The Legend of Zelda Series

[Wolf Kanno]

So I've been on a bit of a Zelda kick lately due to my coworker wanting me to play Wind Waker. That is not going to happen sadly but it got me to go into my backlog and start working on some Zelda titles I'm behind on. So I'm actually playing through Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask for the first time, and I'm doing a serious run to actually beat Zelda II instead of just fiddling with it for ten minutes and rage quitting.

I'm like three instruments down in Link's Awakening and working on getting into the fourth dungeon. I beat the first palace in Zelda II and was quickly murdered in the next area of the game but I at least got the High Jump spell. I'm finally in the game proper in Majora's Mask but I'm kind of just playing Groundhog's Day with Termina at the moment instead of actually dungeon crawling as I'm trying to figure out people's schedules and get a better understanding of what I actually need to do to finish some of these sidequests. So far, it has been kind of interesting playing three of the more unconventional Zelda titles. Any advice is appreciative (no spoilers please) since I'm tackling these games without a guide.

Also use this thread to discuss the series and what you like about it and other thoughts on the franchise.

[Bubba]

My first Zelda experience was A Link to the Past. It still sits comfortably at my number 2 favourite game of all time. A Link Between Worlds was a fantastic homage and it made me realise how much of a perfectly designed little game ALTTP was.

I have the original Legend of Zelda and Zelda 2 as digital copies. I find them very tough going though. I think Legend of Zelda would be one of those games I would have appreciated more if I'd played it on release. I really struggle to get my bearings without a decent map and after playing ALTTP it was nowhere near as fun. Zelda 2 I think I've played for about 20 minutes and it would take a serious amount of dedication just to boot it up again. It is error.

Also, Twilight Princess > Ocarina of Time. Come at me.

[Fynn]

Also, Twilight Princess > Ocarina of Time. Come at me.

Oh yes, this, a hundred times. TP is my second favorite Zelda, right after ALTTP. I guess I just didn't play OoT soon enough to have that nostalgia, since I played it first in my twenties, but I just don't see it as that good compared to the others.

So I actually beat Zelda II, but I used a guide almost all the way, so I'm not sure to what extent that counts.

I also think Skyward Sword gets a bad rap, as I've seen a lot of hate towards it on the Internet, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a nice direction for the series to take.

ALBW was awesome and, like Bubba, i was reminded of everything that made me love Zelda in the first place.

[starlet]

I have a ridiculous amount of Zelda paraphernalia around. Twilight Princess is pretty much my favorite. Midna is best Navi. Majora's mask is a close 2nd.

[Bubba]

I played Ocarina of Time when it was released and was suitably blown away. I just preferred the mature look of Twilight Princess. I liked how Nintendo took a risk with the art style of Skyward Sword but it just didn't appeal to me.

Still to play Wind Waker!

[Pumpkin]

I'm finally in the game proper in Majora's Mask but I'm kind of just playing Groundhog's Day with Termina at the moment instead of actually dungeon crawling as I'm trying to figure out people's schedules and get a better understanding of what I actually need to do to finish some of these sidequests.

This is the best way to play Majora's Mask. I personally feel that you won't get the full experience of the game if you just dungeon and done. Most of it's charm and magic is in the details. Keep doing what you're doing and I hope you like it because it's my second favourite game of all time

I really liked Wind Waker more than I expected. I also like OoT and Twilight Princess. I don't think I've played many others. I played the original when I was super little but that wasn't really a proper playthrough

[Ayen]

My Zelda origins kind of piss me off a little bit because I could have played the original game as my first experience, but my bro was like, "Nooooooooooo! Tis the super special awesome gold cartridge and he'll ruin it if he plays it! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" So I wasn't able to play that or the second one (he might have been merciful on the last one) until years later.

For years I grew up wondering what a Zelda game would feel like. It was a complete and utter mystery to me. I used to look at the box of OoT at Movies and More wondering what'd it be like to play. My entire motivation of getting a Nintendo 64 was so I could finally play the game that evaded me so many years ago. I read Zelda picture books to get an idea of the story and it felt like a mystical land of wonder, and then I played OoT, and it was everything I could have imagined it to be and more! I became an instant Zelda junkie on the spot.

