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Do spinoffs count to you?

Which of these are zelda games?

  • Links crossbow training

    Votes: 4 23.5%
  • Tingles rosy rupeeland

    Votes: 4 23.5%
  • Cadence of Hyrule

    Votes: 3 17.6%
  • Hyrule Warriors

    Votes: 6 35.3%
  • Philips CD-i games

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • Four Sword Adventures

    Votes: 13 76.5%
  • Triforce Heroes

    Votes: 15 88.2%
  • Breath of the Wild

    Votes: 13 76.5%
  • None of the above

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I voted! (Always select this one in addition to the others)

    Votes: 13 76.5%

  • Total voters
    17

Fig

The Altruist
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
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Mishima Tower
Spin-offs count, they are just non-canon unless specified. It's the same for every other franchise which is why they use the brand of x franchise as a selling point to garner interest for those specific fans.
 

twilitfalchion

and thus comes the end of an era
Staff member
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Well, for one, BotW is not a spin-off. It's a mainline Zelda game.

That aside, spin-offs count, though the question of being canon vs. non-canon kind of keeps it up in the air, so to speak. I doubt anybody would want to count the Cd-i games as true Zelda games, but you could find a fair amount of folks who'd maintain that Age of Calamity (regrettably or no) is mainline and canon.
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

CHIMer Dragonborn
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BotW isn't a spinoff, it has a different gameplay approach, but at it's core it's still Zelda despite straying from the "Zelda formula". There are still puzzles, we still have Link, Zelda, Ganon and the Master Sword. It just has a bigger world than normal and a lot more freedom.

Four Swords Adventures and Tri Force Heroes are the same, different gameplay approach, multiplayer, but at the core still Zelda games.

Everything else on the list is a spin off because it's based on some aspect of Zelda, but isn't designed as a true Zelda game. The Tingle games feature an NPC as the protagonist, this clearly fits the definition of a spin-off series.

The CDI games are based off the Zelda cartoon, which in of itself is a media spin-off.

Hyrule Warriors is a Musou game taking influence from Zelda for it's story and roster, it isn't a true Zelda game. Likewise, Age of Calamity is a Musou spin-off of Breath of the Wild, despite being marketed as a prequel.

Cadence of Hyrule is a Crypt of the Necrodancer game taking influence from Zelda, so it cannot be considered a Zelda game.

Link's Crossbow Training is the big grey area, I have to chalk it up as a not a Zelda game though.
 
Last edited:

Mikey the Moblin

sushi is a suspicious hello
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
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southworst united states
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Dude
People are complaining about botw being on the list, but already there are 2 votes for tfh and not botw

If timeline canonicity is the requirement, isnt links crossbow training canon? (Never played it tho)
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
regardless of breath of the wild thoughts, no reason for that to even be on here

I hesitate to call four swords and triforce heroes mainline but I wouldn't call them spin offs either, but they are acknowledged in the timeline and all so at least nintendo counts them

everything else are spin offs yeah, but still zelda games nonetheless
 

CreeperMaster343

Spirit Tracks Zelda best companion, LinkxNavi FTW
Joined
Oct 7, 2020
They are all Zelda games, just different sub categories of either mainline or spin off, but are still 'Zelda games'
 

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