The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It has won several awards since its debut, such as “Game of the Year” at the 2nd Interactive Achievement Awards and the “Interactive Art Division Grand Prize” at the Japan Media Arts Festival. Some gaming magazines, such as Edge, Famitsu, and GameSpot, have even given it a perfect score. Its impact on the video game industry has led many new 3D games to take inspiration from it when developing their games.

But how impressive is it today? It was considered “Zelda in 3D” in 1998, but it doesn’t stand out from the rest The Legend of Zelda today’s games. Majora’s Mask has a darker tone and uses a time loop mechanic, Wind Waker uses cel-shaded graphics and emphasizes deep-sea navigation, and Breath of the Wild is the first 3D open-world Zelda game. It may have been amazing at the time, but it would be considered “very dated at best” or “obsolete” at worst.

Updated August 14, 2024 by Antonio Samson: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is considered one of the best games ever made. However, games have evolved so much since its initial release, so how does it hold up? This article has been updated to include more entries and to meet CBR’s editorial and formatting standards.

15 Side quests are mostly fetch quests

Few side quests offer real rewards

While Ocarina of Time includes several side quests, Most are simple recovery tasks that don’t offer any meaningful rewards. For example, the trade sequence to obtain the Biggoron Sword is lengthy and requires a lot of backtracking, but aside from the sword itself, most of the items involved have no other use. Similarly, quests like collecting ten Big Poes or catching the biggest fish in the fishing pond are time-consuming and provide little reward.

Later games like Majora’s Mask feature side quests that provide unique character interactions, deeper story elements, and more impactful rewards. Ocarina of Time Side quests often feel like filler rather than core content.

14 The game world seems smaller than it is

The map is surprisingly compact

At first glance, the world of Ocarina of Time seems vast and expansive, especially considering Hyrule Field as the central hub. However, upon closer inspection, the game world is quite compact, with each area taking only a few minutes to complete. The illusion of a large world is mainly due to the clever use of perspective and the limitations of the N64 hardware.

In comparison, games like Breath of the Wild deliver on the promise of a vast, open world, allowing exploration in all directions with minimal loading screens or limitations. Ocarina of Time The world, while impressive for its time, can seem constrained and limited by modern standards.

13 Navi’s advice is more annoying than helpful

Navi constantly interrupts the game

One of the most memorable aspects of Ocarina of Time is Navi, Link’s fairy companion, known for her iconic “Hey! Listen!” Unfortunately, what was meant to be a helpful guide often turns into an irritation. Navi frequently interrupts the game to offer advice or point out the obvious, especially when players are already familiar with the task at hand.

Later games like Twilight Princess The game also featured companions who offered clues, but they did so with more subtlety. Navi’s interruptions can break immersion and frustrate players, especially when she provides redundant or not particularly useful information.

12 The game lacks a real day-night cycle

Time does not flow in dungeons or certain areas

While Ocarina of Time Although it introduced the concept of a day-night cycle, it fails to deliver a truly dynamic experience. Time only progresses in the outside world, meaning the day-night cycle stops completely. every time Link enters a town, dungeon, or specific area. This inconsistency can break the sense of immersion and make the world feel less cohesive.

Other games, such as Majora’s Maskhave a fully integrated time system that affects the entire game world, influencing events, NPC behavior, and even the story. This creates a more connected and immersive experience that Ocarina of Time The fragmented time progression fails to achieve its goals.

11 Replaying the game offers little new content

Little replay value after the first playthrough

Ocarina of Time The game may have been revolutionary when it was first played, but once the story is over, there’s little incentive to play the game again. The main quest is linear, and while there are optional side quests and items to collect, they don’t significantly change the gameplay experience.

Unlike titles like Majora’s Maskwhich offers multiple endings and different ways to complete the game, Ocarina of Time absence of alternative paths or significant changes On a second playthrough, the game becomes less interesting to replay. The lack of additional difficulty modes or unlockable content also decreases the replay value.

