Zelda Topic

[VO.SUPER]

All the other Zelda topics seem to cover only a specific part of the games, so I decided to just make a Zelda general topic.

And with this topic, I am going to actually cover two Zelda games from my childhood which I enjoyed (and still enjoy) so much and feel are terribly underrated.

The Oracle games!

Oracle of Seasons and Ages was one of the best money making concepts that Nintendo ever did; two games that could be combined and played to make a huge adventure that felt bigger than anything else on the gameboy at the time.

The game I played the most as a child was Oracle of Seasons. It was a rip roaring good time for me as a boy. It had fun dungeons that went by quickly, and had bosses that just so awesome to fight (mostly because they're all remakes of the original Zelda 1 bosses, which is a joy on it's own.) The seasons gimmick was probably one of the most creative in the entire series, because it allowed for the developers to get incredibly creative with any secret they could hide.

There was also Oracle of Ages, which I found to be a fun title as well. It's emphasis on puzzle solving was delightful. The time travel gimmick was also fun too, even if it was a more standard retread of the light ande dark world gimmick, only having more influence between the two worlds.

The thing that really got me though, was the passwords gimmick. It was a great gimmick that really allowed for a lot of replayability between the two games, and really makes for a different experience from the last time you played. Like say you wanted to replay the Oracle games but you wanted to do them in a different order than the last time, you can do that and it'll feel like a pretty new experience.

It's such a shame Nintendo didn't decide to go with the ability to link three games, but that's a lot of combinations to pull and a lot of expensive programming. I mean, look at the combinations we've got when you have three games. That would've been cool, but a nightmare for developers.

1-2-3

1-3-2

2-3-1

2-1-3

3-2-1

3-1-2

Speaking of secrets, both games were absolutely rife with them, and you were given so much freedom early on that it just seems astronomical. I just love the Oracle games for that, and wish they got more recognition.

Actually, I remember Oracle of Seasons being the first and only game I ever sequence broke a game. When I was younger, and stuck with a simple button mashing puzzle, I decided to take the time and explore the world. Eventually I came across a gap of holes which I couldn't jump over with my normal feather, so I used the Pegasus seeds and jumped across that pit multiple times until I finally made my way over to the other side and to the Temple Ruins, which was essentially second to last level territory, but the dungeon I should've been one was the 5th. What a time that was.

What did you guys think of these games?

[MegaMan_EXE]

Well, I love the Zelda franchise. Right now, I'm playing Link's Awakening, and so far, I'm loving it. It's a perfect side story after the fantastic A Link to the Past, one of my favorite games, ever! The original is an NES Classic, and the best game of 1987. Ocarina of Time is an achievement in video game history, and is still one of my most played games. I love Twilight Princess, and it's atmosphere along with it's many enhancements, and extras. I want to get back to Wind Waker, get back to Majora's Mask, and play the other handheld games.

But so far, this franchise is amazing. The main theme is a masterpiece, and one of my favorite music pieces, ever!

Long live, The Legend of Zelda!

[Nintendoga]

Oh, I thought we all agreed to make official Zelda topic

But this one's better cause it focuses more on games I guess.

The Oracle games? Never played them, would like to try one day. To be honest i don't actually like most 2D Zeldas, they just aren't my taste I guess. I do love Zelda 2: Link's Adventure though, so damn fun.

[Lady Soniko]

i haven't ever given the 2D Zeldas a chance because i didn't like 4 Swords AT ALL, but i'm seriously gay for the 3D ones, one of these days i'm going to sit down and play Oracle of Ages/Seasons and Minish Cap to see what i'm missing, i guess i'm a modern Zelda fag who grew up with OoT & MM.

i seriously enjoyed both TP & SS and i still think WW is one of the greatest and largest games ever made, and nothing comes close to the feeling of being an explorer in a videogame, not even Skyrim for me.

[Soniman]

Majora's Mask is my all time fav, I literally LOVE everything about this game, the tone, the music, the characters, just quality stuff.

Wind Waker is second all time favorite. The art style is fantastic, and the Great Sea was so exapnsive, that it was just fun exoring it all to see what kind of secrets you can find, the characters are wonderful and charming, Medli being my all time favorite NPC in Zelda. I also have to mention yhe brilliant job they did with Ganon, changing him from a power mad warlock to a sympathetic character. The music is probably my favorite in the series, Great Sea, Outset Island, and Dragon Roost Island being my favorite themes. Excellent game.

