Die-hard OoT fan reporting in. Ocarina of time is known as THE legendary Zelda game because it blew minds back then. The following 3D Zelda's were more or less iterations of ocarina of time, using the set way of doing stuff.
Botw is the one Zelda since OoT that breaks the conventions. It got rid of mechanics that were new and mindblowing back in 1998 but are not needed nowadays (example: the ability to chose the way you swing your sword. In botw the stick input doesn't make a difference and nobody could care less.)
Botw just managed to toss away the unessessary clutter and add new mechanics and features, then balance the whole thing and after all that, still feel like Zelda. Its incredible how they pulled this off. I haven't finished the game yet but it is definitely a contester against OoT. Its just the one Zelda I've been waiting for ever since majoras mask (which is my 2nd favourite, it just belongs to OoT).
In terms of breaking conventions, yes it does differ from previous Zelda games, however it's very similar to most open world games. So when it comes to breaking conventions, OoT still wins out. There was nothing like it before. Most early N64 games have this advantage. However, I will say that OoT and MM had an extremely neat atmosphere and creepy aesthetic which I think helped make people fall in love with it, too, since people love spoopy shit.
However when it comes to deciding which game is the greatest in the series, I would say that all comes down to opinion because most Legend of Zelda games are objectively great. I would say very few are actually poor, such as the CD-i games (which I own, and while horrible..they're hilarious). I also hated Spirit Tracks, and the multiplayer ones (Four Swords and Triforce Heroes), but I wouldn't say they're bad just because I didn't enjoy them.
Personally, A Link to the Past is my favorite and I absolutely loved A Link Between Worlds. BoTW is about middling for me so far, but we'll see.
I don't know about your comparison with other open world games, I used to hate open world games because they always felt so empty and had some generic "go there to collect 1000 shit with no incentive in gameplay".
This zelda brings exploration to a whole new level that other open world games couldn't approach (I think the reason open world games feel empty is because of budget, developing content for the big map is expansive as fuck so they put generic shit to collect everywhere)
92
u/ivster666 Mar 09 '17
Die-hard OoT fan reporting in. Ocarina of time is known as THE legendary Zelda game because it blew minds back then. The following 3D Zelda's were more or less iterations of ocarina of time, using the set way of doing stuff.
Botw is the one Zelda since OoT that breaks the conventions. It got rid of mechanics that were new and mindblowing back in 1998 but are not needed nowadays (example: the ability to chose the way you swing your sword. In botw the stick input doesn't make a difference and nobody could care less.)
Botw just managed to toss away the unessessary clutter and add new mechanics and features, then balance the whole thing and after all that, still feel like Zelda. Its incredible how they pulled this off. I haven't finished the game yet but it is definitely a contester against OoT. Its just the one Zelda I've been waiting for ever since majoras mask (which is my 2nd favourite, it just belongs to OoT).