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General Zelda Unnecessary Zelda Installments

So, this thread is for you to list which games the Zelda franchise could do without for whatever reason.

Perhaps the games mean nothing to the overall timeline/mythology, or perhaps they just didnt do anything new or interesting enough to warrant a place in the 'greatest' of the franchise.

Which games do you feel you could do without in Zelda?
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
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Skyward Sword and Spirit Tracks are the only titles that come to mind. Neither were particularly gripping tales, and to further that train of thought, they didn't do much at all for timeline (or rather, what fractals of the timeline that exist).
 

Justac00lguy

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I would ussally say Skyward Sword.....

However this game did add quite a bit to the series and I won't let my problems with the game lead to a biased view as this game did do a neat job of telling the stroy of how the Master Sword came to be :)

I could probably do without Spirit Tracks! This game just didn't feel right, maybe it was the fact that it had train's or the whole idea of exploration was missing but I just think that the DS games are sub par to most other Zelda games, this was maybe due to the capability or the DS stylus controls but I just didn't feel anything for this game. I don't mind Phantom Hourglass and in fact I thought that Phantom Hourglass did a great job of continuing the story of TWW and ST felt like an unneeded sequel in my eyes. It could have at least been 5 or so years later not 2 years after the initial release of PH, as both games had similar gameplay elements, in fact too similar.

I also didn't care much for the story in ST, in fact I think the Adult Timeline should have ended with Link and Tetra sailing off to find Hyrule! It made for a great ending in The Wind Waker :)
 

Random Person

Just Some Random Person
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My answer is similar to justac00lguy. I say that the Zelda series would be better without Skyward Sword, however that's not to say that SS is useless. It adds alot to the Zelda series, I just believe that the things it added were not that good, or in some instances, bad. With that said, the only games that really don't add too much are AoL and ST. While I love ST, it doesn't do too much in regards of new. Like TP, it's a sequel, but the differences are more subtle making it feel more like a useless clone. I might feel different once I finish PH, but for now it stands. And while AoL showed us what we don't want our Zelda games to be, that's pretty much the only good thing about it. It doesn't add to the gameplay, nor does it really say anything about the story or lore of Zelda.
 

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
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I enjoy all Zelda games, but there is one I wish hadn't happened. Zelda II: Adventure of Link is really bad. It's hard, I never could get to the final dungeon, it has no importance in the timeline, and the gameplay has nothing to do with the Zelda series. They should've just moved the dungeon theme and "I am error"to Alttp. The game doesn't deserve to be a part of Zelda
 
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I honestly see that every Zelda game is needed. Each brings more lore to the Table. Also why so much hate for Spirit tracks? I believe it was needed to Show off New Hyrule, also the fact that technology is advancing. Which comes to mind that Nintendo can make a futuristic Zelda. And Skyward Sword was needed to explain how this whole mess started. But again, everyone has their own opinion which makes these discussions so great. But I really don't think any Zelda Game is not needed unless it's NOT part of the Main series. Looking at you CD-i :kirby:
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
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FS, FSA, LoZ, AoL, aLttP, and LA. I don't care what's new or interesting though seeing how "new" tends to blow up in Zelda more than it succeeds.

Skyward Sword and Spirit Tracks are the only titles that come to mind. Neither were particularly gripping tales, and to further that train of thought, they didn't do much at all for timeline (or rather, what fractals of the timeline that exist).

Spirit Tracks? They brought New Hyrule to the series, how was that unimportant?
 
The Oracle games were pointless filler.

Link traverses two adjacent lands, rescues Din and Nayru, and thwarts yet another attempt for Ganon to regain his power.

Link's Awakening is in a similar situation but I appreciated the dream aspect revealed at game's end. It was a side game but one executed properly.
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
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Spirit Tracks? They brought New Hyrule to the series, how was that unimportant?

This is rather rude of me, but I'll answer your question with a question: how is New Hyrule important to the series? Certainly it can be fleshed out, but ST overall does nothing for the series. New Hyrule is but another land that you fight an evil in. ST is as generic as people say OoA is.
 

Mamono101

生きることは痛みを知ること。
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I see that many people seem to be under the impression that AoL never added much to the series but it did. It added the third piece of the triforce. It is possible that during the development of ALttP, a third piece may have been created but I find that scenario unlikely.