Skyward Sword comes in at third. Having my favorite incarnation of Zelda, not to mention the fucking badass himself Groose, who undegoes great genuine character development. The graphics are really pretty as it really makes all the enviornments pop out, just like Wind Waker. The dungeons are the best in the series (especially Ancient Cistern, love that dungeon) and I love the areas, like Lanaryu Desert/Sea. Oh and Skyloft wins my vote for best main hub in the series, all the colorful characters with expressive personalities, not a generic character in the bunch.

Ocarina of Time comes in fourth and Twilight Princess fifth. I'll explain those to later.

[Wraith]

The Legend of Zelda is pretty much the best franchise around. I like most of the games, Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword (Seriously, why does this game get so much crap?) being my favorites, but there are only a few I don't like. Wind Waker and A Link to the Past and Wind Waker I just couldn't get into. Wind Waker's DS spinoffs just suck.

The only games I haven't played are the Oracle games, but those'll probably show up on the Eshop eventually.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Waterwraith

[VO.SUPER]

No one here played the Oracles?....

Bu-bu-but... the music.

[Sean]

As lovely as the series' aesthetics are, there hasn't been a single Zelda game I've seriously been able to get invested in. The only ones I actually own (and have beaten) are Ocarina of Time 64 and Phantom Hourglass, and I didn't think either of them was spectacular, though I didn't mind PH's controls for the most part.

On the other hand, I've played about a third of fan-favorite Majora's Mask and couldn't get into it at all. To be honest the only Zelda game that really interests me and I'd love to play someday is Wind Waker, but the prices of the game have apparently skyrocketed and I don't think I'll be able to procure a copy unless Nintendo develops a port.

Aside from PH, the only other overhead Zelda games I've tried were Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, and I didn't get very far in either.

[Wraith]

You might wanna try Twilight Princess, Sean. Most new fans get invested in that game.

[Linkabel]

No one here played the Oracles?....

Bu-bu-but... the music.

I played the Oracle games back in the day and I loved them. I was disappointed when I found out there was going to be three games in the series. I actually liked them more than the DS ones since they at least to me feel more like A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening.

[Nix]

The Oracle games are by far my favorite 2D Zelda titles. There's honestly too many great things for me to list, so take this instead:

FLYING BEAR MOUNTS.

As for the 3D titles, I'm having a hard time deciding between Wind Waker and Majora's Mask for favorite right now. Majora's Mask is dark, down-right creepy sometimes, and the characters are so damn interesting... on the other hand Wind Waker is bright, cheery, and just oozes personality from its aesthetics alone and has the best portrayal of Ganondorf ever.

Tough call really.

[Soniman]

You might wanna try Twilight Princess, Sean. Most new fans get invested in that game.

Or he could play a Zelda game that's actually interesting *shot*

[Nepenthe]

I'm one of those terrible, terrible people who used to decide on what series to get invested in based on whether or not I could play as a colorful animal or Mario, so I've largely missed out on the Zelda franchise. My first title is Skyward Sword, which I suppose is a good thing considering how love or hate it's become; Going in completely blind allows me to enjoy SS relatively fresher than someone who's built up expectations, so I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Yeah, Fi makes it very tutorial-y and the motion controls are gimmicky (though sometimes cool; I was trippin' balls when I took the Skyward Sword out of that slab), but I've become invested in the story and mythology enough to where these things aren't bothersome. I'll probably get Twilight Princess once I'm done and just work my way backwards.

Now excuse me while I look up where that damn door to the basement in the cistern is. I seriously have no idea where that goddamn thing is. ><

[Wraith]

Or he could play a Zelda game that's actually interesting *shot*

I agree, but a lot of people love that game for some reason.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Waterwraith

[Gregzilla]

I've at least tried most of the games, though the only ones I've beaten were Ocarina of Time (about a year ago) and Majora's Mask (a few months ago).

The series definitely has awesome gameplay for the most part, with fun dungeons and cool bosses. Sometimes I think it feels a bit overwhelming in content, and they usually lose my attention after a while. But the fun is definitely there, and I've liked at least one thing about all the Zelda games I've played.

