Since I am a BIG Zelda nerd and I often talk about the Legend of Zelda, I thought I would dedicate a post to my definitive ranking of all of the games I have played in the Zelda series.
** The top 3 are pretty much interchangable but if I *had* to rank them:
1. Skyward Sword
Yes, that's right. I love this game. I love it's story. I don't hate the motion controls. It has the best dungeon and boss of all time (Ancient Cistern/Koloktos), among other AMAZING dungeons. It has wonderful puzzles. The weapons upgrading is unique and fun. Groose and Impa are incredible characters. I love the master sword origin story. I love the music. I am SO FREAKING PUMPED for SSHD, and I will add my thoughts once I play it!
2. Breath of the Wild
This game changed everything about Zelda. The open world is incredible. I've spent more time in this game than in any other video game. I *still* discover new things playing through it. The puzzles are fantastic. I love that its a little broken and there are so many fun glitches. The game speaks for itself.
3. A Link to the Past
My gold standard for Zelda games. This is the nostalgia game for me. I can still pick it up and play it in an evening and love it. It was the first game with awesome, deeper puzzles that connected a story that I had ever played. It will never NOT be in my top 3.
4. The Wind Waker
I only played this for the first time in 2020, but it totally captured my heart. The story is wonderful and I love the art style. I love that Link is just a regular kid who wants to save his sister in this story. Makar and Medli are fantastic side characters who I’m glad we revisit throughout the game. Tetra is an amazing, strong female character. The puzzles were fun and the map was open enough for fun exploration. I really want to play Phantom Hourglass at some point because of how much I liked WW. The combat in this game is my favorite of all Zelda games. And of course, this game has amazing music.
5. The Minish Cap
Again, this game was a new one for me in 2020, but it is a GREAT Zelda title. I'd argue that this is a very underrated title because a lot of people haven't played it. This game takes the great elements of A Link to the Past and the Wind Waker and amps up the puzzles in a great way. The dungeons and bosses are really exceptional. Vaati is a great villian, and I want to see him in more Zelda titles. The side quests were *mostly* fun (with the exception of the figurine collection). I enjoyed the music and art style.
6. Ocarina of Time
I know I will take some heat for having this so far down on the list. For what it's worth, I didn't play this as a child and so I have no nostalgia factor to add to this game. It does have a great story, and a really large map for exploration. I know in it's time the z-targeting controls were revolutionary, but they were frustrating at times for me. I really don't love anything that was from the N-64 art style days, I find many of those games hard to wade through for that reason. HOWEVER, OoT has the best Ganon fight in the series. I liked several of the dungeons a lot, the Forest Temple being in my top 5 dungeons of all time. Volvagia was a highlight as well. Great music too. I'd love to try the HD version of this on the Switch hopefully in the future.
7. Link's Awakening
This is a fun game that I've enjoyed for decades now. Both the Game Boy Color version and the Switch version are great. Watching my daughter play it, and beat it, on the Switch for the first time was very special for me. This game is fun and different. The side quests and mini games are among my favorites. The dungeons have some really neat mechanics you don't see in many other games. It's got very good music and the art style for the Switch remake was awesome.
8. Cadence of Hyrule
Yes, I'm putting Cadence in here. I love Cadence of Hyrule - it's a great, quirky addition to the Zelda family. The recent DLC added a nice layer of complexity, and has an amazing dungeon (The Temple of Brainstorms). The music to this game is enough to make me want to play it over and over again. I love the randomizer element of Necrodancer games, which makes each playthrough of this game feel unique. If you haven't played this game yet and you like Zelda, this is a must must!
9. Twilight Princess
I feel a little bad that TP is this far down my list. I think I need to play it again, but this game had some great moments. Arbiter's Grounds and Snowpeak Ruins are amazing dungeons with incredible and unique items. I want that spinner in BotW!!! I enjoyed the combat in this game, and LOVED the little hidden caverns that felt like mini-dungeons. I wasn't crazy about Wolf Link and found his controls difficult. This Ganondorf fight pails in comparison to the OoT one. I even liked the WW one better. The art style wasn't my personal favorite but I appreciate it and what it adds to the Zeldaverse. But overall, even my least favorite Zelda is better than most other games!
10. Legend of Zelda
I still love and play this game through plenty, and I will always love it for being my very first Zelda. Back then, getting stuck just meant you had to keep wandering to figure it out. This game had the perfect sized map and puzzles for it's time. The only reason it's so low on this list is because the later games in the series built upon what it started, and that makes me love it all the more.
11. Hyrule Warriors
I love the way this game combined several Zelda titles for fun and has so many elements from all over the board. The HW combat style isn't my favorite, and the characters move so fast that I can only play it for a little while before it almost makes me motion sick. The music is fun and upbeat and it's always a good time but it isn't one I actively sit down to play regularly.
12. Hyrule Warriors, Age of Calamity
This one gets bottom billing from me. Not only do I not enjoy the HW style of play, but AoC was sold as a prequel story and it simply... wasn't. I did love playing as Impa - she was the best thing about AoC for me. The music is also frickin fabulous. But the story was so damn disappointing, without answering a single question I wanted answered. BUT the worst Zelda game is still better than most other games for me, so keep in mind that I'd still give this game like a 7/10 overall.
Rankings of games I want to play:
1. A Link Between Worlds
2. Majora’s Mask
3. Phantom Hourglass
4. The Oracle Games (I bought these for my GameBoy - they are on the 2021 next up!)
5. Four Swords Adventures
6. Tri Force Heroes
7. Spirit Tracks
Feel free to leave a comment with your own thoughts!!!
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