The Legend of Zelda

[anon]

OH BOY, I'M SO HUNGRY I COULD EAT AN OCCCCCCTOROK

Since a lot of people have been talking about Zelda and I know some of you peeps like it too, discuss Zelda here! Which Zelda games have you played? Which one do you like? Which one did you not like? Who was your favorite character? Wasn't Twilight Princess annoying? Weren't the 64-era Great Fairies really awkward to watch? Which version cartridge did you have of Ocarina of Time?

Me, I've only played the 3D games, more specifically Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. My brother owns Link to the Past, but I was told it was super long and hard and our SNES doesn't work anymore to play the game. At some point in time I played Oracle of the Ages while my brother played Oracle of the Seasons but I gave up shortly after the intro stage and he finished the game for me.

My favorite would be Ocarina of Time for the nostalgic factor but Skyward Sword ranks really high for the graphics and dialogue. Unfortunately I felt that Skyward Sword was too short because it took me like two weeks to beat. I'm not a seasoned Zelda player but I managed to unlock all the secrets (except for two of which have minigames I'm not even going to attempt) in Skyward Sword so I felt that it was pretty easy too... though I haven't tried the hero mode yet.

Twilight Princess has a great story but I hated the gameplay mainly because the graphics were too dark and the controls kept giving me motion sickness. There's a lot of things to do in the game, though, which I appreciate. There are many mini-games that were challenging and the optional dungeons were cool... though whether one wants to do that depends on the overall interest in the game.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

One gripe I kind of had with the story is how Zelda seemed to be an afterthought. I love her tag-team with Link in the 3rd stage of the final boss battle because she has an active role in taking down Ganondorf, but I felt the only reason why Link wanted to save her was because Midna told him to.

[Mikari]

I played A Link to the Past on SNES. Link with pink hair, lol XD It was an awesome game. I also love Ocarina of Time on the N64 and I still think Navi is adorable. Never really cared much about Zelda (the princess) I don't hate her, I just tend to forget she's even there and focus on saving Hyrule rather than its monarch. I do think Link should get the title since it's more his game than Zelda's. Maybe even Legend of the Triforce.

[Varen]

My cartridge of Ocarina of Time was plain gray. But my Majora's Mask was a nice goldie~

Ah, Zelda. The game I ignored playing for the longest time because I first thought it was a fighting game and I feared playing them (ironic, isn't it?). I first played the Oracle of Ages, then Seasons, and it is still one of my favorite handheld games ever. Eventually, I moved to the 3D games and played Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. I loved all of them in some way (Twilight Princess... not so much), but the two that especially were memorable were Majora's Mask and Wind Waker.

Majora's Mask is a controversal title with its gimmicky save system that many didn't like at first. I didn't either. But there was some magic to MM that I felt was lacking with Ocarina of Time. The overall story isn't the most spectacular, but it's the NPC themselves that slowly craft its own story and invoke such emotion that you actually care about their safety. Anju and Kafei's suplot, the girl with the mummy dad, Cremia's unrequited crush on Kafei, the fairies with actually more personality for a change, the origin stories of your masks, etc. I love how things also change with the time. Every day, most people had something different to say. And all the final day? So much issues on whether to remain in the town or stay. It's moving, powerful, and makes it worth doing side quests (and not just the killer Fierce Deity Mask).

Wind Waker was a different sort of catharsis moment though it's more happy than bittersweet like the last one. There's a beautiful breath of colors, and the graphics, IMO, are far more well-aged for its time than all the other 3D games (yes including the new Skyward Sword!). I always appreciate the change to make Link more expressive, since I honestly never liked the idea of Link supposedly mimicking you and then somehow doing things that you wouldn't do like save the world. He becomes his own character, mute as it is, like Mario in the Paper Mario games, and his reactions to certain scenes like the ending, or his sister being kidnapped intensify the very scenes. The soundtrack is also beautiful and catchy, and I love Tetra and the King of Red Lions and how they all play a role in the main storyline, rather to just act as mere aids.

Most people don't like the sailing, but I actually didn't mind it so much. There was a lot to explore in the overworld, something that the recent 3D Zeldas haven't done much of, and it did make sense with its backstory. The only regret is that they didn't play with the scheme much. There was a ghost ship, some boring sea battles, and treasure hunting, but it could play with more.

I've tried to play the older Zelda games like Link's Awakening, A Link to the Past, Zelda I, but maybe it's just the lack of nostalgia, but I didn't find them particularly enjoyable, sadly. Link's Awakening was fine, but I didn't like having a lack of sense of what to do or where to go. Or being forced to do a chain fetch quest to continue with the main storyline.

I hope you guys also read the manga too~ I love Akira's artwork and her adaptions are usually interesting to read. I originally read the scanalations for them, but I ended up buying the Viz Kids novels to support it. <3

[Destinie]

I was totally going to start this thread, thanks for beating me to the punch! So...Zelda is like my "Star Wars". XD (My fiance knows so much about Star Wars so one day I was like, "Hey, what's my equivalent fandom that I know so much about?" Turns out that he was like "Zelda!" Because I was rambling on and on when looking at a Game Informer magazine about Skyward Sword.)