But the only Zelda game that absolutely blew me away was Majora's Mask. I purchased it and played through it for the first time this year, and my god, it was freaking brilliant. The atmosphere, the sidequests, the characters, the temples, the extremely diverse gameplay, GAH. After playing through it, I pondered it, and decided that it deserved a place in my top 5 favorite games ever. No other Zelda game makes it into my personal favorite games (though OoT comes close, I suppose). It's just the definition of a masterpiece.

But every Zelda has something unique to offer. Wind Waker has the most likable incarnation of Link, Twilight Princess has a grittier aesthetic, Skyward Sword made use of motion controls (they were irritating, but I digress), Ocarina is the most classic, Link's Awakening is extremely quirky and creative, the list goes on.

It does seem like I have to force myself to play through some of them, though. Other games, like Sonic or Mario, I beat pretty naturally, but I always tend to play a little Zelda, get stuck, take a several-month break, come back, and repeat. I'm currently playing through Wind Waker (just beat the Forbidden Forest), and though it's fantastic, I'm afraid that will probably happen again.

But so far, my favorites are in this order, from most to least:

1. Majora's Mask

2. Ocarina of Time/Wind Waker (tie)

3. Link's Awakening

4. Twilight Princess

5. Skyward Sword

6. Phantom Hourglass

I haven't played LttP, Spirit Tracks, or the Oracles. I didn't include the NES originals because, while they would be at the bottom of the list, their problems mainly stem from age, while SS and PH just have some design flaws. I also have Minish Cap, but I haven't played it that much.

In the end, awesome series, but there's always room for improvement.

[Old dead account]

This series is my fucking childhood. It's had its ups and downs but all the ups have severely outweighed the downs personally.

Zelda 1 and 2 are the games that I never have been able to beat. I've gotten as far as the 6th dungeon in 1, but I've only beaten the 1st dungeon in 2, the focus on side-scroll rather than the traditional open world is a turn off. I'll do it eventually though.

Zelda A Link to the Past is the shit! As were most big NES franchises as soon as they hit the SNES. The dungeons were hard as fuck but doable, and the difficulty curve is steady.

Link's Awakening. Now this is a weird one, with Mario enemies, no ganon, Zelda or Triforce, but I fucking love it. Easily the best game on the GBC, that or Crystal version. It had some pretty interesting designs, mysteries and side quests, and was overall an interesting new experience without being offensively different. I won't lie, I've yet to play the Oracles games.

Ocarina of Time. This one was truly something to behold back when you were just an 8 year old brat. But the fucking redeads probably made me turn the game off on several ocassions back then and the Skulltullas even more times. I had quite a fun hard time with it back then, praising my cousin for making it to the Fire Temple when I was only in Dodongo's Cavern struggling T_T. I'd have to say my favorite dungeon here is the Spirit Temple, brilliant, and with a great boss. Satisfying to beat every time. Just great.

Then came Majora's Mask. Darker, more hectic, and with a very interesting story and populace. Clearly more focused on Side Quests usually revolving around Mask collecting and transformations. The dungeons may have been few in number this time but I was much more interested in the people's lives and problems now. I'm more social in this game than in real life! Definitely my favorite Zelda game of all time, the time passage is what makes it all the more interesting, it may have turned some people off but, their loss.

Wind Waker. Love the weeaboo graphics, love the dungeons, love the world and possiblities of discovering pirate submarine in the ocean, but I hate the Redeads, and the Wind Temple.

Minish Cap was a fun little diversion, almost feels small and unimpressive after the awesomeness of Link's Awakening though. Only 6 dungeons :/ still love it though.

Twilight Princess was more of a pretty mixed title for me. I liked most of the dungeons, but I didn't really like the wolf quests and the gritty artstyle, it just felt really odd for this game and the skulltullas almost fucking ruined it for me.

Skyward Sword! This game did not disappoint. What made it for me was the perfect implementation of motion controls for sword play(though they should have left it at that and not put them into swimming and balancing!) though the overworld of the sky was pretty bland the focus was mainly the dungeons and it shows. They're probably the best designed dungeons in the entire series, namely the final few. You know what else is awesome about this game? MY MOM! Groose! You can't hate him after the halfway point of the game where he gets development.

