DarkDragoonX
02-06-2003, 01:03 PM
Yes, I know what you're thinking, "'Too much story'? Are you nuts?" Well, just think about it. In the first Zelda game, there was hardly any story at all. In fact, the entire story is summed up if you wait a while at the title screen.
Z2 and LTtP had SOME story, but it was kept to a minimum. In those games, the story was the last thing on your mind... what you were focusing on was where to find that new item, or if that boulder you just passed has a secret under it.
OoT is where things start to crumble. In the previous games, you always had to find and talk to a few select people, and they would give you hints as to where you should go. In OoT, however, they don't give you hints... thay outright tell you EXACTLY what you should be doing. The only thing left to "explore" are the minor secrets... but in the first game, even the next level you had to find was, in many cases, a secret. It was that feeling of action, exploration, and the joy of solving a fiendish riddle, all at the same time, that made the first game great. The later games didn't adhere to it as well, but they still had it.
Zelda games are starting to fall into the "hold down the button and wait for the next cutscene" routine. OoT moved the game forward via the plot, whereas The first few games moved the game forward via the accquisition of new items.
The new Zelda games aren't bad, of course, but until they stop trying to cinamatize the series, Zelda will never, EVER be as good as it was.
Z2 and LTtP had SOME story, but it was kept to a minimum. In those games, the story was the last thing on your mind... what you were focusing on was where to find that new item, or if that boulder you just passed has a secret under it.
OoT is where things start to crumble. In the previous games, you always had to find and talk to a few select people, and they would give you hints as to where you should go. In OoT, however, they don't give you hints... thay outright tell you EXACTLY what you should be doing. The only thing left to "explore" are the minor secrets... but in the first game, even the next level you had to find was, in many cases, a secret. It was that feeling of action, exploration, and the joy of solving a fiendish riddle, all at the same time, that made the first game great. The later games didn't adhere to it as well, but they still had it.
Zelda games are starting to fall into the "hold down the button and wait for the next cutscene" routine. OoT moved the game forward via the plot, whereas The first few games moved the game forward via the accquisition of new items.
The new Zelda games aren't bad, of course, but until they stop trying to cinamatize the series, Zelda will never, EVER be as good as it was.