9 Yrs♥$✓#
Currently inside the Water Temple, and I forgit to grab a key... somewhere.
Good luck future me! Current me needs to study!
Tbh the 3ds version improves significantly the experience in this place in particular. Manually putting on and off the boots can be a real painpaiIt. It is even worse if you forgot a key somewhere and you don't know where.
Good luck future me! Current me needs to study!
Tbh the 3ds version improves significantly the experience in this place in particular. Manually putting on and off the boots can be a real painpaiIt. It is even worse if you forgot a key somewhere and you don't know where.
11 Yrs♥$✓#
Just completed the game in 28h30m. It was fun ! The final battle is as epic as I remember. I completed the game with 17 hearts. I'm missing 10 parts which is not too bad. I didn't do most of the mini-games because I usually don't like them so I don't have all upgrades. Didn't get the Ice Arrows either. Did not complete de Biggoron Trade sidequest. I did a Facebook Live I did of my final hour with the game. The video contains some major spoilers obviously.
https://www.facebook.com/michel.morand1/videos/2030948793620056/
Edit: Also, with this playthrough I've reached 1000 hours of game time since I'm a member here ! :)
https://www.facebook.com/michel.morand1/videos/2030948793620056/
Edit: Also, with this playthrough I've reached 1000 hours of game time since I'm a member here ! :)
11 Yrs♥$✓#
The way I did it for the Water Temple was to try to go in every possible passage before changing the water level again. But even with that, I did forget a key, but somehow I just sat back and thought for a moment and knew exactly where it was. After two hours in the temple I was starting to know my way around.
Also, playing through that temple reminded me of the Water Temple from Twilight Princess which had water level changing puzzles as well and was closer in my memory since I completed TP in 2014.
9 Yrs♥$✓#
At least I found the Compass, so I know exactly which key I'm missing. I just need to get to it, so no big deal.
I still don't know how I managed to miss it, because I tried to check everywhere before changing the water level
11 Yrs♥✓#
knalb
11 Yrs♥✓#
Is the key the one hidden under the central chamber. That one was a pain to find
11 Yrs♥✓#
knalb11 Yrs♥✓#
Date of Completion: 18th November 2018
Time Beaten in: 28h 26m 34s
Other notes: Mask and Biggoron sword side quests
Review
The legend of Zelda ocarina of time is the first 3d legend of Zelda game and it successfully brings the format to the 3d plane. While it has a few stumbling blocks and held back by limitations of the time, the game ultimately succeeds in creating a classic and fantastic experience.
The game continues with the dungeon set up of the 2d zelda games. Where the player goes into a dungeon to find an item and a boss key to fight an end of dungeon boss with said new item. The level design of these dungeons are fantastic and well built to lead you towards your next objective without holding your hand or leading you by the nose.
The dungeons are connected together in an open world which can at times feel a bit barren especially in hyrule field and I feel the game could’ve done with more side quests still it connects the game alright and the map does at least tell where you should go by dropping hints of where to go from your partner navi. People joke about navi but I didn’t find her to obnoxious and she did at times give hints of where to go.
In the end the biggest problem the game has is that the player has very little control. This before a second analog stick was available so it tries to get around this problem with a reset camera button and a lock on button but this still is very limited and it shows it’s faults especially in later boss battle where the boss can be moving quickly and thus you lose your lock on them.
Ultimately OoT is a fantastic game which successfully moved the Zelda series into the 3D world where the limitations of the time hold the game back the series has since gone from strength to strength.
9/10
Time Beaten in: 28h 26m 34s
Other notes: Mask and Biggoron sword side quests
Review
The legend of Zelda ocarina of time is the first 3d legend of Zelda game and it successfully brings the format to the 3d plane. While it has a few stumbling blocks and held back by limitations of the time, the game ultimately succeeds in creating a classic and fantastic experience.
The game continues with the dungeon set up of the 2d zelda games. Where the player goes into a dungeon to find an item and a boss key to fight an end of dungeon boss with said new item. The level design of these dungeons are fantastic and well built to lead you towards your next objective without holding your hand or leading you by the nose.
The dungeons are connected together in an open world which can at times feel a bit barren especially in hyrule field and I feel the game could’ve done with more side quests still it connects the game alright and the map does at least tell where you should go by dropping hints of where to go from your partner navi. People joke about navi but I didn’t find her to obnoxious and she did at times give hints of where to go.
