I’m not going to deny that they are good games, they definitely are. However, there are some design choices made with BOTW and TOTK that really make me separate them from the rest of the series.
The item degradation, the voice acting, the open worldness, all these things aren’t what I want from a Zelda, and because of that, I doubt I’ll ever replay those games again. Again, not bad games at all, and if anyone said they were their favorite games, I’d totally understand that.
But does anyone else wish that we would get a more traditional Zelda game again?
BotW was my first Zelda and a gateway drug. I didn’t really enjoy TotK as it was too much of a sandbox. I preferred the creative ways you were forced to use your limited abilities in BotW. Then I played Twilight Princess HD and was at first disappointed at how linear it was but later absolutely loved the story and characters (it took the first spot for me). I guess I did myself a disservice by playing TP so early because I’m playing other Zeldas now and I’m still searching for that type of experience knowing that it may probably not be reproduced.
I hated BOTW but love TOTK. I think the expanded world, new mechanics, and story make it really fun.
Links Awakening (GB) is my comfort food though, I’ve always considered top-down Zelda games to be the best ones. Idk why but the lack of a jump button in older 3D Zeldas always screws me up.
Yes, hella good games - didn’t scratch the Zelda itch though.
There was one point in totk where I fell down a well, bombed a wall, and found a fairy fountain, and suddenly I felt it for a fleeting second. But that was about it. The dungeons were an absolute joke in terms of length and difficulty.
I also managed to break a LOT of puzzles (like straight up skip them) by lifting a piece of something up high with ultrahand, dropping it, hopping on it, then recalling it up. I think the game would have been better if recall just didn’t exist.
BOTW was my first Zelda game. I hated the item degradation, but everything else about the game was so good that I eventually got over that
