Ocarina of Time 3D. It's never too late to get into the series, right?
I have been and still am primarily a PC gamer and never owned a Nintendo console in my life before ~2008, when I got a DS Lite. I don't remember exactly why I decided to get one but I did and played some really great games on it -- stuff like New Super Mario Bros, Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and Chrono Trigger. And that last one in particular made a big impact on me. I had of course heard about it before because, like a certain other game, it tends to appear on nearly every "best games of all time" list anywhere, ever, but it really lived up to its legacy and made me realize the amazing potential this little portable console had for letting a whole new generation of gamers (or an older generation who never had the opportunity) experience these great classics.
Shortly after I got that DS Lite my girlfriend got one too and *she* actually played Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, which she loved (so, in a way, she beat me to the franchise
), and although they kind of intrigued me and I liked the clever puzzles and use of the touch controls, etc. I was never really tempted to play them myself at that time.
Fast forward to 2011 and the release of the 3DS... First and foremost I was very curious about that console. I wanted to see if the 3D actually added to the gaming experience or if it was just a gimmick. The launch titles line-up however was... meager (to say the least) and I didn't really want to get the console without a game that I was really interested in. Enter Ocarina of Time 3D. The moment I found out that game was happening I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This was a title I knew as being revered by gamers across the world and a franchise that defined gaming history, even for those who never played a single Zelda game in their life, so in the autumn of that year I went to GameStop and traded my DS Lite along with several games (I kept Chrono Trigger) for a healthy "discount" on a brand new 3DS and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. My first Zelda game.
And good lord... I loved it. But it was also hard! But I loved it and then I got stuck in the Fire Temple and had to take a break that lasted for almost a year until I got back into it a few months ago and fell in love all over again and finally finished it last weekend and... I can't recall any other game that rose to such a unimaginable level of instant nostalgia and desperate longing the way OoT did when I finished it. So yeah, now I'm basically playing catch up. My girlfriend still has Spirit Tracks, so I'm playing that now, and I also have the anniversary edition of Four Swords and just got Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for the 3DS Virtual Console
I know there is a lot more to get on the Wii U but I really won't have the means to purchase one anytime soon and I kind of like / have gotten used to my Zelda games being portable. I am of course also eagerly anticipating A Link Between Worlds and am very, very, VERY much hoping for a Majora's Mask 3D announcement after ALBW is released.
As for what I like about the games? I think it's the full package. The sense of wonder and adventure, the classic hero's story, the time / dimensional travel elements, the gameplay, the dungeons, the music... The concept of each story being a part of the same legend being retold also really appeals to me. It's very much like a epic, classic fairy tale and (even at 32) that speaks to the child in me in a big way.
I guess this was also kind of my introduction post, so yeah. Hi