Terminal Verbosity

The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time Time to see just how well my now distant childhood holds up, nearly 30 years later. Feel old yet? Remakes are often divisive. They're so easy to botch, but when done well, true to the original spirit, they help revive classics for whole new generations. The original OoT still holds up great, obviously, but hopefully Nintendo - the masters of reselling our childhoods back to us - can deliver something better than reheated ancient regurgitations, unlike so many others, unfortunately.

The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time Even in the age of open-world everything, Hyrule Field remains extraordinary. Back in 1998 3D graphics, especially entirely 3D games, were still new to many people. Any sizeable 3D space was impressive, much more so what felt like an entire world. Now it's nearly blasé. I was fortunate enough to grow up with most of the progress of the gaming industry, from the late 80's when I was born, owning or otherwise having access to most systems, a PC, and many major releases and watershed moments in the medium. I don't recall anything beforehand being quite so remarkable as Ocarina of Time, and few things since in the same way. While not literally the case, it seemed as though you could go anywhere and do anything in Hyrule. While Breath of the Wild would offer far more freedom and grandeur, it also comes across much more vacant. Ocarina of Time's limitations hint at a broader world waiting to be explored, though always out of reach. Breath of the Wild let you go just about anywhere, only to find there often wasn't much to do once you got there. Not as though Ocarina of Time is without its empty spaces, but the concentration of content helps it come across as both large and engaging. I love them both, a great deal. warts and all. There's still immense potential in the Breath of the Wild formula that Nintendo has yet to capitalize upon, but at the same time it's been genuinely fun going pack to the past. I'd love a future refinement of either style, honestly.