I remember playing a lot The Legend of Zelda games when I was younger, but as far as I can remember I never beat most of them. WITH Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of wisdom called me in recent years, I decided it would be best to play through all main series titles ok before diving into the last two The Legend of Zelda games. Editor-in-Chief Dalton Cooper insisted I keep their rankings, which fair spoiler warning gave him a two.
This list is entirely based on my own opinion and based on the few people I've met in my life, I have bad opinions. It is what it is. There is also a reason why I avoided going back The Legend of Zelda games for years; as I've gotten older, I've found that the puzzles in any game annoy me more than interest me. And of course they are a big part Zelda games. I also missed Zeitgeist for a lot of these games, so as far as I might be from other opinions, here is my official ranking of all 20 main series Zelda games.
1
Phantom Hourglass
i love Phantom Hourglassand is my favorite Zelda game. I liked how it followed up The Wind Wakerin terms of characters and gameplay, and it spoke deeply to the inner pirate lover in me. My absolute favorite was Temple of the Ocean King because I felt it handled the evolving puzzles, exploration and combat really well. The pattern clicked with me immediately and there is a nice play factor Phantom Hourglass which resonated with me as well. Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this game, and that's about as rare as it comes.
2
A connection between worlds
A connection between worlds is up there with Phantom Hourglass. The two worlds were fantastic, the soundtrack really resonated with me (I'm typically soundtrack agnostic) and the game really spoke to me. Ability to merge with walls v A connection between worlds was a basic mechanic that felt so smooth to him. With a more nostalgic setting, a unique story (e.g Zelda anyway) and an exceptional art style that I really liked A connection between worlds.
3
Tears of the Kingdom
Recency bias? Maybe. We'll get to my thoughts Breath of the Wild early enough, but in short, I thought Tears of the Kingdom took everything from Breath of the Wild and turned it up a few notches. I wasn't necessarily impressed with the new mechanics, except for a time or two like Fuse, but I thought it fit the direction of the world. I would never take any credit for that (although I do have some beef with me Breath of the Wildfunny enough).
4
Heavenly Sword
I knew about different ones Zelda timelines entering into Heavenly Swordbut experiencing it was a whole different story. I feel like it gives the whole franchise a neat arc because it's easier to understand what timeline the game is set in when you know where it started. The story, the characters, the art direction and everything, I'm in the mood for it.
5
The Wind Waker
The Wind Waker is one of my wife's favorites The Legend of Zelda games and when I jumped into it I fully understood why. When I got into it, I was understandably a bit underwhelmed by the classic setting, so games that really experimented with the formula spoke to me. This one again spoke to the pirate lover in me while introducing some great characters and challenges. My biggest problem with The Wind Wakerwhat keeps it from being at the top is just the sheer size of the map. It could probably be cut in half and just make the sailing game stand out more.
6
Princess Twilight
i gave Princess Twilight directly on the same level The Wind Waker. I liked the darker edge and the game was fun as expected – even the puzzles weren't much of a distraction for me. Midna's character is also a highlight. I think the main gameplay hook, turning into a wolf, drags a bit at the end of the game, but overall it's a beautiful experience. Just like Wind Waker, Twilight Princess it's one of my wife's favorites, so having it with me on the road always helps the game.
I would consider all of the above games to be my favorite Zelda games, or an S-Tier game in my opinion. Yeah, I know what's missing. I promise they will come.
7
Breath of the Wild
I know I promised to try to be as far removed from popular opinion as possible, but I have to say that I don't understand why people think Breath of the Wild is revolutionary. Franchise wise, sure, I guess, but I've played this type of open world game before. It feels very much like an open world game from Ubisoft through and through, and that's a pretty mild criticism from me. But for the most part I liked everything. I don't have particularly strong feelings about his stamina or how the weapons break, and I had a lot of fun exploring this view of Hyrule. It just didn't grab me as much as its sequel, but I enjoyed it.
Yes, I know it's also one of the highest rated games of all time. I'm sorry. I LIKE it, just not LIKE THIS.
8
The Major's Mask
The Major's Mask is a sequel Ocarina of Time by every definition of the word, and it suits him perfectly. i know Ocarina of Time is a bit more loved but The Major's MaskThe creepy atmosphere, basic gameplay loop, and overall direction just relate more to me.
9
Ocarina of Time
Strangely, I have more memories of it Ocarina of Time than any other Zelda a game from when I was little. I really enjoyed playing on the Nintendo 64, but I don't think I ever got past Shadow Temple. This time I played it on my 3DS and really enjoyed it. I think this represents the bare minimum of what I can tolerate from puzzles, while fun dungeons, solid graphics, and a fairly straightforward time travel story all help to elevate it. It's not my favorite, but I sure like it a lot. Yes, I also understand that it's basically the BEST rated game of all time and I think it deserves those accolades, but it's not getting them from me.
I really like the above games so this would be the equivalent of “A tier”.
10
A link to the past
All about A link to the past it speaks to me, from the presentation to the gameplay, and I know it brought out several core elements of the game The Legend of Zelda franchise. Generally speaking, I've found that I really like games that deal with two worlds. I think it deserves every top spot on the list of the best games ever made, but I don't know if it's because I missed the zeitgeist or what, it just doesn't speak to me on the same level as the others above. I quite like it, but it just didn't capture my imagination as much as others Zelda the games on this list do.
