05-25-2013, 03:12 PM
Okay, I'm starting to see a lot of repetition in arguement so I think it's time i tried throwing a bit of a different perspective on some of OoT's design decisions. Now, I get it, OoT could have had a few things designed better. However, I'm of the opinion that not all the things you think are poorly designed are actually that. Mediocrely designed or Not greatly designed perhaps, but I'm not seeing too many things that are truly poor.
Honestly, Hyrule field just might be there to seem bloated for the benefit of the game. Yes its filler... but not for the sake of filler. First time through, it gives a sense of vastness. Did it turn out to be... well boring?
Yeah. But it serves as a slow point. A buffer so to speak. And throughout the game they continuely give you faster and faster ways to tranverse it for those that just want to get to the next place faster.
Shortcuts, warps, even a horse (Really, this is Epona's only purpose ever in a Zelda game). Not many people really think much about Hyrule field at all, unless they are over analysing it such as in this case. It's a mood setter, a rest area, a break from the action and puzzles of the game.
Could it have been done better? Most certainly. I would have not made the walk from the forest to hyrule town quite so long the first time, and left longer trecks for when you had access to other faster modes of travel. (and have an alternate entrance to hyrule town at night for young link, that's just time wasting)
As for the items... few of them felt like keys to me. It may be strange to bring up megaman here, but for an example, it serves me well. For the longest time, Megaman's weapons were boss killers to me, like how a lot of the zelda items are keys to you. That's it. Until I saw someone else play it using the weapons on the stages. Suddenly I have a new way to play. Many of OoT's items are like this. They have a dungeon based around them... but past that, they are optional, but still can be used.
They CAN feel like keys if you just stick to favorites with the new ones are required, but they're other options. Sometimes I just feel like hammering things rather than using the sword?
The boomerang is in an odd place, I'll admit. It had a functionality overlap with the sling shot (Ranged weapon and all) and the deku nut (stuns), and it's adult replacement is one of the best zelda items ever (The hookshot, not the arrow. Bow and arrow replace the slingshot).
Throw in the fact you get it in the last full young link dungeon, and it becomes a little used item that you tend to forget about when it comes time you can actually use it again. (And giving it to adult link would be silly. There's little the boomerang as it was in OoT could functionally do that another item couldn't better without scripting it boomerang only... and that could just create unneeded busy space.) Functionally, it wasn't until windwaker that the boomerang found its great design use niche, as a multitarget ranged weapon preventing hookshot and arrow overlap.
Would it have been great if they had WW's boomerang in OoT? YES. SO MUCH YES. But they didn't have that idea yet. Can't fault them for that.
And then... There's what OoT did right. I see maybe 3 to 4 issues of what it did wrong and a bunch of excuses of how you can't fault it for it or reasons on how that did it wrong, and nothing about what it did right.
On the subject of excuses... Nier's mostly right here. Technical limitations are really only a reason on why they couldn't expand in an area, not why they couldn't do something differently using the same limitations. Like its why they couldn't make an NPC react twelve different ways to certain situations, but not why they couldn't make that NPC a tad more interesting with that one reaction they can give him.
Honestly, Hyrule field just might be there to seem bloated for the benefit of the game. Yes its filler... but not for the sake of filler. First time through, it gives a sense of vastness. Did it turn out to be... well boring?
Yeah. But it serves as a slow point. A buffer so to speak. And throughout the game they continuely give you faster and faster ways to tranverse it for those that just want to get to the next place faster.
Shortcuts, warps, even a horse (Really, this is Epona's only purpose ever in a Zelda game). Not many people really think much about Hyrule field at all, unless they are over analysing it such as in this case. It's a mood setter, a rest area, a break from the action and puzzles of the game.
Could it have been done better? Most certainly. I would have not made the walk from the forest to hyrule town quite so long the first time, and left longer trecks for when you had access to other faster modes of travel. (and have an alternate entrance to hyrule town at night for young link, that's just time wasting)
As for the items... few of them felt like keys to me. It may be strange to bring up megaman here, but for an example, it serves me well. For the longest time, Megaman's weapons were boss killers to me, like how a lot of the zelda items are keys to you. That's it. Until I saw someone else play it using the weapons on the stages. Suddenly I have a new way to play. Many of OoT's items are like this. They have a dungeon based around them... but past that, they are optional, but still can be used.
They CAN feel like keys if you just stick to favorites with the new ones are required, but they're other options. Sometimes I just feel like hammering things rather than using the sword?
The boomerang is in an odd place, I'll admit. It had a functionality overlap with the sling shot (Ranged weapon and all) and the deku nut (stuns), and it's adult replacement is one of the best zelda items ever (The hookshot, not the arrow. Bow and arrow replace the slingshot).
Throw in the fact you get it in the last full young link dungeon, and it becomes a little used item that you tend to forget about when it comes time you can actually use it again. (And giving it to adult link would be silly. There's little the boomerang as it was in OoT could functionally do that another item couldn't better without scripting it boomerang only... and that could just create unneeded busy space.) Functionally, it wasn't until windwaker that the boomerang found its great design use niche, as a multitarget ranged weapon preventing hookshot and arrow overlap.
Would it have been great if they had WW's boomerang in OoT? YES. SO MUCH YES. But they didn't have that idea yet. Can't fault them for that.
And then... There's what OoT did right. I see maybe 3 to 4 issues of what it did wrong and a bunch of excuses of how you can't fault it for it or reasons on how that did it wrong, and nothing about what it did right.
On the subject of excuses... Nier's mostly right here. Technical limitations are really only a reason on why they couldn't expand in an area, not why they couldn't do something differently using the same limitations. Like its why they couldn't make an NPC react twelve different ways to certain situations, but not why they couldn't make that NPC a tad more interesting with that one reaction they can give him.
![[Image: mx9RKdo.png]](http://i.imgur.com/mx9RKdo.png)