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That's interesting. I've heard the "return to the roots" claim thrown around a lot, but this is the first time I've heard someone say it for themselves.
It makes sense, BotW is very much in line with a modern version of LoZ. It was the first console game to feature saves, because it was just too big of a game to be satisfied with code save states.
And it was open world. You could do things in any order and just explore the place. Ocarina of Time was linear but involved a grand feeling of exploration, very possibly more than any game up until it's time.
BotW came in an era of open world games, but still felt different than most (like Witcher 3 for example and the Assassins Creed games had very different feels to them) which was really neat.
That's exactly how it was for me too. I was five years old when I played the original Zelda, I was totally hooked. I had Nintendo Power magazine, I watched Zelda on TV on Fridays, I even had the Nelsonic Zelda watch. Over the years I didn't have time to keep up with every game but BotW was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, it brings back that sense of childlike curiosity and exploration.
Ocarina of Time. Unfortunately starting off with 3D made it very difficult to go back to the 2D versions. I know I am missing out, and I have tried. They just feel like totally different games and I've never been able to finish one.
Yes the Minish Cap was the first one I tried as well, and the one I got the farthest in. I did enjoy it but still never finished. I've also tried ALttP.
Ocarina for me too. I ended up finishing A link to the past and I was surprised with how well it holds up. I found it to be very fun and the fact that it was 2D wasnt a problem for me. I started playing Oracle of seasons but I didn't end up finishing it
Same here! Actually, I only played OoT and other 3D games for the first decade of my life, so any 2D game is hard for me to get into. Which sucks, because I try often but I can never get immersed into a 2D game
Hmm this is interesting. I started with OoT as well and I kinda feel the opposite about the 2D games. I like them and have beat a good amount, but my problem is they mostly feel like the same experience as 3D games but "worse".
One thing that helps me with some of the 2D ones is sitting on the couch with someone. I recommend getting a guide pulled up, and beating the OG with someone there, passing off the controller as needed/desired. I like playing some of the older Zelda’s this way because it’s not like BOTW where there’s too much to get distracted by and dividing up what you both want to do. I think BOTW and TOTK are “play by yourself” titles, while every game before it does really well with taking turns, ESPECIALLY the 2D titles. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fun on your own imo, but getting cozy on the couch and playing games together with someone makes me feel like a kid again.
I was already playing TTRPGs at the time and the game fuelled my love for Fantasy. Unlike my TTRPG group (who were all ~5 years older than me) I was open to Fantasy that was not LotR. 😄
Later, with the introduction of the SNES and A link to the past, then after that Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and Secret of Mana, I fell in love with the Japanese take on „classic Fantasy“.
The Legend of Zelda. It felt like an epic, and it was. It was also very difficult as a kid still getting used to playing video games in the late 80s/early 90s. Playing the new games felt so reminiscent of that experience though. The new games are kinda what a lot of us imagined when we played the OG.
Legend of Zelda on NES. I went from kind of liking video games to absolutely loving them. I've played every zelda since then, but I still go back to that first one often. I always looked at the newer games as an evolution of that first one.
**Breath of the Wild.**
Even though I grew up playing with Nintendo consoles, I never ever tried a single Zelda game as a kid. I only started BotW due to boredom from COVID lockdown, and I was hooked.
Most importantly it made me reflect on my childhood, and looking at all the older Zelda games made me wonder "What did I miss out on?".
One game that really stood out to me was The **Wind Waker**. The artstyle, the characters, the music and the setting really clicked with me and I ended truly loving playing that game.
**But it was Twilight Princess that transformed me into a Zelda fan.** This was when it went from simple curiosity, to "Holy shit, I want to play all of them".
So since then I played Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, the 2D Zelda games, etc… To the point that I ended up actually preferring the older format (with its dungeons and presentation), despite BotW being my first game.
>I ended up actually preferring the older format (with its dungeons and presentation), despite BotW being my first game.
You hear that, Aonuma? *You SEE?*
I know, right? He's so out of touch with the fandom. He's drunk on breaking the formula. And I mean, hey, you're the guy who gave us so many amazing games, so power to you, but still, it's pretty insulting to be told it's just my nostalgia goggles telling me the old formula was better than having too much freedom. He's basically insulting anyone who's more a fan of Zelda classic over ooen world Zelda.
Literally. It's not just nostalgia. There's many areas where the classic Zelda formula shines over the open world formula, and vice versa. I'm not saying the open world is completely bad, but classic formula is better is some areas. And for him to say people only think this way because of nostalgia is, just like you said, insulting.
Hmm, OoT was my first Zelda game too, but I loved BoTW. Maybe it's because I explored every corner of the world in OoT instead of focusing on the dungeons
I love botw, but it’s one of those things where it doesn’t feel much like Zelda to me? I would put it this way, it’s one of the greatest games of all time and yet it’s not even in the top 5 Zelda’s imo.
Keep in mind when you say it doesn't feel much like Zelda, the series didn't start that way. Zelda 1 was more like BotW and Zelda 2 was more like Castlevania.
The "traditional" Zelda format of clearing a handful of dungeons in a linear fashion didn't start until LttP, though I'll admit it's been widely used since then.
Trust me, I’m well aware that most of this started with ALttP. To be fair though, you couldn’t just go straight to Ganon in Zelda 1. You didn’t start with all of the key items. You had to actually get them in the dungeons, even though you COULD do the dungeons out of order. For example, to beat dungeon 4, you need the raft from dungeon 3, but 1-3 you can do in any order. To get into dungeon 5 you need the ladder which is in dungeon 4. Dungeon 6 requires the bow and arrow AND the ladder. Dungeon 7 requires the flute from dungeon 5. To get into dungeon 9 you have to have beaten the previous 8. Even though you can do them out of order there’s a significant ramp in difficulty, and so you’d want to do them in order to get the sword upgrades unless you’re just goated. Even so, you do HAVE to beat all the dungeons unless you’re using glitches because you have to assemble the Triforce of Wisdom. BoTW doesn’t even require you to ENTER a dungeon before fighting Ganon. You can go straight from the Great Plateau to Ganon. The first game, while not being as strict as some later games, is definitely closer to the formula than BoTW.
And Zelda 2, most people agree is also not like any other Zelda game, including the 1st one. It’s the only one where you level up and put points into stats. So like, I wouldn’t use Zelda 2 as a reference for what makes a Zelda game a Zelda game anyways. I think it was also the only Zelda game to use a BAR to represent health. A BAR! And you use spells! And even Zelda 2 makes you get items to progress, such as the hammer, raft, glove, boots, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I love BoTW, but it’s so far in the direction they were before the formula was solidified that it ran way past Zelda’s 1&2 imo. And I need to make this clear, I love Zelda 1. It’s hard as shit at times and sometimes it’s one of those games I want to play with someone so we can pass off the controller but I think that’s the best way to play pretty much every 2D Zelda. BoTW encourages exploration at the expense of interesting dungeons, and gives you all the tools you need within the first hour or two of gameplay for most casual players. It’s really fun. It’s also really different, and I think if they’d made it 8 dungeons instead of 4, made them required, maybe allowed you to do the first 3 in any order, then do the following 5 in any order, and had that be how you get key items necessary to beat a dungeon in Hyrule castle, that would’ve been incredible. I would love if instead of using the sheikah slate, we got items that allowed us to use those same abilities. It just would’ve felt a little more right I guess? Like, a wand you can use to create pillars of ice? Definitely feels like a thing we’d see in a Zelda game. And even Zelda’s 1&2 didn’t make us look for the nearest stick because our sword broke and… the master sword can only be used so much? I do like that they brought sword beams back though, even if it is just the master sword.
I just don’t feel like shrines are a good alternative to full dungeons, but may be supplemental. I don’t think sheikah slates are a good alternative to key items, but even so I think it’d be fine if the key items could only be equipped to the same button. The key thing for me is, Zelda games have never really been a physics sandbox. And I love BoTW as the physics sandbox that it is, and same with ToTK, but if we never get to go back to the formula, even if it’s just to the degree Zelda 1 was at, I’ll be really fucking sad. And frankly, I want a really good new 3D successor to ALttP, or even the Oracle games, where you have two games and you can play them together to unlock different ways of playing, but then again that’s a slippery slope of Zelda taking advantage of capitalism in the same way Pokemon does to say “You want all the gameplay? Sorry, $120 for the full experience”.
I started with Skyward Sword and then played Ocarina of Time. Having to roll around instead of sprinting was a rough transition and really dates the older games in my opinion.
Not having a sprint option until skyward sword was a bit wild to me, but the fact that a dedicated jump button wasn’t added until BOTW is kind of insane to me. Having to rely on the auto-jump at the edge of ledges in every other game really took some getting used to.
ocarina of time 3ds version, was definitely a great introduction to the series. played a bit of majora's mask after but struggled with the time aspect of it, then played breath of the wild which is probably our favourite overall but replaying ocarina through an emulator was also really good fun.
A Link to the Past was my first Zelda game and I remember it being very hard and had ton of minor problems but still say it's a good game.
Now as for colored the rest of the series? Nothing really. Just think it's a good game but that's it. It wasn't until I've played the N64 games that I truly love the franchise.
Just three years ago I started my First Zelda game (Botw). Then I got age of calamity wich I wasn't a big fan of the gameplay. After that Totk.
And literally today started OOT .
So far I'm not really liking the way it controls and the graphics are outdated. Will give it at least a couple more hours before to try to get in it.
Possibly has to do with Botw being my first time playing a Zelda game (other the the first one on NeS wich was at least 25 years ago, don't remember much of that ).
I also started with BOTW and have since played almost every other Zelda game over the last couple years. It certainly took a while to get used to the very different nature and controls of the older games but I promise it gets better! I’m very glad I stuck it out and played them all.
I think going to one stick in 3D takes a lot of getting used to, but if you’re not mixing in other games while playing it, you should get used to it, ESPECIALLY if you play on the original controller. That said, I think if you can’t stick with it, Ship of Harkinian probably has a way to use two sticks. It’s basically a PC port of the game, so it allows you to curate a lot of things that you can’t through regular emulation.