10 Hyrule Field is both vast and empty.

It is essentially a crossroads between the areas

Although Hyrule Field is one of the largest areas the Hero of Time can explore, there is not much to do here in addition to the occasional hunt for the Golden Skulltula and the Great Poe. While Link can ride a horse across the field more efficiently as an adult, the randomly placed fences can make even horseback riding a tedious task.

Most of the hidden caves in the terrain contain the same cavern with a treasure chest, gossip stone, fish, and bugs reused all over the map. Since these chests never contain anything that players can’t find elsewhere, they won’t feel like their time is being rewarded. The emptiness is really apparent since Majora’s Maskwhich reuses many Ocarina of Time active, has a much more dynamic and populated Termina Field than this game’s Hyrule Field ever was.

9 OOT combat involves too much sitting or waiting

The pace of Ocarina of Time’s battles is often dictated by the enemies.

Many enemies in this game can only be harmed by waiting to do something that leaves them vulnerable to attack. Skulltulas teach players to wait until their backs are exposed, while Deku Scrubs teach the importance of deflecting projectiles back at the enemy. Many other enemies, such as Octoroks, Wolfos, Lizalfos, Stalfos, Shell Blades, and Gerudo Thieves, have the same “wait, then attack” formula.

The game’s bosses are no exception, as they can’t be harmed unless they’re about to attack. King Dodongo must swallow a bomb when he inhales, Phantom Ganon’s magic attack must be deflected back at him, and Volvagia can only be stunned when she’s about to breathe fire. Unless these bosses perform these specific actions, Link can’t attack them at all. Nintendo must have realized how annoying this could get, since none of the other 3D Zelda games require you to “do nothing” as a tactic during boss fights.

8 The game economy is broken, so rupees are virtually worthless

There are enough provisions for everyone

The series’ currency, Rupees, have always been a staple of the series, which is why it’s shocking how useless they are in this game. Aside from buying that Deku Shield in Kokiri Forest for 40 Rupees and eventually saving up 80 for the Hylian Shield on your first trip to Hyrule Castle, there is no reason to collect rupees in this game.

Not only can Rupees drop from grass patches, pottery, and even the occasional enemy, but many purchasable items can also be found this way. Even bottled items, like fairies and bugs, can be found for free. Later Zelda titles featured money pits that allowed players to spend their hard-earned Rupees: Majora’s Mask has the mask all night, Wind Waker at the auction house, and Twilight Princess has the Magic Armor side quest.

7 The Ocarina is a glorified lockpicker

Hyrule has a bunch of locked paths to unlock

It’s painful to admit for a game that advertises a musical instrument, but most of Ocarina of TimeSongs have no useful effect in the game other than taking Link somewhere else. Aside from Epona’s Song and the Sun Song, none of these melodies serve any purpose other than a magical “open sesame” to access a new dungeon, quickly return to an old dungeon, open a locked door, or summon a handy block that resembles the Time Gate.

In Majora’s MaskOnly half of his songs are like keys, and they are only to be played once in a three-day cycle. He reuses Epona’s song, the song of time, and the song of storms from Ocarina of Timebut these songs have useful effects in this game. Wind Wakeronly two songs follow this formula for the Earth and Wind Temples, and those two are no longer used once those respective temples are cleared.

6 Most optional items are superfluous

Fire and ice arrows use magic anyway.

The Legend of Zelda Games are full of hidden treasures that reward players for exploring. This is the case with Ocarina of Timebut unfortunately, most of these goodies doesn’t help Link much. Sticks, nuts, seeds, bombs, and arrows all have a carrying capacity that can be increased in increments of 10, and can be upgraded twice. This doesn’t matter due to the abundance of these items.

Link can acquire fire and ice arrows as an adult, but there is no point in the game where these help when regular arrows do not. Majora’s Mask And Wind WakerFire and Ice Arrows are required to complete these games. While they also contain increased ability upgrades, other optional items have utility, including the Fierce Deity Mask and Hero’s Charm.

