. I felt crushed, destroyed, outrage.
But I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes her. I was sad beyond belief when she left at the end of Ocarina of Time.
I'm sharing this article with all my friends. Thank you for writting this and raising some very good points.
Also I did not like Tatl as much as Navi because all she did was tell me how terrible I was at everything.
But I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes her. I was sad beyond belief when she left at the end of Ocarina of Time.
I'm sharing this article with all my friends. Thank you for writting this and raising some very good points.
Also I did not like Tatl as much as Navi because all she did was tell me how terrible I was at everything.
The hatred of Navi is one of those wonderful things that start out as something that people smile and nod about and after a thousand gamers repeat it people start to draw Link killing Navi.
But she was annoying. "Hey, Link, I bet those Iron Boots would be great if you needed to walk at the bottom of a lake!" No shit, Navi. The bottom of a lake, you say? Like this one I'm in the bottom of? You know, I could maybe find an entrance to a dungeon in here, such as the one right in front of me! Aren't you helpful.
In my particular case she reminded me just as I was entering the Water Temple. I walked inside to shut her up. (The water temple, conversely, isn't so bad, and if someone told you you can get stuck there if you save at the wrong moment you're wrong. Go train your 3D spatial perception, peoples.)
Her biggest problem was that she went against the spirit of the game. Zelda is a game about exploration, about finding weird stuff under rocks and in the middle of cabbage patches. Every time you get a new way to get around you go find all hindrances that are no more. But Navi always assumed you were lost. You poor thing, are you looking for the next temple in this cove? No, there's just a useless heart-shaped crystal here. This is the direction for the next temple, here!
And of course you had to either indulge her and stop gameplay for a moment or keep listening to her shrill voice, so it's a lose-lose situation.
It's curious how they tried to fix it with Tatl but I guess her 'tude only bumped her from 'annoying' up to 'forgettable'. Tatl only comes in conversation as a comparison to Navi. Poor thing, she's worse off than a sidekick.
But she was annoying. "Hey, Link, I bet those Iron Boots would be great if you needed to walk at the bottom of a lake!" No shit, Navi. The bottom of a lake, you say? Like this one I'm in the bottom of? You know, I could maybe find an entrance to a dungeon in here, such as the one right in front of me! Aren't you helpful.
In my particular case she reminded me just as I was entering the Water Temple. I walked inside to shut her up. (The water temple, conversely, isn't so bad, and if someone told you you can get stuck there if you save at the wrong moment you're wrong. Go train your 3D spatial perception, peoples.)
Her biggest problem was that she went against the spirit of the game. Zelda is a game about exploration, about finding weird stuff under rocks and in the middle of cabbage patches. Every time you get a new way to get around you go find all hindrances that are no more. But Navi always assumed you were lost. You poor thing, are you looking for the next temple in this cove? No, there's just a useless heart-shaped crystal here. This is the direction for the next temple, here!
And of course you had to either indulge her and stop gameplay for a moment or keep listening to her shrill voice, so it's a lose-lose situation.
It's curious how they tried to fix it with Tatl but I guess her 'tude only bumped her from 'annoying' up to 'forgettable'. Tatl only comes in conversation as a comparison to Navi. Poor thing, she's worse off than a sidekick.
Honestly, I'm sorry, but I disagree with you at almost every turn.
A. Sidekicks have to go through everything you do:
Okay, this one I will give you...most of the time. But there are quite a few characters who don't have to go through what you do, one of them being Navi. She has two big advantages you don't, one being she can fly, and the other being she's very tiny. All of those traps you have to slog through, If we were playing Navi, 90% of them we could get by just by going forward. Sliding spike covered things zinging across the floor? No problem. Have to hit a switch on the other side of a wall by sending a Bomb-chu through? Just fly through the area the Bomb-chu would fit through and bam, you're done. Admittedly she can't fight all the enemies, but that just gives more props to Link, since he has to solve all those puzzle and kill the enemies, and that brings me to my second point.
B. She's necessary for battle:
Okay, honestly, this isn't true for two reasons. First being the fact that the next to last battle, against Ganondorf, you go through without Navi and I did just fine, thank you very much, as I did against Ganon (considering she kept targeting his face, it was just easier swinging at the tail myself). Secondly, that must mean that all the Links that came before and after the OoT one must be exceptionally better swordsman than the OoT (and MM) Link, since all of them seem to get through their adventures without needing any glowing light to target their enemies.
C. Navi is your conscience:
Okay, this one I just don't get. How is she your conscience, external or otherwise? Because she tells you to where to go in the next step of the game? The step that was blatantly obvious and that I was going to do regardless? Yeah, that's not being a conscience, that's just being redundant. There are no moral quandaries in OoT, as far as I can remember, so I honestly have no idea how you justify calling her an external conscience.
There are other arguments I could bring up, and I'm sure many have before I post this, but these were really my biggest concerns. All in all, most of your arguments were based on flavor rather than substance and, truly, Midna was far more helpful in TP than Navi was in OoT, and even Tatl, though having quite bad attitude in the beginning, was far less annoying during gameplay.
A. Sidekicks have to go through everything you do:
Okay, this one I will give you...most of the time. But there are quite a few characters who don't have to go through what you do, one of them being Navi. She has two big advantages you don't, one being she can fly, and the other being she's very tiny. All of those traps you have to slog through, If we were playing Navi, 90% of them we could get by just by going forward. Sliding spike covered things zinging across the floor? No problem. Have to hit a switch on the other side of a wall by sending a Bomb-chu through? Just fly through the area the Bomb-chu would fit through and bam, you're done. Admittedly she can't fight all the enemies, but that just gives more props to Link, since he has to solve all those puzzle and kill the enemies, and that brings me to my second point.