In the end the biggest problem the game has is that the player has very little control. This before a second analog stick was available so it tries to get around this problem with a reset camera button and a lock on button but this still is very limited and it shows it’s faults especially in later boss battle where the boss can be moving quickly and thus you lose your lock on them.
Ultimately OoT is a fantastic game which successfully moved the Zelda series into the 3D world where the limitations of the time hold the game back the series has since gone from strength to strength.
9/10
9 Yrs♥$✓#
It ain't that one. I think is the one behind the block
About Navi, I was freezing my ass in the ice cold water, and she suddenly decided to tell me about the arctic wind coming from Zora's domain, and I was like "Oh, really? I didn't fucking notice!!"
11 Yrs♥$✓#
11 Yrs♥✓#
knalb11 Yrs♥✓#
oh god damn that one. You need the item of the dungeon to get behind that block though just a quick heads up.
9 Yrs♥$✓#
Thank you! Then that means I'm missing other key. I really hope I can finish the game before the end of the world, but college is telling me otherwise
7 Yrs♥✓#
Son_of_a_Pitch
7 Yrs♥✓#
People joke about navi but I didn’t find her to obnoxious and she did at times give hints of where to go.
Yeah I remember when I first played 4 years ago she was amazingly helpful at letting me know what to do most of the time when I had no idea. The worst she gets is when you do side stuff and constantly reminds you of the main objective and the only way to stop her from yelling at you is to click on her every time. Also I think they improved with this with Tatl in Majora's Mask, as I don't remember her ever being too bad. Besides that I feel Navi's annoyance is usually a bit exaggerated.
Now with that all said:
12 Yrs♥✓#
There's no way I'll finish the game before the end of the month, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts in the interim. I'm playing the 3DS remake. I have just become adult link and rescued Epona from Lon Lon Ranch. This is my third attempt at playing the game, and this time it's actually hooked me. On reflection I think the opening hours of the game are fairly weak, and that's probably got a lot to do with how much games have improved and moved forward as a medium in the last 20 years. I also feel that the game holds your hand way too much on some of the basics while going out of its way not to give you good hints where they might actually have been useful. That said, the game gets much better once you get to the second dungeon, and I'm really becoming invested in Hyrule as it begins to open up to me. The dungeons so far have been well-designed and enjoyable. While it will probably only be an 8/10 for me, I can see how this game would have blown people away when it first came out and I understand why it is still considered a classic.
Oh also the camera sucks ass, but I really like the 3D and gyro implementations in the remake. Go figure.
Oh also the camera sucks ass, but I really like the 3D and gyro implementations in the remake. Go figure.
7 Yrs♥✓#
Son_of_a_Pitch7 Yrs♥✓#
Yeah I knew going in I wasn't going to be able to complete it all this month, but I had hoped I'd at least make it to the adult Link portion, but unfortunately school work has pretty much taken over and it looks like I won't be making it at this point. I got to the inside of Lord Jabu Jabu's belly last time I played, so I was so close too...
Also I feel the beginning is very much intentionally designed the way it is, as it introduces you to all the mechanics and how to play a 3D game in general, which is something we are all used to now these days. The first time I played this portion actually challenged me a bit, as it was my first time truly getting into a Zelda game and I had to learn all the mechanics, get used to the N64 controller, and learn the logic of the puzzles. This time I breezed through it though, as I have a lot more experience with Zelda games now, so it certainly didn't feel as strong as it was the first time around. I do appreciate how fast they throw the first dungeon still, as its nice to get right into the heat of things, unlike a couple other Zelda games I know (cough Twilight Princess cough Skyward Sword cough).
9 Yrs♥$✓#
I haven't had the time to continue playing since my misadventures on the Water Temple, thanks to all the work and studying I have to do for college, so to hell with finishing it this month.
Revisiting the original N64 version (with the OG controller, which sucks), was fun enough. Is funny how you usually remember the games looking better than they actually do, but well, I guess at the time the graphics were revolutionary. Outside of that, is the OoT that I'm used to, excepting that I have to pause the game to change my boot, which can get pretty annoying.
Revisiting the original N64 version (with the OG controller, which sucks), was fun enough. Is funny how you usually remember the games looking better than they actually do, but well, I guess at the time the graphics were revolutionary. Outside of that, is the OoT that I'm used to, excepting that I have to pause the game to change my boot, which can get pretty annoying.
