The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released in 1998 on the GameCube and Nintendo 64 to wild success. The game was praised for its compelling story and 3-D graphics, which were considered revolutionary at the time. It’s since gone down in history as one of the highest grossing games in the Zelda franchise and a favorite to a large majority of fans.  

In more recent news, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was released in March of 2017 with some pretty great reviews (a whopping 97% on Metacritic) and an 8.5/10 on Gamespot. Most games in the Zelda franchise (at least, according to fans) are good games on their own but don’t come close to the holy masterpiece that is Ocarina of Time; however, some argue that this new release comes awfully close or perhaps even surpasses it. This is interesting when considering the vast difference in the playstyle of these two games.  

Breath of the Wild was the first game in the Legend of Zelda series to be completely open-world; the player is given complete freedom to do whatever and go wherever from the very start. This is in sharp contrast to Ocarina where the player is strung along a chosen, linear path throughout the game as they follow the story. This was well-received by some fans and poorly received by others; some long-time Zelda fans felt the game strayed too far from the original formula, while others thought the switch-up was a refreshing change of pace. For a franchise that’s been going since 1986, straying from the norm is essential to keeping the series fresh. 

Metacritic stated that Breath of the Wild was possibly one of the best-reviewed games of 2017 before the game was even released. Even if it does not usurp the king, it is still up there as one of the greatest Legend of Zelda games released since the series began.