Rank the Games by Difficulty

[MW7]

There have definitely been hardest or easiest game threads before, but I couldn't find one ranking them all so here we go. This is extremely subjective as there are multiple factors that go into difficulty like combat and puzzles so there could be a wide variety of opinions. Here is mine ranked 1 as the hardest and 17 as the easiest.

1. Adventure of Link - This has the most difficult combat in the series by a very wide margin. Puzzles are rare, but the ones that exist are obscure. Navigating dungeons late in the game is also challenging.

2. Oracle of Ages - This has the hardest puzzles in the series, and the combat is middle of the pack for a Zelda game. I think the dungeons in this game are the most complex in the series even including 3d games.

3. Oracle of Seasons - This game has some pretty difficult puzzles as well. I think what is overlooked is the overworld puzzles involving changing seasons. The dungeons in Ages are more difficult, but navigating the overworld and solving puzzles in the overworld in Seasons is more challenging as there are four variations to the overworld.

4. Legend of Zelda - I think this game has the second hardest combat in the series. Wizzrobes and darknuts are both really challenging. Other than level 9, I don't think navigating the dungeons is particularly crazy though, and the puzzles are basically nonexistent.

5. A Link to the Past - Combat is tough but feels much more fair compared to the first two games in the series. Puzzles start to exist on a more regular basis, and the dungeon themes lead to some clever dungeon designs like Skull Woods.

6. Tears of the Kingdom - TotK I think is pretty clearly more difficult than BotW, but they are similar. The weird thing about these games is the reverse difficulty curve in which things start off killing you left and right, but by the end you're unkillable. TotK has similar puzzle difficulty, but I think the combat difficulty is what puts it above BotW with the additions of certain overworld enemies. Dungeons are not particularly difficult but have some clever puzzles as do the shrines.

7. Breath of the Wild - Combat is more difficult than the 3d games that came before it, and puzzles were unique. Shrines were the highlight of the game, but the Divine Beasts all had interesting puzzles as well. Vah Naboris stood out as the most difficult.

8. Spirit Tracks - Puzzles are pretty great in this game with good variety. Combat isn't anything special due to the controls. I think this game deserves bonus points because you can just randomly end up at the game over screen due to mistakes with the train in the overworld. Also the end of the game is really challenging.

9. Link's Awakening - This game is the basis for the Oracle games so it's similar but simpler in many ways. I think this game is the first that really put significant effort into puzzle design, and there are some confusing dungeons as a result.

10. Skyward Sword - I prefer the button controls, but the combat is much more difficult than the 3d games that preceded it because of having to control the angle of sword swings regardless of which control method you use. I wouldn't say any of the puzzles are particularly hard, but they are very clever and thoughtfully designed.

11. Phantom Hourglass - The Temple of the Ocean King is pretty challenging and unique for the series. You could possibly die in the overworld, but not nearly as easily as in Spirit Tracks. Combat isn't difficult, but the puzzles are at least thought-provoking.

12. Majora's Mask - I love the time mechanic, but I hear people complaining about it often so that is a factor in the overall difficulty. The puzzles and dungeons can be challenging at times. One thing that I haven't seen mentioned before is that being child Link makes combat a bit harder than Ocarina of Time despite being essentially the same. Also some minor changes can make combat more difficult. Specifically I'm thinking of the Iron Knuckles in Ikana Graveyard. I find myself having to pay much closer attention fighting these Iron Knuckles than Iron Knuckles in OoT.

13. Minish Cap - I think this game has a reputation for being easy, but I think there are some difficult moments along with a very difficult final boss. Some of the overworld puzzles in between dungeons can be challenging as well. Dungeons aren't particularly easy or hard.

14. Twilight Princess - I think if you ban most of the hidden skills, combat can actually be difficult, but that's a choice to make the game harder so I don't give much credit for that. If you gain the hidden skills as they become available, nothing in the game should be hard to fight except maybe King Bulblin on horseback. Puzzles and dungeons are well designed and have some thought provoking moments. I can see people having trouble with the Master Sword puzzle as well.

