What are your favorite Legend of Zelda games and why?

[cfly42]

I was puttering around Hyrule Warriors today (surprisingly good, imo) and I started putting together all the Zelda games I've loved over the years in a kind of order as Hyrule Warriors uses characters and settings from all canon Zelda first-party games (I'm probably off on that guess).

 

If you're up for it, share your own favorite Zelda games and why! I'm going to stick with the first-party entries but if you know of another Zelda game that Nintendo didn't make go for it. I'm really curious to learn what people think about my favorit-est-est franchise in the known universe.

 

 

(Note: Please let me know if this topic has been posted before. I put in "legend of zelda" in search and looked through five pages but didn't find anything. If I'm bringing this back from the dead and not aware, I apologize and understand if it gets taken down)

 

 

1st - TLoZ: Breath of the Wild - It's not perfect, but it's really, really close. Every time I boot this up, I end up taking at least twenty pictures because the scenery is so breathtaking. I've probably played over 200 hours and I'm still 1/4 of the way through completely exploring Hyrule. The scope of this game still blows my mind AND most of it's seamless! Playing this is like backpacking without the actual backpacking. The gameplay is so free and balanced. It's a work of art and it's my favorite so far.

 

2nd - TLoZ: Skyward Sword - I've heard a lot of different opinions but I really, really liked the sword mechanic in this game. It looked weird but once I got past that, it was really fun and made me feel like I was actually using a sword (to a certain extent). The story was really good, the dungeons were probably the best I've ever played and the colors were bright and beautiful. This one also has two of my favorite Zelda tunes of all time.

 

3rd - TLoZ: Wind Waker - This had the weakest story of all of them, but sailing. Oh, the sailing. I LOVED sailing! Gameplay was tight as ever and this was, by far, the best soundtrack Koji Kondo did in all of his career. There's a good reason I beat this three times.

 

4th - TLoZ: Link's Awakening - An oldie but goodie. I don't play it anymore, but when I did, I absolutely fell in love with it. The music was so good. The dungeons were so fun! Exploring Kohilint Island was probably some of the most immersive hours I've ever spent playing a gameboy game.

 

5th - TLoZ: Ocarina of Time - Another oldie but goodie. This comes real close to Link's Awakening and I did enjoy the hell out of it, but it didn't feel as special in the end.

 

6th - TLoZ: Twilight Princess - I beat this game twice so I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. It was good, but not great. The music was subpar, which disappointed me greatly. The story was decent. The graphics at the time were amazing and I really loved the dungeons, but overall, I didn't really dig this one.

 

7th - TLoZ: A Link to the Past - I know this one was biggie for a lot of folks, but I don't feel very close to this one at all. I can't deny it was amazing when it came out, but now... nah. To me it's just "that SNES Zelda game."

 

8th - TLoZ 2: Link's Adventure - I played the crap out of this game when I owned an NES and I loved it, but it still doesn't outshine A Link to the Past. That had more going for it.

 

9th - TLoZ - The original that started it all. It's certainly not bad and I liked it when I played it but, for me, it just didn't age well. That, however, is not going to stop me from overhauling the overworld and dungeons.

 

10th - TLoZ: Majora's Mask - This is the only Zelda game I have never beaten. I just lost interest. The time mechanic is cool but it really felt out of place for me and I didn't care a lick about it. It has some cool songs I still listen to, but all in all, this game might as well be my ex-girlfriend: I have no desire to see it and would probably throw it away if it came around.

[DoctorKaizeld]

Ocarina of Time because ferk you it is bloody perfect! and no it is not because it is my first Zelda game and no I am not biased!

[cfly42]

Ocarina of Time because ferk you it is bloody perfect! and no it is not because it is my first Zelda game and no I am not biased!

 

Can you explain why you think its perfect? I'm not arguing, here, I'm geniunely curious. Unless this is a troll post. Then... well, ferk it. :)

[WakahisaSensei]

1. Ocarina of Time as my number 1. While I acknowledge the game had its faults, the music alone was enough to win me over in totality. Few games can surpass the soundtrack of Ocarina of Time in my mind. The first steps in Hyrule field, the first time in the Temple of Time. As a child these filled me with awe. There's also a pretty sweet metal cover of the gerudo valley theme and song of storms.