12 Yrs♥✓#
...So I just retired Ocarina of Time.
That feels like a very heretical statement, and it's made worse by not really knowing why it stopped clicking with me. For what it's worth, I had just finished the Forest Temple and beaten the phantom Ganon. I'm putting it down to a combination of missing quality-of-life features and personal taste. I'm also not losing any sleep over it as I have a backlog full of games I actually want to play!!
That feels like a very heretical statement, and it's made worse by not really knowing why it stopped clicking with me. For what it's worth, I had just finished the Forest Temple and beaten the phantom Ganon. I'm putting it down to a combination of missing quality-of-life features and personal taste. I'm also not losing any sleep over it as I have a backlog full of games I actually want to play!!
7 Yrs♥$✓#
FuzzyLapin
7 Yrs♥$✓#
I'm at the final boss, so I might as well share my thoughts before we all grow old.
My experience playing Ocarina of Time was weird. For most of my playthrough I enjoyed it but struggled to get invested over long periods of time. I had some minor niggles which others have mentioned, but they weren't enough to explain why getting to the Water Temple took almost a year of random sessions.
On reflection, I think I struggled to get invested because I went into the game with the wrong mindset. To provide some grossly oversimplified context, in modern games you solve problems by applying a finite set of rules which the game makes explicit (e.g fire burns wooden objects, large enemies can't be damaged through melee, jumping from high ledges isn't conductive to your health etc). While Ocarina has plenty of puzzles which work like that, it also has ones which rely on common sense more than explicit rules taught by the game.
For example in the first dungeon, you progress by climbing to the top of the Great Deku Tree and jumping onto the cobwebs below to break through. The game never tells you that jumping from a high ledge can break fragile surfaces, but it's a solution that makes logical sense.
As another example, the moment where the game 'clicked' for me was in the Water Temple, where you're in a room with two lit lanterns and two unlit ones. You know all four must be lit to make the chest appear, but you have to figure out how to do this without the Deku stick. Assuming you don't have the fire arrows or Din's Fire, the way you solve this is by firing normal arrows through the lit lanterns so they catch fire and light the unlit ones. Again - the game doesn't inform you beforehand that you can make arrows catch fire by firing them through an open flame, but it makes logical sense.
Here's the kicker though - if you believe a challenge can only be solved through means explicitly articulated by the game, solving it through broader common sense can almost leave you feeling cheated... as if the rules you've learned were for nothing, or as though you arrived at the solution through guesswork.
In the end, what made it click for me wasn't getting better at the puzzles or anything like that, but recontextualising the way I was solving them... if that makes sense.
TL;DR - Modern games can sometimes prime you to avoid thinking outside the box and view common sense solutions as random and unsatisfying.
Rambling aside, I agree with pretty much everything that's been said so far and can see why Ocarina had the impact that it did, even if some parts are a bit clunky and obtuse.
8/10
My experience playing Ocarina of Time was weird. For most of my playthrough I enjoyed it but struggled to get invested over long periods of time. I had some minor niggles which others have mentioned, but they weren't enough to explain why getting to the Water Temple took almost a year of random sessions.
On reflection, I think I struggled to get invested because I went into the game with the wrong mindset. To provide some grossly oversimplified context, in modern games you solve problems by applying a finite set of rules which the game makes explicit (e.g fire burns wooden objects, large enemies can't be damaged through melee, jumping from high ledges isn't conductive to your health etc). While Ocarina has plenty of puzzles which work like that, it also has ones which rely on common sense more than explicit rules taught by the game.
For example in the first dungeon, you progress by climbing to the top of the Great Deku Tree and jumping onto the cobwebs below to break through. The game never tells you that jumping from a high ledge can break fragile surfaces, but it's a solution that makes logical sense.
As another example, the moment where the game 'clicked' for me was in the Water Temple, where you're in a room with two lit lanterns and two unlit ones. You know all four must be lit to make the chest appear, but you have to figure out how to do this without the Deku stick. Assuming you don't have the fire arrows or Din's Fire, the way you solve this is by firing normal arrows through the lit lanterns so they catch fire and light the unlit ones. Again - the game doesn't inform you beforehand that you can make arrows catch fire by firing them through an open flame, but it makes logical sense.
