15 Video Game Sequels That Totally Defined Their Franchises

5. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

The amount everyone goes on about Ocarina of Time you'd think it was the very first Zelda, but no, following four previous titles it was this one's leap to three dimensions that - much like Final Fantasy VII - changed everything people thought they knew about game design. In a pretty cool twist that not too many people know, the original vision of the game was all going to be in first-person; such was Shigeru Miyamoto's initial vision as it helped with the (at the time) mind-boggling transition in crafting worlds from three-dimensions instead of the two they'd become accustomed to. Luckily that idea was flipped as Miyamoto decided you should be able to see Link age across the game's different time periods, and even that became a defining aspect of the experience - creating a relationship between the player and character that's still a total rarity. Between the invention of Z-targeting (forward and back movement), quest design that rewarded you for backtracking and experimentation alongside a timelessly brilliant "small boy saves the world" story, there's a very good reason Ocarina was the first major title to see a 3DS overhaul, and remains perfectly playable to every generation today.