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Hardest Zelda Game

Mellow Ezlo

Spoony Bard
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eh?
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I think I know what the popular response will be for this question...

Thread title says it all. What, in your opinion, is the hardest Zelda game? By "hardest", I mean in terms of every concept the Zelda series is known for; combat, puzzles, controls, etc. Basically, the one that gave you the most trouble, not necessarily the one that caused you to die the most.

For me, it's definitely The Adventure of Link. I've never been the greatest at playing NES era games, so Zelda II is especially difficult for me. In fact, it's the only video game that I've ever actually given up on (most others I just get bored of). Puzzle wise, it really doesn't pose much challenge. It's in the combat that my skills fall short of what's required. I find myself always getting hit by enemies and accidentally walking into them while trying to hit them far too often. I've found my life gauge draining incredibly fast every time I've tried to play the game again. The furthest I've ever actually gotten in the game is Death Mountain, and I've never made it through. Who knows, I may pick it up again in the future and try to progress, but I can definitely say with full confidence that this is, for me, the hardest Zelda game of all.

But what about you guys?
 

Djinn

and Tonic
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Nov 29, 2010
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I would have to say AOL too. Based on the slippery controls, the tiny sword forcing you to get well into incredibly dangerous range and having to rely on that jump/crouch move to kill most temple enemies. Also the player has the least idea of where to go majority of the time in this game. Dying and having to start over again at the North Palace is almost enough to cause players to give up.
 
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Adventure of Link. But in that game's defense: it had awesome music, and beating it made you feel like a God King. Thunderbird took me a million years, but i somehow miraculously beat Dark Link on the first go. BARELY.
 
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Pen

The game is on!
Well... Zelda II! XD

Actually, out of all the Zelda games in the main series, Zelda II is the only one I haven't beaten yet for pretty much the same reasons that have been mentioned already. The game can surely be fun to play at times, but most of the time the difficulty (in the battles mostly) just ruins it. I remember when I finally managed to beat Hoarsehead; I've honestly never been that happy from beating a boss of a first dungeon. lol
 
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The Oracle games, the forced mini games, figuring out where you need to use the harp, the big overworld, remembering where you planted all those stupid gasha nuts, some of the dungeons are no walk in the park either. Still great games though!
 

43ForceGems

Quid est veritas, Claudia
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Well I'm gonna have to split it up, because I can't decide a single hardest Zelda game. I'll have my hardest based on the puzzles, the hardest to solve and figure out, and the hardest based on sheer difficulty of the game in the combat form, hardest to do, not figure out.

Hardest based on puzzles as gotta be Oracle of Ages. It still takes me hours to get through Jabu Jabu's Belly, and I just end up getting pissed off, gosh that place is hard. Definitely the hardest dungeon in ANY Zelda game in my opinion. And then like the Ancient Tomb and a couple of the other dungeons, there are just puzzles that are hard to figure out, it's hard to figure out what to do, and it's just all confusing.

Hardest on the combat difficulty is probably Adventure of Link. And I'm probably urged even more to say that based on the fact that when you get a game over, you have to start over from the beginning area, and nobody likes that, but the game is just tough anyways.
 
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Though I'd like to sneak an honorable mention in for Link's Awakening. Lots of strong enemies and high damage stuff. Though I don't know how many times i died for real because I had a lot of trouble getting the save menu to come up so the only way I could save most of the time was to get myself killed...
 

onebizarrekai

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Adventure of Link basically makes me go

tumblr_loep5uERsB1qhu5ee.gif


But I'm going to talk about a different game because lots of people are talking about that one.

A Link to the Past.

Yes, I just said that. A Link to the Past makes me rage. Not as much as Zelda II, but I cannot get used to ALttP no matter how hard I try. I'm pretty sure it's the controls I can't get used to and lack of having any idea of what the heck I'm supposed to do. Mix together my lack of being able to actually use the controls properly and a very challenging game, and you basically get me raging.

I played A Link Between Worlds though and that was fine. I think it was because of the fact that you can actually face all directions and not just four. Plus, it was definitely smoother (obviously because it's much, much more recent) and actually hitting enemies was easier. That was one of my biggest issues with the other game.

Of course, it's not like there are any other contenders. I never beat the original Zelda either. Again, I could only face four directions. I'm seeing a pattern here…

On the other hand, for the Oracle games, while I did have trouble with them here and there, it gave me something to do rather than me forcing myself to play it. I would play them willingly rather than just wanting to see if I could finally get used to the gameplay. I beat both Oracle games several times. Sure, they both have their share of annoying places (Specifically in Oracle of Ages), but for some reason, I liked them more.

I would like to pick on a more recent game because there's going to be a lot of talking about older, 2D games here, but really, that was the thing about the older games. They're more challenging, and the games now are just easier to play. They aren't easy-peasy (although Pokemon games have most definitely and quite obviously become too easy), but they are certainly easier than they were and I'm sure you agree. Most of my reasons for their 'difficulty' now would mostly be because of my disliking towards controls. I want back my good old-fashioned gamecube controller :(
 

PhantomTriforce

I am a Person of Interest
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I look for challenging dungeons and puzzles in a Zelda game, and for that reason, I will list Oracle of Ages as the hardest Zelda game. The puzzles in this game were on point, and many of the dungeons were very well designed and were pretty easy to get stuck in. Jabu-Jabu's Belly, pls.
 

Doc

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To avoid being redundant here, I won't say Adventure of Link. That is the pinnacle of difficulty, mostly because it involves mechanics that simply aren't very Zelda.

Instead, the hardest Zelda game has ought to be OoX. It might be cheating to combine them both, but I found the puzzles were extremely difficult in both. Just including Oracle of Ages (which, IMO, was a bit more challenging than Seasons) seems a bit unfair to Seasons, which made me rage so much at trying to find the gemstones AND figure out how to get into the desert. Even after reading a walkthrough I still couldn't get it!

Not to mention the dancing minigames which was mandatory in both to proceed. Those were perhaps the hardest minigames to ever appear in a Zelda title. My lack of rhythm really punished me that day!
 
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Besides AoL, I found the first Zelda game to be so difficult, to a point it's near impossible for me to play without the use of restore points, which I felt guilty for using. So I gave up on it for now. I also found the Oracle games challenging, especially the dungeons. Ugh.
Also I can't help but mention the last puppet Ganon from Wind Waker, which is that snake thing. Probably the most frustrating boss for me.
 
Joined
May 4, 2014
Location
California
To avoid being redundant here, I won't say Adventure of Link. That is the pinnacle of difficulty, mostly because it involves mechanics that simply aren't very Zelda.

Instead, the hardest Zelda game has ought to be OoX. It might be cheating to combine them both, but I found the puzzles were extremely difficult in both. Just including Oracle of Ages (which, IMO, was a bit more challenging than Seasons) seems a bit unfair to Seasons, which made me rage so much at trying to find the gemstones AND figure out how to get into the desert. Even after reading a walkthrough I still couldn't get it!

Not to mention the dancing minigames which was mandatory in both to proceed. Those were perhaps the hardest minigames to ever appear in a Zelda title. My lack of rhythm really punished me that day!


Snooty little Subrosians
 

misskitten

Hello Sweetie!
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Jun 18, 2011
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Norway
Adventures of Link, I rage-quitted that one after getting a couple of game overs forcing me to start over again. Never again.
 

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