Scrustle said:
At the time it was released OoT might have been the greatest game of all time, and it was hugely influential to future game design. But it's been a very long time since then. The fact that the game is still really fun is testament to it's quality, both then and now, but it's no surprise that it has been surpassed in 15 years.
I appreciate the fact that something may have come out that has surpassed it.
But I haven't played it. :3
I just think it's so...tight and well thought out. And I know YOU'RE is fully aware of how deep I think the game's subtext is, but I won't get into that here, less I shamelessy promote my crap more than I already have.
I'm tempted to say Okami, Bioshock and Twilight Princess are pretty close to being better, but there's just something about ocarina's pacing. The way the game builds and builds and builds to it's conclusion, giving you more and more gameplay variety as you proceed. The rewards, the world, the emotional investment, the symbolism of the environments and characters, and the dark shift from childhood to adulthood. As someone who has never been bothered by Polycounts, there's little in the game I didn't love. I think it's been surpassed in many individual ways, but as a complete package of a well paced, well designed game that works it's themes into every piece of it's narrative? Bioshock is the only rival in that regard.
Subjectively, it's not even my 5th favorite game. But I still love Ocarina to bits. I honestly don't think it's overrated, it deserves it's praise. It really did change the landscape of game design on both an artistic and gameplay level.