15. Ocarina of Time - Combat can be difficult at times, but with patience anything can be defeated without much trouble. If you go around with bottles with fairies, you realistically should never die. Puzzles and dungeon design I think are similar in difficulty to MM and TP. A lot of the puzzles in this game are now cliches, but this game either invented them or was the 3d interpretation of things from ALttP and LA.

16. A Link Between Worlds - I read somewhere someone explained that the puzzles in this game are so intuitive that they are all easy, and I think that's a fair assessment. The design around knowing which dungeon item a dungeon revolves around before you enter it limited the puzzle design. I want to clarify that I love the nonlinear approach of this game, but I think they could have done things a touch differently with respect to the items and made things better. Combat is also pretty easy, but there are a handful of enemies that can cause concern.

17. Wind Waker - I love this game, but I also think it is very easy. Combat is incredibly easy with the parry system. Even the Cave of Ordeals isn't particularly challenging. Puzzles and dungeons are well designed but nothing stands out as particularly difficult. The only part of the game in which I've come close to dying in Dragon Roost Cavern because you only have 3 hearts and one bottle. Once you have more hearts and bottles, it gets easier.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I think I'd agree overall, though would probably rank both N64 games a few spots higher each

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

botw and botw2 aren't that hard. they just have a really absurd difficulty curve where the game starts out literally impossible until you get any amount of resources, after which they become trivial

 

[thePlinko]

BotW and TotK definitely need to go towards the bottom. Both games exist with the sole purpose of cheesing any hint of a challenge or fun away, both in combat and in navigation.

If we’re counting master/second quest, then LoZ and OoT should be 2 and 3 respectively. If not, OoT and MM should be about where you put the open world games.

 

[Chevywolf30]

I can see people having trouble with the Master Sword puzzle as well.

I love Twilight Princess to bits, but I DESPISE this part. Purely as a puzzle it's one of my least favorites in the series, not to mention that it KILLS the pacing in one of my utmost story portions of the whole series. I tend to try to figure stuff out on my own, but when I get to this part I pull up a walkthrough before I even start. Although as I write this, I realize it's the same each time, so I could just memorize the movements.

17. Wind Waker - I love this game, but I also think it is very easy. Combat is incredibly easy with the parry system. Even the Cave of Ordeals isn't particularly challenging. Puzzles and dungeons are well designed but nothing stands out as particularly difficult. The only part of the game in which I've come close to dying in Dragon Roost Cavern because you only have 3 hearts and one bottle. Once you have more hearts and bottles, it gets easier.

This is true, and part of the reason I advocate for Wind Waker as a good first Zelda game. The sailing mechanic is pretty different from the rest of the series, but everything else makes it a great first Zelda imo.

 

[GZ Zelda]

I'm going to talk about my playthroughs only, not the consensus, with the hardest part of each game

Hard:

1. Z1: Combat. This game is a CHORE and the hit distance is absurd. It's manual-intended, which I understand is because of hardware limitations, but that doesn't make my first manual-less playthrough any less of a tedious slog.
2. Z2: Bosses. The combat overall is very well-designed, but it gets very flimsy with boss enemies because of the short hit distance.

Medium:
3. MM: Zora Eggs. Just a lot of brain teasers and schedule management which I'm not great at, and Zora Eggs with one bottle was a bad idea on my part. And Keeta, why you run away so fast?
4. OoA: Jabu Jabu's Belly. This game is also a big brain teaser, but is satisfying enough that it doesn't feel too hard.
5. SS: Joycon Drift, let me use my sword! This would be below right above WW if I didn't have joycon drift
6. OoT: The controls, I want to die. I do not like N64 controls, they are janky and I don't like them.