The only titles that have disappointed me were Zelda2, both 4 Swords game and the DS titles were pretty meh, personally. 4 sword just disn't interest me much because I had no friends to play it with T_T and the DS titles are a turn off because of the touch motion. I hated it in Sonic Chronicles, and I hate it here too. 11/16 good games ain't bad, especially since I fucking love the good ones more than I hate the bad ones, most of which were just spinoffs too. Hope for more zelda goodness.

[Speederino]

i haven't ever given the 2D Zeldas a chance because i didn't like 4 Swords AT ALL, but i'm seriously gay for the 3D ones, one of these days i'm going to sit down and play Oracle of Ages/Seasons and Minish Cap to see what i'm missing, i guess i'm a modern Zelda fag who grew up with OoT & MM.

Four Swords isn't a good indicator at all. Those are more arcade-style co-op games with a Zelda flavor, and no, I don't like it much as a single player experience either. Though I'm sure it would be a blast with more people...but I don't know anyone else who has it. ;_;

So what to say about Zelda? It's my favorite franchise, for starters. It's a perfect blend of everything I love in gaming: exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat. I used to play the original game on the NES as a kid. I wasn't seriously trying to beat it, but it was fun to walk around and kill enemies. I guess you could say I got my first true start with Ocarina of Time. Funnily enough, I never actually owned it, but I would rent it all the time or borrow a friends copy. Same goes with Majoras Mask.

Wind Waker is my absolute favorite. At the time I was just so amazed that a game could look like that, and I was on board the hype train from the get-go. It's the first game I ever pre-ordered (Which snagged me the OoT/Master Quest Gamecube disk, score!), and Gamestop let me get it a day early on account of my birthday. I guess. That whole exchange still confuses the fuck out of me. The pamphlet that came with Master Quest said I could pick it up on...I believe March 23rd. I don't remember the exact date, but point is I showed up on that day and Gamestop said it was the shipping date. Then why the fuck were they telling the public it would be available on that date!? Well whatever, I got it. And the spoiler-riddled strategy guide that I will forever regret purchasing.

And yes, the Oracle games are AWESOME!!! I replayed those last year for the first time in a decade and had an absolute blast. They just don't make them quite like that anymore. These days 2D Zelda games have simplistic hallway dungeons with puzzles a baby could solve. In the Oracle games they were huge sprawling labrynths with puzzles that left me stumped. In fact, I think I bought a strategy guide just so I could get help with one puzzle in particular XD

[Tornado]

I have a really interesting history with the Zelda franchise, in that I only seem to really like the ones that everyone forgets about today. For example, the Oracle games? Love them. Damn near close to being the best GBC games ever put to print, in my opinion; and the only game I put more time into for the system was Pokemon Gold. I also really love Minish Cap, and played the bejeezus out of it for years (I restarted it and played it to the end twice). And the imagination and care put into Majora's Mask makes it out to be one of the best games of the generation (and I didn't even have an N64 at the time it came out, but I hunted one down when the Gamecube came out to play it). I even love most of Wind Waker (though that opinion isn't as divisive as it was, say, 5 years ago).

But the big picture games? Ocarina and Link to the Past and Twilight Princess? I'm completely indifferent to them. I played them all to the end (well, I honestly never finished Link to the Past), but I never really took anything from them. With Ocarina I know that the reason is because I played Majora's Mask first and that completely tainted my experience with what I feel is a wholly inferior game, but I don't know why Link to the Past and Twilight Princess never grabbed me. And the two DS titles I pretty much just actively dislike (I tried several times to get into them, but I just couldn't stand them).

Edited August 26, 2012 by Gilda

[Sarah Jane Smith]

I've played and beaten every main series Zelda except for Spirit Tracks and Oot3D (which, as a port, doesn't really count anyway). I haven't played any of the spinoffs but honestly they don't look that interesting except for perhaps the CD-i ones (for the lulz).

My favourite Zeldas gameplay-wise are definitely LttP, LA, and the Oracles. For nostalgia I'd go with OoT, and for story/atmosphere MM and TP win by a landslide.