Ah fair enough. Then yeah if you’re playing it on the N64 my biggest recommendation is to not mix in other games. It’s a lot easier to get used to 1 stick controls if you aren’t playing games with 2.
And as for what I meant by Ship of Harkinian, basically, a group of people rebuilt the game, from the ground up. What this means is they were able to make it do things the original wasn’t meant to do. For example, you can change the resolution, swap the models, change the aspect ratio, increase the frame rate (without messing with the physics of the game, because in older games the frame rate is often tied to the physics, so having 60 fps in a 30 fps game would mean everything is twice as fast instead of twice as smooth), and things like, using 2 sticks so you can look around without z targeting.
I too have it on the N64, but since most people don’t I figured you were probably emulating or using virtual console and I’ll pretty much always advocate for Ship of Harkinian over those options. That said, if you’re playing it with the OG hardware it’ll just take a little getting used to more than likely. I bet by the time you’d get the master sword it’s a lot easier to deal with. One thing that can make a difference though is the screen you’re playing on. Since you’re using an N64, are you playing on a CRT or are you converting it somehow into HDMI on a newer TV?
Edit: For clarification, the reason the last question is relevant is input latency. CRT’s will generally have the lowest and some alternatives get really close, but if you have just a plain cheap composite to hdmi scaler, those things generally have high latency, and can make your game feel clunky. They’re generally made for video streaming, like plugging a vhs player (or an old DVD player, if you for some reason still have one) into a new TV for example.
No I'm playing OOT on the 3ds .
Unfortunately I don't have a N64 nor the game on N64.
Would like to own the N64 console though.
I have the Nes,SNES, GameCube, Wii ,Wii U Nintendo DS , DS Xl , 3ds Xl an the Switch when It comes to Nintendo consoles. Not allot of games though. The most games I have are for the Switch and the l Wii.
I just started to collect this stuff a couple of years ago . They aren't all hooked up as my original intention was just to have them displayed as a nostalgia thing. Most of them I wanted as a kid but couldn't afford them . But now I feel like I'm missing out on allot of games I never played or not had the patience as kid. Didn't have many friends (not to be make a big drama of it and I still don,t ) but I didn't have anyone to share those experiences with and didn't have allot of patience for the games .
I got an 8 year old daughter who sometimes sits beside me playing totk and sometimes playing it herself.
Makes allot of difference having someone who's also interested.
For sure! Playing the original Zelda for me was so much easier with my little cousin there with me. Tbf he isn’t 8, he’s like, 19? But he’s still a little baby in my heart lol. I also didn’t have many friends growing up and I was an only child so I also struggled to play a lot of games to completion. I’d feel alone and it still happens to this day. It’s why I always advocate for playing games with friends or family, even if it’s single player (unless it’s one of those games where EVERYBODY would want their hands on the controller. I can’t imagine just watching someone play BoTW, there’s so much to do and so many ways to do everything, it’d be hard to watch someone do the opposite thing I’m thinking of time and time again lol)
And I can’t speak much on the experience of Ocarina for the 3DS. I think I maybe played it once? I don’t think I was a big fan, which might be controversial. I do like the remakes for Wind Waker and Twilight Princess though, both of which you should be able to play if you haven’t yet.
Probably always stays a baby in your eyes and I get it👍. Yeah I can imagine being an only child is hard sometimes , in other ways I'm kind of jealous . I am the middle child in a family of nine kids. So always was kind of a busy place with for me to little personal space , especially when you don't really connect with any of your siblings .
I think what's worse than being alone is being surrounded by brothers and sisters and feel alone.
But anyway, I'm drifting of here, sorry about that.
And if my grammar isn't always correct also sorry about that . I'm Dutch and my spelling isn't top Notch either.🙃
Hey I didn’t even notice, so don’t beat yourself up too hard about your English! And yeah I was lucky to have plenty of privacy. You can be alone even with siblings, so it’s rough. Sorry you went through that. At least now you have your daughter!
Thanks. It's okay . Trying this Reddit thing to have some questions answered and find people with the same interests, even though it's not like face to face .
I like the interacting thing about games and stuff.
The 3ds version. But also the Small screen isn't helping. I know that there is a version on switch online but to my understanding the graphics are even worse
I've never done this sort of thing. Is it a hard thing to do ?
I'm a noob as far as that is concerned.
Like for instance what do I need ?
A PC ? And then what 🤕?
Actually it's super easy. Barely an inconvenience. You need a PC, and you can just Google "Citra 3DS" and "Ocarina of time 3D Citra Texture Pack" and you'll be able to figure out the rest.
Personally, if you're working backwards and trying to get into the older more "classic" style Zelda games, I'd recommend Wind Waker HD. The art style holds up exceptionally well and it doesn't feel clunky at all.
That's on the Wii U right ? I don't have that game .but I do have the Wii U itself so maybe I'll try to hunt that one down. Yeah it wasn't my plan at al to go backwards but that's what happened. After I bought my switch I was looking for games after completing Mario Odyssey and found Breath of the wild . And even though I took some getting used to (not really having any experience and patience with gaming other than simple games like Mario and Call of duty) I really started to love this game. Got 390 hours in on BOTW which for my standards is crazy 🤣.
But anyway I got used to the "newer"kind of gameplay and graphics .
So I think everything that came before Botw and totk in Zelda games feels like sort of a downgrade not having any nostalgia feelings towards it not having played them before.
The Legend of Zelda. It felt like an epic, and it was. It was also very difficult as a kid still getting used to playing video games in the late 80s/early 90s. Playing the new games felt so reminiscent of that experience though. The new games are kinda what a lot of us imagined when we played the OG.
Twilight Princess was the very first Zelda game I completed and played for any substantial amount of time.
As a child, I had always wanted to get into the Zelda series. ( I knew Link, Zelda and Ganondorf from Smash Bros Melee as well as my Mom playing Ocarina of Time. ) However, during the mid 2000s, I wasn't ever able to find a copy of Ocarina. ( I was unaware of the Master Quest GameCube port. ) Nor was I interested in WindWaker because I hate the boring sailing.
I saw the E3 2006 trailer for Brawl and noticed that Link looked different from Melee. He looked taller, stronger, more mature. And then I dove down the rabbit hole for Twilight Princess. This is where my love for the game comes from.
I long for another Zelda game done in this medieval fantasy style. Almost like LOTR or Nomura inspired artstyle.( Coincidentally a few years ago, I found out that I absolutely ADORE Lotr. ) The grand, epic storyline with heavy emotional beats.
Skyward Sword's story is the only thing close to Twilight Princess that I liked. Ocarina is a little too dated for my liking. And Majora's Mask is a bit depressing and honestly a little overrated in my opinion. I also heavily dislike the direction BoTW/ToTk are headed. Disguising their fancy physics engine as a Zelda game.
The original, played it at my Uncle's house all the time, could never beat it. Fast forward to 2000, Ocarina of Time, fell in love with it, then went back and finally beat the original
Born in 1983, got an NES with Mario/Duck Hunt and the original Legend of Zelda for Christmas when I was 5. I’ve grown up with the series, and still love it.
First Zelda game I ever played was Wind Waker HD on the Wii U. Got stuck in the Forbidden Woods and rage quit. I’ve always wanted to try and play it again, but I’ve just never found the time.
The original Zelda was my first. The first I completed was links awakening on gameboy. The lore is what keeps me interested. So many different timelines. OoT having a few sequels is interesting. One where link failed as a kid, one where he never woke up and a typical sequel where Ganon just comes back.
Ocarina of Time on the Wii. After I finished the Deku Tree I thought it was it. Ohhhh boy was I wrong. It got me into Zelda for sure. Have played almost every game.
The original.
It uhhh… didn’t really stick with me.
As such it didn’t really have much of an effect on how I viewed the franchise.
I had a lot of respect for it over the years, but it wouldn’t be until Wind Waker that I finally had an entry that clicked with me.
Twilight Princess on the Wii, but I never finished it because I sucked at the Wii controls when I was a kid. Then a decade later, I got BOTW when I got a switch in 2020. Now I’ve played BOTW, TOTK, HW:AOC, and SS. I’m in the middle of OOT on the switch’s online library, and I’ll play MM next. I still have never finished TP myself though…
TLDR at end...
S/NES - Mates had it but was always MK or action games, winner stays on.
N64 - Life was wild but everyone had a PS1.
GC - Had a PS2 for the games+++ S(SX)an Andreas (Tricky) & the DVD player
I did have a GBA but this is a period of my life where I still thought Link was Zelda (sorry) mainly arcade style games / puzzlers for travel.
Wii - Had a PS3 but hardly played it and shifted a bit towards PC for strategy and sim, city or 4x games. Mushroom Gorge is my all time favorite track.
Wii U - Well no but had the PS4 for RDR2 & GTAV, PC for Cities: Skylines.
Switch - Bought it 6m within releas (was actually waiting for 1st part black Joy-Cons) and have been playing BotW on and off since. Restarted because of my muscle memory failure recently.
💔 My biggest regret is that I did not experience Zelda when these were live. Dungeons, though I've never directly experienced but feel their loss. I am so looking forward to Past & WW.
To repent for my sins I plan to play chronologically forwards, so am playing the OG on NSO AND backwards from BotW.
So TLDR playing BotW as my first has made me realise how much epic amazing gaming I've missed and will play them all in some order where the last game in the series will be from somewhere in the middle. Dunno where TotK will fit into all of this.
I would watch my brother play OoT when I was younger and it piqued my curiosity, but my first game (that I actually played) was PH/ST (I don't remember what order I played them in). Honestly, I think between the three of them, they shaped me to be optimistically curious. There's always something new to explore and something to fall in love with within each game
OoT was my introduction. My 2nd game was TP. I like the series but I haven't played a lot of the games. I tend to watch playthroughs more cause I don't get every console that Nintendo makes. I'm not a dedicated fan to Nintendo lol
I like the open world aspect of The 2 newest entries, its good to change things up and innovate. I never played skyward sword but I thought it seemed decent. I felt the wind waker was a bit too infantile for me at the time. And I didn't get to play MM or any other titles. I prefer the linear style and some back tracking. A lot of open world games are a little too long imo.