Medium-ish:
7. ALttP: Blind. Lots of NSO rewind, so it's easier in retrospect.
8. BotW: Lynel. Harder puzzles, more skill-based combat.
9. TotK: Gleeok. Easier puzzles, more puzzle-based combat.
10. OoS: Difficult to listen to? The music hahaha, this game isn't that hard (except the treadmill room in Unicorn Cave, screw that room)
11. TP: Dungeons kind of? This is slightly harder than an easy Zelda game.

Easy:
12. PH: Maze Island. Maze Island, and getting good times in TotOK are hard. HARD! But the game is not.
13. WW: Triforce? Not that hard, just Wind Temple rupee farming was tedious.
14. MC: Nothing in particular. Getting all the heart pieces though? TOO HARD! Figurines will haunt my nightmares.
15. ST: Train Ending. There's no "Maze Island" level challenge.
16. LA: Turtle Rock. Not hard! Turtle Rock is hard. The rest is not hard!
17. ALBW: Nothing. Honestly...absolutely nothing.
18. FSA: Bad teammates, don't get non-Zelda friends to play Zelda with you, don't do it!
19. TFH: Nothing, Lady Maud is "difficult" but, like, not at all though.
20. FS: Absolutely nothing

This has the most difficult combat in the series

More difficult than Skyward Sword HD with joycon drift, I don't think so!

3. Oracle of Seasons - This game has some pretty difficult puzzles as well. I think what is overlooked is the overworld puzzles involving changing seasons. The dungeons in Ages are more difficult, but navigating the overworld and solving puzzles in the overworld in Seasons is more challenging as there are four variations to the overworld.

Eh...I didn't find the seasons thing too hard, there's one hard heart piece that uses the seasons in the lake , and the Ancient Ruins have one hard puzzle with it, but I don't think it gives it 3rd hardest game.

Also Majora's Mask below Link's Awakening? Turtle Rock is a hard dungeon, but not harder than Stone Tower, or Great Bay. And the side quests in MM are pretty difficult

BotW and TotK definitely need to go towards the bottom.

Gleeoks and Lynels? Some of the toughest enemies in the series. Maybe lower than 6 and 7, but harder than PH, ST, LA, MC, WW, ALBW, FS/FSA/TFH? 10th and 11th is the lowest I see them going.

 

[thePlinko]

Gleeoks and Lynels? Some of the toughest enemies in the series. Maybe lower than 6 and 7, but harder than PH, ST, LA, MC, WW, ALBW, FS/FSA/TFH? 10th and 11th is the lowest I see them going.

Gleeoks I didn’t have much experience with because I just wanted to get the game over with as quickly as possible, but Lynels were not difficult in the slightest. Literally just spam the attack button until your weapon breaks, abuse the pathetically easy perfect dodge timing, eat one of your hundred full-heal meals on the off chance you get hit, rinse and repeat until you finally kill it and get the drops that are worse than what you used up during the fight. And that’s if you decide to actually use the combat mechanics instead of just cheesing it. The only games that you have listed up there that BotW and TotK are harder than are the multiplayer games and WW.

 

[Ganondorf]

I think a problem that prevents me from really ranking them is what we deem as difficulty; just by puzzles? Just the combat? A combination of both? In addition, when did we play them? Because for example, I thought MM was impossible as a kid in the 90's with limited internet access & a ratty game guide, but it's fine for me as an adult today & jumping into any LoZ game now is a lot easier since I have generally more game experience under my belt to notice things, compared to how I was at age 9. A lot of older games just don't even say where to go & you just have to wander until the game naturally nudges you that way from design, or some NPC says it, if they do at all. Without a game guide back in the day, the Triforce pieces in WW were impossible for me to find, for example, so that alone would put it "extremely difficult" just from the design of it, when really WW is super easy as a whole... dunno. I'll have to think & come back to this one.

 

[BloodyKun]

From hardest to easiest…been a while for some so my memory is not so great, and played some older ones more recently and my opinions have changed wildly on them. But here’s an attempt anyway.

