My Personal Zeldathon Entry 5: The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons/ Oracle Of Ages

[u/TrveDeathKrow]

Hello everyone and welcome back to my review series/ Journal Entries of me posting about all the mainline Zelda games I haven't played yet! Today I'll be covering both the oracle games! I decided to lump these two together because they are kind of halves of a whole but Both their own thing and you must be asking: "Shouldn't you be doing Ocarina Of Time with this entry?" Well I'm doing all the 2D mainlines in order and when I'm done with those I'm going to move to the 3D games in order so let's get into this!

Well these are definitely a nice pair of games but I kind of understand why these games aren't discussed a lot. Not to say they're bad not at all but Both of these feel similar to Links awakening without as much of the charm as it. The games both play good, have good stories and characters that reference Ocarina Of Time which is cool but other than that they're just.... Links Awakening without the weirdness. Now these games arent as cryptic as links Awakening at times but still isn't very helpful at times. But again don't think that means they're bad being a copy of links awakening still means you're still a good game just you won't reach the greatness of before. Now both of these games have gimmicks that kind of fill in that gap the Harp of Ages and Rod Of Seasons (and the rings but I really barely cared about those they don't do much for me). I think the rod is a better gimmick but the harp isn't bad. Just like links awakening the combat is fun but the story is interesting because of its potential division between the two parts, see if you connect them the story can change but if you don't they're both seperate stories that stand on their own pretty well. But combining them gives us some extra so that's what I did and something id recommend for people who do wanna check out both these games. It makes the story feel a tiny bit better and gives you a tiny bit more which is neat. These are solid games that aren't really notable for the series for an understandable reason but I still think they're solid games. If you really REALLY loved links awakening and wanted more of an itch to scratch id recommend these, I think seasons is better but only slightly. Both are solid 7/10 games

Ok those two are finally done! Those felt like forever for me so I'm finally glad to move on and get into a territory I've been VERY excited to get to for a while now! I'll see you all later when I finish: The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap

[u/Dreyfus2006]

I disagree pretty strongly, I think OoS in particular is one of the most representative games in the series and easily a 9/10. Like if you boil the series down to its very core experience, that experience is OoS. OoA has more annoying segments so it's not as good. I would say that OoA is more comparable in quality to TP or ALttP.

LA is better than both yes but only because of its story. That's just worth one extra point. OoS still has tons of charming characters, great items, a fantastic overworld, one of the best gimmicks in the series, a quintessential aesthetic, and great music.

[u/Cloudhiddentao → u/Dreyfus2006]

OoS was actually heavily based on the original LoZ, which is probably why it feels so representative of the series. OoS actually began as a remake of LoZ, which is why it has a lot of the original bosses, and the first dungeon in particular is a remnant of that.

Also OoS focuses much more on combat, while OoA is more focused on puzzles (even the overworld in that game is basically one large puzzle), which is one reason the games feel very different.

[u/Dreyfus2006 → u/Cloudhiddentao]

You know, I have long known that OoS started as a Zelda 1 remake, but I never made the connection before that that might be why it out of all the games in the series feels like the quintissential "Zelda in a nutshell" game. Good thought!

[u/TriforksWarrior]

I think this is a solid assessment. I rarely see posts about oracles but I do see them mentioned in comments pretty often and called “underrated gems,” often adding that it’s crazy we haven’t seen remakes yet/they should make them soon.

But to me, they definitely did feel like knockoffs of Link’s awakening like you mentioned. And classic Zelda staples like ganon, Zelda, and the master sword felt very much shoehorned in to try and appease fans/give the entries more clout, but in the end they felt tacked on to what are otherwise completely unrelated stories between the linked games.

I still had fun playing them, they introduced a couple interesting items like the seed shooter with various types of ammunition and the magnet gloves, and there are a few solid dungeons. But other elements like the mounts, rings, and gasha seeds felt like pure time wasters vs mechanics that were fun to interact with. They are easily my least favorite Zeldas of the dozen+ I’ve played, even if they are still “good games.” 7 out of 10 is totally fair, I’d probably put them closer to 6.

[u/LoCal_GwJ]

I recall giving these a shot a few times and Oracle of Ages has beaten me a couple times. I was able to beat Oracle of Seasons but with Ages at some point I just kinda got stuck not knowing how to progress without using a guide and the run just kinda fizzled from there. I did enjoy the games but I 100% liked Link's Awakening more. I did like Seasons though