Do you like A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time better?

[Druffmaul]

ALttP. I played it in 1993 without knowing anything about it, I had no idea it was the third game in a series. I simply needed a new game and didn't have a particular one in mind, and the TV commerical had made me curious because it showed absolutely no footage of the actual game. A few minutes after starting, I felt like I won the lottery, I was so surprised and blown away by everything about it.

OoT was great and all, but it could never match that original magical experience I had 5 years earlier. None of the later Zeldas ever could. ALttP will always be my #1 favorite.

 

[Professor Beef]

ALBW is better than both of them, though.

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Absolutely.

 

[DaleCooper]

LttP has aged a lot more gracefully.

OoT's low polygon counts and the barren environments just annoys the hell out of me. Even in the 3DS version. I have the same problem with Mario 64.

 

[krossj]

ocarina of time, its magic

 

[Josh378]

This is a cruel poll. I love both almost equal, but that 3D transition to Zelda:OoT is what gives the game the edge...

 

[.exe]

Ocarina. ALttP dungeon's aren't that great.

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Oh, yeah. Pushing blocks slowly, lighting torches and shooting eyes above doors? That's the good stuff ;)

 

[Phendrift]

Both are my least favorite 2D and 3D Zelda but I prefer Ocarina

 

[ToffeeC]

I feel like TP is mostly "OoT but noticeably better." Twilight Princess has better controls, better combat, better dungeons, a better overworld, and better graphics (other than dungeons, those are all areas where I felt like OoT did poorly). Midna is a better character than anybody in OoT. Don't remember side-quests/mini-games but I don't play Zelda games for that. Pacing isn't great, but all of the 3D Zelda games have poor pacing IMO.

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What about OST? Half of TP's soundtrack is the same melody arranged in different ways. And IDK how you can say that about the overworld, Castle town and Kakariko village are boring snoozefests compared to their counterparts in OOT, even with the N64's primitive capabilities. To me TP is the best dungeon-crawler in the series but nothing more. Everything in that game felt like an uninspired and superficial attempt at an OOT redux, with limited success.

 

[turbobrick]

I feel like TP is mostly "OoT but noticeably better." Twilight Princess has better controls, better combat, better dungeons, a better overworld, and better graphics (other than dungeons, those are all areas where I felt like OoT did poorly). Midna is a better character than anybody in OoT. Don't remember side-quests/mini-games but I don't play Zelda games for that. Pacing isn't great, but all of the 3D Zelda games have poor pacing IMO.

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I 100% agree with this. I will replay TP over OOT any day. In fact I'd say that TP is probably the best of the classic 3D Zelda games. I feel it just did the classic 3D Zelda formula the best. However, just as a side note, I played it on the gamecube, then wii u, so can't comment on motion controls.

Though I think BOTW is the best 3D Zelda game, but I might be in the minority on that one.

 

[Deleted member 60582]

Ocarina. It's hard to put into words just how impactful stepping into Hyrule Field for the first time was in OoT after growing up with the NES/SNES games. It was almost a religious experience. The day/night cycle and how the world changed with it was also incredible at the time. For younger players who weren't there for the series prior to OoT, it probably seems quaint, dated or flat out bad looking at it now but, at release, it was almost indescribable.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

OoT holds a special place in my heart. I like A Link Between Worlds more than LttP.

 

[Deleted member 44122]

easy, ocarina of time. its my favourite game of all time

 

[FreddeGredde]

I never really liked 2D Zelda, while OoT became my favorite game of all time.

Even today, when I've warmed up to most 2D Zeldas (especially Link's Awakening), I still dislike ALttP. Too forgettable environments, too "serious". I guess the whole atmosphere just isn't to my liking.

Also, to those saying that OoT is just a 3D version of ALttP: To me, the move to 3D is like experiencing and exploring a real world, while ALttP is the equivalent of looking at a flat map on the table. It's not the same experience in any shape or form.

 

[blame space]

Oh, yeah. Pushing blocks slowly, lighting torches and shooting eyes above doors? That's the good stuff ;)

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this but unironically

 

[Oneiros]

Ocarina of Time is much more epic and fun. Top-down Zelda combat is pretty janky without analog control and there are too many cryptic moments.

