Board 8 > My Rankings of Legend of Zelda Games with Write-Ups

(+) Yeah! (+)

Many of you may know my Fianc, Zea (TexasZea). He told me that you guys may be interested in reading a ranking list for Legend of Zelda Games from a pretty large LoZ fanatic/collector. Just for funsies (and to prove that I have, in fact, done my official gaming research) here's my old and outdated collection site: https://doryspkmncollection.weebly.com/zelda.html I look forward to updating this one day and sharing once again. So the moment you all on b8anime have been waiting for...

DoryPhish's official Legend of Zelda game ranking with write-ups:

18. NES: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (January 14, 1987)
What is there to say about this one? Who exactly was this game made for? Ive beaten this game once, and only once, and that will remain the same until the day I die. Not only was the plot not great, but as so many others agree, its biggest downfall was the gameplay. For those who didn't play this title, the Zelda in this game isn't even the same Zelda from the original game. I understand that Nintendo was trying to go with the side scrolling adventure Mario had made so famous, but it did not, and still doesnt, work for a Legend of Zelda title. Needless to say, I HATE Dark Link and the Thunderbird had nothing on him. It doesnt even make sense when Dark Link is technically not a servant of Ganon. I guess you could argue that Link's final test is himself to receive his Triforce of Courage, but it just doesn't feel canon.
Thankfully, it was the last and only time limited lives and experience points were used. I won't lie though, leveling up with experience points is addictive for me, but well not worth the grind this game called for sometimes. It did, however, contribute to further LoZ titles that I have to give it some credit for. It was the birthplace of Links magic meter and his original triforce of courage. Despite it being the black sheep of the Zelda family, the game was, surprisingly, highly successful. With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

doryphish posted...

Many of you may know my Fianc, Zea (TexasZea)

false
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doryphish posted...

With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

False
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Tag

Zelda II is bad but Tri Force Heroes is worse.
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Tag

Zelda II is bad but Tri Force Heroes is worse.

I'm getting there. I have my reasons for putting Tri Force Heroes above this.

Jakyl25 posted...

doryphish posted...

With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

False

Why?

Board 8 is full of hipsters
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Zelda II is pretty ass yeah, as a kid I think I only played an hour before turning it off. Especially after playing I and III it looks like shit
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ALTTP #1 or riot.
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expecting Skyward Sword next

pls don't be Skyward Sword next
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I would be fine with skyward sword next

Game's pretty bad
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GranzonEx posted...

expecting Skyward Sword next

pls don't be Skyward Sword next

Coming soon to a rank list near you...

TexasZea posted...

doryphish posted...

Many of you may know my Fianc, Zea (TexasZea)

false

Who?
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doryphish posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

doryphish posted...

With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

False

Why?

Because the two worst are Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass

(At least IMO, but hey its just an opinion)
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Please be Skyward Snore next. It's worse than Zelda II imo. Would have been top tier if they'd trimmed 10 hours of pace-killing fat, but alas... every time the game gets going, it rams into a brick wall.

Phantom Hourlgass next would also be acceptable. That's also a bad game.
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LiquidOshawott posted...

doryphish posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

doryphish posted...

With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

False

Why?

Because the two worst are Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass

(At least IMO, but hey its just an opinion)

I know its all opinions, thats why I want to know your reasoning for why as I have mine reasons for ranking them higher

Skyward Sword is fantastic but haters gonna hate I guess.
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I was so hoping that you'd hit the non-canon ones as the worst, just to hear that someone else played them.

there's no way SS is worse than those DS games
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Murphiroth posted...

Skyward Sword is fantastic

You don't state untrue things like this without backing it up and look credible, you know.

I outright stated that the worst thing about Skyward Snore is how it always kills its own pacing with filler. There are many other issues, such as terrible controls that may or may not properly respond to you, an extremely forgettable supporting cast (really, everyone but Groose is lame), no easy way to warp, excessive handholding to the point it's more of a guided tour than a game, not enough locations, no plot, and mostly boring boss fights (except for the one in the cistern).

