In anticipation of Nintendo’s imminent E3 presentation for the latest Legend of Zelda title, we count down the series five best while discussing what each game can teach Nintendo about crafting the very best yet.
The day is finally upon us. Take all the rumors, negative fanboy backlash, your fake NX leaked controller pictures, and throw it all straight into the garbage. Nobody cares. Nintendo is finally ready to unleash its baby, The Legend of Zelda for Wii U (and apparently NX), and show it to the world in a day long stream containing all new game footage, two lengthy hour and a half demos, as well as developer commentary and interviews. So strap in, sharpen your Master Sword, tell Navi to shut up, and lets go save Hyrule.
Post Date 5/31/16
In celebration of this event, (its been a long time coming) we are going to count down the five best The Legend of Zelda titles the series has to offer, while discussing what each game did correctly and how that aspect of the game should be applied to Nintendo’s new title.
Now remember, this is an opinion piece. You may not agree completely with what I have to say. Like myself, many fans hold Zelda very close and dear to their hearts, especially when it comes to which adventure ranks among their favorites. Lucky for you, there’s a comments section, so have at it! Now without further ado…
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Darkness. Turmoil. Sadness. Link’s darkest adventure to date turned out being one of his best. Gone were the cheery tunes and bright colors of previous entries, replaced by serious mellow undertones, a dark color palette and mature theme. While many fans learned to love the color scheme and drawing of Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, fans had longed for the Ocarina of Time like graphical design. Twilight Princess was a grand adventure, sporting hands down best dungeons in the series (Lakebed Temple, The City in the Sky) and a return to the Hyrule we all know and love. While it was fantastic, many complained about the games wolf segments, as well as a lack of innovation to the tried and true Zelda formula. If Nintendo can take away one thing they nailed from this entry for their new game, the dungeon design here takes the cake.
4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
A Link Between Worlds is special because not only is this game the best game on Nintendo 3ds to date, but with this entry Nintendo managed to achieve an immense amount of nostalgia to fans of A Link to the Past, while also innovating on their formula more than any entry in the series to date. Link returns to the same Hyrule of A Link to the Past, allowing players to revisit areas and see what has changed. With this entry Nintendo attempted to deviate from the formula that each dungeon had to be completed in a certain order, while obtaining a certain item in said dungeon. Nintendo gave the player the freedom to explore the world it created, let them tackle whatever dungeon they had chosen in whatever order they desired, as well as implemented a new item system in which every item was available for “rent” or purchase straight from the beginning.
The world, the music, and the gameplay were all stellar. I often found myself just leaving the 3ds open to have a tune play out (huge fan of Zelda music here!). A Link Between Worlds also introduced the puzzle mechanic of being able to move dimensions as a flat painting on a wall, creating some of the most challenging puzzles in the series.
Nintendo listened to their fans when creating this game. If anything can be taken from this game for their new entry its that it is most definitely possible to innovate while staying true to your roots and pleasing your fans.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The game had brilliant pacing, great swordplay, and a timeless story. The graphics, which seemed as a gamble by Nintendo at the time, were some of the most beautiful art in any game to date. Just remembering being stumped on a puzzle, and realizing, for the first time, that Link himself was helping me by looking to where I needed to go was something that had never happened in gaming before. The cartoon look provided an adventure that felt real, and one you wanted to see through to very end. The game provided a stellar soundtrack of classic tracks, and the most epic Ganon fight in any Zelda game. One solely needs to look to the final moments of the game (SPOILER! C’mon, its been 13 years) when Link literally drives his Master Sword into the skull of Ganon to realize that while this adventure was cute and fun, it was not messing around. Nintendo needs to take into consideration the success of this art style, as well as the scale of this game, when creating their new title.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
He did it! Alert the press! We hate the new guy! Yes. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is not number 1. This is not taking anything away from this game, in terms of history it will go down as the game that changed many gamers perspective toward gaming forever. Now, 20 years later, the game still holds up amazingly well, even if many people can do these dungeons blindfolded.
This game had it all. A grand adventure. Music that can be recognized almost anywhere. Ocarina of Time was a medium of art, music, and gameplay that the world just had not experienced in the time of its release. The game’s pacing, gameplay, and story would become a template for years to come that other games would be measured up against. Not many have succeeded.
I believe that while it does use the “Zelda template” many gamers have complained about, Ocarina is the most important title Nintendo needs to consider when crafting their new game. This game changed gaming as a whole, rocking the industry down to its core. If Nintendo can recreate that feeling for its new game, we may just have to move it further down the list. (just kidding!)
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
While many people may disagree, I do truly believe that if you had to pickup any Zelda game, at this moment in time, the best game would be Skyward Sword. Yes it did support motion controls. Yes it was on a console only able to support 480p. And yes, it is the best game on this list.
With Skyward Sword Nintendo told their most thorough Zelda tale to date. Telling their origin story to their beloved series, many of the games cut scenes played out like an animated movie. They gave depth to the characters, scale to the story, and I’m fairly sure developed the entire Wii product with this game in mind. Once mastered, the motion controls gave you control of the adventure like never before. Simple swords fights went from just mashing the B button to an epic puzzle-duel. Soaring through the Great Sky on the back of the Loftwing felt fluid, and amongst the pastel-like art design it looked damn beautiful, even on the sub-par Wii. Skyward’s art design gives me the chills just when thinking about what Nintendo could do with an all powerful, all-new, NX console.
Skyward Sword also boasted some of the most engaging boss fights in any Zelda game. Between challenging duels with Ghirahim, driving the Master Sword into the head of the Imprisoned, or ripping Koloktos’ own arm from his body only to pick up his own weapon to destroy him, Skyward had it all. I won’t even mention that you need to land on the back of a dragon for a certain boss fight…
Skyward Sword hit all the pillars of Zelda with just the right amount. Great battle system, challenging puzzles and dungeons, an engaging story and fantastic boss fights. However, if there is one thing Nintendo nailed with Skyward that they need to implement going forward, it was the pacing. The entire game is one long dungeon, with areas between dungeons being just as engaging as the dungeon itself. Nintendo also perfectly utilized Link’s arsenal throughout the entire game, not just using one item, one time, in one dungeon. With Skyward, Nintendo produced a game, in my opinion, worthy of dethroning Ocarina of Time.
Lets hope they do it again real soon.
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