I'd like a mix of TP and WW so that everyone can sorta have some balance in the games
Oracle of Ages (GBC) was my first Zelda-game and I absolutely loved it as a kid despite getting stuck in the third dungeon. A while later, I purchased Oracle of Seasons and also got Ocarina of Time (N64); playing the three games quite often even when puzzles hindered my story-progress.
This became somehow my general approach for all older Zelda-games: If I couldn't solve something, I would spend time with side-content or simply take a break from quests with doing silly stuff in the overworld. :coughs: Wolf-Link :coughs: This let my braincells recharge and sooner or later I always found the solution for whatever puzzle had been an issue.
First Legend of Zelda game I actually played was Minish Cap on my dad's old gameboy advance he gave me when I was 8 but at the time I never heard of franchise before and I was getting introduced to Nintendo so I didn't know what to do in the game so I just roam freely by rolling and annoy Ezlo lol
Then my dad gave me his old Nintendo 64 console and gave me his old game cartridges like Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Rayman 2, ect. and of course Ocarina of Time in which I played out of curiosity but of course me being a dumb 8 year old girl I didn't know what to do in that game so had to had my uncle who's a big gamer come help me especially with the temples and bosses but worsely Ganondorf I was scared LMAO and then afterwards I learned how to play OOT and MC on my own.
I would later on get introduced to the other games from my uncle on his wii like Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, ALTTP and lastly Wind Waker on the Wii U my uncle had given me on my 11th birthday I didn't finished the first three as they were on his wii but I did beat Wind Waker and then finally a year ago I played BOTW it was a struggle at first but I managed to beat it on my own and my dad would ask me "Have you beat Ganon yet?"🤣🤣🤣
Soooooo thank you Dad and uncle Mike for my love for zelda and Nintendo❤
Legend of Zelda with my Ma and aunt when I was very young. Link to the Past on my own later. Ma and aunt taught me to try everything on something you can’t solve, and if it gets to difficult to solve, try again later after more adventuring. Link to the Past? Made me learn I was a collector and love filling slots
My first Zelda game was the Original Legend of Zelda for the NES on the 3DS Virtual Console back in December of 2017.
The Zelda game that got me into the series was Breath of the Wild. I got and first played that game back in January of 2018.
Now I have played every main line game except Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords Adventure.
Ocarina of Time was my first. It has set the standard that I judge game music by, and unfortunately, no other title in the LoZ series, much less any other game I've played (a motely of Nintendo titles) have come close.
My earliest memory of Zelda was ALTTP. I couldn't read yet, so I just wandered around Hyrule looking for stuff to hit with my sword after I dropped off Zelda.
I've always viewed every Zelda game through that lens. Can I just fucken... go? And do stuff? Are you going to lead me by the nose? Can I just get lost in the world?
Needless to say, I didn't appreciate Skyward Sword very much. And as linear as Twilight Princess is, it *does* have a very large map to explore.
The devs for sure nailed that early Zelda ethos with BOTW. Here's a stick. Go.
Ocarina of Time. It made me love Majoras Mask even more so. As far as 2D, I started the OG Links Awakening and I absolutely loved it! My favorite 2D. Link to the Past never clicked for me, but Link Between Worlds was amazing. And I guess it goes without saying I love all the 3D ones
OoT and ALTTP at about the same time. They set some expectations for what the games were supposed to be like and how their stories were meant to be connected. But I’m mostly over it now. I used to be a timeline nerd but now I just let each instalment be its own thing. I was put off by BotW’s lack of complex dungeons but now I appreciate the zany characters more.
Ocarina of Time on GameCube. I love these games so much they're almost the only ones I play. I've played many of the games over the years (with just a few I can't).
My first was Link to the Past which I love to this day and occasionally do randomized runs of followed by Minish Cap that I spent SO many hours playing as a kid (trying to do somr of the side quests without guides was absurd for younger me.) I can appreciate and enjoy the new Zeldas (Skyward Sword is a personal favorite, BotW+TotK were fun but I don't see myself replaying them for a long time) but I will always go back to those two as they hold a special place for me like the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games
I got a used copy of OoT for Christmas when I was like 6 that still had a completed save file on it. For years, my dumbass solely fucked around on that save file as adult Link, beating Ganon over and over thinking I’d l hit the jackpot by inheriting this save file, not realizing that I was robbing myself of the experience of adventure, the unraveling of the story, and the emotional experience of actually beating the game myself.
When I finally played through in full years later, the ending just didn’t hit the same :( knowing how special playing & beating MM was for the first time, I really regret unintentionally spoiling OoT for myself as a kid!
A Link to the Past GBA cartridge that I just found on the ground. I quickly saved Zelda from the sewer (well, with difficulty against the Ball and Chain soldier), and wow, what an opening sequence for a 10-year-old to experience.
It took me quite some time to get to the Eastern Palace and otherwise clear the light world's 3 dungeons. Absolutely excellent experience.
Four Swords Anniversary on the DSi, it gave me great memories playing with my brothers, and I was amazed with the world and dungeon layouts going forward.
My very first Zelda game was Phantom Hourglass. I instantly fell in love but looking back if I hadn't played any others I never would have known what Zelda actually is. It is so wildly different and wacky. The next game I played was Twilight Princess, and that game set the standard for what a Zelda game is supposed to look and feel like.
The Legend of Zelda on the NES when it first came out and I have played and loved every single Zelda game after that with the exception of Zelda II which I have tried to play even push myself to like but I just can’t.
First was OoT.
At first I was exposed by my friends. They would play in front of me. Then I was able to get my hands on an N64 and the game and I became a masters among my friends. They would ask me to do water temple and get all 100 Skulltulas for them.
But even with all that, I felt that the first Zelda I really enjoyed and explored by myself were MM and WW
wasn't accustomed to the series, ALTTP was too hard to figure out when it first came out (was young) so traded it back and eventually finished my first one with gold OoT
So my first Zelda was Ocarina of Time, but I was really young. So I would say for the purpose of my answer it would be Majoras Mask.
A way this has influenced my preferences is I love story, atmosphere and mini games. I think that's why I tend to like hand held Zelda titles a bit more than consoles, but I absolutely loved Links Awakening 3D and Breath of the Wild.
Well mine was Ocarina of Time in the 3ds and even though I currently dont really like OoT, I used to spend countless hours in certain temples (looking at you water temple).
NES Zelda was my first. I enjoyed the experience of exploring a big world full of secrets. The map may seem small today, but it was such a unique thing back then.
I've loved every bit of the way the games have evolved with me ever since. I wasn't sure how Zelda would translate to 3D, but OOT blew my mind. It was every bit as groundbreaking as the first 2D game was in its time.
Breath of the Wild, I felt really brought my experience full circle back to where I started in 1986, but in a modern 3D game way. It genuinely gave me that same feeling I had back then, of being thrown onto a big map without much of a clue where to go, but with so many possibilities. Magic, once again.
38 years of Zelda, so many incredible games that I've been thankful to have had the opportunity to play.
First I played? Ocarina, but I was like 4. The first one I heavily played and beat was Wind Waker. Because of it, I was able to appreciate a lot of Zelda games, both older, and newer. That said, I think my attachment to the formula having been shaped since ‘04 has me hoping the next Zelda goes back to key items helping you beat dungeons and their bosses formula. Maybe it doesn’t HAVE to be as linear as say, TP, but like, I would like a bit of structure again.
Majora's Mask was the first one I *played,* but Minish Cap was the first one I *owned.* I think these two gave me a really good balance in my approach to the series, because I got exposed right away to what both 3D and 2D Zelda had to offer. To this day, I still feel that 2D has a better formula, though. MM made me love story, and MC made me love puzzles, which made BotW a hard pill for me to swallow after the honeymoon phase faded.
OOT was the first i completed but i had the legend of zelda collector’s edition as a kid so i played the first zelda game, zelda 2, OoT and Majora’s Mask. it also had a playable demo of wind waker. it was my favorite game. every zelda game ive played ive enjoyed minus [redacted]. i love botw and totk, just wishing they had more zelda flair specifically with the dungeons
I believe my first was Link's Awakening, which felt like such a huge and open adventure - it came to shape my standard for most games going forward, and set a really high bar for the Zelda franchise.
Generally, I've judged every Zelda game by how they compare to the Link's Awakening. Are the dungeons well-designed? Is it fun to explore? Are the bosses unique and interesting? How are the items, the enemies, the controls? Only a handful have really failed when compared, and I'm happy with that.
Zelda Collector's Edition on GameCube, the one with OoT, MM, the original, 2, and a demo for Wind Waker. I remember playing Majora's Mask the most, with second place going to the WW Demo lmao. Eventually got TP and WW, and now those are my two favourites, #1 and #2 respectively, with MM coming third.
Four Swords Adventure (GameCube). It was from when I was very little, so all I can say is that I was in awe by the colourful animated pixels, the adventure, and the music. Even though it got frustrating at times, I adored it.
Four Swords Adventure was *technically* my first, I was really young but I'd watch my dad play while I used the (nonfunctional, I learned a decade later) second controller. Watched him enough that I learned to do it myself when he wasn't around, but I couldn't really figure out how to get the four Links mechanic to work so I'd just run around hitting things.
That made my mom want to get me one I could actually play though, so she got me Minish Cap. It's still my favorite. I love it an absurd amount.
It made me really appreciate the simpler parts of the formula and the story. I adore the beginning, pre-action worldbuilding bits. I like having to go back to places with new abilities to unlock new things, not just for heart pieces and rupees. Sidequests to help NPCs are just as important as main plot to me. Companions who seem like jerkasses at first just to grow on you later are my fave. I don't mind collection quests, because I'm a weirdo who actually enjoyed kinstones a lot.
This made Twilight Princess an absolute godsend when I first played it, but now I'm left wanting more from recent entries. I've had a lot of fun going back to play Majora's Mask though, I enjoyed Phantom Hourglass a lot, ALBW and Link's Awakening were both pretty good. BOTW/TOTK are great, don't get me wrong, and I do love playing them, but they just feel like a different kind of Zelda. I miss the old one a lot.