Link to the Past took the original Zelda and made it 100x better. The game is quite nearly flawless, and the pacing, non-linearity, lack of a partner... and the fact that you can choose to either breeze through without drawn-out exposition, or stop and talk to NPCs to learn the lore of your world really draws me to it. No 10 hour intro cutscenes or hanger-on characters telling you your batteries are low.

Ocarina of Time was my first Zelda, I experienced it when it first came out. Therefore it holds vast nostalgic value for me. Despite that, I tend to get bored after replaying it for a while so I can see that it doesn't hold up (IMO) to certain other Zeldas. However, what it may lack in that regard it makes up for the fact that it's one of the last Zeldas that doesn't really do anything wrong. Every subsequent Zelda had at least one flaw that kept it from true greatness - whether it was the absurdly low difficulty, padding, linearity, overusing the Toon Link style (it was gorgeous in Wind Waker, afterward it was old and looked crap without cel shading) or something else. All OoT really had that was annoying was Navi.

Majora's Mask was wonderfully creepy and I loved that it was vague and left a lot of things up to one's imagination. The fact that things like the Stone Tower Theory even exist are what I'm talking about. Also, it had solid gameplay, even if it was a little short.

The Oracles and Link's Awakening were the pinnacle of portable Zelda, and their overworld theme is my favourite song in the series. They had an excellent balance of head-scratching puzzles and challenging combat, as well as loads and loads of interesting and extra features. The only way they could really be better is if they were released on a more powerful system.

And about Twilight Princess - everyone who says it's just grey and brown... or pseudo-realistic... or dark for the sake of being dark makes me depressed. It's beautifully eerie and whimsical and the landscapes are gorgeous. I've said it many times but I love just riding around in Hyrule Field at night on Epona with a lantern. Also, while it's disturbingly easy with regards to combat, the puzzles made up for it. And the largeness and detail of the environments makes it so easy to get sucked into the world.

Well that's the end of my post, tl;dr: I like Zelda.

[Endy]

Honestly, I just can't get into Zelda games. The only one I found remotely enjoyable to get half way through was Four Swords Adventures, and I've heard its nothing like every other Zelda game!

Twilight Princess - Gave up half way through the first time you turn into a wolf.

Zelda 1 - This game is terribly overrated, and has not aged well. At all. Ill probably sell my legit copy for something better like...Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

Zelda 2 - Aged even worse.

Ocarina of Time 3d - Made it to the Fire Temple, couldn't figure out how to get into it, and put it down ever since.

Four Swords Adventures - Haven't played in years.

Four Swords Anniversary - Probably the most boring out of all the ones on this list. What the fuck do I do? Where the fuck do I go?

[Mangoaxe5]

Twilight Princess is my favorite Zelda game. It has a great story and Midna who is a very well developed character. TP is way better then fucking Ocarina of Time which is very over fucking rated.

Sadly Zelda fans unfairly bash TP and treat it like it's the Zelda version of Sonic 06. Zelda fans are just as bad as Sonic fans.

The Zelda Cycle

Edited August 26, 2012 by Vampfox

[Soniman]

I dont bash TP because I think im cool doing so. I played the whole thing, I had some expectations and Twilight Princess just couldn't meet most of them.

It's not me being unfair, its me simply not liking it as much as the ohter Zelda games.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Soniman

[Speederino]

Honestly, I think the Zelda fanbase is to diverse for there to be a "cycle". Across the three topics on this forum alone there are opinions ranging all across the map on just about every game in the series. Is Skyward Sword a new masterpiece or an overly simplistic snooze-fest? Is Twilight Princess fun or soulless? Was Wind Waker one of the best games ever made or a big pile of tedious sailing? You can't really put this kind of diversity in a cycle.

[Sarah Jane Smith]

The Zelda cycle is pretty dumb as it implies that the same people bashing a game are praising it after a few years. No, it's people bashing a game when it comes out because everyone is talking about it, and then when the game is old the only people still on forums discussing it are the ones who were, you know, interested in it, while the bashers have grown tired of bashing it and moved on to newer games.

I hope that makes sense, it did in my head >_>

Edited August 26, 2012 by cosmictruffle

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Zelda Cycle makes about as much sense as the Sonic Cycle: It usually doesn't make any sense.