Okay, before getting into the list, there are two I'm setting aside in a category of their own: games that would have been easier to appreciate had they not been Zelda games. Zelda II and Skyward Sword are both reasonably enjoyable games for me, but when I look at them from a Zelda perspective, I cringe a little, because they don't deliver on the feeling I go to Zelda games for. So while I do enjoy them, I don't enjoy them as Zelda games. I enjoy them as not-Zelda games. Thus, they don't have a place in this list.
With that out of the way, onward!
10) Phantom Hourglass/Twilight Princess
I had a hard time deciding which one I liked less between these two, so I put them together in the #10 spot. Why waste time splitting hairs when the hair is covered in shit?
Now, since I'm about to rip both of these games a new asshole, credit where it's due: both games gave me one very likable character each. Linebeck and Midna both probably make a top 20 list of my all-time favorite video game characters. And credit to Twilight Princess: it's aged pretty well now that HD is ubiquitous, unlike when it came out 9 years ago. So let's dive in!
Fuck both these games. Phantom Hourglass was an unmemorable, janky to control, yet still easy as fuck game. I got basically no enjoyment out of the experience of playing it, and to rub salt in that wound, it's the only Zelda game I've ever pre-ordered, and I even bought the strategy guide when I picked up my pre-order, expecting SOMETHING about this game to pose a challenge. So that's a lot of wasted money right there.
Twilight Princess, as I said, has aged well, but when it came out, fuck this game. Aesthetically, it's the Call of Duty of the Zelda franchise: ugly, period. It is an ugly game. Photorealism does not encourage me to explore a world, especially a world with nothing interesting in it. This game was a chore. It looks a little bit nicer now that you can see it in HD, but in 2006, we were still living in a world of CRTs. No, seriously, the Wii and Gamecube both natively output 480p composite. You had to buy 3rd party cables to get higher quality out of them. So all that photorealism just looked like garbage when I first sat down to play it. Even setting the aesthetic aside, Twilight Princess just felt like Needless Dramatic Tension: The Game. Like it was being written by a daytime soap opera writer (the shitty lighting effects make a lot more sense in this context).
9) Oracle of Seasons
I kind of have a grudge against this game. If you look ahead a little bit you'll see that Oracle of Ages is in the #3 spot. But here's the problem: Oracle of Ages has always stood in the shadow of Seasons. Seasons this, Seasons that, better mechanics, cooler overworld, muhnuhmahnahmuh. NO. Seasons is a mediocre game at best, and because I have a lot to say about why, I'll save it for the Oracle of Ages entry.
8 ) Link's Awakening/Zelda 1
These two are grouped together because as I was making this list, I came to a realization about both of them: I don't actually like them. I don't dislike them, but I find them unmemorable. There's nothing I about them I specifically liked. I wouldn't be making such a big deal about it, except that for years I went about my business thinking I loved these two games, simply by default. Only now as I attempt to make a list do I realize I don't really care for them.
7) Ocarina of Time
This is just a solid Zelda game. Not bad, not exceptional. I don't know what I can say about it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but beyond simply playing it, I find it unremarkable.
6) Four Swords Adventures/Minish Cap
I group these together because they would have been right next to each other, and I also consider them two halves of the same story. I honestly don't know if I like one over the other. I enjoyed the gimmick of FSA, at least in single player (the tedium becomes asinine once you involve 2 or more people), but I found the overworld lacking a tiny bit. On the other hand, Minish Cap's gimmick didn't impress me very much, but I LOVED the overworld. But when all's said and done, I think I enjoy them about the same.
5) A Link to the Past
I don't want to put this so far back on the list as it is, but so many other Zelda games hold fond memories for me that I literally can't move it up at all. But it's still a fantastic game. For snes-era capabilities, the tricks they used to convey depth and distance are astounding. This is best demonstrated by the trees you see in the background when you look off the back edge of death mountain. Everything about it is really impressive, considering the previous installment was Zelda II (again, not a bad game, but definitely not the best demonstration of what the NES was capable of).
4) Spirit Tracks
First of all, I should preface this by saying that ghost companions are probably one of my favorite narrative tropes. It allows for a higher level of intimacy in the character dynamic. This combined with Zelda's willingness to be involved in the fight (contrast with Peach's damsel-in-distress syndrome), creates a very cool setup with Link and Ghost!Zelda working as a team. My biggest complaint with Spirit Tracks is that the rail system feels very limiting. Everything else feels good, though. It improves on everything Phantom Hourglass failed with. Link's controls are tighter, the level design is more difficult, and the world is more cohesive.
3) Oracle of Ages
Fuck Oracle of Seasons. Okay, so when I first played seasons and saw Din for the first time, I was super hyped. A female protagonist who seems to be pretty strong and independent? Count me in! I want to see her fight alongside Link and contribute meaningfully to the plot BUT NO. She spends basically the entire game in that stupid crystal, doing sweet FA to advance the story. She is the epitome of damsel in distress, which might be the worst trope in all of fantasy, taking the spot below "everything is dragons, because why not". Din might be the worst female protagonist in any Zelda game to date.
With all of this, Oracle of Ages wins by default for me. Setting aside nostalgia bias and the fact that it was my first Zelda game, Oracle of Ages does a far better job of conveying the narrative, Nayru is more active in the plot, and Veran is a more fascinating villain than Mr. Totally-Not-A-Puppet-Gannon-Prototype. Plus I liked the music a lot more in Ages. Nayru's theme still gives me chills.
2) Majora's Mask
This game sort of speaks for itself. I love darker themes in otherwise lighthearted series. Majora's Mask manages to ramp up the sense of doom and despair without needlessly creating drama nor resorting to a more photorealistic aesthetic, and this is the major thing I think it has over Twilight Princess. The "adult" themes in Twilight Princess seemed heavy-handed and didn't deliver on a dark experience so much as a dull experience. Majora's Mask, on the other hand, is vivid, and makes you feel the weight of the dying world even after you've refreshed it to the dawn of the first day.
1) Wind Waker
I finally managed to acquire Wind Waker HD recently, and played through the whole thing in my free time in about two weeks, almost to completion (I left out the figurine collection because dear god no), and I felt like I was 10 years old again experiencing it for the first time. It's the most delightful experience I've ever gotten from any game, ever. The atmosphere is fresh and delightful. You can take it at your own pace. The fighting mechanics feel tight and solid, and make every battle feel meaningful. Even though you can clearly tell that content was cut to meet the release date, I honestly don't care. The triforce quest, for me, is just an excuse to do what I was going to do anyway: explore the everliving fuck out of the overworld.
Edited by Fabbrizio, 29 May 2015 - 07:25 PM.