 

2. Majora's mask (I can be a goron or zora and that was something I always wanted). I also enjoyed the darker story line and some of the hidden little secrets and background stories. The fan theories sparked from this one are also incredible.

 

3. Twilight Princess. One of the best stories and graphic styles in my opinion but certain points were tedious and I didn't care for the intentionally blocky shadow effects. I still think this is the most visually impressive Zelda game.

 

4. BOTW. Very expansive and fresh, a lot of freedom. Problem was there wasn't much to do with that freedom after a while. Finding hidden stuff was cool but the hidden stuff was almost always the same. Rarely something I couldn't find elsewhere. The durability Idea was good but left some things to be desired.

 

5. Windwaker. Overall one of the better Zelda games. Although I enjoy the art style and appreciate it, just wasn't my preference. I generally prefer darker games.

 

6. Original Zelda. The history, the classics, and the major contributions to the nature of video games of all kinds. But the nostalgia doesn't live up to what the game play actually is.

 

7. Skyward Sword. It could have been so great. The story was amazing, the graphics and music where good, that beautiful singing voice of Zelda's. My favorite charatcer design for the princess yet. I even enjoyed the motion controls and stamina implementation. But...that game does so much handholding and interrupting. Fi, as much I like the character idea, never ceases to explain something you just heard five seconds ago. Sometimes even repeating herself. It causes the game to drag on due to sheer irrelevant dialogue.

 

8. The second Zelda game. The only one I never finished. I just didn't like the design of it overall. I acknowledge it was probably a good game, I'm just not a big fan of side scrollers, (except some of the Mario games).

 

 

Hyrule Warriors isn't really a true Zelda game, but if I were to count it it would probably go just underneath the original zelda as the new number 7. I love it and spent hours on the game. But my one complaint was constantly failing missions due to all my comrades constantly needing help and my inability to be in more than one place at a time. (Also that BS about not getting the reward for the some levels unless you take less than 4 hearts of damage and beat the level in under 12:00 mins but all the enemies do five hearts of damage in 1 attack. Also you have to play as this specific character.) Otherwise, amazing game. Can't recommend it enough.

Edited September 11, 2018 by WakahisaSensei

[DoctorKaizeld]

 

Ocarina of Time because ferk you it is bloody perfect! and no it is not because it is my first Zelda game and no I am not biased!

 

Can you explain why you think its perfect? I'm not arguing, here, I'm geniunely curious. Unless this is a troll post. Then... well, ferk it. :smile:

 

... reread what I posted

[Nightingale1861]

I'd have to say:

1) Twilight Princes. I love the graphics and the story lines. I love Midna.

2) Majora's mask. I have fond memories of playing it with my daughter. I loved to get to be a Goron, Deku Sprout, and Zora.

3) Ocarania of Time. Graphics (which were amazing for that period), Music, story line, and Navie/Epona.

 

I didn't care much for the first Zelda game, even though I remember playing it when it came out. I really disliked the second game (and still do).

[Mmrainer26]

My favorite are twilight princess and breath of the wild

[Rrezz]

1: Ocarina of Time. The perfect Zelda game in my opinion. Everything about it was amazing.

2: Link's Awakening. The first Zelda game I ever played. A super fun game with tons of amazing moments.

3: Wind Waker. I freaking love the ocean, and boats and sailing. And Wind Waker has it all, and it does it amazingly.

4: A Link to the Past. Honestly, its the format that most Zelda games follow. Even Ocarina of Time. Get 3 gems, go to the dark world, get 7 coins. Defeat bad guy.

5: Four Swords. No real reason. It's just a fun Zelda game.

 

And thats it. I haven't played any other Zelda games. The rest to either too early in my life for me to play, or too late. I either played the Zelda games on Gameboy, N64 or Gamecube. After that I just moved on from Nintendo games. I have a friend who plays all the newer Zelda games and most of them don't even draw my interest.

[lapiswhovian]

If you swap 5 and 3 on the OP's list it is identical to mine.

[bri2020]

oceana of time for me in my book