1.Adventure of Link - I feel there’s some very obvious reasons for this one being at the top for many. Even grinding for hours to get all stats maxed out, using maps and walkthroughs, etc. this game was a struggle. Fun, but certainly tough. The only mainline Zelda game I haven’t finished…well, aside from Spirit Tracks I guess. We’ll get to that. But yeah, just could not get past the path to the final dungeon, decided enough was enough.

2.Spirit Tracks - hate to put this so high, but by virtue of also being a game I haven’t beat, it’s gotta go up here. I feel most of the game was fine, certainly really enjoyed Phantom Hourglass and it’s not terribly different, but I just do not like the method of travel - or, rather, from what I recall, 1 hit kîll enemies on the tracks. The idea of a railroad based Zelda isn’t necessarily bad but I hated having to play Pacman between doing literally anything else in the game and gave up around the 3rd dungeon I think.

3.Legend of Zelda - honestly I think after getting used to it it’s not too bad, at least not until stuff like Wizrobes start showing up. I feel this one in particular has that weird balancing where you’re kind of ****ed at the start, quickly get OP, only to have it ramp way up again at the end. Even so, I’ve almost done a deathless run of this game at one time.

4.A Link to the Past - things like more freedom of movement and attacks, small buffs and neat powers, things like that that are progression from the first two games in the series go a long way to making this easier. Still, I feel a few of the later dungeons get a bit long or a little confusing, and some stuff can hit like a truck if you’re not careful.

5.Link’s Awakening - a bit of an odd one for me, as I find the remake far easier, but had tons of trouble with the original, mainly due to again just how much damage enemies can dish out, usually coupled with how knockback seems to work.

6.Oracle of Ages - I don’t think most of the game is terribly difficult now, though that Jabu dungeon might have somehow been even harder this time than last for some reason.

7.Oracle of Seasons - more challenging in combat than puzzles, still generally similar to its twin.

8.Phantom Hourglass - only played through it once, but from what I recall most of it was just more fun than hard for me to figure out. Contrary to many others I was always thinking of what new ways could be done in the main temple to get further faster each time.

9.The Minish Cap - piss easy these days, but I do recall having a tough time of it when I was young, especially the Wind temple and its weird layout and backtracking, or the ice dungeon in general.

10.Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom - kind of an odd one for me, especially with these two tied. BotW was initially intimidating for me, compared to how easy the 3D games have all been when a blue Bokoblin oneshot me early in the game and I always went out of my way to avoid Guardians and Lynels. TotK on the other hand gives way more options and I actually attempted to fight near everything…however it’s got the Depths, which while I got every light root in, I was still afraid most of the time. But I guess that’s a challenge in a bit of an unintended way. Either way I like that enemies actually have a chance again in these two games, even if eventually you do still end up being OP.

11.Skyward Sword - also a bit of a weird spot because in retrospect I find a lot of it easy, but I definitely found it more engaging from moment to moment gameplay, especially stuff like the silent realms, and could appreciate all the good design. It’s one of the few games where doing the usual minimum heart challenge was actually fun, especially with Hero mode.

12.Majora’s Mask - mostly fun now but things like the aliens invading the ranch or getting the eggs from the eels or the Gibdo maze kind of stress me out a bit. I think the whole oppressive atmosphere about the game is underestimated on young and impressionable minds because even now as an adult it makes it a bit uneasy to begin with.

13.Ocarina of Time - I feel this is the main catalyst for a lot of features and tropes over many years in the series, one big one being a trend to make the series easier and more accessible. But as my first Zelda game it was definitely a rough start figuring things out, and there are a few choice sections like the Iron Knuckles being a bit hefty if they actually manage to hit you. And to this day I still feel the Shadow Temple is a bit of a slog.