B. She's necessary for battle:
Okay, honestly, this isn't true for two reasons. First being the fact that the next to last battle, against Ganondorf, you go through without Navi and I did just fine, thank you very much, as I did against Ganon (considering she kept targeting his face, it was just easier swinging at the tail myself). Secondly, that must mean that all the Links that came before and after the OoT one must be exceptionally better swordsman than the OoT (and MM) Link, since all of them seem to get through their adventures without needing any glowing light to target their enemies.
C. Navi is your conscience:
Okay, this one I just don't get. How is she your conscience, external or otherwise? Because she tells you to where to go in the next step of the game? The step that was blatantly obvious and that I was going to do regardless? Yeah, that's not being a conscience, that's just being redundant. There are no moral quandaries in OoT, as far as I can remember, so I honestly have no idea how you justify calling her an external conscience.
There are other arguments I could bring up, and I'm sure many have before I post this, but these were really my biggest concerns. All in all, most of your arguments were based on flavor rather than substance and, truly, Midna was far more helpful in TP than Navi was in OoT, and even Tatl, though having quite bad attitude in the beginning, was far less annoying during gameplay.
Navi always had my best interests at heart....
Unfortunately for her, so did I
she was totally useless to me.
All her boss tips I had observed myself. I'm pretty sure Zelda fans realize to use the item they just got 15 minutes ago on the boss.
or advice that I deduced from experience. Like "oh there's a wall that has a crack in it. I need bombs" ten seconds later "HEY! YOU NEED BOMBS"
:/
Unfortunately for her, so did I
she was totally useless to me.
All her boss tips I had observed myself. I'm pretty sure Zelda fans realize to use the item they just got 15 minutes ago on the boss.
or advice that I deduced from experience. Like "oh there's a wall that has a crack in it. I need bombs" ten seconds later "HEY! YOU NEED BOMBS"
:/
I didn't really mind Navi that much, she was just a little annoyance every once in a while - and a gigantic help on multiple occasions. The Water Temple, on the other hand, was absolute hell. I'm so using that in conversation from now on.
I would mind Navi less if A) there was an option to mute her after your third playthrough and/or B) having her talk to you didn't stop the game for dialogue boxes.
Aside from those things, though, I thought she was fine. She doesn't talk so much aloud that the voice gets annoying, it's mostly a bother because she tends to STOP things periodically, which makes me frowny.
Also, if it were me I think I would've made the link for Water Temple go somewhere else. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThatOneLevel]
Aside from those things, though, I thought she was fine. She doesn't talk so much aloud that the voice gets annoying, it's mostly a bother because she tends to STOP things periodically, which makes me frowny.
Also, if it were me I think I would've made the link for Water Temple go somewhere else. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThatOneLevel]
I definitely agree, Navi got an awful rep as the most annoying sidekick, but I loved her. I was young enough still that I sucked the first few areas of the game, and I definitely would not have been good enough to play without her -- not without A LOT of practice, and then I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it so much if I needed to grind like that.
Did anyone else read into how after Ocarina of Time, she just disappears, perhaps knowing how unappreciated she was? And then the second game starts out with Link, looking rather lost, trying to find her again. Power to ya, girl.
Did anyone else read into how after Ocarina of Time, she just disappears, perhaps knowing how unappreciated she was? And then the second game starts out with Link, looking rather lost, trying to find her again. Power to ya, girl.
It is not just the "Hey!"s and "Listen!"s and "Hey Listen!"s that make people hate Navi, but the fact that she gives you information that you either A) already know; B) completely useless information; or C) information that is completely irrelevant and off topic while you are on your last heart segment, haven't scratched the boss, and have all ready used up all of your useful (pink) fairies.
I didn't love Navi with all of her squealing, but she isn't even CLOSE to the worst.
The worst is the announcer in Monday Night Combat (and yes, announcers DO count), he always yells at the player to upgrade his skills as soon as the player has enough money.
The worst is the announcer in Monday Night Combat (and yes, announcers DO count), he always yells at the player to upgrade his skills as soon as the player has enough money.
I'm happy to read that others happen to like Navi as well.
I liked doing things without Z-targeting, using my bow manually and sniping Keese that dwell as single pixels in the sky at the far end of Lake Hylia. I liked trying to fight without using Z on Hold as more then the only camera control the game had.
So I say i liked Navi not because she happened to be truly helpful but because I actually enjoyed her company. What frustrated me was the limited character interaction. I liked talking to Navi, Saria, and Darunia. It was always a let down they were constrained to no more then a couple lines of dialog at any single point in play. I listened to all of Navi's advice hoping for new things and when the end of the game came, when I saw her fly up away, knowledge that Link no longer needed her with him, I felt sad.
The first game system I owned, the first game I played, the first character that shared my entire adventure and then parted ways when all that had to be done was finally so.
I liked doing things without Z-targeting, using my bow manually and sniping Keese that dwell as single pixels in the sky at the far end of Lake Hylia. I liked trying to fight without using Z on Hold as more then the only camera control the game had.
So I say i liked Navi not because she happened to be truly helpful but because I actually enjoyed her company. What frustrated me was the limited character interaction. I liked talking to Navi, Saria, and Darunia. It was always a let down they were constrained to no more then a couple lines of dialog at any single point in play. I listened to all of Navi's advice hoping for new things and when the end of the game came, when I saw her fly up away, knowledge that Link no longer needed her with him, I felt sad.
The first game system I owned, the first game I played, the first character that shared my entire adventure and then parted ways when all that had to be done was finally so.