Here's the kicker though - if you believe a challenge can only be solved through means explicitly articulated by the game, solving it through broader common sense can almost leave you feeling cheated... as if the rules you've learned were for nothing, or as though you arrived at the solution through guesswork.
In the end, what made it click for me wasn't getting better at the puzzles or anything like that, but recontextualising the way I was solving them... if that makes sense.
TL;DR - Modern games can sometimes prime you to avoid thinking outside the box and view common sense solutions as random and unsatisfying.
Rambling aside, I agree with pretty much everything that's been said so far and can see why Ocarina had the impact that it did, even if some parts are a bit clunky and obtuse.
8/10
10 Yrs✓#
ProCNR
10 Yrs✓#
Just finished it, clearly not the masterpiece I keep hearing about. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good game and a good achievement for the era.
But a Masterpiece ? Seriously ? There are so many flaws in the gameplay, even in the progression. Definetly not the best Zelda game ever made, and clearly a downgrade compared to Zelda ALttP.
the only major thing OOT adds over ALttP is 3D (essentially), and ok fair, 3D adds more depth to the dungeon, good, but you probably forget that it also adds ugly texture (not that important but worth mentionning especially for a game in the beginning of 3D), frustration adding bad platforming sections, and an underwhelming combat system also frustrating when having to deal with more than 1 enemy.
I'm not liking this game, I'm glad I'm done, and I will never replay it again. I understand some people like it, I just don't understand why it's called a masterpiece, but nevermind.
But a Masterpiece ? Seriously ? There are so many flaws in the gameplay, even in the progression. Definetly not the best Zelda game ever made, and clearly a downgrade compared to Zelda ALttP.
the only major thing OOT adds over ALttP is 3D (essentially), and ok fair, 3D adds more depth to the dungeon, good, but you probably forget that it also adds ugly texture (not that important but worth mentionning especially for a game in the beginning of 3D), frustration adding bad platforming sections, and an underwhelming combat system also frustrating when having to deal with more than 1 enemy.
I'm not liking this game, I'm glad I'm done, and I will never replay it again. I understand some people like it, I just don't understand why it's called a masterpiece, but nevermind.
5 Yrs♥✓#
GreenStarfish
5 Yrs♥✓#
Even though I gave this game a 3/10, since this is a GotM, I decided to do a dungeon ranking on top of my regular review. I will also be including the mini-dungeons, although I won't include the child dungeons since I played those ages ago and don't remember my thoughts on those.
8. Ganon's Castle
There are some aspects of this dungeon I do like, like the fight against Ganondorf and the climb leading up to it. However, the dungeon is completely ruined by the most egregious moment of rule-breaking in the entire game. You once again find out that you can't progress due to an item you're missing. The Shadow Temple, at the very least, tries to vaguely tell you about the Lens of Truth and where it is. It does it very ineffectively, but there was an attempt made. Ganon's Castle doesn't even bother with that and leaves you to your own devices. The item you need is the Fire Arrows, except you have no way of knowing that or where the item is located and how to get it. The game just suddenly makes an item that was optional for 90% of the game mandatory. An honest player who doesn't use guides would have to scour the entire world map to find where the item they missed is.
7. Bottom of the Well
The worst aspect about the Bottom of the Well is the way you enter it. The intended solution to enter it is to learn the song of storms from the man in the windmill and use it to drain the well as a child. Except the game does not indicate that you should talk to a random NPC. On top of that, you have no reason to go back in time because the well is blocked by a rock, not a crawl hole, which would indicate to the player that you have to be a child to progress.
6. Shadow Temple
Due to the Bottom of the Well being confusing to enter, it also ruins the Shadow Temple because you have to beat the former before you can beat the latter. The game does a very poor job of stopping you from tackling the Shadow Temple first. You're told some vague information about some item you don't have and that it's merely in Kakariko Village. However, the game doesn't prevent you from progressing in the Shadow Temple, and you aren't blocked until much later in the dungeon. When you are blocked, it is frustrating, because the game has conditioned you to think that the tools to beat a dungeon will be given to you within the dungeon itself. But the game breaks this rule and only has a vague warning to guide you in the right direction. This lack of clarity is especially confusing, because in the very next temple, the game makes it very clear that you have to first beat half of the temple in child form with a crawl hole and even two plackards with some text. Why couldn't this philosophy have been implemented for the Shadow Temple?