 

[skillzilla81]

Ocarina. It's hard to put into words just how impactful stepping into Hyrule Field for the first time was in OoT after growing up with the NES/SNES games. It was almost a religious experience. The day/night cycle and how the world changed with it was also incredible at the time. For younger players who weren't there for the series prior to OoT, it probably seems quaint, dated or flat out bad looking at it now but, at release, it was almost indescribable.

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I grew up with these games, and stepping out to barren, blurry, vaseline filtered hyrule field coming from some of the best 2D sprites ever did absolutely nothing for me.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Just about even. Two absolute masterpieces.

 

[Many]

I played Ocarina first. So that one.

 

[Krypt]

I mean Link to the Past is a grest game but which one had a bigger impact.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

They're two of the very best games I have ever played and it's nearly impossible to choose one over the other.

But I think I'm going to give the slightest edge to Ocarina of Time, just for how sheerly mind-blowing it was to play it for the first time and see such a cinematic presentation without sacrificing any gameplay. They could have just made another top-down game, but they decided to elevate it to be so much more.

 

[eXistor]

They're masterworks all, you can't go wrong. I think I like OoT a smidge more, mostly due to the dark world in LttP not quite having the atmosphere I want from Zelda.

 

[ToffeeC]

I mean Link to the Past is a good game but one had the bitter impact.

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ALTTP isn't even the best game on its platform, Chrono Trigger is.

 

[Anoxida]

Alttp for me. I also feel like it aged better too. I loved OoT but I would never wanna replay that shit now.

 

[Euler007]

I did a 100% replay of OOT two years ago (back to back after Zelda 1 and 2). I'm way more attached to ALTTP. It seems it's mostly sentimental, came out when I was 13 and 100% a Nintendo fan. I was a bit soured on Nintendo when OoT came out, and aging didn't help.

 

[eXistor]

I feel like TP is mostly "OoT but noticeably better." Twilight Princess has better controls, better combat, better dungeons, a better overworld, and better graphics (other than dungeons, those are all areas where I felt like OoT did poorly). Midna is a better character than anybody in OoT. Don't remember side-quests/mini-games but I don't play Zelda games for that. Pacing isn't great, but all of the 3D Zelda games have poor pacing IMO.

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I don't think I agree with even one word here. TP is such a step back in every respect. Only the dungeons can compete imo and even that's debatable.

 

[The Unsent]

Ocarina of Time is more emotional because of its coming of age story. Some of the parts are just so atmospheric... like explorong Future Hyrule for the first time, playing the song of the storms to create a paradox, following the ghost in the desert, fighting Shadow Link in the water Garden, the whole Shadow Temple, Ganon's piano getting louder and louder, and just everytime you learn a new song


ALTTP is great, but only has 1 proper town as well (Thieves Town is more of a dungeon) Ocarina of Time has those moments sprinkled around it, the more alive world, that just elevate to such a beautiful adventure.

 

[Version 3.0]

I get a sense of warmth whenever I see this.

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Yeah. It brings up such great feelings.

They're both tens. But OoT is tenner.

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LOL. Well put.

LttP was great, but having played the first two Zelda games on the NES, it was more of an evolutionary step than anything. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing, but also very familiar.

Ocarina was a revolution. It was just so ambitious for its time, and so influential in its design. And it was just so much fun. It was the near-consensus GOAT game for so many years, and well-deserved. And it just evoked so many emotions.

It's easy to look back now and say LttP's nice 2D "aged well" and OoT's primitive 3D did not. That's true, but it entirely misses the point. OoT is a masterpiece, and the limited technology of the time doesn't change that one bit.

Oh, and Nintendo: get the damn remake onto a better system than the awful 3DS already!

 

[Quantum Nottle]

OOT maybe more dated, but I feel like it delivers on its story beats better and is more convincing as a overall world. I can't say I care about anyone in LttP but OOT has a lot of charm to its characters and the 3D allowed me to be more attached to what's going on. Plus that awesome music.

