gonna make a quick rundown of the zelda games i've played so far this year. full disclaimer is i have literally zero qualms about using walkthroughs, especially as it pertains to hidden goodies unlocked after obtaining certain items. i tend to enjoy my time more this way.
i have also played all of these on emulated hardware of some kind, but strictly
without using save states. i'm trying to experience them as originally intended, so while i respect people who use states, and have used them myself for other games, i'm choosing not to for the zeldas.
legend of zeldai'm a wee young to have experienced this one at its prime, so copious amounts of walkthrough usage applied here. that said, this game still is a kind of magical experience, and super charming too. i spent a number of hours trying to uncover all that i could without assistance and it honestly gave me the same sense of exploring a huge map with lots of neat little secrets that breath of the wild gave, and i wish i could've been there when it was huge, trading what i found and so on. i think this is one of those games that i'll find myself replaying here and there, esp because its length is just right for it. good on them.
zelda ii: adventure of linkthis game gets too much flak and 'one of the worst games ever!!' is exaggerated imo. that said, it is also downright
cruel when it comes to HP management, with no bottled fairies, no recovery drops and a magic system that can get quite tight (leaving too little to heal) with uncommon MP drops as well. after struggling and barely passing palace 3 i realised i had seen enough to know it isn't for me, my reaction speed is too slow to keep up, and it was only going to get harder.
that said, i liked the palace maps i saw. i feel it is less cryptic than the complaints led me to expect. controls were tight, and my only worries about jumps were due to dmg knockback. i think there is potential there, but someone at play-testing should've said 'hey all, maybe we should be less mean to players...?' ahaha.
link to the pastdungeons great, overworld good, lots of fun items and fun visuals. i never knew about dark world bunny link and i was like 'whaaaat no one warned me of this! what is this?!'
that said, i'm mixed on this one. i was desperate for the defence upgrade long before it was obtainable. i never felt like i really 'got' the combat aim down, and whatever it was i expected was off balance compared to the left-handed swing and shots of the game. i don't really know why.
i felt like the first 50-70% of the game was a real fun time, and the last bit was also a fun time, but that late-mid and pre-end game area was sloggish and i felt kinda done with it, and frustrated at times by getting mobbed and my health sapped insanely fast by the enemies that continually got stronger over time, particularly before getting access to the defence upgrade. it really made my experience suffer overall, which is a shame because this game has
really good dungeons and puzzles, really fun items to use and a welcome overall friendliness to players.
ocarina of timep sure there is legit nothing i can say that hasn't been said 1000 times about this game. i played it up to ganondorf's castle when i was younger, so i had experience with the game, and it was fun to experience it again after some 15+ years since then! and amusing what i did and didn't remember.
my only real hot take to offer is: i don't mind the water temple, and would rather do it twice than jabu-jabu's nauseating belly dungeon and deal with ruto's spoiled brat nonsense. water temple has few enemies to interrupt you when trying to figure out the puzzles and doing map cross-checking. it's a super long dungeon, a little tedious if you dislike menuing, can become awfully confusing... but i kinda dig that 'ruins raid' feeling, tho the final boss fight is absolutely laughable ime. meanwhile jabu-jabu is the opposite, enemies try to interrupt you constantly, most of which are annoying to deal with (particularly pre-boomerang), the puzzles are not very complex, the map is pretty boring and the final boss was super unintuitive, with my boomerang making the 'clang' failure sound 3+ times, which i took as 'not the method to fight it', when it actually was i just got that unlucky. and the visuals are gross, too. no thanks. worst dungeon imo.
i also grew a visceral hatred for bongo-bongo, tho maybe that should be actually directed at the wreck that is z-targeting in that fight. but i chalk this up in part to the wii u version's input delay (it's a 4 frame delay, and most noticeable with the bongo 'rush' and [phantom] ganondorf's tennis mechanic ime), because i don't recall it being a wreck when i was younger.
but oot is a classic masterpiece and for good reason, and it would be asinine to say one dungeon makes the overall game suffer, no matter how much i dread jabu-jabu
every time. i completed everything except the final quiver upgrade (my aim sucks and it was a real struggle to get the heart piece from horseback archery alone...) and the 100 gold skulltula task (finished with ~73 iirc), and while i was glad to be finished, i felt like it was the perfect length, not overstaying its welcome, and not closing out too soon.