5. Spirit Temple
This is not to say that the Spirit Temple is entirely without fault, since it breaks another one of the game's pre-established rules, which is that you gain the song to warp to a dungeon before you enter it. For some reason, you get taught the Requiem of Spirit after you leave the temple for the first time. This wouldn't be too bad if the game didn't encourage you to become a child directly before that. So if you decide to immediately warp to the Temple of Time, you don't get taught the song and can't get to the dungeon as a child. This leaves the player confused and annoyed with why they didn't get taught the Spirit Temple's song, which is what happens when you contradict your own rules.
4. Forest Temple
After this point, I didn't get majorly stuck due to any bad game design, so the rest of the temples were mostly enjoyable. The only thing detracting from the Forest Temple is that I did get stuck due to the game not making it clear you could shoot the ghost paintings with arrows.
3. Fire Temple
In the Fire Temple, I liked the hints the Gorons gave you. It made the dungeon feel a lot more doable compared to the previous ones. I only got slightly stuck once, because I didn't realize that there were pillars you could hit with the Megaton Hammer in the first room of the dungeon.
2. Ice Cavern
These top two dungeons are the only ones I didn't get stuck on at all and didn't have to use a guide for. The Ice Cavern was a short and sweet dungeon which was presented in the right order of completion, unlike the other mini-dungeon. *cough cough*
1. Water Temple
Due to the changes made to the Water Temple in the 3DS version, it ended up being my favourite temple. I liked the strong puzzle focus the dungeon had compared to the rest of the dungeons, with the water level management. The Shadow Link fight was also very cool, despite being quite random and out of place.
8. Ganon's Castle
There are some aspects of this dungeon I do like, like the fight against Ganondorf and the climb leading up to it. However, the dungeon is completely ruined by the most egregious moment of rule-breaking in the entire game. You once again find out that you can't progress due to an item you're missing. The Shadow Temple, at the very least, tries to vaguely tell you about the Lens of Truth and where it is. It does it very ineffectively, but there was an attempt made. Ganon's Castle doesn't even bother with that and leaves you to your own devices. The item you need is the Fire Arrows, except you have no way of knowing that or where the item is located and how to get it. The game just suddenly makes an item that was optional for 90% of the game mandatory. An honest player who doesn't use guides would have to scour the entire world map to find where the item they missed is.
7. Bottom of the Well
The worst aspect about the Bottom of the Well is the way you enter it. The intended solution to enter it is to learn the song of storms from the man in the windmill and use it to drain the well as a child. Except the game does not indicate that you should talk to a random NPC. On top of that, you have no reason to go back in time because the well is blocked by a rock, not a crawl hole, which would indicate to the player that you have to be a child to progress.
6. Shadow Temple
Due to the Bottom of the Well being confusing to enter, it also ruins the Shadow Temple because you have to beat the former before you can beat the latter. The game does a very poor job of stopping you from tackling the Shadow Temple first. You're told some vague information about some item you don't have and that it's merely in Kakariko Village. However, the game doesn't prevent you from progressing in the Shadow Temple, and you aren't blocked until much later in the dungeon. When you are blocked, it is frustrating, because the game has conditioned you to think that the tools to beat a dungeon will be given to you within the dungeon itself. But the game breaks this rule and only has a vague warning to guide you in the right direction. This lack of clarity is especially confusing, because in the very next temple, the game makes it very clear that you have to first beat half of the temple in child form with a crawl hole and even two plackards with some text. Why couldn't this philosophy have been implemented for the Shadow Temple?
5. Spirit Temple
This is not to say that the Spirit Temple is entirely without fault, since it breaks another one of the game's pre-established rules, which is that you gain the song to warp to a dungeon before you enter it. For some reason, you get taught the Requiem of Spirit after you leave the temple for the first time. This wouldn't be too bad if the game didn't encourage you to become a child directly before that. So if you decide to immediately warp to the Temple of Time, you don't get taught the song and can't get to the dungeon as a child. This leaves the player confused and annoyed with why they didn't get taught the Spirit Temple's song, which is what happens when you contradict your own rules.
4. Forest Temple
After this point, I didn't get majorly stuck due to any bad game design, so the rest of the temples were mostly enjoyable. The only thing detracting from the Forest Temple is that I did get stuck due to the game not making it clear you could shoot the ghost paintings with arrows.