I cannot fathom why anyone would like that game. It's a 3/10.
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Skyward Sword best Zelda game of the 5 I've played
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Tag even though Ive only played like 4 or 5 LoZ games

__LeiaRolando__ posted...

Murphiroth posted...

Skyward Sword is fantastic

You don't state untrue things like this without backing it up and look credible, you know.

I outright stated that the worst thing about Skyward Snore is how it always kills its own pacing with filler. There are many other issues, such as terrible controls that may or may not properly respond to you, an extremely forgettable supporting cast (really, everyone but Groose is lame), no easy way to warp, excessive handholding to the point it's more of a guided tour than a game, not enough locations, no plot, and mostly boring boss fights (except for the one in the cistern).

I cannot fathom why anyone would like that game. It's a 3/10.

I can state whatever the fuck I want, especially to the guy who's incredibly condescending about Skyward Sword and thinks "Skyward Snore" is clever.

I like it. Get over it, champ.
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17. 3DS: Triforce Heroes (October 23, 2015)
So, I know many of you are probably thinking that this game should be last, and maybe not even included. Dont get me wrong, the story is really dumb, but it is technically the 18th main series game. Its not last just because if you could get a few players together, it gave the nostalgia of playing Four Swords. Plus it played like A Link Between Worlds, which was a great game in itself.
Maybe some of you enjoyed this, or maybe youre in the same boat as I was. Where in Hell are you not only going to find 2 friends who own this game, but actually want to play it? Even online co-op didnt work that well since there was absolutely no way of communicating with complete strangers. This game can be played without the friends aspect, but you have little to no chance of actually enjoying it, nor being able to really fully beat it. Even my video game loving significant other at the time didnt want to purchase a copy to play with me. It was a complete let down. I maybe spent 10-15 minutes on this game and got bored really quickly. It was really a poor attempt at reviving the Four Swords games. At least the Coliseum online play was fun. LoZ isnt really a versus game, so when you could throw each other off the edge, it was hysterical for immature little me. I feel at this point in time, since no new console game had released, it was Nintendos way of being lazy and trying to throw a Zelda game out there since there had been such a lull in new Zelda titles. Who knows, maybe someone really thought this was a great idea even though 3DS and handheld systems were on their way out at this point. Either way, dont play this game unless you have friends who want to play it too.

Jakyl25 posted...

doryphish posted...

With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

False

Skyward Sword holds the prestigious title as the worst zelda game
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ZeeksFire posted...

I was so hoping that you'd hit the non-canon ones as the worst, just to hear that someone else played them.

Non canon ones won't be on the list. I went with "main series" titles. I'm a huge dynasty warriors fan so I of course love Hyrule Warriors. I pretend the CD-I ones don't exist although "Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me Princess" is probably the best quote in existence. Links Crossbow training, wth was that? It was a gimmick to get you to buy that ridiculous WiiMote add on. I didn't play Zelda Game & Watch nor the Tingle games so I can't comment.

Murphiroth posted...

I can state whatever the fuck I want, especially to the guy who's incredibly condescending about Skyward Sword and thinks "Skyward Snore" is clever.

Oh, okay. Resorting to personal attacks in lieu of a retort means you have none, so thanks for admitting I'm right.

I wasn't being condescending - excuse me for wanting to debate this out.
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Murphiroth posted...

I can state whatever the fuck I want, especially to the guy who's incredibly condescending about Skyward Sword and thinks "Skyward Snore" is clever.

I like it. Get over it, champ.

Hey, it's ok to disagree. I myself am incredibly passionate about this series and we're not all going to agree on the best or worst titles. This post isn't meant to personally attack your opinions.

Murphiroth posted...

Skyward Sword is fantastic but haters gonna hate I guess.

I want to know why you like it so much. I don't believe it's an awful game, but I'll get to my explanation when I rank it.

