Facing this game is a dilemma for me. I’ve always been against the idea of using “aged” as a descriptor for a game, as all games age. As people are social-historical, so are the games they make. A game is aged as soon as it’s released; a product of its own context, and it’s on us to adapt to it, not on it to be able to stand the test of time (and culture).
Of course, there are games that require less effort to get into than other contemporaries; this art constantly builds upon itself and whilst some paths led to where we are today, others got forgotten with time, most with good reason. And the lack of familiarity leads to adapting requiring more work and you can see where that goes.
Now you must be wondering, where does A Link to the Past fit into this discussion? You’ve seen the score, surely it means that this game “aged” so badly it made me change my mind about the whole concept.
But it didn’t.
A Link to the Past is a butter-smooth, sex-machine of a SNES videogame. Save for a few weird dead spots in the sword’s attacks and unintuitive puzzles that require out-of-the-box thinking, it’s straight-up perfection; a game-changer.
But I still think it has “aged poorly”, however in a different, unique manner.
Even with how important and influential it was, A Link to the Past has been surpassed. We stand in a point in time when its importance and greatness have been overshadowed by the fact that its concepts have been done and redone in multiple ways since then, in different (like Ocarina of Time) or in the same but straight-up better (like A Link Between Worlds) ways.
I don’t think I can recommend this over any other Zelda game, except for 1. Hardcore fans that somehow have not played it yet or 2. People interested in the history of videogames, in this specific era of gaming, or anything analogous to that. As an exercise.
But when it comes to standing on its own? It’s very important, but I don’t think it has anything to say anymore. And that’s why it’s hard for me to analyze it properly: it games my system; it contradicts my own philosophies.
Maybe I’m wrong about this, but it would require someone way more passionate about it than me to figure it out. As it stands, what was once the most important Zelda game is now just another one.
Of course, there are games that require less effort to get into than other contemporaries; this art constantly builds upon itself and whilst some paths led to where we are today, others got forgotten with time, most with good reason. And the lack of familiarity leads to adapting requiring more work and you can see where that goes.
Now you must be wondering, where does A Link to the Past fit into this discussion? You’ve seen the score, surely it means that this game “aged” so badly it made me change my mind about the whole concept.
But it didn’t.
A Link to the Past is a butter-smooth, sex-machine of a SNES videogame. Save for a few weird dead spots in the sword’s attacks and unintuitive puzzles that require out-of-the-box thinking, it’s straight-up perfection; a game-changer.
But I still think it has “aged poorly”, however in a different, unique manner.
Even with how important and influential it was, A Link to the Past has been surpassed. We stand in a point in time when its importance and greatness have been overshadowed by the fact that its concepts have been done and redone in multiple ways since then, in different (like Ocarina of Time) or in the same but straight-up better (like A Link Between Worlds) ways.
I don’t think I can recommend this over any other Zelda game, except for 1. Hardcore fans that somehow have not played it yet or 2. People interested in the history of videogames, in this specific era of gaming, or anything analogous to that. As an exercise.
But when it comes to standing on its own? It’s very important, but I don’t think it has anything to say anymore. And that’s why it’s hard for me to analyze it properly: it games my system; it contradicts my own philosophies.
Maybe I’m wrong about this, but it would require someone way more passionate about it than me to figure it out. As it stands, what was once the most important Zelda game is now just another one.