3. Fire Temple
In the Fire Temple, I liked the hints the Gorons gave you. It made the dungeon feel a lot more doable compared to the previous ones. I only got slightly stuck once, because I didn't realize that there were pillars you could hit with the Megaton Hammer in the first room of the dungeon.
2. Ice Cavern
These top two dungeons are the only ones I didn't get stuck on at all and didn't have to use a guide for. The Ice Cavern was a short and sweet dungeon which was presented in the right order of completion, unlike the other mini-dungeon. *cough cough*
1. Water Temple
Due to the changes made to the Water Temple in the 3DS version, it ended up being my favourite temple. I liked the strong puzzle focus the dungeon had compared to the rest of the dungeons, with the water level management. The Shadow Link fight was also very cool, despite being quite random and out of place.
6 Yrs♥✓#
Civilwarfare101
6 Yrs♥✓#
I wasn't commenting on the HLTB forums at the time this game was GOTM, since it's resurfaced might as well just say it. I really don't like Zelda, I dislike the ENTIRE series. Whether it'd be 2D, 3D or the open world games. This might be in large part because I never grew up with it but at the same time, there are old games I never played as a kid or teenager but still enjoyed so I'm not sure how much I can chock that up to the whole, "growing up" thing.
I can't deny that my massive dislike for the series can come from personal reasons, but outside of maybe the visuals and music being pretty good, what on EARTH does this series do better than other games or what makes the series stand out in general. If Nintendo never developed the games and it was one of gaming's most popular mainstream franchises, a large part of me doubts the series would be popular or get the acclaim it does.
I've seen some praise the series' story and I'll I see it as is a franchise that has negative continuity one minute but it also turns out the games are connected. Ignoring that, Link is the most boring protagonist of all time. I don't even know what makes him stand out from other silent protagonists, characters like Duke from G.I Joe has more standout qualities than Link does. Characters like Henry Townsend from Silent Hill 4, Sareth from Dark Messiah and Keanu Reeves in Dracula can make me laugh at how wooden they are, Link doesn't do this. None of the other characters I can even recall all that much. Maybe Midna from Twilight Princess at the most. Also, on a side note, the newer games having voice acting just make Link even more boring and dull.
The gameplay is boring too. Combat is dull and they've been using the same combat since 1998 but now with breakable weapons and the overworld exploration is just endless upon endless dead space. The dungeons fair better but not by much, it's mainly just, "explore dungeon without item, struggle for a bit, and then get item and it becomes a breeze". I've seen many on the internet use the word "repetitive" as a way to insult games, but I'm wondering how does this manage to avoid being just that?
Zelda is a game series that does 3-4 things but none of them are done all that well or isn't done better elsewhere. Maybe it's the "grandfather clause". I don't know.
I've never played a Zelda game where it felt like I was just finishing for the sake of getting to the end, back when I used to do things like that.
I can't deny that my massive dislike for the series can come from personal reasons, but outside of maybe the visuals and music being pretty good, what on EARTH does this series do better than other games or what makes the series stand out in general. If Nintendo never developed the games and it was one of gaming's most popular mainstream franchises, a large part of me doubts the series would be popular or get the acclaim it does.
I've seen some praise the series' story and I'll I see it as is a franchise that has negative continuity one minute but it also turns out the games are connected. Ignoring that, Link is the most boring protagonist of all time. I don't even know what makes him stand out from other silent protagonists, characters like Duke from G.I Joe has more standout qualities than Link does. Characters like Henry Townsend from Silent Hill 4, Sareth from Dark Messiah and Keanu Reeves in Dracula can make me laugh at how wooden they are, Link doesn't do this. None of the other characters I can even recall all that much. Maybe Midna from Twilight Princess at the most. Also, on a side note, the newer games having voice acting just make Link even more boring and dull.
The gameplay is boring too. Combat is dull and they've been using the same combat since 1998 but now with breakable weapons and the overworld exploration is just endless upon endless dead space. The dungeons fair better but not by much, it's mainly just, "explore dungeon without item, struggle for a bit, and then get item and it becomes a breeze". I've seen many on the internet use the word "repetitive" as a way to insult games, but I'm wondering how does this manage to avoid being just that?
Zelda is a game series that does 3-4 things but none of them are done all that well or isn't done better elsewhere. Maybe it's the "grandfather clause". I don't know.
I've never played a Zelda game where it felt like I was just finishing for the sake of getting to the end, back when I used to do things like that.