I made it through three full trips to the Temple of the Ocean King before I had my fill of it. The big difference is I didn’t have to return to any of those dungeons. Twilight Princess’s Temple of Time, Zelda 2’s Great Palace, Oracle of Ages’ Jabu Jabu’s Belly all mediocre in their execution. After all, I’ve played lousy Zelda temples before. But back in 2007, I did everything I could to get past my deep seeded hatred of the Ocean King and just complete the game. Yes, I do understand how tired this argument is, how many people hate the execution of this dungeon.
Even my first run through the Temple of the Ocean King to save Linebeck was great fun. The graphics were colorful, the controls were tight, and the picture book recap of the adventures of Toon Link and Tetra was outstanding. The first hour of the game was everything I’d hoped it would be. You bet your ass I pre-ordered that bitch and on October 1, 2007, I dropped everything else I was doing at the time for another trip to a flooded Hyrule. I get to sail the sea as Link…on a handheld? Yes, please and thank you. I was champing at the bit, foaming at the mouth, absolutely, totally driving myself crazy in anticipation in the lead-up to that game. To say I was excited for Phantom Hourglass is an understatement. It’s difficult to keep saying that year after year with all the great new titles being released, but every time I boot it up my mind, body, and soul are instantly transported to the Great Sea. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is, all things considered, the greatest video game I’ve ever played. I know I’ve bitched about this game before, but when I thought up the concept of this week’s Destructoid Discusses question, I figured it would be a great opportunity for me to get it all out on the table.
That’s been true of those series with one exception: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I may not do it all at once – I’ve been working on Dragon Quest VII for 3DS since it launched – but I play the games on a regular enough basis to see them to the end in a timely manner. Mario, Dragon Quest, Kirby, God of War, Splatoon, and The Legend of Zelda. There are, however, a few franchises I insist I complete every game I start. Not only do I keep buying games I really have no intention of playing – why the hell did I buy Xenoverse 2 – but I also have a nasty habit of quitting games the moment something better comes along. It’s completely my fault it’s grown this big.
Unless I have a drastic increase in free time, I don’t see how I’m ever going to finish all those games. I know that’s not the biggest backlog you’ve heard of, but for me, it’s certainly close to insurmountable. I don’t want to know how many hours of play that translates into because it’ll only remind me I’m in the waning years of my life and death steps closer to me every day. Between my DS, my 3DS, Wii, Wii U, Switch, PlayStation 4, Vita, Steam, NES Classic, SNES Classic, and the three Xbox 360 Burger King games I just bought off eBay, I have a backlog of roughly 350 titles.