Technically, I suppose someone could go back in time from either the child or adult timelines, give Ganon something that allows him to defeat Link more easily, and change history.

This would result in a co-existing third timeline, but it would have to be made after the other two.

The solutions all seem clumsy, but they do exist, so even if Link really is defeated in canon, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a parallel, rather than an alternative, timeline.

I'm Platonic in at least one regard: I believe art can have objective qualities. Whether we as humans perceive them or not is irrelevant to that quality. So if the product itself doesn't change, its objective quality doesn't change--regardless of our preferences. Of course, we won't like everything that's good, but we can still appreciate positive qualities. So with your example of Pepperoni pizza, well, sure your tastes have changed. Mine have too. But in my view, that shouldn't affect the rating of the pizza itself.

I don't use numerical scores because I think I'm an arbiter of what's good and bad--it's just a decent way to relate your assessment. Some people prefer quantification. I love to read full reviews, and sometimes ignore numerical ratings altogether, but I don't see any harm in them. As for what's considered good and bad, well...given our school system, 7 being "average" is just widely accepted.

And as for the 3DS version being better...the graphics are, as I said. The core technology is. But what they yield--the atmosphere, the music, the gameplay--it hasn't improved, it's just been adapted. And Ocarina of Time 3D is an example of a perfect adaptation, but that doesn't make it better than the original in my view.

We've gone a bit off-topic here, but I like talking philosophy, even basic philosophy. It was good talking with you. I hope we run into each other again in the future, and we can certainly agree to disagree. :)

Everyone's biased. You'd receive just as biased of a review elsewhere.

I think I've been impartial enough, though. There are several games much older than Ocarina of Time which I've come to love nearly as much (including the 8-bit Phantasy Star). If I had played Ocarina of Time for the first time last year, I imagine my opinion would not have differed at all.

Thank you for commenting :)

It's good to see optimism about future releases in the Zelda community.

Thanks for commenting!

No, it was a mistake at the start. Freddy was the writer, but for some reason I was credited at first. We changed it.

Freddy did a great job on that article, didn't he? I hope people don't think I wrote it just because of that initial mistake!

Glad you liked my article enough to comment this much.

I agree though...as I said, if there's a perfect game, this is it. ;)

Both get a 10/10 from me.

That said, there's something about playing on a big TV with awesome sound that handheld gameplay just can't duplicate. I won't be abandoning my N64 version to play the 3DS version...I'll just play both!

Don't feel stupid. It's an understandable mix-up. But the two games are the same at heart, and OoT 3D is only so good because the original is so good.

Glad you liked the article.

Well-stated. I'd briefly played Zelda II before Ocarina of Time, but OoT was my first real experience with a Zelda game...and it was a worthy one.

Thanks for replying.

I'm a firm believer in games as art, and I just as firmly believe that art doesn't age.

If Ocarina of Time was a great game when it was released, it is just as great now. The same is true of any other work of art. Yes, graphics have been improved in the 3DS version (which I loved, and would also give a 10/10), but the original perfected the style.

I don't see how scores can possibly change. Very few film buffs would make that argument--"the original cut of Blade Runner was an 10/10, but newer cuts, which stick closer to the original vision, have improved on it so much that it should be bumped down to an 8/10." Books are frequently re-edited and re-published; the quality of subsequent releases does not change the quality of the original releases which, being static, can't change (objective fact: food gets spoiled...the content of books doesn't). Good art is timeless, whatever changes are made to it. I've scored Ocarina of Time based on that theory.

That said, I appreciate you reading and replying to my article. :)