Let me just say that I firmly don't believe that the series is an RPG. Zelda 2 you can definitely make the argument, and there's probably some aspects taken from RPGs here and there throughout the series, but otherwise no.
The original Zelda has got me thinking though. It's obviously an adventure game but is it also an action RPG? Take into account how the genre was forming during the mid 80s and the games that came out around the time like Dragon Quest. And also the reasons why people would insist that it was. You explore around an overworld, fight enemies for money, and go into dungeons to progress through the game. Only thing is you actually fight enemies w/ your sword instead of doing turn-based combat. So considering where the the genre was at the time, does it make sense to label the NES games as action RPGs?
The original Zelda has got me thinking though. It's obviously an adventure game but is it also an action RPG? Take into account how the genre was forming during the mid 80s and the games that came out around the time like Dragon Quest. And also the reasons why people would insist that it was. You explore around an overworld, fight enemies for money, and go into dungeons to progress through the game. Only thing is you actually fight enemies w/ your sword instead of doing turn-based combat. So considering where the the genre was at the time, does it make sense to label the NES games as action RPGs?