What brings you back to Zelda?

[Sunbird Risen]

Like the thread title implies, I would like to know what it is about the Legend of Zelda games that gets you coming back again and again.

For me, it has always been the dungeons. I love the feeling of getting lost within the cavernous systems of the various dungeons and I love the challenge of overcoming puzzles, defeating dastardly monsters, and the sense of accomplishment I get each time I defeat the boss. I'm a very completion driven player, so anytime I can sit down and play through a dungeon I come away very satisfied because I feel like I've done what I set out to do.

What about each of you?

 

[Dizzi]

the memories and the hope for more brilliance that may appear....

 

[Spirit]

I've never left the series but I enjoy the games over most other games available to me.

Wind Waker is my favourite game of all time that I've lost literal years of my life to in combined play time.

I don't get bored easily and i love roaming worlds I love so I can just play and play and play even on a 100% file.

I love the characters and the world and the lore (until recently thanks to BotW) there aren't many IPs I love as much outside of Zelda. It means a lot to me so I keep playing and playing.

 

[DarkestLink]

Hope that one day Nintendo will have faith in the series.

 

[Castle]

Exploring fascinating and intriguing places.

This is what most of my favorite video games do.

I like being able to see and explore places that are seeped in atmosphere and wonder. Surrealistic environs are a proven way to trip this trigger.

Ocarina of Time's Forest Temple, Graveyard and Desert. Twilight Princess's Snowpeak Ruins and Arbiter's Grounds. Termina's Clocktown, Great Bay and Stone Tower. Even seemingly inane corners of Hyrule can be so tantalizing. The ruins of the amphitheater that overlooks Lake Hylia in Twilight Princess. The whole of Eldin Field with its massive ancient bridge and unidentified ruined walls. Even that weird little mine in the cliff across from Eldin Bridge or the frozen chamber in the area of Hyrule field near Zora's Domain. The serene feeling of remoteness on the furthest edge of Hyrule that Zora's Fountain conveys. The ancient timelessness of the lost woods.

This is why I cannot abide the toon style. It ruins any sense of place to see it painted so garishly. I cannot take a place seriously when it looks like Picasso drew it. The toon style cannot convey atmosphere and thereby it cannot convey that sense of wonder and mystique.

It's just a crying shame ninty insists on using cheap toon shading because they're too blasted lazy and incompetent to develop on par with modern graphics.

 

[Vanessa28]

I just love the series the most of all. I love the story, the sidequests and of course exploring the world. I just keep on returning to it every time

 

[Azure Sage]

It’s the charming adventures for me. The gameplay is almost always fun which is great, and the worlds are mostly really fun to just explore, BotW especially. When I play Zelda, I’m looking for a fun adventure, and that’s usually what I get more than most other adventure games.

 

[Hyrule Historian]

I usually keep coming back to Zelda because I feel like playing a game with a feel of an adventure and exploration through dungeons that challenge the player. I usually go back to Wind Waker and Twilight Princess as those are two of my favorite games. But Breath of the Wild nudged those two out of the top spot, so now when I feel like I just want to return to Hyurle, I choose that.

 

[Caramel H]

The music, watching youtube vids of it, seeing it referenced somewhere, etc.

 

[Terminus]

Stockholm Syndrome

Adventure. Even if I have the ins and outs of a game memorized, it's nice to feel like I'm uncovering the world again.

 

[Stormageden747]

The story is usually amazing, and a good story always turns me on. But the main thing that makes me keep playing Zelda is the feeling you get when you're exploring the world for the first time. The sad thing is, after so many hours of play it gets boring to just wander around.

 

[YIGAhim]

Dungeons and story (And challenge cough cough Zelda II and kinda Zelda I). But I also love the worlds and the music

 

[CyborgElfStephanie]

I had been coming back to Zelda a lot of times. Back in 9th grade 3 years after I gave my only Zelda game to my nephew when I saw magazines, arts, and videos of Zelda is when I asked for the game back. A lot of times I play Minecraft or so when a video or whatever will bring a spark of Zelda that brings me back to the game.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

For me it's the quality of the games. Usually I can spend hours invested into a Zelda game without getting bored, and normally alot of the games are put together well enough to be great for replay value.

There are moments in Zelda games I adore, locations I like to revisit. It was my favorite series of games as a child and still is to this day. If all other games failed it used to be that Zelda was the fall back game to buy and you couldn't complain much with the amount of content within. For example, I bought Star Wars The Force Unleashed back in 2010 I think. I thought I'd be getting a game that would keep me busy for like a month. I beat it in just 5 days and I was disappointed. A Zelda game would last longer, I thought to myself.

 

[CynicalSquid]

Nostalgia mostly. Zelda has always been my favorite franchise so just seeing pictures from any of the games makes me want to go back and replay them.