A Link to the Past.
All kinds of reasons, actually, but what really gets me is the fact that the world is so brilliantly designed. There is none of that "OK, we've made a huge world for you but you can't go anywhere until we say so" - feeling you get, one way or the other, from the vast majority of games.
In LttP, the entire world is open pretty much from the start, at least it feels that way. There are of course numerous areas, big and small, that you can't access until certain objectives are met, but this fact is never shoved in your face like in other games. Instead, the world map itself is essentially one gigantic puzzle, where you're only ever given the most rudimentary explainations as to where you should go and what you should do there.
You're simply allowed the pleasure of exploring the land of Hyrule at your own pace, rather than have some arbitrary storyline chasing you all over the map.
You are never denied access to any specific area because the game developers SAY you have to obtain a certain item first. You are unable to access the area because the very world itself is constructed in such a manner that you ACTUALLY NEED THAT ITEM TO CONTINUE.
There are no levels. You are never really stuck anywhere. If you get tired of trying to get past some obstacle, you are free to just walk away and find something else to do. (More often than not, this IS how to get past the obstacle!)
Also, I think Rafe has a point - the first Zelda game you play, tends to become your favourite. This is what happened in my case. Many of the things I mention above may apply to other games in the series but, as I have played LttP already, it tends to feel a bit old. There are of course plenty of new ideas as well, but let's face it - the feeling that Nintendo are basically publishing the same game over and over again, eventually becomes inevitable.
That said, it IS a pretty good game!
All kinds of reasons, actually, but what really gets me is the fact that the world is so brilliantly designed. There is none of that "OK, we've made a huge world for you but you can't go anywhere until we say so" - feeling you get, one way or the other, from the vast majority of games.
In LttP, the entire world is open pretty much from the start, at least it feels that way. There are of course numerous areas, big and small, that you can't access until certain objectives are met, but this fact is never shoved in your face like in other games. Instead, the world map itself is essentially one gigantic puzzle, where you're only ever given the most rudimentary explainations as to where you should go and what you should do there.
You're simply allowed the pleasure of exploring the land of Hyrule at your own pace, rather than have some arbitrary storyline chasing you all over the map.
You are never denied access to any specific area because the game developers SAY you have to obtain a certain item first. You are unable to access the area because the very world itself is constructed in such a manner that you ACTUALLY NEED THAT ITEM TO CONTINUE.
There are no levels. You are never really stuck anywhere. If you get tired of trying to get past some obstacle, you are free to just walk away and find something else to do. (More often than not, this IS how to get past the obstacle!)
Also, I think Rafe has a point - the first Zelda game you play, tends to become your favourite. This is what happened in my case. Many of the things I mention above may apply to other games in the series but, as I have played LttP already, it tends to feel a bit old. There are of course plenty of new ideas as well, but let's face it - the feeling that Nintendo are basically publishing the same game over and over again, eventually becomes inevitable.
That said, it IS a pretty good game!