5 Gold Skulltulas aren’t worth it

Only 100% perfectionists will find them all.

The rewards for collecting the Gold Skulltula Tokens aren’t very good, considering the effort it takes to find them all. Most of them just grant rubies, which are useless in this game. Only the Heart Piece is worth it, but that’s still too much effort for half of the Gold Skulltulas in the game. The final reward for collecting all 100 tokens is insultingto put it mildly.

Majora’s Mask condensed the Skulltula hunt into two mini-dungeons that require much less time and effort to complete. Their respective rewards, the Mask of Truth and the Giant’s Wallet, are recycled from Ocarina of Time but are more useful in this game. Breath of the Wild has a similar “collect them all” side quest with Korok Seeds, but Link only needs 441 out of 900 seeds to fully upgrade his inventory.

4 The monotonous combat gets tiring after a while

No parry attacks or finishing moves for you.

The Z-targeting system may have been innovative for its time, but the game’s combat is very primitive by today’s standards. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess developed this system with his hidden skills, but Ocarina of Time Combat emphasizes locking on, holding the shield, occasionally moving to the side, and attacking when the enemy drops their guard. This was fine with the Lizalfos in Dodongo Cave, but it gets boring after repeating the same strategy for the third time with the Stalfos in the Forest Temple.

Ironically, some enemies that don’t focus on combat, like the blue Tektites, ReDeads, and Leevers, are more interesting simply because they force the player to adopt a different strategy. The problem is that situations like these make the combat system more redundant. The redeeming quality of this system is that it makes projectile weapons simple to use, so every 3D Zelda game up until Breath of the Wild kept this system intact.

3 Ocarina of Time doesn’t present enough of a challenge

This is why the rules of the “3 Heart Challenge” exist

When Ocarina of Time was first released, it was actually the simplest game in the series once players get used to the new Z-targeting feature and the 3D world. Zelda The games were 2D, with a greater emphasis on exploration. The transition to 3D brought a lot of support intended to satisfy players discovering the new dimension for the first time, but it had the side effect of prohibiting the free exploration that 2D Zelda games were known for.

With 3D games becoming mainstream today, there is no need for this type of restoration. New players are trying Ocarina of Time For the first time, you’ll probably feel insulted when Navi tells Link to “press the A button to open a door” or “watch out for the action icon.” Later, in 3D Zelda The titles have completely abandoned this restoration, and it’s easy to see why.

2 Horse fighting is not what it is cracked up to be

Only used for poe hunting and a mini-game

Old concept art from Ocarina of Time shows Link riding Epona, sword in hand. Anyone who saw this illustration in a video game magazine may have thought their game was glitched when the sword icon was replaced with the fairy bow. It turns out that Link can’t use his sword at all while riding. There is no sword fighting on horseback to begin with, only horseback archery.

Twilight Princess would later use mandatory horse battles several times during its release, one of which pits Link and Epona against Ganondorf and his black stallion. This suggests that the horse battle was cut Ocarina of Timedue to the hardware limitations of the N64 since Majora’s Mask has the same peculiarity. It is still unusual for Ganondorf to have a horse in this game; he never uses it outside of cutscenes.

1 The Water Temple is boring

Changing boots takes five seconds

It is a point of contention between those who love Ocarina of Time and those who don’t, but the Water Temple is considered the most hated dungeon in the game. This is due to the way The iron boots made the dungeon very boring. Since the Iron Boots are not a C-item, players had to pause the game, go to the equip screen, select the boots they wanted, and resume pausing every time they wanted Link to sink or float in water.

However, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D offers many quality of life improvements over the original game. While other outdated mechanics have not been improved, the Iron Boots have been turned into a C-item, making it unnecessary to pause the game just to change boots. It’s really nice when game developers can not only acknowledge the flaws of a masterpiece, but also fix them.