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6/17/2025, 2:06:03 AM
So what do I mean by "purpose" to outline this, I need some contrast.
"Useful" is a word I used to use to explain what makes shortcuts good. That is until (i cant remember if somebody else made this argument, or if i sparked this argument against myself once i saw how somebody else try to praise a game with shitty shortcuts by saying they have a use...oh yeah, it was almost certainly the latter, and the game was almost certainly ocarina of time) I realized something can technically be "useful" without being meaningful. Basically you can have a shortcut that is "objectively" useful EXACTLY because it doesnt make you just backtrack through some long sequence you already completed, because it loops on itself.
The best example of this "Loop in particular" Is Ocarina of Time's fire temple (one of the worst dungeons ever). Once you get the hammer, the game will take you through a linear sequence where you end up right back at the start of the dungeon where you can immediately use your newly acquired hammer to unblock the very first door you lacked access to.
This is a bad shortcut because first of all i DIDNT FEEL IT. And second of all, more logically, its meaningless.
1. The shortcut is railroaded, its literally the only "new" way forward (youll see why this matters when i bring up the best game of all time)
2. The "shortcut" is one dimensional, its literally never used again. Its superfluous. It has no purpose, theres technically not a single reason you couldnt just walk all the way back you came to get back to the beginning.
Its just like DS3, except, as true as #2 is for DS3 aswell, the convenience is too much to pass up because enemies are actually dangerous in DS3 and theres a risk of dying and wasting resources by going back the long way (none of this matters since even without the shortcut the abundance of bonfires are essentially shortcuts in themselves) Which is what makes OoT's shortcuts DOUBLY worthless. Such a shit game.
Now lets look at the king.
"Useful" is a word I used to use to explain what makes shortcuts good. That is until (i cant remember if somebody else made this argument, or if i sparked this argument against myself once i saw how somebody else try to praise a game with shitty shortcuts by saying they have a use...oh yeah, it was almost certainly the latter, and the game was almost certainly ocarina of time) I realized something can technically be "useful" without being meaningful. Basically you can have a shortcut that is "objectively" useful EXACTLY because it doesnt make you just backtrack through some long sequence you already completed, because it loops on itself.
The best example of this "Loop in particular" Is Ocarina of Time's fire temple (one of the worst dungeons ever). Once you get the hammer, the game will take you through a linear sequence where you end up right back at the start of the dungeon where you can immediately use your newly acquired hammer to unblock the very first door you lacked access to.
This is a bad shortcut because first of all i DIDNT FEEL IT. And second of all, more logically, its meaningless.
1. The shortcut is railroaded, its literally the only "new" way forward (youll see why this matters when i bring up the best game of all time)
2. The "shortcut" is one dimensional, its literally never used again. Its superfluous. It has no purpose, theres technically not a single reason you couldnt just walk all the way back you came to get back to the beginning.
Its just like DS3, except, as true as #2 is for DS3 aswell, the convenience is too much to pass up because enemies are actually dangerous in DS3 and theres a risk of dying and wasting resources by going back the long way (none of this matters since even without the shortcut the abundance of bonfires are essentially shortcuts in themselves) Which is what makes OoT's shortcuts DOUBLY worthless. Such a shit game.
Now lets look at the king.
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