__LeiaRolando__ posted...

Murphiroth posted...

I can state whatever the fuck I want, especially to the guy who's incredibly condescending about Skyward Sword and thinks "Skyward Snore" is clever.

Oh, okay. Resorting to personal attacks in lieu of a retort means you have none, so thanks for admitting I'm right.

I wasn't being condescending - excuse me for wanting to debate this out.

Bullshit you weren't being condescending. You've done this before when SS is mentioned and I'm not the only one to have pointed it out. Where's the personal attack, BTW? Don't see it myself.

And since apparently I have to explain why I like a thing and can't just say I like it...

It's fun to play. I didn't have any control issues myself. I disagree that the characters were not memorable - Groose, Zelda, Impa, Ghirahim, Demise, all great. Backtracking doesn't bother me, especially not when I'm having fun playing the game. Demise and Ghirahim are also some of the best boss fights in the series.

LOL at "no plot", though, it's got more plot and setup than most Zelda games and literally sets up the lore for the entire franchise.

Basically the only real downside for me was the hand holding and I can ignore that pretty easily.
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I enjoyed SS. Didn't have a problem with the controls. Loved the dungeons and art direction.
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I really, truly loved the controls in Skyward Sword which is probably why I say I liked it the best. I also think it had the best story outside of maybe Twilight Princess (which suffered in other respects). It also has some of my favorite dungeons and bosses, but in those respects I'd mostly say it's comparable in quality to the other games.
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So are you counting the Oracles as one entry? Because otherwise I count 19 games.
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Murphiroth posted...

Demise and Ghirahim are also some of the best boss fights in the series.

I'd have to disagree here. Demise's fight felt really anti-climatic for me. There was a ton of talking, and scroll text in the game was super slow. There were only 2 phases to Demise and they were short and repetitive and then all of a sudden Demise just explains how he gets reborn, which we already knew, and then ARGH I'M DYING!!! I just felt like it could have done much better. He didn't really have the presence I was hoping for.

Underleveled posted...

So are you counting the Oracles as one entry? Because otherwise I count 19 games.

Oracles is going to be two seperate entities, I combine the 2 Four Swords since you essentially played them together.

16. GBA: Four Swords (December 2, 2002) and GCN: Four Swords Adventure (June 7, 2004)
Ok, so maybe using the Gameboy Advance as a controller seemed like a really cool idea. I actually enjoyed playing this game with my cousin later on when we revisited old GameCube games when I finally got my own GameCube in my adult years. For what it is it wasnt bad, but in all, it wasnt much. I vaguely remember playing this for a short period of time with my brothers, but it doesnt stick out much. I vaguely remember the shadow battle, which was the versus battle in this game, but it doesnt hit me as being as being that fun. I specifically remember Phantom Hourglass VS mode being a lot of fun when you pick up another Link and throw them off the edge. This, however, doesnt give me the same enjoyable memories.
I dont really have a lot to say about this one since I never had a real interest in beating it, and beating it felt more like a chore. It can be a lot of fun with a group but Im not about to pull this game off the shelf to give it another go. At the very least, maybe at least give it a try once with a group of friends (like Mario on the Wii/Wii U), it could be a lot of fun drunk.

doryphish posted...

you essentially played them together.

Not really but okay.
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Stop quoting Andy
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Zelda 2 does something unique which is going to make it far better than last place for a lot of people.

It's my second favorite behind LttP personally. For me it has a lot more replayability than most other Zelda games as the gameplay is a lot more skill based than the others which for me lose a lot of their charm after one playthrough once all the secrets and such have been discovered and the puzzles have been solved.
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doryphish posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

doryphish posted...

With that being said, I think everyone (or at least a lot of you) can agree that this game is by far the worst in the main Zelda titles.

False

Why?

I was just being terse to play off of Zeas post

But yeah, maybe you had to be there? Zelda II is the fun kind of challenging for me, and I loved it as a kid even though it was TOO tough for me at that stage.

