Only one of them makes me flail an imprecise motion controller around so yeah, that's the worst.
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What's the worst 3D Zelda game? (poll)
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
Skyward Sword.
A game without exploration in a series where exploration is one of the core values is unacceptable.
A game without exploration in a series where exploration is one of the core values is unacceptable.
I dunno about worst, but the only one I never finished (or even came close to finishing) was Majora's Mask.
Breath of the Wild even being a poll option is a crime.
Majora. Ambitious, but I don't enjoy those mechanics in any context.
Majora. Ambitious, but I don't enjoy those mechanics in any context.
I actually agree with that take. Weapon durability was just an annoying inconvenience.
Worst being subjective. A more appropriate question would be "Which is the least revered 3D Zelda game?"
The way the question is worded it sounds like you are asking which 3D Zelda is a bad game.
I personally don't think any of them are bad games.
The way the question is worded it sounds like you are asking which 3D Zelda is a bad game.
I personally don't think any of them are bad games.
The Imprisioned alone should be enough fo SS to be everyone's top pick as the worst Zelda.
Botw for me as well. It's a game with good overworld mechanics but super unfinished.
Lack of enemy types (only like 30 if you include recolors and all bosses). Copy / paste with too many shrines. Most shrines themselves were too simple or pretty poor. The actual world is remarkably empty. The divine beasts while an interesting idea weren't implemented too well and were too similar to each other. Lack of music. Only guardians as enemies in dungeons? Why? And it's basically all the tiny scouts. Lack of proper progression (hearts and stamina are fine but weapons didn't scale well).
While the memories are a good idea, it resulted in a good story told poorly.
Lack of enemy types (only like 30 if you include recolors and all bosses). Copy / paste with too many shrines. Most shrines themselves were too simple or pretty poor. The actual world is remarkably empty. The divine beasts while an interesting idea weren't implemented too well and were too similar to each other. Lack of music. Only guardians as enemies in dungeons? Why? And it's basically all the tiny scouts. Lack of proper progression (hearts and stamina are fine but weapons didn't scale well).
While the memories are a good idea, it resulted in a good story told poorly.
Lmao what? BotW is not immune to criticism and the game does a good number of things just not well enough. BotW is even the 3rd worst Zelda game according to the poll right behind Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess.
There's a beauty in being able to wear out a weapon and throw it at an enemy when you're done, problem is the weapons wore out too quickly.
With a few tweaks, I promise that weapon durability is worth it.
Things like champion weapons should've been permanent tho.
For me it's Twilight Princess. It's still a very good game but I feel like Nintendo only made it to appease American fans who hated Wind Waker, it doesn't have the same bold feeling as the other 3D Zeldas. It's just a very brown retread of OOT, solid but bland as hell.
Look at what I said and then look at what you said I said. And then look at my post where I made criticism for botw.
Just having to open the menu over and over again and switch to another weapon is a waste of time. Games should respect the time of players, not waste them on busy work.
I voted SS because I hated the controls and the overworld.
To the people voting OoT, what is wrong with you?
To the people voting OoT, what is wrong with you?
I like the game, but BotW is one of the more incomplete Zelda's yet. It lacks many things better Zelda's have. As far as 3D Zelda's go, I'd rank it 3rd behind OoT and MM, with SS 4th, WW 5th and TP 6th.
Basically this for me, and I wasn't one of the Wind Waker aesthetic haters prior to launch, in fact I was infatuated with the styling.
Then when I played Wind Waker I realized that Majora's Mask set a bar for HUB density and NPC meaningfulness that also provided a certain ambiance that became what 3D Zelda was to me for a period of time. I didn't measure subsequent 3D Zeldas after Wind Waker against Majora's Mask's unique qualities, but I couldn't make that separation when first playing Wind Waker, and I can't help but continue to hold a bit of a grudge against Wind Waker even though I could still appreciate it.
I got like 3-4 hours into Skyward Sword and put it down and subsequently never touched the Wii again.
Uhm did I read something wrong? You were implying Botw is above criticism and shouldn't be a poll option because it cannot be possibly be the "worst".
Man, seeing Skyward Sword get ripped like this is so sad. :( I loved the game.
I picked "can't decide" because I love all of those games.
I picked "can't decide" because I love all of those games.
I enjoyed Skyward Sword well enough, I even liked learning the sword techniques, and the sand ship was one of my all time favorite Zelda dungeons, but yeah..
It was the Zelda I was least excited about, the one that felt the most routine.
I would have made two big changes: no land based areas at all. Everything should have been in the sky, floating islands, floating forests, floating spheres of water that were lakes, the thunderhead should have been larger and should have been the equivalent of Death Mountain. The sky should have been like Wind Waker's ocean, a vast archipelago of floating islands, but with even more things to explore and see and do.
And the primary mechanic of the game should have been the time shifting from the sand ship section. There is so much more they could have done with that idea.
Maybe the whole world is slowly dying, there's fewer rain clouds, they've experienced drought, rivers are drying up (healthy rivers in the past would end with waterfalls off of the edge into infinity, dried up rivers would barely manage a trickle), lush floating forests in the past are being replaced by vast deserts, the old technologies are forgotten (like in the Skyward Sword we ended up getting), maybe in the past the old technologies would have allowed them to move the archipelago to areas with more rain.
