How much replay value does each game have?

[LegendOfMeesh]

Could have sworn there was another thread like this, but I can't find it, sooo..

I'm wondering how everyone ranks each LoZ game in regards to replay value.
And, in addition, how often you find yourself replaying each game in the series.

I figure there will be a lot of differing opinions here, and I'm excited to see what everyone thinks!

 

[YIGAhim]

I'd like to start off by saying that Ocarina of Time has the most replay value, tied with Breath of The Wild, even though neither of those two are my favorite game. I will be more in-depth later and rank most or all of the games, but for now I'll leave it with:

- OoT has different dungeon orders
-BoTW is massive

 

[the8thark]

Most of the shorter 2D games have lots of replay potential. Especially in the speedrunning community. Also you can do some of the challenges to artifically make the game harder for a challenge if you are into that thing.
Most of the 3D games don't have much replay potential because they are long enough that you're done when you beat the game and want something else. The any percent OOT category is one exception as it's less than 30 minutes to finish and good to speed run. I would also say the any percent BotW speed run is another good one. It's 90 minutes or less. Just do the plateau then race to Hyrule castle and beat the game.

 

[Spirit]

OoT, WW, BoTW, ALttP and TP are my top choices for replay value because they're fun, I enjoy their stories and love their worlds.

Skyward Sword, Phantom Hourglass and the multiplayer Zeldas can all go to hell.

Everything else in the middle... i played them to get their stories, there aren't many Zelda games I really like going back through.

 

[AncientPoe]

Not sure about replay value exactly, but I find that I'm able to forget the solutions to long stretches of Link's Awakening if I don't play it for a long time. I think that soon, I'll be trying to play through it again to get the perfect ending (beat the game without dying once) but that will be a challenge. Those older games aren't afraid to try to kill you!

 

[YIGAhim]

I totally forgot how to do the last terminal in Vah Nabooris. That dungeon was well done

 

[Horus]

3D Zelda games tend to insist on their context and plot too much, formulation of the game consist of tons of texts for trivial things, unending everyday dialogs, intrusive companion characters, back and forth song playing, wind waking, time traveling. It's overwhelming, so when I finished them I feel 'I'm done' But 2D Zelda's are not like that, they are pure gameplay just boot up and play, they respect your pace, satisfyingly challenging, not an empty moment, more importantly they leave me to my designs. Even after playing beating the games that good taste lingers and make me wanna play again. Watching somebody playing ALTTP is more fun than actually playing Skyward Sword myself.

I've played Alttp too many times. Even now I want to play it. But for 3D Zelda's, only TP was replay-worthy for a number of reasons.

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

Skyward Sword, Phantom Hourglass and the multiplayer Zeldas can all go to hell.

If you're looking for the Zelda game with the best replay value, I contend that the above comment ought to be ignored. Four Swords Adventures is a nightmare to get together: the Gamecube (Wii), the four GBAs, for link cables, the game itself...and of course three whole friends! The game is merely a decent Zelda game without friends. But once it's all in place, For Swords Adventures is playable over and over again. The story is weaker than most Zelda games but only to keep it unobtrusive for a multiplayer experience. The music is straight out of ALttP so...yeah, you aren't going to find better tracks. The visuals are like the demigod love-child of Wind Waker and A Link to the Past. The length of each level gives you the opportunity to sit down with these friends for an hour at a time without making the game feel disjointed. The gameplay encourages teamwork AND selfish jerkdom. Seriously, the game is epic. If you want to go for a definitive experience, you can spend the money that I spent on it and replace the four GBAs with four Gamecubes, four Game Boy Players, and four more tvs making everybody's individual screen much easier to see and allowing everyone to use Game Cube controllers.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

If you want to go for a definitive experience, you can spend the money that I spent on it and replace the four GBAs with four Gamecubes, four Game Boy Players, and four more tvs making everybody's individual screen much easier to see and allowing everyone to use Game Cube controllers.

that sounds like an event

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

that sounds like an event

Dude, it's an experience. We're building our house this year and once I have a little space carved out for myself, I'm going to get it hooked up legit, like permanently.