I have The Legend of Zelda, Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and A Link Between Worlds. Since my Link to the Past is the GBA version I also have one of the Four Swords adventures, too, though can't play it since I need more people with GBAs.

My favorite cycles between Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past, which is funny considering how much the former borrows from the latter. I also have a soft spot for the Oracle games. Twilight Princess has my favorite character designs, though. Zelda is so pretty in that.

[Labella]

1. ALTTP
2. OoT/MM
3. TP
4. Spirit Tracks/Phantom Hourglass

[Pike]

My favorite is the original LoZ for NES. Nice and hack n' slashy. No fuss, just killin' stuff.

[Del Murder]

The original LoZ was the greatest video game ever until the SNES came out. It is still one of my favorites all-time.

Zelda II is such a weird anomaly. It is so different than the others. As for advice, Downward Thrust is your friend.

A Link to the Past is probably the most perfect Zelda game. I feel like every non-3D Zelda after that point has been trying to live up to it. A Link Between Worlds came close.

The 3D entries are fun and I guess OoT has a special place in my heart but all the others are good too.

[Jinx]

Link's Awakening for the original Game Boy was the first video game I ever played (well, that or Tetris...I played them simultaneously) and for a five-year-old who couldn't read, I did a good job figuring things out. It still holds a special place in my heart because of it, and I really should fully play it at some point (I've only ever beaten the first temple).

Ocarina of Time is my favorite game of all time. I have played the trout out of that game. I love that when I'm in the gaming mood, it's a game I can pick up and play in just a day or two. It's great. I know a lot of people here think it's overrated (and I appreciate why, even if I don't agree)...but man. Ten-year-old Jinx was so excited when Link transformed into an adult. You come out of the Temple of Time, and everything is desolate, and Death Mountain is on fire. Everywhere is ruinous and destroyed. It just blew me away. I thought getting the last spiritual stone was the end of the game (it took me a long time, as I wasn't great at the game then) and then...noooo. It's only just begun. And trout is real now.

[Wolf Kanno]

Link's Awakening feels like an under-appreciated entries (well most of the handheld entries feel this way) and it's just been an interesting experience because it kind of feels like LttP on GameBoy but it really isn't. The ability to switch out the sword for a second item is such a novel idea that opens up a lot of experimentation, I'm really surprised it has never appeared again in any of the future entries. You can definitely tell this entry is the missing link between LttP and OoT.

[theundeadhero]

When I was in elementary school I was a master at Zelda Two. I knew all the secret squares that hid heart containers and everything. Now, not a clue. The only thing I really remember is that at the start, if you hit a slime and run back and forth farming the respawns until all your skills are level 4, then you'll never have to grind again, since at the end of a dungeon you get a free skill-up. That, and later dungeons have invisible holes in floors you can fall through or walls you can walk through.

Link's Awakening was really fun. You get a special ending if you beat it without dying. Also, you can steal a shovel from the shop early in the game instead of saving up rupies for it, but the girl calls you thief the rest of the game, and if you walk back in the shop the owner kills you. Maybe not the best for the first time you play it, but so so worth it every other time. Also, every time you find five shells, go to the building where they gauge your shell-collecting progress until you have the max of 20, or 25, whatever it was, and then go back one final time. If you equip bombs and arrows in your slots you shoot an exploding arrow too by pressing both buttons at the same time! The "blobby I have no idea what it's called enemy that you may or may not recognize from this description" during the last boss is much faster to kill if you throw magic powder on it a few times.

[Fynn]

Link's Awakening feels like an under-appreciated entries (well most of the handheld entries feel this way) and it's just been an interesting experience because it kind of feels like LttP on GameBoy but it really isn't. The ability to switch out the sword for a second item is such a novel idea that opens up a lot of experimentation, I'm really surprised it has never appeared again in any of the future entries. You can definitely tell this entry is the missing link between LttP and OoT.

It actually HAS appeared in Minish Cap. I have not played the Oracle games yet, though I suspect it's there, but you can definitely switch out your sword in Minish Cap.

[escobert]

I haven't played too many Zelda games but, I always enjoy them when I do play them. I've played The Legend of Zelda, A Link To The Past, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and Oracle of Ages.

I played the first as a child with my father, and have played it a couple times in the last decade or so. I also played ALTTP as a child and as an adult. The others I played in my teens and twenties.