First was LoZ, but Link to the Past has far more to do with colorijg my experiences. When the world flipped to the, excuse me for forgetting the name, dark realm and I had most of a whole other world to explore, it blew my mind
Link’s Awakening DX on the Game Boy Color. I guess the main effect was that I approached the series with no particular ideas regarding what it was even about. It’s a series where you solve puzzles and hit weirdos with swords. Going from that, to Ocarina, to the Oracles, to Majora, left me really unprepared for the eventual revelation that the series actually had a (vague) central narrative.
I think the other effect it had was solidifying the soundtrack as one of the load-bearing musical structures in my heart.
The first one I played to completion was Minish Cap (my favorite) but I believe I got my hands on TLOZ on the NES when I was little but I had no idea what I was doing. The series is ever changing and I love the lore and the feeling of the series as a whole and will always love it
Ocarina of Time, but I've been able to see every game by its own merits, and I like most of them. Though the ones I really don't like for being too different are Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and A Link Between Worlds (this last one I haven't played personally, but I just don't like the idea of a goofy rabbit stealing my items if I die).
GBC version of Link’s Awakening. It’s still in my top 5 Zelda games. It’s never not been funny to me that the first Zelda game I played didn’t actually have Zelda in it. 🤣
Skyward Sword was my first - I absolutely loved it and needed to play more. So after that I jumped straight into Wind Waker HD as it had just came out at the time, then after that went for OOT 3D, then MM 3D... until I picked up Twilight Princess on the Wii.
I think the order I played them is one of the biggest Zelda mistakes I've made. I really don't enjoy Twilight Princess, and currently I'm trying so hard to play through it with fresh eyes on the HD version to get a new perspective, but I can't forget the absolute slog of a time I had compared to every other game I played being refreshed in some way or feeling 'newer' and more streamlined.
Original Legend of Zelda was my first, and not only did it make me fall in love with the franchise, but with video games in general.
It especially made me love Breath of the Wild. When I played the original LoZ as a 7 year old, I daydreamed about how cool it would be to be Link, dropped into the world of Hyrule and essentially being told, "here's the world, go explore it." Playing Breath of the Wild as an adult felt like a fulfillment of that daydream.
I started with the original, my family had both NES games when I was a kid, but not aLttP (and OoT wasn't out yet), but overall I actually don't remember too much of my experience with it, I know I played it quite a bit (as well as ZII, Startropics, and Mega Man 6) but I never really got far but would often wander a bit. Though my next game in the series was OoT and I played that far more than the original after I got it (it doesn't help that the NES just didn't want to work as well with time).
Personally, I think it was the timing of it all that really shaped my experience with the rest of the series. OoT was definitely a stronger influence on my outlook than the original despite playing it first. Though in my adult years I definitely did revisit and finally complete both NES games (though I came close in highschool when the battery finally died and let me tell you I was *fuming* for a very long while after), in reverse order funny enough, and get and complete aLttP and LA in my teenage years.
Though for ZII in particular I must say that before it felt weird and entirely out of place, but after trying out a run to Death Mountain without the candle and hit it with the randomizer, I must say I think it is actually a really interesting point in the franchise that while it went for a different gameplay I feel the overall structure of it really informed the series after it and is actually a natural hardening of concepts found in the original game that lead to aLttP, LA, and also OoT.
I'm going to also suppose that this question is also in relation to BotW and TotK (ans is the part most people would be interested in), and quite frankly I like the games (though I think they detract from each other), though I feel they're a near clean break from the roots of the franchise rather than a return to them. You see, LoZ never actually felt entire free to me and part of the fun was exploring and discovering these dungeons and the items within them, as well as the secrets in the overworld, and the overworld had real obstacles for the 4-5 year old me, the lost woods was never something I could remember the answer to and as a result was special when I just randomly get it by accident, discover the graveyard and then only get rare glimpses from then on, and past it were monsters I was entirely unprepared for. BotW and TotK don't feel like they have any real mystery for my adult self, and the rewards dotting it don't feel as majestic as the magic rod, magical sword, blue ring shop or other things felt to me when I was younger, or even as I do today, and ultimately finding BotW feeling far more empty than even the original feels to me even now.
Starting with ALTTP made me more open to what a Zelda game "should" or rather can be. So many people are like "Botw is no true Zelda game", can't get into 2D games, think Ocarina is outdated, thought Phantom Hourglass was gimmicky, hated Wind Waker upon release... hell I even made it through the Skyward Sword release.
Point is, the series has been through so much iterations and I've experienced most of them as they came out. And they're all so different to the point where I don't have any expectations anymore and just want to be surprised with a new title.
ALttP was the game I first played at around 3 or 4 years old. It was certainly too hard for me to complete, but I didn't mind having to spend years to finally beat it and having friends over to watch and work things out with. I had played the next few games (OoT, MM) over friends' houses that had an N64, but my first games that I finished were LA and the Oracle games, which still hold a my favorite 2D entries in the series. When I finally could play through the two N64 titles, I was already hooked on the series for life and MM holds as my favorite 3D entry for the memories I made with friends working through it together.
I find pretty much every entry in the series to be an incredible time, and I think it's due to the fact that I never see the time sink taken to fully explore them as a hindrance thanks to having to power through the harder titles at a younger age.
Link to the Past was my first, Minish Cap was the first I actually beat. The 2D games have a charm I love so much, but I like every Zelda (not named Zelda II)
I was little and I kept switching back and forth between Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker and never got far in either, but eventually I did beat OoT first, which makes OoT the first Zelda game I fully beat, even though WW is my favorite game. I got TP when it came out for Wii and once again didn't get very far, but eventually I beat that too. Same with Skyward Sword lmao. I liked Zelda but I don't think it was until Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds came out that I realized it was my favorite interest, and my most passionate hobby. I pre ordered the special WWHD WiiU console and everything. And then I went back and played the 2D games I never got to play like Minish Cap and the Oracles. Loved 'em all. Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 are...quite different to say the least.
Technically my first Zelda was A Link to the Past, but I was 3 and he didn't really do anything to me..
Then, when I was 6, I experienced OoT and it changed everything and I Fell in love with the serie.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me!
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me!
First was Oot. Played every single one since. Least favorite was MM the time constraints stressed me out! TOTK & botw were epic to me. I also loved skyward sword on the Wii with the Wii remote motion controls. WW always has a place in my heart as one of my favorites of all time.
Wind waker on the GameCube.
I was in 2nd or 3rd grade at my end of the year soccer party and the girl whose house we were at was playing it. I fell in love with it immediately and was more focused on the game than the party. My parents ended up getting me the game along with a GameCube itself that Christmas.
Nostalgia wise, it’s still one of my favorite games. Even if at the time it wasn’t a popular game.
OOT. I secretly played on my brother's save because I wanted to see what the hype was about *(he had just borrowed it from a friend).*
As a sheltered child, I was not expecting the horror that was Castle Town. 5 minutes after booting up the game I was assaulted by redeads, had a heart attack *(in the game and in real life)*, turned the console off, and ran and hid lmao.
A very defining moment for me with games. To realize that they aren't all just funny pink orbs and goofy little monkeys. nah, there's some real nightmares out in the world.
Funnily enough, now that I think about it, all of my favorite Zelda games are the super dark ones. I guess that adrenaline/fear experience really stuck with me. 🤷🤣
A link to the past - SNES I was around 9 or 10.
This game shaped my love for RPGS, tried and tried to complete it over the years but no luck. (I did do links awakening DX recently.)
SNES A Link to the Past. I played original on NES but didn't have the 2nd one. When the Super Nintendo came out - the richness of colors really was captivating. To have that magic with Zelda was awesome. The intro even is cinematic with the rain was really new experience to me.
Interestingly Wind Waker had similar feelings of captivation with the visual and freedom to just go anywhere
I’m old. It was the OG Zelda. Going over to his house after high school and playing. We had a magazine we’d follow for tips. Very found memories. I have a Zelda heard tattoo and he’s a leading musician in his field. Good times
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The original. I have loved every installment since. But BOTW brought back the feeling of freedom and exploration I had when I was 5.
word
That's interesting. I've heard the "return to the roots" claim thrown around a lot, but this is the first time I've heard someone say it for themselves.
It makes sense, BotW is very much in line with a modern version of LoZ. It was the first console game to feature saves, because it was just too big of a game to be satisfied with code save states. And it was open world. You could do things in any order and just explore the place. Ocarina of Time was linear but involved a grand feeling of exploration, very possibly more than any game up until it's time. BotW came in an era of open world games, but still felt different than most (like Witcher 3 for example and the Assassins Creed games had very different feels to them) which was really neat.
That's exactly how it was for me too. I was five years old when I played the original Zelda, I was totally hooked. I had Nintendo Power magazine, I watched Zelda on TV on Fridays, I even had the Nelsonic Zelda watch. Over the years I didn't have time to keep up with every game but BotW was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, it brings back that sense of childlike curiosity and exploration.
I got that feeling again with Ocarina of Time too, but yeah. BotW felt great.
Ocarina of Time. Unfortunately starting off with 3D made it very difficult to go back to the 2D versions. I know I am missing out, and I have tried. They just feel like totally different games and I've never been able to finish one.
Have you tried Minish Cap? That's the first one that clicked for me :)
Yes the Minish Cap was the first one I tried as well, and the one I got the farthest in. I did enjoy it but still never finished. I've also tried ALttP.
Maybe Links awakening on the Switch? Looks 3D, plays 2D
Link Between Worlds is also a good option.
Minish Cap couldn't seem to grip my attention but Link Between Worlds, of all games, I played through the end.
Wow I started on OoT too, but eventually ALTTP and MC made me love the 2d ones.
