Oh yes, the best Zelda – a question that is difficult to agree on. Who is surprised? With almost 40 years of series history, we now have three or four paradigm shifts behind us. As time went by, this series took off, garnering more friends than she shook off. And now here we are, with our lead writer still editing the quiz, twiddling our thumbs and wondering where Tears of the Kingdom will fall in our appreciation rankings?
First of all, it would be good to know which of our favorite Zelda Tears of the Kingdom we’re going to fight against next Friday. Here are our favourites.
Ana-Zelda: Majora’s Mask
My favorite Zelda is definitely Majora’s Mask! The visage of the creepy moon haunts me to this day and in general I like to think back to this strange, dark, psychedelic and yet somehow endearing atmosphere. I also clearly remember the masks, the music and the grinning vendor because they added so much to the eerie atmosphere. While the camera movements on Ocarina of Time drove me crazy, that was no longer the case with the N64 game from 2000. I also enjoyed the puzzles and dungeons a lot more.
And of course the time warp was an exciting mechanic. Link’s time travel never felt like boring backtracking. Rather, I had the impression that the flashbacks were only intended to fit the overall psychedelic package of the game without disturbing the flow of the game. I also loved Clockwork City because its secret passages gradually unfolded, and I also like to think back to this unique design of the city and this huge clock. I also thought it was really great that Link was able to acquire different skills thanks to different masks and then also change his appearance. Although the sight of Deku Link still makes me kind of sad.
Benjamin Jakobs – Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild picked me up the most and, above all, the longest. And that’s not just because the open world stretches playtime. On the contrary: I haven’t seen everything there is to see in the game, nor have I played the DLCs. But what I really liked about it was its freedom. I can see my goal in front of me, could go there directly. Two hours later, after being distracted by countless things, trying things out, and fighting enemies, I’m finally where I wanted to be with a lot of self-generated stories in my luggage.
It would have taken ten minutes directly, but nobody asks about that here. Once you start experimenting with Link’s powers and the possibilities the game offers, time flies by. There is just so much to discover and experience without the game forcing you into a tight corset and leading you through its world. Don’t get me wrong, I play games like this often enough, but Breath of the Wild came at just the right time for me to indulge my thirst for freedom at the time. I don’t know how many hours I ended up spending looking at so many corners of Hyrule, but it was a lot! Time I have no regrets.
Alex-Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Objectively, I should be writing Breath of the Wild here—gritting my teeth because I still melt just looking at a picture of Wind Waker. And of course, for A Link to the Past, I have the same red-hot weak spot in an easy-to-hit spot (if you just wait the right moment) as the rest of you. But I felt the greatest magic at Christmas 1998, when I stood in front of the Deku Tree for the first time and could hardly comprehend its size.
The early 3D era was tough and Ocarina hasn’t held up very well through the years. I find it difficult to return. But maybe that’s also the reason why the game has remained in my head as far as possible in all its magic. Because something else is true about the era in which games first explored the depths of space: Few found answers as good as Nintendo on how to deal with the new dimension. This felt surprisingly good. On top of that, you’ll find some of the best dungeons in the series here. The forest temple, shadow temple and – at the latest in the 3DS version – also the bitch from water temple challenged me and amazed me like few other things in my gaming life. Also, I really liked the melancholy, which is heavier in Ocarina than in any other Zelda so far.
Martin-Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
My favorite Zelda? Probably A Link to the Past, maybe Majora’s Mask too. But actually and if I’m honest with myself: Zelda 2. Not because it’s the best game in the series – couldn’t be further from it – or the most beautiful or anything. But simply because I remember it most intensely, even after all these years. Essentially a Dark Souls experience long before the term was even thought of. But a lot of games were like this: it was all confusing, the instructions weren’t very helpful, it was a bit difficult and a bit unbalanced as a bonus. So why my favourite?
Because it was exciting! Like so many things if you don’t know it yet. The NES was the first real exposure to more modern console gaming, a world away from the Atari I’d occasionally seen before. It worked differently than the usual PC gaming and was a big adventure in a fairly open world with mechanics that you learned and explored over time. Some confused and frustrated at times, but overcoming the obstacles was always reward enough to easily forgive. So yes, certainly not the best or prettiest Zelda, certainly not the crowd favorite, but it will always have a special place in my heart.
Benjamin Schmädig – Zelda: A Link to the Past
It should be clear that the choice wasn’t difficult for me here, because after I had little connection with Zelda in the past, I really liked Breath of the Wild from the post-pixel adventures that I’ve been playing for a long time. But as you know, I was all the more amazed at how great one of the older parts still is when you play it for the first time these days: A Link to the Past.
What ideas are there and how good it feels to crack clever puzzles with a little brain! In any case, the rhythm of exploring, fighting, collecting and unlocking is incredibly motivating – and how well this adventure playground is self-explanatory without a pain in the ass with GPS markings constantly pointing the way. Quite apart from the fact that a lot of it must have been a big step in terms of programming for the time.
In any case, it quickly becomes clear why Link’s varied world, which also exists in two different dimensions, was so formative. And why many developers still orientate themselves on how Shigeru Miyamoto once paved the way for modern action-adventure.