I too feel that ST contributed nothing to the game and is the only game I could live without ever having seen. Touch controls had already been implemented in PH, a temple that needs to be revisited time and time again was also covered in PH and arguably began with The Forsaken Fortress in TWW. The art style had been seen before and, as some have already mentioned, New Hyrule was probably the only new addition and most likely something Nintendo will never again mention thus making it a moot point that it was added. It has yet to be expanded upon as something that will contribute to the series in the long run.
 

Satsy

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I can see why PH and ST would be considered pointless. The games may have added new aspects to the series, continuing the new 'tri' tradition... but this came at the expense of what a lot of the older games -- and if I'm not mistaken the very reason for the spirit-princess-evil repetition -- built upon as staples of the Franchise. We lost Ganon. We lost the Triforce. We lost the Master Sword. Heck we'd already lost Hyrule and I still hesitate to call New Hyrule an element the games kept. Frankly it didn't and New Hyrule is about as much Hyrule as Termina.

With that in mind, if games are held to being excluded simply for being side-titles, MM, LA, OoA, OoS, PH and ST should all be held to that same standard. Out of those the only games that could still count for anything are the Oracle games which still have Ganon, the Triforce, Zelda, Impa and a Master Sword (if I recall). Seem fair? I mean FS/FSA contain a lot of those elements as well which by certain standards would give them more legitimacy than MM. I know that won't seem right to everyone. Heck, it seems a bit off to me.

Further to the idea of legitimacy, the way the timeline plays out suggests that the first 4 games would be redundant at this point because the 'defeated' timeline doesn't apparently work (I have a new head-canon on this that I need to work on). Call it nostalgia but I'm not happy to write those off.

I'll stop with the filler now, my answer is simple.

Of all the installments in this series, if nobody minds my being smarmy, I find the Hyrule Historia unnecessary. Pretty as it is, it doesn't inspire the same energy, imagination or satisfaction that playing any of the games do. In fact in certain cases it robs you of that.

All the games provide something to the series, whether you agree with what it gives or not. Be that World building, character development, story progression or closure.
 

DarkestLink

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This is rather rude of me, but I'll answer your question with a question: how is New Hyrule important to the series? Certainly it can be fleshed out, but ST overall does nothing for the series. New Hyrule is but another land that you fight an evil in. ST is as generic as people say OoA is.

Well doesn't it it prevent us from having more Zelda games that require sailing? *shudder*
 

Justac00lguy

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FS, FSA, LoZ, AoL, aLttP, and LA. I don't care what's new or interesting though seeing how "new" tends to blow up in Zelda more than it succeeds.



Spirit Tracks? They brought New Hyrule to the series, how was that unimportant?

To be honest new Hyrule isn't important to the series as a whole! Its just basically the same Hyrule as we have ssen before, it serves the same purpose as past lands of Hyrule have before...Actually if anything it loses the charm and heritage that past Hyrule's have had, we all know that Hyrule as a rich and profound history dating back Millennia's! This Hyrule just doesn't feel as important and basically the whole story felt unimportant compared to ther games in the series.

In my opinion the Adult Timeline should have ended at the last scene in the Wind Waker and question the search for a new beginning....You would ponder whether Link and Tetra did actually find a New Hyrule, Nintendo didn't necessarily have to explore this timeline that quickly. The adult timeline post WW feels very unimportant to the whole narrative of Zelda, in a sense foreign!
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
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To be honest new Hyrule isn't important to the series as a whole! Its just basically the same Hyrule as we have ssen before, it serves the same purpose as past lands of Hyrule have before...Actually if anything it loses the charm and heritage that past Hyrule's have had, we all know that Hyrule as a rich and profound history dating back Millennia's! This Hyrule just doesn't feel as important and basically the whole story felt unimportant compared to ther games in the series.

In my opinion the Adult Timeline should have ended at the last scene in the Wind Waker and question the search for a new beginning....You would ponder whether Link and Tetra did actually find a New Hyrule, Nintendo didn't necessarily have to explore this timeline that quickly. The adult timeline post WW feels very unimportant to the whole narrative of Zelda, in a sense foreign!

Perhaps, but seeing as it's probably the only branch of the timeline Nintendo will use, I'm just glad we're not stuck at sea.
 

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
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I think they need to make a console game with New Hyrule, after Spirit Tracks, and some new characters. It will legitimize not only the continent, but may be take a lot of the hate away from the other games. You can stand something you hate (although I don't hate them) if you know it's leading the story up to something awesome.
 

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