I don't get the love for A Link to the Past. It seems recently it has taken the place of OoT at the top of most Zelda lists. I didn't play it until well after release, and the whole game just felt 'slow' to me to the point where I got bored and felt I had to force myself to keep playing. I actually had more fun with the original on NES.
But Skyward Sword was my favorite Zelda, so what do I know.
Skyward Sword is underappreciated, but maybe only in "core" gamer circles because of the irrational hatred of motion controls. It's got its share of design quirks, but it's beautifully presented and does many things right. Some of the best dungeons in the series, with bosses to match. Best played with a mod to turn off Fi's hints though.Don't discount your love for Skyward Sword, I loved it as well, it's #2 on my list.
I don't get the love for A Link to the Past. It seems recently it has taken the place of OoT at the top of most Zelda lists. I didn't play it until well after release, and the whole game just felt 'slow' to me to the point where I got bored and felt I had to force myself to keep playing. I actually had more fun with the original on NES.
But Skyward Sword was my favorite Zelda, so what do I know.
However if Breath of the Wild could have had better bosses or dungeons it (and a hookshot) it would be head and shoulders above the other games.
02. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
01. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Way more hate. It's probably one of my favorite ones. 100%'d that game and couldn't put it down.Really solid list, though I do think Tri Force Heroes gets more hate than it deserves. I'd personally put it above Phantom Hourglass, at least.
True, the start of 3D Zelda games has generally always been slow until BoTW (which is one of the things I appreciate from that game). Maybe Twilight Princess being the game before Skyward Sword made the beginning feel less long, because holy crap was Twilight Princess's opening town awful.10 minutes into Skyward Sword and you still haven't even left the Knight Academy. 10 minutes into A Link to the Past and you've already rescued the princess.
I also liked Skyward Sword!
Yas queen! In the future of open world games with no dungeons and no quests and emergent gameplay and more towers, I will be writing articles remembering when you found unique items in dungeons that you never used again. And it will be a positive! Then I will step outside into the nuclear winter caused by UbiSkyNet.Looking forward to the articles reminiscing over herding goats and fishing for cats.
Maybe Twilight Princess being the game before Skyward Sword made the beginning feel less long, because holy crap was Twilight Princess's opening town awful.
Skyward Sword is underappreciated, but maybe only in "core" gamer circles because of the irrational hatred of motion controls. It's got its share of design quirks, but it's beautifully presented and does many things right. Some of the best dungeons in the series, with bosses to match. Best played with a mod to turn off Fi's hints though.
But, that overworld is sooooooo good.Botw did not hold up at all for me on replay
Those dungeons are sooooooo bad
Honestly, I found Twilight Princess' intro better. It did its job to set the tone and the place, and to me it felt like the idyllic Shire style openings so many fantasy books have.
I always hate when these lists put Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons together as one entry. Oracle of Ages is my favorite handheld Zelda and I would put it at least two or three spots higher than Seasons on a list like this.
Totally agree. I had no issue with it. Replayed it on Wii U.Honestly, I found Twilight Princess' intro better than Skyward Sword's. It did its job to set the tone and the place, and to me it felt like the idyllic Shire style openings so many fantasy books have.
Yeah, it just went on for too long.You don't need to spend 3 hours as a farmhand to understand Link's sense of place. They could have executed the exact concept with much greater brevity.
I'm not saying that it was good or anything lol, I still hated it, I'm just saying I liked it better than Skyward Sword's.You don't need to spend 3 hours as a farmhand to understand Link's sense of place. They could have executed the exact concept with much greater brevity.
I'm not saying that it was good or anything lol, I still hated it, I'm just saying I liked it better than Skyward Sword's.
Yeah, the overdrawn intros were becoming excessive. I was so glad at how quick BotW gets you you going.Lol fair enough. I preferred SS's, but I similarly wouldn't hold it up as a shining example.
05. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
04. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
03. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
02. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
01. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Yeah, the overdrawn intros were becoming excessive. I was so glad at how quick BotW gets you you going.
The funny thing is that Nintendo used to do really fast paced intros in Zelda games even post-OoT (which itself was pretty brisk). Majora's Mask starts you off with a chase, and The Wind Waker actually had a pretty cool set piece in the introduction too. I don't know what Aonuma and co were thinking with TP and SS.
I mean, what are we considering an intro here though? I'd say BotW's entire Great Plateau was the intro to that game, MM's was the first three days. They're just handled so much better and were so much more hands off than TP and SS' that you already feel like you're just getting into the game instead of mind-numbing tutorialsYeah, the overdrawn intros were becoming excessive. I was so glad at how quick BotW gets you you going.
The funny thing is that Nintendo used to do really fast paced intros in Zelda games even post-OoT (which itself was pretty brisk). Majora's Mask starts you off with a chase, and The Wind Waker actually had a pretty cool set piece in the introduction too. I don't know what Aonuma and co were thinking with TP and SS.
I played the entire game over Skype with the rest of the GX crew and felt almost nothing from it (but hey, our reviewer felt differently, so there you go). The only thing that I truly enjoyed was this amazing track
Yeah, I mean if you want to actually argue, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker both have long intros (the first cycle and getting the King of the Red Lions respectively), but they're so well contextualized and fun to play, it doesn't matter in those games.To be fair, Majora's Mask has a really long intro considering that you have to wait out the entire first cycle before the game starts proper. It makes a lot more sense in that game though because the unique premise needed a lot more setting up to ease players in than the standard Zelda plots of TP and SS did.
How long does it take for me to be given control to engage with the game's core gameplay loop? In OoT, it takes 20 minutes. In Majora's Mask, it takes 20 minutes. In Wind Waker, it takes 15 minutes. In Breath of the Wild, it takes 5 minutes. In Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, it can take up to 6 hours.I mean, what are we considering an intro here though? I'd say BotW's entire Great Plateau was the intro to that game, MM's was the first three days. They're just handled so much better and were so much more hands off than TP and SS' that you already feel like you're just getting into the game instead of mind-numbing tutorials
As someone who'd probably say Wind Waker is their favorite Zelda, I wouldn't say it's intro is fun to play. The island bit is fine if unexceptional but then you gotta do the mandatory stealth Forsaken Fortress and that easily puts it as the worst Zelda opening.Yeah, I mean if you want to actually argue, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker both have long intros (the first cycle and getting the King of the Red Lions respectively), but they're so well contextualized and fun to play, it doesn't matter in those games.
I love the intro lol. It was far more engaging than herding goats or chasing cats.As someone who'd probably say Wind Waker is their favorite Zelda, I wouldn't say it's intro is fun to play. The island bit is fine if unexceptional but then you gotta do the mandatory stealth Forsaken Fortress and that easily puts it as the worst Zelda opening.