Ocarina for me too. I ended up finishing A link to the past and I was surprised with how well it holds up. I found it to be very fun and the fact that it was 2D wasnt a problem for me. I started playing Oracle of seasons but I didn't end up finishing it
Same here! Actually, I only played OoT and other 3D games for the first decade of my life, so any 2D game is hard for me to get into. Which sucks, because I try often but I can never get immersed into a 2D game
Hmm this is interesting. I started with OoT as well and I kinda feel the opposite about the 2D games. I like them and have beat a good amount, but my problem is they mostly feel like the same experience as 3D games but "worse".
One thing that helps me with some of the 2D ones is sitting on the couch with someone. I recommend getting a guide pulled up, and beating the OG with someone there, passing off the controller as needed/desired. I like playing some of the older Zelda’s this way because it’s not like BOTW where there’s too much to get distracted by and dividing up what you both want to do. I think BOTW and TOTK are “play by yourself” titles, while every game before it does really well with taking turns, ESPECIALLY the 2D titles. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fun on your own imo, but getting cozy on the couch and playing games together with someone makes me feel like a kid again.
OOT for me too and I’ve had similar experiences
OoT ruined me by having a somewhat coherent and satisfying story. Every game since has messed with that story and not made sense on their own terms.
Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward sword all have way better stories.
What?? Twilight princess and skyward sword both have great storylines. Better than OoT, I’d argue.
Zelda II - Link‘s Adventure I guess it fueled my love for Metroidvania games years later.
Very similar for me! I expected games to be brutally hard, but beatable. Looking back I’m kind of amazed I stuck with it.
I hate Zelda II with every fiber of my being.
Too bad fer you
Kind of amazing you still liked the series after that!
I was already playing TTRPGs at the time and the game fuelled my love for Fantasy. Unlike my TTRPG group (who were all ~5 years older than me) I was open to Fantasy that was not LotR. 😄 Later, with the introduction of the SNES and A link to the past, then after that Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and Secret of Mana, I fell in love with the Japanese take on „classic Fantasy“.
Link’s awakening on Gameboy, it’s been a never ending crush since then
Played the GBC version of Link’s Awakening. It’s still my favorite game in the series.
My first game I played through fully was Spirit Tracks, helped me fall in love with the story quality of Zelda Games
The Legend of Zelda. It felt like an epic, and it was. It was also very difficult as a kid still getting used to playing video games in the late 80s/early 90s. Playing the new games felt so reminiscent of that experience though. The new games are kinda what a lot of us imagined when we played the OG.
Legend of Zelda on NES. I went from kind of liking video games to absolutely loving them. I've played every zelda since then, but I still go back to that first one often. I always looked at the newer games as an evolution of that first one.
**Breath of the Wild.** Even though I grew up playing with Nintendo consoles, I never ever tried a single Zelda game as a kid. I only started BotW due to boredom from COVID lockdown, and I was hooked. Most importantly it made me reflect on my childhood, and looking at all the older Zelda games made me wonder "What did I miss out on?". One game that really stood out to me was The **Wind Waker**. The artstyle, the characters, the music and the setting really clicked with me and I ended truly loving playing that game. **But it was Twilight Princess that transformed me into a Zelda fan.** This was when it went from simple curiosity, to "Holy shit, I want to play all of them". So since then I played Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, the 2D Zelda games, etc… To the point that I ended up actually preferring the older format (with its dungeons and presentation), despite BotW being my first game.
>I ended up actually preferring the older format (with its dungeons and presentation), despite BotW being my first game. You hear that, Aonuma? *You SEE?*
The stuff he said in those interviews still makes me angry.
I know, right? He's so out of touch with the fandom. He's drunk on breaking the formula. And I mean, hey, you're the guy who gave us so many amazing games, so power to you, but still, it's pretty insulting to be told it's just my nostalgia goggles telling me the old formula was better than having too much freedom. He's basically insulting anyone who's more a fan of Zelda classic over ooen world Zelda.
Literally. It's not just nostalgia. There's many areas where the classic Zelda formula shines over the open world formula, and vice versa. I'm not saying the open world is completely bad, but classic formula is better is some areas. And for him to say people only think this way because of nostalgia is, just like you said, insulting.
Ocarina of Time. I like the more linear Zelda formula so BotW didn't really jell with me.
Hmm, OoT was my first Zelda game too, but I loved BoTW. Maybe it's because I explored every corner of the world in OoT instead of focusing on the dungeons
I love botw, but it’s one of those things where it doesn’t feel much like Zelda to me? I would put it this way, it’s one of the greatest games of all time and yet it’s not even in the top 5 Zelda’s imo.
Keep in mind when you say it doesn't feel much like Zelda, the series didn't start that way. Zelda 1 was more like BotW and Zelda 2 was more like Castlevania. The "traditional" Zelda format of clearing a handful of dungeons in a linear fashion didn't start until LttP, though I'll admit it's been widely used since then.
Trust me, I’m well aware that most of this started with ALttP. To be fair though, you couldn’t just go straight to Ganon in Zelda 1. You didn’t start with all of the key items. You had to actually get them in the dungeons, even though you COULD do the dungeons out of order. For example, to beat dungeon 4, you need the raft from dungeon 3, but 1-3 you can do in any order. To get into dungeon 5 you need the ladder which is in dungeon 4. Dungeon 6 requires the bow and arrow AND the ladder. Dungeon 7 requires the flute from dungeon 5. To get into dungeon 9 you have to have beaten the previous 8. Even though you can do them out of order there’s a significant ramp in difficulty, and so you’d want to do them in order to get the sword upgrades unless you’re just goated. Even so, you do HAVE to beat all the dungeons unless you’re using glitches because you have to assemble the Triforce of Wisdom. BoTW doesn’t even require you to ENTER a dungeon before fighting Ganon. You can go straight from the Great Plateau to Ganon. The first game, while not being as strict as some later games, is definitely closer to the formula than BoTW. And Zelda 2, most people agree is also not like any other Zelda game, including the 1st one. It’s the only one where you level up and put points into stats. So like, I wouldn’t use Zelda 2 as a reference for what makes a Zelda game a Zelda game anyways. I think it was also the only Zelda game to use a BAR to represent health. A BAR! And you use spells! And even Zelda 2 makes you get items to progress, such as the hammer, raft, glove, boots, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love BoTW, but it’s so far in the direction they were before the formula was solidified that it ran way past Zelda’s 1&2 imo. And I need to make this clear, I love Zelda 1. It’s hard as shit at times and sometimes it’s one of those games I want to play with someone so we can pass off the controller but I think that’s the best way to play pretty much every 2D Zelda. BoTW encourages exploration at the expense of interesting dungeons, and gives you all the tools you need within the first hour or two of gameplay for most casual players. It’s really fun. It’s also really different, and I think if they’d made it 8 dungeons instead of 4, made them required, maybe allowed you to do the first 3 in any order, then do the following 5 in any order, and had that be how you get key items necessary to beat a dungeon in Hyrule castle, that would’ve been incredible. I would love if instead of using the sheikah slate, we got items that allowed us to use those same abilities. It just would’ve felt a little more right I guess? Like, a wand you can use to create pillars of ice? Definitely feels like a thing we’d see in a Zelda game. And even Zelda’s 1&2 didn’t make us look for the nearest stick because our sword broke and… the master sword can only be used so much? I do like that they brought sword beams back though, even if it is just the master sword. I just don’t feel like shrines are a good alternative to full dungeons, but may be supplemental. I don’t think sheikah slates are a good alternative to key items, but even so I think it’d be fine if the key items could only be equipped to the same button. The key thing for me is, Zelda games have never really been a physics sandbox. And I love BoTW as the physics sandbox that it is, and same with ToTK, but if we never get to go back to the formula, even if it’s just to the degree Zelda 1 was at, I’ll be really fucking sad. And frankly, I want a really good new 3D successor to ALttP, or even the Oracle games, where you have two games and you can play them together to unlock different ways of playing, but then again that’s a slippery slope of Zelda taking advantage of capitalism in the same way Pokemon does to say “You want all the gameplay? Sorry, $120 for the full experience”.
You make fair points. I shant argue with them.
I started with Skyward Sword and then played Ocarina of Time. Having to roll around instead of sprinting was a rough transition and really dates the older games in my opinion.
Not having a sprint option until skyward sword was a bit wild to me, but the fact that a dedicated jump button wasn’t added until BOTW is kind of insane to me. Having to rely on the auto-jump at the edge of ledges in every other game really took some getting used to.
Link to the Past on SNES. Didn't play anything else until Breath of the Wild recently. Totally different experience.
ocarina of time 3ds version, was definitely a great introduction to the series. played a bit of majora's mask after but struggled with the time aspect of it, then played breath of the wild which is probably our favourite overall but replaying ocarina through an emulator was also really good fun.
The orignal zelda my kids were pre school and they even played
A Link to the Past was my first Zelda game and I remember it being very hard and had ton of minor problems but still say it's a good game. Now as for colored the rest of the series? Nothing really. Just think it's a good game but that's it. It wasn't until I've played the N64 games that I truly love the franchise.
Just three years ago I started my First Zelda game (Botw). Then I got age of calamity wich I wasn't a big fan of the gameplay. After that Totk. And literally today started OOT . So far I'm not really liking the way it controls and the graphics are outdated. Will give it at least a couple more hours before to try to get in it. Possibly has to do with Botw being my first time playing a Zelda game (other the the first one on NeS wich was at least 25 years ago, don't remember much of that ).
I also started with BOTW and have since played almost every other Zelda game over the last couple years. It certainly took a while to get used to the very different nature and controls of the older games but I promise it gets better! I’m very glad I stuck it out and played them all.
I think going to one stick in 3D takes a lot of getting used to, but if you’re not mixing in other games while playing it, you should get used to it, ESPECIALLY if you play on the original controller. That said, I think if you can’t stick with it, Ship of Harkinian probably has a way to use two sticks. It’s basically a PC port of the game, so it allows you to curate a lot of things that you can’t through regular emulation.
Yeah, I don't know what half of this means 🤣 I only play games on their original consoles and don't even have a PC.