 

[genjiZERO]

I've secretly never really liked Ocarina. When it came out I felt the world was small, having a horse was dumb, and I never found the 3D gameplay to be particularly exciting. Gorgeous music though. Back then I was a bit of 2D purist too. I have a better appreciation for it now, but I still think LttP is the best game in the series (sans perhaps LbW which perhaps perfects the game but is derivative). But you know, every time this convo comes up I think it's important to point out what your first Zelda actually was since a lot of the bias comes from that. I started with the first one which is why I think I prefer LttP.

Not even close - LttP.

Twilight Princess was the first 3D Zelda where I felt like they got everything mostly right (Wind Waker was close). And then they had to ruin it with Skyward Sword & then go in an entirely different direction for BotW.

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I'm with you 100%. It's the first 3D Zelda where it all clicked. I think it has the best story too.

 

[Rickenslacker]

Link to the Past wins for me. It's snappier, feels better paced, has the one true pink haired Link, and is basically the original OoT anyway. Ocarina of Time feels like a polygonal retread, and while that was cool for the time, it suffers from a lot of tedium and technical issues. I don't wanna trudge through with Link moving like he's walking through molasses, with a framerate in the 20s. I don't want to fiddle around with an early 3D camera. I don't want to have to whip out the ocarina and input time codes. I don't want to wait the slight moment of loading for the menu screen to pop up.

Epona is cool and all, but in LttP Link can just sprint. That basically applies to a lot of the game. LttP is just tighter, and I appreciate it more for it.

 

[jnWake]

I prefer OoT, but I'm a weird Zelda fan since I don't like either of the 2 that much.

 

[Peek-a-boo!]

Preferably 'Ocarina of Time', as the leap to 3D was just as influential to me as 'Super Mario 64' was.

 

[werezompire]

And IDK how you can say that about the overworld, Castle town and Kakariko village are boring snoozefests compared to their counterparts in OOT, even with the N64's primitive capabilities.

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Towns are their own thing, they're not part of the overworld. OoT's overworld is a big empty field and then a handful of side areas to reach the various dungeons. It's very clunky compared to most of the other Zelda games, 2D & 3D.

 

[-Le Monde-]

I love them both. But I give the edge to Ocarina.

 

[Equanimity]

Had more fun playing Ocarina of Time on 3DS

 

[ToffeeC]

Link to the Past wins for me. It's snappier, feels better paced, has the one true pink haired Link, and is basically the original OoT anyway. Ocarina of Time feels like a polygonal retread, and while that was cool for the time, it suffers from a lot of tedium and technical issues. I don't wanna trudge through with Link moving like he's walking through molasses, with a framerate in the 20s. I don't want to fiddle around with an early 3D camera. I don't want to have to whip out the ocarina and input time codes. I don't want to wait the slight moment of loading for the menu screen to pop up.

Epona is cool and all, but in LttP Link can just sprint. That basically applies to a lot of the game. LttP is just tighter, and I appreciate it more for it.

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I really don't understand the "it's basically the original OOT" line of argument. Sure OOT's basic premise is identical to ALTTP's, but that's selling the jump to 3D extremely short. It's like arguing that the screenplay is better than the movie itself because who needs actors, scenes, etc. 🤨

 

[AniHawk]

i only played alttp once, 20 years ago. it struck me as overlong and generally uninteresting. really, the main thing i remember about it is just how much time i spent playing it versus any dungeon, puzzle, or boss fight. i last played ocarina of time nine years ago - and for as much as it's aged (it's very 'wow, 3d!' in places) - the pacing is incredibly tight. and there are just more moments in general i can recall with clarity.

 

[Grapezard]

I've always preferred the 3D games over the 2D ones.

 

[The Real Abed]

I love both. Also Link's Awakening. But I always go back to Link to the Past. In fact I'm pretty sure I haven't played through Ocarina in full since the first week I got it in 1997. I loved it. But I just replay Link to the Past a lot. If they ever ported Ocarina 3D to the Switch I might replay it again.

But Awakening will always be more special to me anyway.

