Is Ocarina of Time Overrated?

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was regarded as the best game of all time by many when it came out in 1998. Nearly 20 years later, and many still consider to be one of the best games ever made. As is the case with any game that's deemed "the best game ever" it has gained some severe backlash from people who disagree. But does Ocarina of Time deserve the recent hatred, or is it a timeless masterpiece?

Understanding the love:

The love that Ocarina of Time received upon release is easy to explain. No Nintendo game attempted the same things Ocarina of Time did, including A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time felt like an adventure, and to first time players, it still does. The world of Ocarina of Time is fun to explore, if a little tedious due to the size. A day/night cycle that effected the world was also a rare sight at the time.

As the years progressed, Ocarina of Time didn't have as many standout features as it did at first. I believe this is because Nintendo set the bar for what action-adventure games should strive to do. Games that aimed to do the same thing as Ocarina of Time often did things similarly to Ocarina of Time. On the Nintendo 64, Ocarina of Time inspired games were far more obvious. Future systems like the GameCube and Wii still had Ocarina of Time-esque games, but they were harder to find.

I honestly don't think Twilight Princess is that different from Ocarina of Time. They both have similar structure and dungeons orders, but Twilight Princess allows you to skip cutscenes. The problem is that Twilight Princess was in the same series as Ocarina of Time, and the things Ocarina of Time did were unique and new, while in Twilight Princess is was 8 years too late. I think Twilight Princess is underrated, but I also think everything in Twilight Princess could have been done on the Nintendo 64 with a visual downgrade.

Understanding the hate:

As people have gotten more interested in playing retro games, many looked for recommendations from people who played games back in the day. Many who looked for recommended Nintendo 64 games found Ocarina of Time to be a beloved classic. The problem is that these people didn't play the game in 1998, they played it in 2008. They already played Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, and Ocarina of Time has far more dated mechanics than the games the people already played. Ocarina of Time taught developers how to make good adventure games, but eventually, they started surpassing what Ocarina of Time did. Even Star Fox Adventures was very similar, and debatably better than Ocarina of Time.

Naturally people started declaring Ocarina of Time overrated. I don't think many people thought Ocarina of Time was bad when it came out, but were instead tired of it being treated like a timeless masterpiece. Nostalgia is a crazy thing. It can lead to people defending dated decisions because "it adds to the charm" or defending bad games entirely.

Is Ocarina of Time overrated:

Ocarina of Time is overrated if you ask the right person. I believe that the game is dated, and saying that it still holds up perfectly is bogus. Decisions like super slow, unskippable, plentiful text is a perfect example that the game is dated. The dungeons rely heavily on obvious gimmicks rather than puzzles. There are plenty of things to critique about Ocarina of Time, and it's irritating when everyone seems obligated to say it still holds up. It was a unique masterpiece when it came out, but games have done far better since then.

If you're saying it was a great game when it came out, I agree. No game at the time had as much depth as Ocarina of Time, or was accompanied by as great of a soundtrack, which is truly timeless. I enjoy Ocarina of Time today almost as much as I enjoyed it the first time I played it, but that's mostly nostalgia talking. If you know how to get around the bad, then any game will be good.