steelerssb
Once banned on CBS
Luke what makes it special was that it was one of the first games to succeed with executing an epic but focused storyline in a fully realized world, having clever dungeon designs in a 3D space, and having a refined combat system in 3D space to name a few a reasons.I just did an entire close reading of every single post in this thread. And one UCFact is clear.......
The UCFact is tshirt bandwagoners are threatened by UCFs success and Rise to Dominance.
#UCFacts
Z-targeting was a fantastic system for making combat in a 3D space fluid, fun, and rewarding which is why the targeting system has been used in all the 3D Zelda games since and has been copied by countless other games. Another thing of note is how many ways you could attack with your sword from the jump attack, spin attack, crouching behind your shield and stabbing forward, and even the different angles of sword attacks that you could do just by tilting the control stick while pressing B normally. This variety of combat was practically unheard of at the time for a 3D adventure game and that was just with the sword alone. Almost all of the other items could find a use in providing variety in combat but it was ultimately up to you, the player. Having the A button be an action button (aka context-sensitive) opened up the ways a player could interact with the environment. There were only a handful of optional side quests, which is small compared to most games, but the few ones were fleshed out well, the most well known being the Biggoron Sword. It was visually impressive for the time and little details like facial expressions during the cutscenes and some regular gameplay added character to the game. Throw in a great soundtrack and you have the recipe for a commercially and critically successful game.
Nostalgia plays a part in a lot of opinions about the game, but what makes it a true classic is how people who later picked up and played the game without any previous experience (so no nostalgia) still found the gameplay to be fun and had a great time. The gameplay still holds up in its remake for 3DS with its superior visuals over the original.
Games since OoT have significantly outdone in it in terms of visuals, length, and just the general amount of content available. However, this to be expected given how technology has improved over time.
The fact of the matter is that not only did OoT revolutionize gameplay in the 3D action-adventure genre but it's shown that nearly two decades later it still plays just as well, if not better, than many games released since. That's why many people regard it as one of the greatest games ever made.