 

[Weiss]

LTTP, easily. OoT was impressive years ago (and it's still certainly a good time today) but it's also a barren, lifeless game filled with baby easy puzzles and combat. LTTP's world is super dense (and there are of them!) and filled with secrets.

 

[Rickenslacker]

I really don't understand the "it's basically the original OOT" line of argument. Sure OOT's basic premise is identical to ALTTP's, but that's selling the jump to 3D extremely short. It's like arguing that the screenplay is better than the movie itself because who needs actors, scenes, etc. 🤨

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If Majora's Mask was the game we're comparing then it would be a different story, but what I address is that the similarities between the two only contrast the nature of where 2D 16-bit gaming was at the time of LttP versus early 3D with OoT. Link to the Past benefits from being so imminently playable, it doesn't waste time to get you going. Everything about the game is responsive. OoT is important for trailblazing at the time, but that also means I don't really want to deal with all the hiccups of dealing with that for what amounts to a polygonal feeling iteration of its predecessor.

 

[Herne]

I'd love to see this poll done again, but the options are "I like X/Y more but I played X/Y first" because something tells me whichever you played first would probably affect your answer.

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I played A Link To The Past first. I prefer Ocarina of Time (but they are both stellar games).

 

[Flame Lord]

I played LttP for the first time a year or so ago and I have to say there are some elements of Zelda I think work better in 2D, like secrets. I don't want to look around huge 3D areas for a misplaced rock for another 10 rupees I don't need, but in 2D it was pretty easy to scan an area for secrets and quickly get there. Still, I'd have a hard time putting one over the other.

 

[Enduin]

OoT for me. The wonderment of exploring that world in 3D was just too much. It just oozes atmosphere in every location and provides a sense of scale that's just not possible with top down 2D. NPCs have so much personality and uniqueness in their looks and behaviors. It's just a lovely world to inhabit. Gameplay wise it may not have aged even half as well as ALttP, but it's still mostly solid and just an overall wonderful game.

Most people knock the game's story and writing as nothing special, but its scene direction was and remains pretty fantastic and I still think it, along with MM and WW, are the prime examples of what Zelda games should strive for when it comes to story and narrative direction. They're minimalist and simple overall, but have a smart use of limited cutscenes and framing to do an amazing job of conveying emotion and meaning with little to no dialogue and only the most basic and general character development. And that's on top of the environmental story telling and how much they're able to do with using music, location design and gameplay to convey things even further.

 

[Firemind]

One of them actually has a realized story.

 

[Godzilla's Left Toe]

A Link to the Past to me was the standard for every Zelda until BOTW

 

[werezompire]

Most people knock the game's story and writing as nothing special, but its scene direction was and remains pretty fantastic and I still think it, along with MM and WW, are the prime examples of what Zelda games should strive for when it comes to story and narrative direction. They're minimalist and simple overall, but have a smart use of limited cutscenes and framing to do an amazing job of conveying emotion and meaning with little to no dialogue and only the most basic and general character development. And that's on top of the environmental story telling and how much they're able to do with using music, location design and gameplay to convey things even further.

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This is one of the reasons why I like LttP better than OoT. LttP gets into the action immediately (after maybe 30 secs of dialogue, you're off on a dangerous rescue mission) and there are only a handful of story scenes in the entire game, each of which are over very quickly. It's almost entirely gameplay, whereas OoT really wanted to be more cinematic & story-driven which was to the series' detriment, I feel.

 

[Kivvi]

Played OoT on the 3ds and LttP on my SNES classic. Both in the last 5 years for the first time. OoT was okay, it never really grabbed me. Had more fun with LttP.

 

[Firemind]

This is one of the reasons why I like LttP better than OoT. LttP gets into the action immediately and there are only a handful of story scenes in the entire game, each of which are over very quickly. It's almost entirely gameplay, whereas OoT really wanted to be more cinematic & story-driven.

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The downside of that is that A Link to The Past has very few NPCs.

 

[Jroc]

The gameplay in ALTTP hasn't aged very well. The sword hitbox feels terrible and only being able to equip a single item at a time is painful. Sure the graphics look nice, but OOT is the better game in 2020.