Which Zelda game has the best difficulty curve?

[HeroOfTermina]

My vote is A Link to the Past. The game kept making the enemies hit harder, and made the dungeons more complex as the game went on. This and the first game are the only two where I feel that I need every heart container I collect.

EDIT: I am new to the site, so I apologize if a poll like this had already been done recently

 

[Linkmaster30000]

I think I'd have to agree with that. LttP is really the only one that starts out simple and gets legitimately challenging as you progress. AoL is just challenging the entire time, no matter how much stuff you get. Everything after LttP is relatively easy, in my opinion.

I'm surprised you didn't put any of the handhelds down in the poll, but whatever - they're typically a bit easier than their console counterparts.

 

[Soul]

I would have voted Spirit Tracks had it been available, but since it isn't, I went for Skyward Sword.

 

[HeroOfTermina]

I would have voted Spirit Tracks had it been available, but since it isn't, I went for Skyward Sword.

I didn't want to include the handheld titles for the sake of keeping the amount of options in the poll from being too extensive.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

I would have gone with Oracle of Seasons, but since it wasnt there, ALttP.

 

[Spirit]

I say OoT, it probably doesn't have the best difficulty curve, but for me, after pulling the Master Sword there's a sense of danger that wasn't really there before and the forest temple was difficult for me so it felt like a steady climb from then on.

 

[MW7]

I had trouble deciding between LoZ and ALttP, but I will say ALttP because LoZ is so nonlinear that it's easy for a player to accidentally stumble upon an area that is excessively difficult early in the game. In ALttP there is a little more structure so you have to go through the game in a path with gradually increasing difficulty more or less. In LoZ if you complete the game in the numbered order, the difficulty also increases gradually; however, the ability to go to some of the later dungeons first allows a player to play the game in an order with a really messed up difficulty curve.

 

[HeroOfTermina]

It would seem that some of the users here wish to vote for handheld titles. Would anyone be interested in a handheld poll?

 

[the8thark]

For me OOT wins. The starts off easy and guides you through everything you need to know. And slowly gets harder at the right moments. A great difficulty curve.

• MM had much too high an initial difficulty curve. The learning curve there was insane. Overall a very hard game.
• ALTTP was just too easy. The game started easy and nevery increased much in difficulty for the whole game. Starts easy. Ends easy, no curve there at all.
• LoZ's difficulty was all over the shop. Having easy as dungeons after super hard ones.
• AoL's learning curve is insanely hard. One mastered the game is not that hard but mastering it takes much too long. I will say the Palaces in order have an amazing difficulty curve getting harder and harder in a nice way. But really once you've worked how to play the game without dying, it's not that much harder to wreck the entire game and beat it. The catch is it takes most people a little too long to get ot that point. I guess AoL is one of those games that was well suited to the 1980's but does not translate well at all to the 2010's at all difficulty wise.

For portable Zelda games I'd vote for MC. It's not a hard game but it got harder hat the right moments and by the end the game has a little difficulty. A nice difficulty curve.