14.Wind Waker - while it’s my favorite game ever, I do think much of it is a cakewalk. Back when I first played it, stuff like the Forsaken Fortress I found difficult, and I definitely found the Big Octos and cyclones and Seahats to be scary. Thing is, over the years my opinions on game difficulty have changed a bit - an eye opener of sorts being Souls fans trying to creep in on Armored Core 6 and being butthurt it got patched to be more fairly balanced. Not every game needs to be super tough so long as it’s enjoyable. Case in point, Kirby series or even the original Nier with Yoko Taro having said it was designed to be easy so everyone could enjoy the story.

15.Twilight Princess - however, on the flipside of this, you have really brain dead stuff, to where you don’t generally even have to think about what you’re actually doing much of the time. That’s this game for me unfortunately. With how bland and derivative it is, there’s not much else to focus on but the extremely linear level design, awful enemy AI, or unnecessary things like the automatic impervious shield. Even trying to do stuff like a wooden sword or shieldless run, enemies generally do so little damage and attack so infrequently that it just doesn’t cut it. None of the puzzles are all that interesting either, even with some of the better items like the ball and chain. Crazily underutilized.

16.Four Swords Adventures - hate to have this at near bottom but it’s really not a poor reflection on it, just that it’s kind of a byproduct of the more party based multiplayer focus it has. I only ever got to play it as a single player experience, but it was still fun to have a more experimental level based Zelda game you can casually play through.

17.A Link Between Worlds - to be honest I just do not remember much at all about this game. I definitely beat it, but nothing about it really stuck with me. There was the whole point about renting and returning items for others or something, but I think I must have bought them all not too long into it because I never ran into any issues with it. Much prefer how BotW/TotK implemented stuff instead because this just felt really shallow.

 

[MW7]

More difficult than Skyward Sword HD with joycon drift, I don't think so!

I actually just finished replaying Skyward Sword HD 6 days ago. The first time I played it was with button controls which in my opinion is a far better experience overall. This time was with motion controls, and I completely agree that the joycon drift adds a new problem to the motion controls. However, I actually thought motion controls were better than the Wii version. I think the hardest part of the game in the Wii version was playing the harp at the Lumpy Pumpkin which I probably have failed dozens of times in the Wii version and succeeded on my first try on the Switch. The hardest part of the Switch version was the pumpkin carrying minigame because the joycon drift made it way harder than it needed to be. I made it through a 100% run of the HD version using motion controls exclusively, but I don't think I would ever do that again and will stick to button controls in future replays.

Eh...I didn't find the seasons thing too hard, there's one hard heart piece that uses the seasons in the lake , and the Ancient Ruins have one hard puzzle with it, but I don't think it gives it 3rd hardest game.

Also Majora's Mask below Link's Awakening? Turtle Rock is a hard dungeon, but not harder than Stone Tower, or Great Bay. And the side quests in MM are pretty difficult

I think my biggest bias comes from level of experience with each game. The Oracle games and Spirit Tracks are my least played games. I replayed all 17 games in my list this year. The N64 games are my most played games so at this point I'm mostly guessing and trying to remember how confusing they were when I first played them. For me if I sat down to replay all the game again now, the Oracles are the only ones I would have moments of being stuck because of puzzles or tricky dungeon layouts (except for navigating late dungeons in Zelda 1 and 2). Link's Awakening is a strange case for me as it was the first game I played, and I had so much trouble with it when I was growing up. Now I don't have any trouble playing through it, but that early experience is still in my memory.

BotW and TotK definitely need to go towards the bottom. Both games exist with the sole purpose of cheesing any hint of a challenge or fun away, both in combat and in navigation.

If we’re counting master/second quest, then LoZ and OoT should be 2 and 3 respectively. If not, OoT and MM should be about where you put the open world games.

I think BotW and TotK are easy once you have enough resources, but I am giving them a lot of credit for the early game which in my experience the "early game" of these games lasts longer than a whole playthrough of any other Zelda game. In other words I'm still being one shotted by random Yiga guards 25 hours into TotK whereas I was beating the final boss in Skyward Sword 25 hours into that game. Puzzles are mostly very easy, but there are a handful that actually had me stuck for a bit. I'm giving these games credit for the volume of stuff to do as well because I think having the patience to do everything is a form of difficulty as well.

