Ah yes, The Legend of Zelda – the series you either love or hate, there seems to be no in between. I’m obviously in camp love, but not a Zelda-zealot that keeps yapping about Breath of the Wild 2 and when it’s finally arriving. Hell, it’s not even in my Zelda top 5! Got your attention? Good. Keep on reading – I dare you, no I double dare you!
The Legend of Zelda
Let me break down why I’m not putting Breath of the Wild in the top 5 of all-time Zelda’s, and why I don’t agree with the IGN number 1 spot. Most of the time your ‘favorite game’ is defined during childhood. It’s the one you come back to whenever you want, just to relive that nostalgia over and over again. I started my journey with the NES and CD-i, so my obvious choice has to be The Legend of Zelda and the Wand of Gamalon right? Well…guess again. The Legend of Zelda on the NES was way too difficult for my little 3-year-old brain, so I mostly played Kirby and Mario (or at least tried to). I only returned to the series on the GBA and finished most of them later on (same with classics as The Legend of Zelda II).
Ocarina’s
Use your Ocarina to fast forward a few years and I made the transition to the N64, skipping the SNES due to lack of Rupees. During this time I played quite a bit of Ocarina of Time, and yes, awesome game, but again – not my favorite Zelda! And even more provoking: It’s not even in my top 5! Crowd noises go: “Booooooh”. By the time the Nintendo Gamecube arrived, I had collected a pretty decent collection of games (including a lot of Zelda titles). Luckily the Gamecube gave birth to my favorite Zelda title; Yes, the critically acclaimed Wind Waker. But Nick, you skipped over a few handheld titles before jumping into this one! Yes, I know, I’m coming around to that one, hold your lion boats.
Wind Waker & Minish
The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker was a combination of great graphics (I love the artwork), a bopping soundtrack, relaxed dungeoneering, and great storytelling. It’s also that one game that I finished more times than I dare to admit. We took the Gamecube with us on vacation, so I played a lot of Wind Waker and Spongebob Squarepants on our long holidays in the northern and eastern parts of Europe. It was also on one of these trips to Eastern Europe that I came across another great title in the Zelda series, namely, Zelda the Minish Cap, which I scored in a big supermarket in Budapest, Hungary. I featured a similar comical art style to the Wind Waker game I adored and I loved the ‘different’ take on the whole concept of Zelda. Another one of those titles I returned to over and over again; both on the cartridge and on emulation on other Nintendo systems, all hail the e-shops.
Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks
But then it was time to move on to the next generation of Nintendo handhelds/consoles, namely the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii. On this handheld/console, I came across some other great Zelda titles other people seem to hate with every fiber in their body. Yes, I’m talking about both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks – underrated pearls of the Zelda universe, set in both the same style also Wind Waker with the humor and adventure that I loved in Minish Cap. Sure, they might have been a bit repetitive with scaling the same dungeon over and over again or blowing a mystical panflute to ride your train – they still have more nostalgic and positive feelings for the series than I ever got from Breath of the Wild. And no, you can’t burn me on a cross for Zelda-Blashmophy. I’ll talk about Twilight Princess in a bit, first tackle the fact why you came to this article.
Breath of the Wild
You might be wondering, but Nick, what is your problem with Breath of the Wild? Well, it’s not your usual Zelda – and one can argue that Wind Waker or Skyward Sword wasn’t the usual Zelda’s as well. And that’s true, to a point, since they still had the dungeon system and followed a certain route that challenged you to use the items you found along the way. Breath of the Wild challenges you to take the unusual path and explore the world (which is empty and bland). Sure, it still has the Divine Beasts dungeons, which are arguably the best dungeons in the game, but I dislike the Shrine system, which became even more repetitive than challenging the Ocean Kings temple. I also hated the fact that my weapons kept breaking. Sure, better weapons are great, but I prefer the ‘old’ system in which I gathered useful items and trinkets to make Link stronger. I always looked at Breath of the Wild like Skyrim meets Zelda, and I still do – it’s a great game, but not a great Zelda, if you catch my drift. Might just be old-man-Nick speaking though. It’s also the only Zelda I still haven’t completely finished yet, and I’ll let you know in a bit why that’s actually pretty weird (just read my top 5, a little below this paragraph, when you’re done writing your hate mail).
Top 5?
Let’s face it – the best Zelda game out there is Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, and it’s not even about Link or Zelda! I truly adore this game and I personally think everyone with the slightest interest in Zelda should play this gem once. I finished this one – but did not finish Breath of the Wild – catch my drift?
- My personal favorite is Wind Waker – mainly because it’s the game I have the fondest memories of. Oh, and it almost led to a fight in a bookstore in Ireland. The store clerk asked me what my favorite Zelda title was (I bought a book on Zelda there), and when I replied Wind Waker, he almost punched me in the nose (his was Ocarina). The soundtrack of Wind Waker is still my favorite Zelda soundtrack – and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
- The second place goes to Twilight Princess – the darkest and adult-themed Zelda out there. I played this game for so many hours on my Wii – and I loved the wolf-Link mechanic. It’s such a shame that the game still is not reworked on the Nintendo Switch, since there is an entire generation missing out on a great title.
- Third place goes to Minish Cap – the first handheld title that stayed in both my GBA SP and Nintendo DS a little bit longer than both Pokemon and Castlevania (which is something in my book). The humor, art style, and gameplay elements made it into the perfect Pocket Zelda and still couldn’t measure up to A Link Between Worlds (which was great!).
- Fourth place goes to Phantom Hourglass, my first DS Zelda, and again, one of the fondest Zelda memories I have; mainly because of the neat features like drawing on the map, shutting your DS to solve certain puzzles, and the obvious connection with Wind Waker.
- Fifth place goes to Spirit Tracks, the sequel to Phantom Hourglass; one of the most underrated DS titles in my humble opinion (but you probably stopped reading after I called out Breath of the Wild). It felt a bit like the spiritual (ha) successor to Phantom Hourglass and I enjoyed it very much, mainly because of the quality of life improvements the series made compared to Phantom Hourglass, but still keeping the Wind Waker & Minish Cap feel alive.
But hey, that’s just my two cents – and they will probably be very different from your top 5. So, let me ask you, the reader; what’s your favorite Zelda? And even more important, why?
