Finally, never had access to any of those Four Swords or NES games (not too interested), Twilight Princess is on my backlog (will be interested to see how I like it, I've heard mixed opinions) and Wind Waker is one of my favourite games of all time.
The Zelda series is one of my favorites, and I align with many of your views of each game...
Twilight Princess is interesting because I felt the same way the first time I beat it. Bu as I played through it a second time, I realized how good it really was....I think the problem with the game is the overall MOOD of it. Playing Twilight after the the lighthearted adventure of Wind Waker was a tough transition, and I didn't
Ike how Twilight tried so hard to "out do" Ocarina.
My friend loved Twilight, and when he went to play Wind Waker for the first time, he couldn't get into it, so those two back to back is a strange transition for many.
Zelda II is highly overlooked. It is a fantastic game AND it holds up really well after all these years. All in all, the series innovates and also consistently delivers great gaming experiences.
My quest took me around 3 months, but a lack of school and social events will do that.
I bet you're ecstatic for Skyward. I know I am. If you live in New York City, head to Nintendo World around 5 pm today. I'll be there.
If not, good luck with the final part of your quest. I know I'll be eating up Skyward for the next week or so.
It seems like a fantastic franchise.
-I'm glad you agree that Zelda II is one of the more underrated games in the series. In fact, the combat in that game is, in my opinion, one of the best in the series. One of the reasons I'm so excited for Skyward Sword is that its combat seems to have a strong resemblance to Zelda II (at least, in the importance of the position of your strike/ the strategy that it entails).
-I LOVE Ocarina of Time, so don't take this the wrong way. But I was stumped by this statement: "Hyrule Field is one of the best overworlds yet". Frankly, I think that OoT has one of the least interesting overworlds in the series, perhaps THE least interesting. By modern standards, it's just empty, ugly, and boring. One reason I like Twilight Princess so much is how big and full of stuff to do Hyrule Field is - a vast improvement from its predecessor. Again, Ocarina of Time is an amazing game, but this is one aspect which later games did better.
-Yay, another fan of Minish Cap! That, and the Oracle games, are my two (three?) favorite handheld Zeldas. They're also among the most underrated ones. Too bad Capcom stopped making Zelda games - they were really good at it.
-Strongly disagree that Twilight Princess didn't have heart. It's one of my favorites, and managed to evoke more emotion from me than almost every game in the series (sans Wind Waker). It's hard to explain, really, and in the end I guess it's just a matter of opinion. But the characters, the overworld (and the exploration within), the epic bosses, the temples (some of them, at least - the Yeti House is one of the best in the series), the soundtrack, and the brilliant way it evoked nostalgia without relying too heavily on it... all of that combines to make it amazing, imo. It has its flaws, sure. The story can feel forced sometimes. The graphics don't hold up as well as WW's. It sticks strictly to the formula without revolutionizing anything. My biggest complaint, though, is that it's just way too easy. If it were harder, it might even be my #1 favorite Zelda game. That's another reason I'm excited for Skyward Sword - finally, some difficulty!
-Phantom Hourglass, along with Four Swords Adventures, is one of the only games I was "meh" about. However, I thought that Spirit Tracks improved on it in every possible way. In fact, the more I played through Spirit Tracks the more disappointed I felt with PH, because I felt like this was everything that it should have been. I could go on and on about why, but I'll just leave it at that. Spirit Tracks isn't the best Zelda, or even the best handheld one, but it holds a special place in my heart.
Yeah yeah, I know... tl;dr. But if you actually took time to read this, I'd like to say that the fact that we're bound to disagree is one of my favorite things about the Zelda series. The games are all so different that it's impossible to determine which one is the "best", and every person has a different "favorite". I can't even choose a favorite, though - I love all of them so much! This series is magical.
There are two complaints I have about Twilight Princess though. One, while the game has a lot of content, the world felt too empty. What was I saving? The vastness and small villages and settlements may have worked for Wind Waker but not for Twilight Princess. More NPCs would have gone a long way. Also, the Twilight Realm is boring. Couldn't wait to be Link again.
Oh yeah, I thought Wind Waker was a fantastic game! Very enchanting art style with loads of neat little touches thrown in. Playing that game really made me happy and smile a lot, just by how lush, colorful and goofy everything looked. Twilight Princess really felt like the lesser game in comparison. For some reason that game was more a "going through the motions" kind of deal, while I relished in every moment that WW had to offer. I did like the moody, sometimes depressing atmosphere working as a heavy contrast to Wind Waker's style. By no means a bad game, though.
I'm still mentally debating whether to pickup Skyward Sword or not. I have to give the motion controls for that one a spin first. But I really do hope I'm not too bothered with it, because the game feels like it could be amazing and evoke that seem feel Wind Waker did.
Thanks again for the lovely write up!
"But if you actually took time to read this, I'd like to say that the fact that we're bound to disagree is one of my favorite things about the Zelda series."