Is it a top-tier Zelda? No. But its mid-tier IMO

I havent played Tri-Force Heroes but I can say for sure I enjoyed it more than the DS games and the Four Swords games.
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Underleveled posted...

doryphish posted...

you essentially played them together.

Not really but okay.

FS is multiplayer only and FSA isn't. Four Swords is "essentially" not really a full game (IMO) so I did not count it as it's own entity. Play together as in they go hand in hand, and even though FSA is the sequel to FS, I feel they are two separate games that make one.

First thing I did when I got an NES Classic was to beat the two Zeldas

And by that I mean I even gave the Zelda 1 Second Quest an honest try for the first time, and beat it only needing one hint. Amazing game
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doryphish posted...

Underleveled posted...

doryphish posted...

you essentially played them together.

Not really but okay.

FS is multiplayer only and FSA isn't. Four Swords is "essentially" not really a full game (IMO) so I did not count it as it's own entity. Play together as in they go hand in hand, and even though FSA is the sequel to FS, I feel they are two separate games that make one.

Four Swords Anniversary includes a single-player version, and new levels with different graphical styles

But I think its not available anymore which is DUMB
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Stop quoting Andy

Apparently tazzy has me ignored. I shall reciprocate.

Murphiroth posted...

It's fun to play. I didn't have any control issues myself. I disagree that the characters were not memorable - Groose, Zelda, Impa, Ghirahim, Demise, all great. Backtracking doesn't bother me, especially not when I'm having fun playing the game. Demise and Ghirahim are also some of the best boss fights in the series.

Impa is bland and underutilized here. Zelda the same. Other entries have better iterations of them.

Demise just exists. The "I existed, so Ganondorf will!" is as lame as lore can be. You also fight Demise and Ghirahim way, way too often. It's redundant and undermines its significance.

LOL at "no plot", though, it's got more plot and setup than most Zelda games and literally sets up the lore for the entire franchise.

Uh.... the ending throws out a bunch of things that had never been mentioned before. Ghirahim actually being a sword. Fi suddenly becoming "more human." Zelda saying she wants to stay "down below." And the obvious "twist" that the old lady was Impa. The game had no plot before that. None. Largely because of excessive filler for extended playtime. It was a lame setup for the "lore."

You can like something but calling me "condescending" when I'm not is taken personally. It's better if you get to making actual points first. This is all meant as friendly debate!
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doryphish posted...

Underleveled posted...

doryphish posted...

you essentially played them together.

Not really but okay.

FS is multiplayer only and FSA isn't. Four Swords is "essentially" not really a full game (IMO) so I did not count it as it's own entity. Play together as in they go hand in hand, and even though FSA is the sequel to FS, I feel they are two separate games that make one.

Fair enough. They DID release a single-player version of FS for a limited time on the DSi/3DS shops. But it's long gone.
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Question regarding the original Four Swords

Beating it on GBA unlocks a new dungeon in ALttP right? Has anyone here ever done that?

Im going to assume that somewhere out there exist Romhacks with that dungeon unlocked without having to play FS?
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Just realized Ive only really played one LoZ game per generation for the ones I did play anyways. SNES ALttP, GBC Oracles, N64 OoT, Wii TP and 3DS ALBW

Underleveled posted...

Fair enough. They DID release a single-player version of FS for a limited time on the DSi/3DS shops. But it's long gone.

I do vaguely remember this and I remember thinking it was stupid that they deleted LttP off of it.

Jakyl25 posted...

Beating it on GBA unlocks a new dungeon in ALttP right? Has anyone here ever done that?

You can abuse a glitch to access it. It's nothing special though.
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doryphish posted...

Underleveled posted...

Fair enough. They DID release a single-player version of FS for a limited time on the DSi/3DS shops. But it's long gone.

I do vaguely remember this and I remember thinking it was stupid that they deleted LttP off of it.

It was free at least!
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