 

[Tetra's Wink]

TLOZ - Not much for me, as I'm just not that keen
TAOL - Not much at all. I beat it once, and never wanted to play it again
ALTTP - Quite a lot, and it's one of the more difficult games too, which makes you want to master it more
LA - It would be a lot, but there's a stupid notification where it tells you whenever you get an object, or when you walk near something without the bracelet equipped, which completely wrecks the replay value. Silly reason I know, but it really does affect it for me
OOT - Loads
MM - Plenty, but not as much as the other 3D zeldas because of the time mechanic
OOS/OOA - Quite a lot because you can play them in either order, which tempts you to try both orders
FS - Not much, but a little I guess because it's so short
TWW - Loads
FSA - Average amount
TMC - A lot as it's bags of fun
TP - Loads
PH - Only played this and ST once, gonna revisit soon, but I don't think the replay value is that much
ST - See above
SS - Loads, but maybe a little less due to the tiring motion controls
ALBW - Lots, although oddly it never seems fresh to me anymore for some reason
TH - Average amount. The silliness of the story puts me off a bit though
BOTW - On one hand it's replay value is massive as there's so much to do; but on the other hand it's replay value is very low because... there's so much to do

 

[WraithHawk]

• Legend of Zelda: Some, but not much. This is one of those games I'd replay years and years after the last time and might abandon after a few hours.
• Adventure of Link: Same as LoZ. I doubt I'll ever beat the game again because of how wretched the approach to the Great Palace is and the likelihood of having to do it many times.
• Link to the Past: I've played it so much that my knee-jerk answer to this was "well I'm kinda sick of it right now, so not much?" which actually means it has tons.
• Link's Awakening: My first Zelda game and one of the few to defy the formula. I will never get tired of this one.
• Ocarina of Time: Same as LttP.
• Majora's Mask: A decent amount. I love it to death and I'll play it once every year or two.
• Oracle of Seasons/Ages: With everything there is to unlock in a linked game, tons. Especially if you go for all the rings.
• Wind Waker: Lots, but I wouldn't have said that before the HD version cut down the Triforce hunt.
• Minish Cap: I wasn't a tremendous fan but I'd play it again.
• Twilight Princess: In theory this should have tons of replay value but...I've only replayed it once and that was when the HD version came out. Most of it is the exceedingly drawn out beginning of the game, I think.
• Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks: None whatsoever, entirely due to the controls.
• Skyward Sword: Very little, if any. I adore this game but I also loathe it. I could stomach most of my issues with it for a replay but the controls, once again, ruin everything.
• A Link Between Worlds: Some. I love this one but it's rather easy. Hero mode helps though.
• Breath of the Wild: You can always dive in and find new things, fight more Lynels and play dress up but once you've beaten all the shrines and finished the main quest the replay value dips considerably. The DLC helps boost it. Trial of the Sword is great and the Master Cycle is a joy to use. I've found myself doing nothing but fool around on the Master Cycle for hours.

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

If I may posit and unpopular opinion regarding Breath of the Wild, I think that as time goes on, I will grow more and more tired with the game. BotW has incredible replay value up front, but with diminishing returns. The reason I come back to other Zelda games is certainly in part for the gameplay, but more than that, I relish reliving the epic tales. Breath of the Wild did well at integrating a storyline into an open-air game, but of all of the Zelda games I've played, the story in Breath of the Wild will probably bring me back the fewest times.

 

[WraithHawk]

I think you're right there. I'm a year in and I have less and less desire to play even though I haven't finished Trial of the Sword or Master Mode (and master mode is more of a chore than anything else. I love difficult games but this is difficulty done cheaply, vapidly and just plain wrong). For me at least the simple fact is that BotW, for all the great things it did, sacrificed the best part of Zelda (the dungeons) in the transition to open world. What we have is great, but the shrines feel like a single room out of a standard Zelda dungeon and even the divine beasts don't feel as large and satisfying as dungeons in past games.

Returning to a Zelda game after a while its easy to forget exactly how to solve each puzzle and navigate each dungeon, which makes them feel somewhat new again, but because BotW's counterparts are smaller and simpler (and because so many are unapologetically pure mechanical challenges) I think we'll have a harder time forgetting such things.

 

[Dizzi]

Oot is one i always go back to...