Best Zelda sequel?

[King Link]

I just want to know peoples opinion on this question because Zelda sequels are interesting.
I’m not counting the original four swords because it came bundled with alttp not on its own.

 

[Guinea]

As much as I love Spirit Tracks, I gotta go with Majora's Mask. It was so different from OoT but it's still amazing.

 

[King Link]

My favourite is Totk because it was an expansion on my favourite Zelda game Botw and ultra hand is so fun to play with.

 

[thePlinko]

Majora’s Mask, and it’s not even close. It’s everything a sequel should be. It takes the base of the original and does wild things with it that make you see the formula in a completely different light.

Zelda 2 is also pretty good, I just don’t think it lands quite as well as Majora’s Mask.

As much as I adore Phantom Hourglass, as a direct sequel to Windwaker it’s not great. It doesn’t really evolve the gameplay of Windwaker in any way and instead opts to mostly do its own thing.

Spirit Tracks is a much better sequel, but at the same time a lot of what it builds off of from Phantom Hourglass kinda feels like it misses the point

I never really felt like A Link Between Worlds ever benefited from being a direct sequel to A Link to the Past. I get that it was originally going to be a remake of LttP, but the way it reuses the overworld just feels like nostalgia bait and nothing more.

Tears of the Kingdom is barely a sequel. All it does is double down on all of the bad parts of Breath of the Wild (which was most of it) while removing the few good parts. The story also directly contradicts BotWs at nearly every opportunity. Even disregarding how awful the game itself is, it’s a horrible sequel.

You also forgot Link’s Awakening, which I think is narratively a pretty great sequel, even if the gameplay is more iterative than anything mind blowing.

 

[MW7]

Majora's Mask is my favorite, but TotK and ALbW are close behind. Majora's Mask is so different from OoT but had so many cool game mechanics and quests.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

Majora's Mask and it's not even a competition.

Good sequels should be loose continuations of a story that mostly stans on their own. MM is the epitome of this. It's very obviously a sequel, as it uses similar gameplay and assets to OoT and the story directly references its predecessor, but it's an entirely new story in a whole new world, with new music, new characters, new enemy, new gameplay mechanics. And the best part is they achieved nothing short of creating a masterpiece in only 8 months.

Tears of the Kingdom, as much as I love it as a game, is a downright terrible sequel as it contains very few references to BotW and the Sheikah tech is completely unimportant and in fact mostly gone entirely, with no explanation. There are very few changes to the world of Hyrule itself, very few new characters, similar side quests, etc. It feels more like extended DLC than a sequel, which tbf is exactly what it started out as.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

I have to say Majora's Mask. The amount of detail it went into the world, with all of the different characters dealing with their own troubles and griefs with the moon falling... It really makes that game feel like the world is alive and breathing. It really makes you want to save the people, and help them with their troubles. You're not just saving the world because it's your destiny, but you feel like it's your duty to help those who need it. All of the characters in that game is so memorable, and nothing can beat the charm that was the original, it really captured the heart of what makes Zelda unique.

I also think Link's Crossbow Training should be on the list as a joke.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

looking at this in the context of how these games act as sequels just makes me think zelda sequels are bad lol
the best game here is majora's mask though

personally I think wind waker acts as a neat little time skip sequel to ocarina of time. It feels like the dark souls 3 to dark souls, or the alloy of law to mistborn

 

[ZeldaFan80]

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link gets my vote for best sequel.

 

[Daku Rinku]

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link gets my vote for best sequel.

Nice to see its getting some appreciation. I am major fan of the final boss.

 

[ZeldaFan80]

Nice to see its getting some appreciation. I am major fan of the final boss.

Besides people whining about the difficulty, I will never understand why the game gets so much hate.

 

[Daku Rinku]

Besides people whining about the difficulty, I will never understand why the game gets so much hate.

Its a thing with Zelda fans, they hate change at first. Zelda 1 and A Link To A Past is top down style, Zelda II did the Ninja Gaiden (NES) and Mario Bros style, and fans reacted, but then OoT fans loved the change, then they complained about Windwaker doing a change; its a cycle of hate and love when the art style and game play changes.

 

[King Link]

Its a thing with Zelda fans, they hate change at first. Zelda 1 and A Link To A Past is top down style, Zelda II did the Ninja Gaiden (NES) and Mario Bros style, and fans reacted, but then OoT fans loved the change, then they complained about Windwaker doing a change; its a cycle of hate and love when the art style and game play changes.

I see that too with Botw and Totk first being loved sequel falling just short of the mark.

 

[Daku Rinku]

I see that too with Botw and Totk first being loved sequel falling just short of the mark.

Great point. Its a struggle between those who want traditional and those who want change; usually it takes a game that blends the two well like OoT, and Botw. But there is the camps, those who want old school Zelda and those who want new ideas. Poor Nintendo has to gamble each game on one or the other, and will get criticized no natter the effort. The exception is the perfect blends of old and new which appease both camps temporarily.

 

[Goddess Athenaeum]

It's hard to argue with Majora's Mask. It's always going to be a classic. I loved that they were able to use so many assets from the previous game to tell a completely different story.