But yeah, the setting had so much wasted potential.
It was the Zelda I was least excited about, the one that felt the most routine.
I would have made two big changes: no land based areas at all. Everything should have been in the sky, floating islands, floating forests, floating spheres of water that were lakes, the thunderhead should have been larger and should have been the equivalent of Death Mountain. The sky should have been like Wind Waker's ocean, a vast archipelago of floating islands, but with even more things to explore and see and do.
And the primary mechanic of the game should have been the time shifting from the sand ship section. There is so much more they could have done with that idea.
Maybe the whole world is slowly dying, there's fewer rain clouds, they've experienced drought, rivers are drying up (healthy rivers in the past would end with waterfalls off of the edge into infinity, dried up rivers would barely manage a trickle), lush floating forests in the past are being replaced by vast deserts, the old technologies are forgotten (like in the Skyward Sword we ended up getting), maybe in the past the old technologies would have allowed them to move the archipelago to areas with more rain.
But yeah, the setting had so much wasted potential.
Skyword Sword and it was the easist vote I ever made.
Game is a total pacing trainwreck, with a lot of missed potential all around. Some strong highs can't hold up the rest of the game at all, and it's the only 3D Zelda I'd say is outright not good.
Game is a total pacing trainwreck, with a lot of missed potential all around. Some strong highs can't hold up the rest of the game at all, and it's the only 3D Zelda I'd say is outright not good.
It has a lot of things those old Zelda's have and many more they don't, you just disqualify them.
This is miraculously a game with
"No music"
"No dungeons"
"No story"
Wind Waker.
Unfinished, cut content, sleep inducing combat (omg, pull the armor off with the hook and wait for the "A" button!), endless drifting across an empty sea, etc.
Outstanding characters in both Ganondorf and the King of Red Lions aside, the music is the only real saving grace to me for this title. Just a disappointment all around, and one of the few Zelda titles I can't ever see myself playing again. (Finished it twice, went back recently for another go... yeah... no.)
Skyward Sword gets runner up due to lack of enjoyable content... the artstyle works in some ways, and disappoints in others. Repeated boss fights, broken overworld system that felt really uneven content wise, but on the other hand there were some fantastic dungeons and concepts that would've worked better in a different game. Improved motion controls, but not by much. Another Zelda I don't enjoy replaying... sucks, cause I really like Groose.
Unfinished, cut content, sleep inducing combat (omg, pull the armor off with the hook and wait for the "A" button!), endless drifting across an empty sea, etc.
Outstanding characters in both Ganondorf and the King of Red Lions aside, the music is the only real saving grace to me for this title. Just a disappointment all around, and one of the few Zelda titles I can't ever see myself playing again. (Finished it twice, went back recently for another go... yeah... no.)
Skyward Sword gets runner up due to lack of enjoyable content... the artstyle works in some ways, and disappoints in others. Repeated boss fights, broken overworld system that felt really uneven content wise, but on the other hand there were some fantastic dungeons and concepts that would've worked better in a different game. Improved motion controls, but not by much. Another Zelda I don't enjoy replaying... sucks, cause I really like Groose.
Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess are the worst ones.
the Wii generation was a disgrace for the Zelda series.
the Wii generation was a disgrace for the Zelda series.
Unpopular opinion but OOT. It has great music and I love the general look of the game but every Zelda game after it has more interesting concepts and dungeons. It's still a great game but the weakest of all the Zelda's. If not OOT then probably Wind Waker.
Skyward sword is like a shallow archetype of what a zelda game "should be" at the time at least. Its so basic and uninteresting on its general structure that i almost didnt finished it.
And that is sad,because theres some things i like about it. Zelda is super likeable in this one and groose is a highlight of legit good writing, even if not deep or anything. The music is also lovely.
And that is sad,because theres some things i like about it. Zelda is super likeable in this one and groose is a highlight of legit good writing, even if not deep or anything. The music is also lovely.
Every dungeon follows the same general design and they end up being a single route with obvious puzles. The novelty of the one decent idea with Snowpeak is tarnished once it becomes clear that it's just the exact same thing there too.
SS has plenty of issues, but it also has some of my favorite dungeons in the form of Ancient Cistern and Sandship which at least have you thinking about things a little differently.
No 3D Zelda game is a bad game, but I think some are clearly better than others.
- Majora - a tone that has yet to be matched in the series and in games generally
- BOTW - an incredible triumph in open worlds and a breath of fresh air, I'm tempted to restart it
- Wind Waker - gorgeous to this day and a great gimmick with the sea traversal being so much more fun than I expected
- Ocarina - an impressive transition to 3D that was a nice template to draw from but isn't as impressive today
- Twilight Princess - Ocarina 2.0 with better dungeons but terrible Wolf Link sections and a bloated intro
- Skyward Sword - lovely watercolor aesthetic but didn't love motion controls, flapping for the loftwing, repetitive bosses, and the segmented overworld. Some great dungeons later in the game save it from mediocrity.