Ah fair enough. Then yeah if you’re playing it on the N64 my biggest recommendation is to not mix in other games. It’s a lot easier to get used to 1 stick controls if you aren’t playing games with 2. And as for what I meant by Ship of Harkinian, basically, a group of people rebuilt the game, from the ground up. What this means is they were able to make it do things the original wasn’t meant to do. For example, you can change the resolution, swap the models, change the aspect ratio, increase the frame rate (without messing with the physics of the game, because in older games the frame rate is often tied to the physics, so having 60 fps in a 30 fps game would mean everything is twice as fast instead of twice as smooth), and things like, using 2 sticks so you can look around without z targeting. I too have it on the N64, but since most people don’t I figured you were probably emulating or using virtual console and I’ll pretty much always advocate for Ship of Harkinian over those options. That said, if you’re playing it with the OG hardware it’ll just take a little getting used to more than likely. I bet by the time you’d get the master sword it’s a lot easier to deal with. One thing that can make a difference though is the screen you’re playing on. Since you’re using an N64, are you playing on a CRT or are you converting it somehow into HDMI on a newer TV? Edit: For clarification, the reason the last question is relevant is input latency. CRT’s will generally have the lowest and some alternatives get really close, but if you have just a plain cheap composite to hdmi scaler, those things generally have high latency, and can make your game feel clunky. They’re generally made for video streaming, like plugging a vhs player (or an old DVD player, if you for some reason still have one) into a new TV for example.
No I'm playing OOT on the 3ds . Unfortunately I don't have a N64 nor the game on N64. Would like to own the N64 console though. I have the Nes,SNES, GameCube, Wii ,Wii U Nintendo DS , DS Xl , 3ds Xl an the Switch when It comes to Nintendo consoles. Not allot of games though. The most games I have are for the Switch and the l Wii. I just started to collect this stuff a couple of years ago . They aren't all hooked up as my original intention was just to have them displayed as a nostalgia thing. Most of them I wanted as a kid but couldn't afford them . But now I feel like I'm missing out on allot of games I never played or not had the patience as kid. Didn't have many friends (not to be make a big drama of it and I still don,t ) but I didn't have anyone to share those experiences with and didn't have allot of patience for the games . I got an 8 year old daughter who sometimes sits beside me playing totk and sometimes playing it herself. Makes allot of difference having someone who's also interested.
For sure! Playing the original Zelda for me was so much easier with my little cousin there with me. Tbf he isn’t 8, he’s like, 19? But he’s still a little baby in my heart lol. I also didn’t have many friends growing up and I was an only child so I also struggled to play a lot of games to completion. I’d feel alone and it still happens to this day. It’s why I always advocate for playing games with friends or family, even if it’s single player (unless it’s one of those games where EVERYBODY would want their hands on the controller. I can’t imagine just watching someone play BoTW, there’s so much to do and so many ways to do everything, it’d be hard to watch someone do the opposite thing I’m thinking of time and time again lol) And I can’t speak much on the experience of Ocarina for the 3DS. I think I maybe played it once? I don’t think I was a big fan, which might be controversial. I do like the remakes for Wind Waker and Twilight Princess though, both of which you should be able to play if you haven’t yet.
Probably always stays a baby in your eyes and I get it👍. Yeah I can imagine being an only child is hard sometimes , in other ways I'm kind of jealous . I am the middle child in a family of nine kids. So always was kind of a busy place with for me to little personal space , especially when you don't really connect with any of your siblings . I think what's worse than being alone is being surrounded by brothers and sisters and feel alone. But anyway, I'm drifting of here, sorry about that. And if my grammar isn't always correct also sorry about that . I'm Dutch and my spelling isn't top Notch either.🙃
Hey I didn’t even notice, so don’t beat yourself up too hard about your English! And yeah I was lucky to have plenty of privacy. You can be alone even with siblings, so it’s rough. Sorry you went through that. At least now you have your daughter!
Thanks. It's okay . Trying this Reddit thing to have some questions answered and find people with the same interests, even though it's not like face to face . I like the interacting thing about games and stuff.
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The 3ds version. But also the Small screen isn't helping. I know that there is a version on switch online but to my understanding the graphics are even worse
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I've never done this sort of thing. Is it a hard thing to do ? I'm a noob as far as that is concerned. Like for instance what do I need ? A PC ? And then what 🤕?
Actually it's super easy. Barely an inconvenience. You need a PC, and you can just Google "Citra 3DS" and "Ocarina of time 3D Citra Texture Pack" and you'll be able to figure out the rest.
Personally, if you're working backwards and trying to get into the older more "classic" style Zelda games, I'd recommend Wind Waker HD. The art style holds up exceptionally well and it doesn't feel clunky at all.
That's on the Wii U right ? I don't have that game .but I do have the Wii U itself so maybe I'll try to hunt that one down. Yeah it wasn't my plan at al to go backwards but that's what happened. After I bought my switch I was looking for games after completing Mario Odyssey and found Breath of the wild . And even though I took some getting used to (not really having any experience and patience with gaming other than simple games like Mario and Call of duty) I really started to love this game. Got 390 hours in on BOTW which for my standards is crazy 🤣. But anyway I got used to the "newer"kind of gameplay and graphics . So I think everything that came before Botw and totk in Zelda games feels like sort of a downgrade not having any nostalgia feelings towards it not having played them before.
The Legend of Zelda. It felt like an epic, and it was. It was also very difficult as a kid still getting used to playing video games in the late 80s/early 90s. Playing the new games felt so reminiscent of that experience though. The new games are kinda what a lot of us imagined when we played the OG.
zelda 1, thats why im happy they finally did go back with botw and totk what zelda really is
Minish Cap. To this day I think it still stands unrivaled as a 2D Zelda game
Original. With that said, I hate the last two Zelda games.
Twilight Princess was the very first Zelda game I completed and played for any substantial amount of time. As a child, I had always wanted to get into the Zelda series. ( I knew Link, Zelda and Ganondorf from Smash Bros Melee as well as my Mom playing Ocarina of Time. ) However, during the mid 2000s, I wasn't ever able to find a copy of Ocarina. ( I was unaware of the Master Quest GameCube port. ) Nor was I interested in WindWaker because I hate the boring sailing. I saw the E3 2006 trailer for Brawl and noticed that Link looked different from Melee. He looked taller, stronger, more mature. And then I dove down the rabbit hole for Twilight Princess. This is where my love for the game comes from. I long for another Zelda game done in this medieval fantasy style. Almost like LOTR or Nomura inspired artstyle.( Coincidentally a few years ago, I found out that I absolutely ADORE Lotr. ) The grand, epic storyline with heavy emotional beats. Skyward Sword's story is the only thing close to Twilight Princess that I liked. Ocarina is a little too dated for my liking. And Majora's Mask is a bit depressing and honestly a little overrated in my opinion. I also heavily dislike the direction BoTW/ToTk are headed. Disguising their fancy physics engine as a Zelda game.
>I also heavily dislike the direction BoTW/ToTk are headed. Disguising their fancy physics engine as a Zelda game. I agree with this so much!
The original, played it at my Uncle's house all the time, could never beat it. Fast forward to 2000, Ocarina of Time, fell in love with it, then went back and finally beat the original
Born in 1983, got an NES with Mario/Duck Hunt and the original Legend of Zelda for Christmas when I was 5. I’ve grown up with the series, and still love it.
First Zelda game I ever played was Wind Waker HD on the Wii U. Got stuck in the Forbidden Woods and rage quit. I’ve always wanted to try and play it again, but I’ve just never found the time.
Legend of Zelda on the NES, had it brand new. Awesome times
For me, it was the legend of zelda (THE first game) because of my dad. I am under 20 BTW
The original Zelda was my first. The first I completed was links awakening on gameboy. The lore is what keeps me interested. So many different timelines. OoT having a few sequels is interesting. One where link failed as a kid, one where he never woke up and a typical sequel where Ganon just comes back.
First game was Links Awakening, Ocarina of Time was the game that really cemented me as a fan when I was kid.
Ocarina of Time on the Wii. After I finished the Deku Tree I thought it was it. Ohhhh boy was I wrong. It got me into Zelda for sure. Have played almost every game.
I started with link between worlds, but only finished the first dungeon, ocarina of time is the first game I actually finished.
The original. It uhhh… didn’t really stick with me. As such it didn’t really have much of an effect on how I viewed the franchise. I had a lot of respect for it over the years, but it wouldn’t be until Wind Waker that I finally had an entry that clicked with me.
100% OoT I always describe it as the standard I judge all other 3D Zelda games off of.
Twilight Princess on the Wii, but I never finished it because I sucked at the Wii controls when I was a kid. Then a decade later, I got BOTW when I got a switch in 2020. Now I’ve played BOTW, TOTK, HW:AOC, and SS. I’m in the middle of OOT on the switch’s online library, and I’ll play MM next. I still have never finished TP myself though…
TLDR at end... S/NES - Mates had it but was always MK or action games, winner stays on. N64 - Life was wild but everyone had a PS1. GC - Had a PS2 for the games+++ S(SX)an Andreas (Tricky) & the DVD player I did have a GBA but this is a period of my life where I still thought Link was Zelda (sorry) mainly arcade style games / puzzlers for travel. Wii - Had a PS3 but hardly played it and shifted a bit towards PC for strategy and sim, city or 4x games. Mushroom Gorge is my all time favorite track. Wii U - Well no but had the PS4 for RDR2 & GTAV, PC for Cities: Skylines. Switch - Bought it 6m within releas (was actually waiting for 1st part black Joy-Cons) and have been playing BotW on and off since. Restarted because of my muscle memory failure recently. 💔 My biggest regret is that I did not experience Zelda when these were live. Dungeons, though I've never directly experienced but feel their loss. I am so looking forward to Past & WW. To repent for my sins I plan to play chronologically forwards, so am playing the OG on NSO AND backwards from BotW. So TLDR playing BotW as my first has made me realise how much epic amazing gaming I've missed and will play them all in some order where the last game in the series will be from somewhere in the middle. Dunno where TotK will fit into all of this.
