Did you know that if you say “hey, listen” in a room of Zelda fans, 9/10 of them will spontaneously combust? Okay, well that’s not actually true, but there’s no doubt that Navi the fairy’s incessant, repetitive phrases are deeply etched into the mind of anyone who’s played Ocarina of Time.
It’s probably not surprising then that the people behind the game also found Navi to be rather insufferable. In an interview which first appeared in a Japanese strategy guide, but was recently translated by shmuplations, the game’s producer, Shigeru Miyamoto, gave some really in-depth thoughts on a whole load of things surrounding the game, but perhaps most notably, he revealed his stance on Link’s infamous tiny companion.
Before we carry on, be sure to check out this incredible Unreal Engine remake of Ocarina of Time below.
“Speaking plainly, I can now confess to you - I think the whole system with Navi giving you advice is the biggest weak point of Ocarina of Time,” he said. “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.
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“If you read Navi's text, she says the same things over and over. I know it makes it sound bad, but we purposely left her at a kind of ‘stupid’ level. I think if we'd tried to make Navi's hints more sophisticated, that ‘stupidity’ would have actually stood out even more. The truth is I wanted to remove the entire system, but that would have been even more unfriendly to players.”
Yikes, I almost feel bad. To be slated as the worst part of the game by the producer himself, that’s got to sting. No doubt that many people will agree with him, though - Ocarina of Time is considered to be the best game of all time by many (it currently holds the number one spot of highest rated game on Metacritic by users), so for some, Navi’s existence may genuinely be their only criticism of the game.
Navi isn’t the only one of Link’s companions who has been roasted by fans for being outright annoying, though - Skyward Sword’s Fi is also notorious for her Wiimote battery warnings (although they were removed in the Switch version). Regardless, you can’t deny that the lil blue fairy is an icon, though - just maybe not for the right reasons.
Featured Image Credit: NintendoTopics: The Legend Of Zelda, Nintendo