I think the second quest of LoZ is the only thing that approaches Zelda 2 in terms of difficulty. I put OoA second in my list, but the second quest of LoZ is way more difficult. The way things are hidden is absurd in many cases, and everything is just more difficult. I never recall having a huge amount of trouble with OoT master quest, but it certainly is much harder than the regular game.

I think a problem that prevents me from really ranking them is what we deem as difficulty; just by puzzles? Just the combat? A combination of both? In addition, when did we play them? Because for example, I thought MM was impossible as a kid in the 90's with limited internet access & a ratty game guide, but it's fine for me as an adult today & jumping into any LoZ game now is a lot easier since I have generally more game experience under my belt to notice things, compared to how I was at age 9. A lot of older games just don't even say where to go & you just have to wander until the game naturally nudges you that way from design, or some NPC says it, if they do at all. Without a game guide back in the day, the Triforce pieces in WW were impossible for me to find, for example, so that alone would put it "extremely difficult" just from the design of it, when really WW is super easy as a whole... dunno. I'll have to think & come back to this one.

I totally agree that this is extremely subjective, and you can define difficulty however you would like. Age when I played is a big reason I ranked Link's Awakening as difficult, and I didn't try to adjust for that.

 

[thePlinko]

I think BotW and TotK are easy once you have enough resources, but I am giving them a lot of credit for the early game which in my experience the "early game" of these games lasts longer than a whole playthrough of any other Zelda game. In other words I'm still being one shotted by random Yiga guards 25 hours into TotK whereas I was beating the final boss in Skyward Sword 25 hours into that game.

I guess I can’t judge the game based on your own experiences of it, but it took me no more than 10 hours to get to a point in either game where I could kill just about everything first try. Admittedly some of the bosses in TotK were a decent challenge due to me rushing through the game so much as well as the fact that the food system was tweaked to be slightly less op, but I still wouldn’t put it any higher than 14 or so.

I'm giving these games credit for the volume of stuff to do as well because I think having the patience to do everything is a form of difficulty as well.

That seems like very odd logic to me. I don’t think having patience for busywork really constitutes as a designed challenge for a game. By that logic, MC and WW should be ranked 3rd and 4th for their figurines and statue’s respectively. Hell, that would make Minecraft the most difficult game ever created for that matter.

I never recall having a huge amount of trouble with OoT master quest, but it certainly is much harder than the regular game.

No you’re right, putting it above the Oracle games is a little much for master quest. I think 7th for regular OoT is fair (with 6th for MM) and in between 3rd and 4th for master quest.

I guess a full ranking for me would be

1.AoL
-(LoZ second quest goes here)
2.OoA
3.OoS
-(OoT master quest goes here)
4.LoZ
5.LttP
6.MM
7.OoT
8.PH
9.ST
10.LA
11.TP
….
15.TotK
16.BotW
17.WW

I’m not sure where I’d put MC, SS, or LBW if only because it’s been a while since I’ve played those games and unlike the Oracles I don’t remember their difficulty levels being particularly extreme in either direction.

 

[MW7]

That seems like very odd logic to me. I don’t think having patience for busywork really constitutes as a designed challenge for a game. By that logic, MC and WW should be ranked 3rd and 4th for their figurines and statue’s respectively. Hell, that would make Minecraft the most difficult game ever created for that matter.

Maybe patience wasn't the best word to use, but I was thinking more along the lines of finding every shrine takes a lot of determination. It just takes so much more time to complete the main content of the game compared to any other Zelda games.

Speaking about busywork, Minish Cap figurines are pure busywork, and Wind Waker figurines take a little thought at least for a few of them. Korok seeds have some mindless elements and some actual creativity at times, and I think it's an accomplishment to find them all. I haven't ever done any of these parts of these games entirely so I wasn't really factoring that into my ranking, but that's a fair point if true patience is a factor.