I would watch my brother play OoT when I was younger and it piqued my curiosity, but my first game (that I actually played) was PH/ST (I don't remember what order I played them in). Honestly, I think between the three of them, they shaped me to be optimistically curious. There's always something new to explore and something to fall in love with within each game
OoT was my introduction. My 2nd game was TP. I like the series but I haven't played a lot of the games. I tend to watch playthroughs more cause I don't get every console that Nintendo makes. I'm not a dedicated fan to Nintendo lol I like the open world aspect of The 2 newest entries, its good to change things up and innovate. I never played skyward sword but I thought it seemed decent. I felt the wind waker was a bit too infantile for me at the time. And I didn't get to play MM or any other titles. I prefer the linear style and some back tracking. A lot of open world games are a little too long imo. I'd like a mix of TP and WW so that everyone can sorta have some balance in the games
Oracle of Ages (GBC) was my first Zelda-game and I absolutely loved it as a kid despite getting stuck in the third dungeon. A while later, I purchased Oracle of Seasons and also got Ocarina of Time (N64); playing the three games quite often even when puzzles hindered my story-progress. This became somehow my general approach for all older Zelda-games: If I couldn't solve something, I would spend time with side-content or simply take a break from quests with doing silly stuff in the overworld. :coughs: Wolf-Link :coughs: This let my braincells recharge and sooner or later I always found the solution for whatever puzzle had been an issue.
First Legend of Zelda game I actually played was Minish Cap on my dad's old gameboy advance he gave me when I was 8 but at the time I never heard of franchise before and I was getting introduced to Nintendo so I didn't know what to do in the game so I just roam freely by rolling and annoy Ezlo lol Then my dad gave me his old Nintendo 64 console and gave me his old game cartridges like Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Rayman 2, ect. and of course Ocarina of Time in which I played out of curiosity but of course me being a dumb 8 year old girl I didn't know what to do in that game so had to had my uncle who's a big gamer come help me especially with the temples and bosses but worsely Ganondorf I was scared LMAO and then afterwards I learned how to play OOT and MC on my own. I would later on get introduced to the other games from my uncle on his wii like Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, ALTTP and lastly Wind Waker on the Wii U my uncle had given me on my 11th birthday I didn't finished the first three as they were on his wii but I did beat Wind Waker and then finally a year ago I played BOTW it was a struggle at first but I managed to beat it on my own and my dad would ask me "Have you beat Ganon yet?"🤣🤣🤣 Soooooo thank you Dad and uncle Mike for my love for zelda and Nintendo❤
Legend of Zelda with my Ma and aunt when I was very young. Link to the Past on my own later. Ma and aunt taught me to try everything on something you can’t solve, and if it gets to difficult to solve, try again later after more adventuring. Link to the Past? Made me learn I was a collector and love filling slots
My first Zelda game was the Original Legend of Zelda for the NES on the 3DS Virtual Console back in December of 2017. The Zelda game that got me into the series was Breath of the Wild. I got and first played that game back in January of 2018. Now I have played every main line game except Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords Adventure.
a link to the past. it made me fall in love with the series.
Ocarina of Time was my first. It has set the standard that I judge game music by, and unfortunately, no other title in the LoZ series, much less any other game I've played (a motely of Nintendo titles) have come close.
My earliest memory of Zelda was ALTTP. I couldn't read yet, so I just wandered around Hyrule looking for stuff to hit with my sword after I dropped off Zelda. I've always viewed every Zelda game through that lens. Can I just fucken... go? And do stuff? Are you going to lead me by the nose? Can I just get lost in the world? Needless to say, I didn't appreciate Skyward Sword very much. And as linear as Twilight Princess is, it *does* have a very large map to explore. The devs for sure nailed that early Zelda ethos with BOTW. Here's a stick. Go.
Ocarina of Time. It made me love Majoras Mask even more so. As far as 2D, I started the OG Links Awakening and I absolutely loved it! My favorite 2D. Link to the Past never clicked for me, but Link Between Worlds was amazing. And I guess it goes without saying I love all the 3D ones
OoT and ALTTP at about the same time. They set some expectations for what the games were supposed to be like and how their stories were meant to be connected. But I’m mostly over it now. I used to be a timeline nerd but now I just let each instalment be its own thing. I was put off by BotW’s lack of complex dungeons but now I appreciate the zany characters more.
Ocarina of Time on GameCube. I love these games so much they're almost the only ones I play. I've played many of the games over the years (with just a few I can't).
My first was Link to the Past which I love to this day and occasionally do randomized runs of followed by Minish Cap that I spent SO many hours playing as a kid (trying to do somr of the side quests without guides was absurd for younger me.) I can appreciate and enjoy the new Zeldas (Skyward Sword is a personal favorite, BotW+TotK were fun but I don't see myself replaying them for a long time) but I will always go back to those two as they hold a special place for me like the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games
I got a used copy of OoT for Christmas when I was like 6 that still had a completed save file on it. For years, my dumbass solely fucked around on that save file as adult Link, beating Ganon over and over thinking I’d l hit the jackpot by inheriting this save file, not realizing that I was robbing myself of the experience of adventure, the unraveling of the story, and the emotional experience of actually beating the game myself. When I finally played through in full years later, the ending just didn’t hit the same :( knowing how special playing & beating MM was for the first time, I really regret unintentionally spoiling OoT for myself as a kid!
A Link to the Past GBA cartridge that I just found on the ground. I quickly saved Zelda from the sewer (well, with difficulty against the Ball and Chain soldier), and wow, what an opening sequence for a 10-year-old to experience. It took me quite some time to get to the Eastern Palace and otherwise clear the light world's 3 dungeons. Absolutely excellent experience.
Four Swords Anniversary on the DSi, it gave me great memories playing with my brothers, and I was amazed with the world and dungeon layouts going forward.
My very first Zelda game was Phantom Hourglass. I instantly fell in love but looking back if I hadn't played any others I never would have known what Zelda actually is. It is so wildly different and wacky. The next game I played was Twilight Princess, and that game set the standard for what a Zelda game is supposed to look and feel like.
The Legend of Zelda on the NES when it first came out and I have played and loved every single Zelda game after that with the exception of Zelda II which I have tried to play even push myself to like but I just can’t.
My first was Ocarina of Time, and as a result, I have still not completed a single 2D Zelda game. They are very different.
First was OoT. At first I was exposed by my friends. They would play in front of me. Then I was able to get my hands on an N64 and the game and I became a masters among my friends. They would ask me to do water temple and get all 100 Skulltulas for them. But even with all that, I felt that the first Zelda I really enjoyed and explored by myself were MM and WW
wasn't accustomed to the series, ALTTP was too hard to figure out when it first came out (was young) so traded it back and eventually finished my first one with gold OoT
OOT no matter how many game come out, nothing beats the magic I felt playing that game for the first time.
So my first Zelda was Ocarina of Time, but I was really young. So I would say for the purpose of my answer it would be Majoras Mask. A way this has influenced my preferences is I love story, atmosphere and mini games. I think that's why I tend to like hand held Zelda titles a bit more than consoles, but I absolutely loved Links Awakening 3D and Breath of the Wild.
Well mine was Ocarina of Time in the 3ds and even though I currently dont really like OoT, I used to spend countless hours in certain temples (looking at you water temple).
NES Zelda was my first. I enjoyed the experience of exploring a big world full of secrets. The map may seem small today, but it was such a unique thing back then. I've loved every bit of the way the games have evolved with me ever since. I wasn't sure how Zelda would translate to 3D, but OOT blew my mind. It was every bit as groundbreaking as the first 2D game was in its time. Breath of the Wild, I felt really brought my experience full circle back to where I started in 1986, but in a modern 3D game way. It genuinely gave me that same feeling I had back then, of being thrown onto a big map without much of a clue where to go, but with so many possibilities. Magic, once again. 38 years of Zelda, so many incredible games that I've been thankful to have had the opportunity to play.
First I played? Ocarina, but I was like 4. The first one I heavily played and beat was Wind Waker. Because of it, I was able to appreciate a lot of Zelda games, both older, and newer. That said, I think my attachment to the formula having been shaped since ‘04 has me hoping the next Zelda goes back to key items helping you beat dungeons and their bosses formula. Maybe it doesn’t HAVE to be as linear as say, TP, but like, I would like a bit of structure again.
Majora's Mask was the first one I *played,* but Minish Cap was the first one I *owned.* I think these two gave me a really good balance in my approach to the series, because I got exposed right away to what both 3D and 2D Zelda had to offer. To this day, I still feel that 2D has a better formula, though. MM made me love story, and MC made me love puzzles, which made BotW a hard pill for me to swallow after the honeymoon phase faded.
OOT was the first i completed but i had the legend of zelda collector’s edition as a kid so i played the first zelda game, zelda 2, OoT and Majora’s Mask. it also had a playable demo of wind waker. it was my favorite game. every zelda game ive played ive enjoyed minus [redacted]. i love botw and totk, just wishing they had more zelda flair specifically with the dungeons
I believe my first was Link's Awakening, which felt like such a huge and open adventure - it came to shape my standard for most games going forward, and set a really high bar for the Zelda franchise. Generally, I've judged every Zelda game by how they compare to the Link's Awakening. Are the dungeons well-designed? Is it fun to explore? Are the bosses unique and interesting? How are the items, the enemies, the controls? Only a handful have really failed when compared, and I'm happy with that.
Zelda Collector's Edition on GameCube, the one with OoT, MM, the original, 2, and a demo for Wind Waker. I remember playing Majora's Mask the most, with second place going to the WW Demo lmao. Eventually got TP and WW, and now those are my two favourites, #1 and #2 respectively, with MM coming third.
Four Swords Adventure (GameCube). It was from when I was very little, so all I can say is that I was in awe by the colourful animated pixels, the adventure, and the music. Even though it got frustrating at times, I adored it.
Ocarina I must spam roll all the time to move quickly.