Of course I read it! And I agree!
Skyward Sword looks so good, It might become my favorite Zelda game if it lives up to the hype.
I think beating Simon's Quest without help would be the biggest accomplishment :)
Also, I'm thinking of doing DMC (including the new one), RE (including Revelations and Raccoon City), and/or Metroid next year. When MGS5 comes out, I'll do that marathon too.
My favorite is probably LttP. I didn't have a SNES at the time, and I.. umm.. *emulated* it a few years later (come one.. this was 13 years ago.. don't judge young me). When I finally played it, I -loved- it, although I honestly don't know if I've really revisited it. Link's Awakening was just a revelation on the GB. It showed that you could pack huge, amazing games into this tiny device. There really were only a few games like it at the time. Ocarina of Time was probably my most hyped game of all time. After having a Genesis and subscribing to Sega Visions or Visionaires or whatever, I went full out with the n64. Mario 64 just absolutely amazed me, and I think getting the n64 and Mario 64 on Christmas 1996 was one of the most joyous moments of my young existence. I subscribed to Nintendo power, became a n64 fanboy (with a few n64 websites.. as well as a Legend of Zelda website), and waited patiently for Ocarina.
When Ocarina finally came out.. I played it non-stop until I beat it (with all skulltulas and all upgrades, save one that bugged) like a week later. I absolutely adored it, but, to be honest, I haven't really visited since.
After Ocarina, as much as I loved the game, my status as a Zelda fan peaked then began to fall. Like I said, I made a website, and I planned on covering -everything-: the CDi games (which had little coverage back then outside of ZHQ), the Zelda watch, GRAAL, which was sorta a fan version of LttP with online capabilities, etc. I was also excited about MM, "ura-Zelda" (originally on DD, later released as Master's Quest), and the GBC Zelda gams. However, at the end of the day, I sorta pulled back from the series. I never ended up playing the two later GBC Zelda games; MQ didn't come out until far later; and, while I played MQ, I never actually beat it. I couldn't quite get the final mask, and I refused to beat it until I could. I had everything else in the game.
After that, I literally haven't played anything in the series. I have both WW and TP, but I haven't spent more than 5 minutes playing either. I've never even seen any of the GBA or DS entries. I still haven't played the CDi games, if only because I'm too smart to buy them on eBay and the emulation just isn't there yet. I'm not sure what happened here.. I still go back and play 1 or 2, but I really haven't touched any of the other games in quite some time.
Maybe I'll give Skyward Sword a chance to get me back to Zelda....
Seriously though, this was cool to read through. I always wanted to do this for the Mario "2D" games; maybe this winter I finally will.
Also, let me add that I find Oracle of Seasons to be one of my favorite Zelda's, along with Awakening (that theme really stuck on my head!).
I do agree that TP does seem a bit similar to OoT though, the game lacked soul. There were a few things I liked about it such as Zant, Midna, Snowpeak Ruins, and Skull Kid's appearance, but the main dungeons were mostly boring. I liked it enough to complete it at least, unlike OoT. I was actually gonna start up OoT again recently, but I had technical issues with LoZ: Collector's Edition. I probably won't get SS until the end of the month, maybe the end of the year, so I MIGHT continue ALttP which I have on WiiWare.
Best Zelda Moment Ever:
When you reach the temple where everything is black and white and frozen in time. Awesome.
Aside from Super Metroid which is just amazing from...well even BEFORE you press Start.
I was worried that playing Skyward Sword (now), and then Ocarina 3D around Christmas would be too much Zelda at once, but you've convinced me of the contrary!
Back in 1998, Ocarina of Time gripped me in a way that no game had previously, and for that reason it's probably still my favourite game of all time. Since then I've probably played through a Zelda game every 2 years.
anyway, fucking great job! this deserves a medal my good man!
I've played all the console games, and most of the GB ones; none of the DS ones. Majora's Mask is my favorite and I do like TP too - I like the dark tones. But I haven't played Link II since I played it the first time back when it was still somewhat new. Your review makes me want to go back and play again.
Anyway, I'm a big Zelda fangirl here and have been reading everything about SS I could find to waste away the time until I can leave work and play it again (just got it yesterday), so it was cool to find this writeup on all my old favorite titles too.
While it's by no means even near the bottom, there are certain issues that I couldn't really get past. Motion control wise, combat was great, but everything else I could have dealt without. My bird flight controls constantly deadzoned, as well as my free-flight/skydiving sections.
I had more than a little trouble with the bomb rolling controls, and the stabbing/thrust moves - this was with the brand new gold wii-mote, that worked great with other games. Gameplay wise, I felt like there was way too much repetition and way too many fetch quests.
But when the game worked - it worked. For the most part I loved the dungeons, and I'd easily play it on Hero Mode in the near future.

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1:00 PM on 11.19.2011



























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