TOW#23 - Sequilitis- Legend of Zelda

One of the most known video games, known by gamers and non-gamers alike, is The Legend of Zelda. There are many different games in this franchise, all with their own connections or differences to the past games. Because of this range of differences, how one would define a zelda game has began to extremely differ from person to person. Arin Hanson, a popular gamer, animator, and voice actor, on youtube as well as TV, created a video comparing two popular games in the series, A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time. The biggest different between these games is that one is 2D while the other is 3D. Hanson argues that the 2D A Link to the Past is better than the other because it stays true to the original Zelda routes; it allows the players to adventure through an open world at their own pace instead of being guided through with instructions and plot. I understand his argument and agree with it, though my taste in game is different than Hanson’s, so I do not completely agree with his argument.

Today, Hanson almost  regrets creating this video, as many people on the internet strongly disagree with him and are not afraid to explain this to him in a rude way. Although it is true this is still his opinion. Many people consider Ocarina of Time the best video games ever created, there are definitely many great aspects of the game and it is one of the first games created of this type. It set the path for future 3D games, but it still has many flaws fans are not willing to look past. I am not too critical of the aspects Hanson considers flaws, some of them I actually like, so I would not make anything similar to this. The video created is very creative and has a random flow to it so he does not use any classical models. Considering the audience is younger, a faster and funnier pace would help to catch our attention better. To defend his opinion he mainly speaks of what is “good” game design. He has no actual proof or sources for this, it is just what he claims.Though because video games are so subjective, it is hard to actually include sources, so he did what was the best way to argue this topic. This video has definitely opened up my mind to things I had never thought about when it comes to video games and game design. Although I do not completely agree with Hanson, I agree with many of his points.