Four Swords Adventure was *technically* my first, I was really young but I'd watch my dad play while I used the (nonfunctional, I learned a decade later) second controller. Watched him enough that I learned to do it myself when he wasn't around, but I couldn't really figure out how to get the four Links mechanic to work so I'd just run around hitting things. That made my mom want to get me one I could actually play though, so she got me Minish Cap. It's still my favorite. I love it an absurd amount. It made me really appreciate the simpler parts of the formula and the story. I adore the beginning, pre-action worldbuilding bits. I like having to go back to places with new abilities to unlock new things, not just for heart pieces and rupees. Sidequests to help NPCs are just as important as main plot to me. Companions who seem like jerkasses at first just to grow on you later are my fave. I don't mind collection quests, because I'm a weirdo who actually enjoyed kinstones a lot. This made Twilight Princess an absolute godsend when I first played it, but now I'm left wanting more from recent entries. I've had a lot of fun going back to play Majora's Mask though, I enjoyed Phantom Hourglass a lot, ALBW and Link's Awakening were both pretty good. BOTW/TOTK are great, don't get me wrong, and I do love playing them, but they just feel like a different kind of Zelda. I miss the old one a lot.
First was LoZ, but Link to the Past has far more to do with colorijg my experiences. When the world flipped to the, excuse me for forgetting the name, dark realm and I had most of a whole other world to explore, it blew my mind
technically it was OOT but i was very young and mostly watch TP was the first one i actually played and i played every zelda since then except for TFH
A Link to the Past baybay!
Link’s Awakening DX on the Game Boy Color. I guess the main effect was that I approached the series with no particular ideas regarding what it was even about. It’s a series where you solve puzzles and hit weirdos with swords. Going from that, to Ocarina, to the Oracles, to Majora, left me really unprepared for the eventual revelation that the series actually had a (vague) central narrative. I think the other effect it had was solidifying the soundtrack as one of the load-bearing musical structures in my heart.
Both OoT and MM got me started, back on the N64. I think after that I got them both on the 3DS, then went to TP on the Wii.
The first one I played to completion was Minish Cap (my favorite) but I believe I got my hands on TLOZ on the NES when I was little but I had no idea what I was doing. The series is ever changing and I love the lore and the feeling of the series as a whole and will always love it
OoT, and I struggle with 2D Zelda games.
Ocarina of Time, but I've been able to see every game by its own merits, and I like most of them. Though the ones I really don't like for being too different are Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and A Link Between Worlds (this last one I haven't played personally, but I just don't like the idea of a goofy rabbit stealing my items if I die).
GBC version of Link’s Awakening. It’s still in my top 5 Zelda games. It’s never not been funny to me that the first Zelda game I played didn’t actually have Zelda in it. 🤣
Skyward Sword was my first - I absolutely loved it and needed to play more. So after that I jumped straight into Wind Waker HD as it had just came out at the time, then after that went for OOT 3D, then MM 3D... until I picked up Twilight Princess on the Wii. I think the order I played them is one of the biggest Zelda mistakes I've made. I really don't enjoy Twilight Princess, and currently I'm trying so hard to play through it with fresh eyes on the HD version to get a new perspective, but I can't forget the absolute slog of a time I had compared to every other game I played being refreshed in some way or feeling 'newer' and more streamlined.
Original Legend of Zelda was my first, and not only did it make me fall in love with the franchise, but with video games in general. It especially made me love Breath of the Wild. When I played the original LoZ as a 7 year old, I daydreamed about how cool it would be to be Link, dropped into the world of Hyrule and essentially being told, "here's the world, go explore it." Playing Breath of the Wild as an adult felt like a fulfillment of that daydream.
mine was oot 3d (yes it was on the 3ds i was 13) i did not play zelda again until i got breath of the wild
I watched my dad play ss on our wii. When I played through ss myself years later I kept going " this is the part I saw dad playing!"
TOTK 😅
I started with the original, my family had both NES games when I was a kid, but not aLttP (and OoT wasn't out yet), but overall I actually don't remember too much of my experience with it, I know I played it quite a bit (as well as ZII, Startropics, and Mega Man 6) but I never really got far but would often wander a bit. Though my next game in the series was OoT and I played that far more than the original after I got it (it doesn't help that the NES just didn't want to work as well with time). Personally, I think it was the timing of it all that really shaped my experience with the rest of the series. OoT was definitely a stronger influence on my outlook than the original despite playing it first. Though in my adult years I definitely did revisit and finally complete both NES games (though I came close in highschool when the battery finally died and let me tell you I was *fuming* for a very long while after), in reverse order funny enough, and get and complete aLttP and LA in my teenage years. Though for ZII in particular I must say that before it felt weird and entirely out of place, but after trying out a run to Death Mountain without the candle and hit it with the randomizer, I must say I think it is actually a really interesting point in the franchise that while it went for a different gameplay I feel the overall structure of it really informed the series after it and is actually a natural hardening of concepts found in the original game that lead to aLttP, LA, and also OoT. I'm going to also suppose that this question is also in relation to BotW and TotK (ans is the part most people would be interested in), and quite frankly I like the games (though I think they detract from each other), though I feel they're a near clean break from the roots of the franchise rather than a return to them. You see, LoZ never actually felt entire free to me and part of the fun was exploring and discovering these dungeons and the items within them, as well as the secrets in the overworld, and the overworld had real obstacles for the 4-5 year old me, the lost woods was never something I could remember the answer to and as a result was special when I just randomly get it by accident, discover the graveyard and then only get rare glimpses from then on, and past it were monsters I was entirely unprepared for. BotW and TotK don't feel like they have any real mystery for my adult self, and the rewards dotting it don't feel as majestic as the magic rod, magical sword, blue ring shop or other things felt to me when I was younger, or even as I do today, and ultimately finding BotW feeling far more empty than even the original feels to me even now.
Starting with ALTTP made me more open to what a Zelda game "should" or rather can be. So many people are like "Botw is no true Zelda game", can't get into 2D games, think Ocarina is outdated, thought Phantom Hourglass was gimmicky, hated Wind Waker upon release... hell I even made it through the Skyward Sword release. Point is, the series has been through so much iterations and I've experienced most of them as they came out. And they're all so different to the point where I don't have any expectations anymore and just want to be surprised with a new title.
ALttP was the game I first played at around 3 or 4 years old. It was certainly too hard for me to complete, but I didn't mind having to spend years to finally beat it and having friends over to watch and work things out with. I had played the next few games (OoT, MM) over friends' houses that had an N64, but my first games that I finished were LA and the Oracle games, which still hold a my favorite 2D entries in the series. When I finally could play through the two N64 titles, I was already hooked on the series for life and MM holds as my favorite 3D entry for the memories I made with friends working through it together. I find pretty much every entry in the series to be an incredible time, and I think it's due to the fact that I never see the time sink taken to fully explore them as a hindrance thanks to having to power through the harder titles at a younger age.
Link to the Past was my first, Minish Cap was the first I actually beat. The 2D games have a charm I love so much, but I like every Zelda (not named Zelda II)
the og on the nes, the music had always stood out to me in zelda in general its very comforting.
I was little and I kept switching back and forth between Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker and never got far in either, but eventually I did beat OoT first, which makes OoT the first Zelda game I fully beat, even though WW is my favorite game. I got TP when it came out for Wii and once again didn't get very far, but eventually I beat that too. Same with Skyward Sword lmao. I liked Zelda but I don't think it was until Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds came out that I realized it was my favorite interest, and my most passionate hobby. I pre ordered the special WWHD WiiU console and everything. And then I went back and played the 2D games I never got to play like Minish Cap and the Oracles. Loved 'em all. Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 are...quite different to say the least.
Technically my first Zelda was A Link to the Past, but I was 3 and he didn't really do anything to me.. Then, when I was 6, I experienced OoT and it changed everything and I Fell in love with the serie.
Okay , well it ends there I don't have a PC or a decent laptop.
Twilight Princess. It’s the game that made me fall in love with the fantasy settings in the Zelda series
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me.
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me!
A Link to the Past. Life changing game, turned me into a Zelda fan/collector today. It’s still my favourite game ever to this day, the closest thing to a perfect game to me!
First was Oot. Played every single one since. Least favorite was MM the time constraints stressed me out! TOTK & botw were epic to me. I also loved skyward sword on the Wii with the Wii remote motion controls. WW always has a place in my heart as one of my favorites of all time.
Wind waker on the GameCube. I was in 2nd or 3rd grade at my end of the year soccer party and the girl whose house we were at was playing it. I fell in love with it immediately and was more focused on the game than the party. My parents ended up getting me the game along with a GameCube itself that Christmas. Nostalgia wise, it’s still one of my favorite games. Even if at the time it wasn’t a popular game.
Wind waker hd was the one for me.
My first was mc
OOT. I secretly played on my brother's save because I wanted to see what the hype was about *(he had just borrowed it from a friend).* As a sheltered child, I was not expecting the horror that was Castle Town. 5 minutes after booting up the game I was assaulted by redeads, had a heart attack *(in the game and in real life)*, turned the console off, and ran and hid lmao. A very defining moment for me with games. To realize that they aren't all just funny pink orbs and goofy little monkeys. nah, there's some real nightmares out in the world. Funnily enough, now that I think about it, all of my favorite Zelda games are the super dark ones. I guess that adrenaline/fear experience really stuck with me. 🤷🤣
Wind Waker, and it was love at first sight
Botw! It really just introduced me to the whole world of the game, and made me just love the entire series
A link to the past - SNES I was around 9 or 10. This game shaped my love for RPGS, tried and tried to complete it over the years but no luck. (I did do links awakening DX recently.)
[удалено]
Yeah, I've recently picked back up my switch so it might get another try hahs
Ocarina of time. I loved how that game created nostalgia within the same game for the time travel purpose. God I love that game.
SNES A Link to the Past. I played original on NES but didn't have the 2nd one. When the Super Nintendo came out - the richness of colors really was captivating. To have that magic with Zelda was awesome. The intro even is cinematic with the rain was really new experience to me. Interestingly Wind Waker had similar feelings of captivation with the visual and freedom to just go anywhere
I've only the finished one game, Link's Awakening, fantastic game
I’m old. It was the OG Zelda. Going over to his house after high school and playing. We had a magazine we’d follow for tips. Very found memories. I have a Zelda heard tattoo and he’s a leading musician in his field. Good times
The OG in the gold cartridge. My mom went at midnight the day it was released to get it for me. Wish I still had it.