So I just beat the second form of the Imprisoned in Skyward Sword last week. Looking forward to helping out Levias! :D (There's always a giant whale creature)

Ah! I have to say that I think that every game after Link to the Past is inspired by it. I mean LttP is really the staple for all Zelda games, I think. I just spazz over Zelda stuff. ^_^; With my prior statement, you can probably tell that LttP is my favorite Zelda game!! I grew up with it but I think it's also the strongest story-wise and the dungeons are difficult. My second now will have to be Skyward Sword because it's everything I like. Man, sorry, I said I like it more than Ocarina of Time which comes in third. I KNOW UNPOPULAR OPINION AS USUAL. But Skyward sword has flying, and talking dragons, and good mythology, and giant birds, and OFJGOJFGFFF I love it. I just can't stop saying how much I love everything about that game. I didn't preorder it because I was so worried I would be let down because I waited years for TP and was so so so disappointed.

But I love Midna.

Also Darunia is the best. K thanks. :D

[anon]

I played A Link to the Past on SNES. Link with pink hair, lol XD It was an awesome game. I also love Ocarina of Time on the N64 and I still think Navi is adorable. Never really cared much about Zelda (the princess) I don't hate her, I just tend to forget she's even there and focus on saving Hyrule rather than its monarch. I do think Link should get the title since it's more his game than Zelda's. Maybe even Legend of the Triforce.

Yeah, I really liked Navi too. The funny thing is I hated Fi and Midna. Fi would go tl;dr and not help me at all, and Midna was really vague with her hints for a companion guide. Maybe it's their personalities.

Regarding the title, I like to think that Zelda is the mastermind behind the greater good, and Link is her pawn to achieve that. It's like a henchmen working for his boss. That's why the game has Zelda's name in it since she's the one who starts the plot.

I hope you guys also read the manga too~ I love Akira's artwork and her adaptions are usually interesting to read. I originally read the scanalations for them, but I ended up buying the Viz Kids novels to support it. <3

I have! I liked the take on Ocarina of Time and I've also read the Oracles manga, though I don't really remember what happened in them. I do love Ricky and Moosh because they are so presh.

So I just beat the second form of the Imprisoned in Skyward Sword last week. Looking forward to helping out Levias! :D (There's always a giant whale creature)

Awesome! You're onto the 3rd part of the game now. Do a barrel roll!

My brother has similar complaints to you, Destinie. He thinks that the 3D games have become easier now because when he saw me complete Skyward Sword, he complained how short it was. He was like, "Link to the Past was harder and there were MORE dungeons!!" His death record was pretty high in the game. Speaking of which, I'm kind of happy Nintendo did away with the death record after the 64-era because it just got so annoying trying to keep a clear score by starting fresh again and again.

[Destinie]

Ha! I actually really like the easier games! I do love Link to the Past for all the great items and stuff that you get. So much of that game has really stuck in my mind over the years.

Yes! BARREL ROLL! That has to be the first thing that came to my mind ahaha!

[Mikari]

I emu Ocarina and Link to the Past was gray and rented, then emu. I started on Majora but didn't even get part the first part. I got impatient and wasn't really into it like I was into Ocarina instantly. I loved the items in Link to the Past. My favorite areas were the forest and the waterfall place on the top right. My favorite dungeon was the town in the dark world. One detail about Ocarina that disappointed me was that I wanted to explore the castle but only ever got to run around the garden.

I remember reading several of the manga. Oracle of... something, there were a few oracle mangas. A Link to the Past also had different versions. The version of Ocarina I read have very nice art. There was also a Link's Awakening manga I really liked, but the scan was incomplete and I never finished it. There was a fairy there, though it wasn't Navi.

[Destinie]

Ah! It's either Oracle of Ages or Oracle of Seasons. Those are based off of Gameboy Color games. I had ages and my brother had Seasons, then we swapped. I never beat Seasons, though. They were a little complicated because of trying to figure out what age/season to go to in order to get through a certain part of the game. But they were fun! I kind of wish they would remake them, actually. I liked the animal helpers, Moosh especially. hahah!

[Crystal]

I think it is pretty obvious as to which game is my favorite. 8D

Ahem, but anyway, I've pretty much played every game but Skyward Sword and Spirit Tracks. The first one I played was Zelda 2 on the NES but I never got into the series until Ocarina of Time on the N64 (which I am totally blaming my sister for, lol). Although I've tried I could never get into Phantom Hourglass. The entire use of the touch screen was very annoying, plus on my DS Lite the touch screen is off so it made some things hard to do. I hate the idea of trains in Zelda so I never bothered to try Spirit Tracks. *hide* I've also had a hard time getting into Four Swords Adventure because I'd mainly play it by myself [s]as I have no friends irl[/s] and it made some puzzles a little hard to do. The ones I really liked though and completed more than once would be Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, The Minish Cap, The Wind Waker, Link's Awakening, and A Link to the Past.

I also own the Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and The Minish Cap manga by Akira Himekawa. Because they're awesome. <3 And I have a Link plushie and OOT soundtrack that I found at an expo Dad had started taking me to. <3

[Destinie]

@Crystal if we lived in the same country/state I'd totally play LOZ with you! XDD

I've not played any of the Wind Waker spinoffs OR Zelda 1 and 2 (I'm a horrible fan) and even though Wind Waker wasn't necessarily my favorite game, there were some parts that I liked, and I have played it more than once. It's fun, I'm just not a fan of the chibi Link style. I know most people disliked sailing everywhere but I actually really enjoyed that part. I wish there was more Sky exploration in Skyward Sword.

Which, Crystal, you MUST play at some point. >:D