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Miyamoto admits Navi is the Achilles heel of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

"It's incredibly difficult to design a system that gives proper advice, advice that's tailored to the player's situation."
Marcus Persson 27 November 2024

One of the greatest gaming classics in history is not without its flaws. For although The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is widely hailed as a masterpiece, its creator Shigeru Miyamoto admits that it has its weaknesses. More specifically, it's Navi, the chatty little fairy that the Zelda creator sees as the game's Achilles heel and in an old but recently translated article from Shmuplations.

I think the whole system with Navi giving you advice is the biggest weakpoint of Ocarina of Time. It's incredibly difficult to design a system that gives proper advice, advice that's tailored to the player's situation. To do it right, you'd have to spend the same amount of time as you would developing an entire game, and I was very worried we'd be digging ourselves into a hole, if we pursued perfection there...

Do you agree that Navi is the game's weakness?

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