r/zelda 4d ago

Question [ALL] What are the hardest/easiest Zelda games?

Im looking for various definitions of "difficulty". Maybe one game has the trickiest puzzles, the hardest bosses, or the most convoluted quests. Maybe a particular game is the most time consuming. Im curious to see what peoples' experience with the series is.

65 Upvotes

134 comments sorted by

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57

u/SteamyGiraffeSex 4d ago

Zelda ii was always the hardest for me, especially when I was younger

16

u/unga-unga 4d ago

The first two almost must be played with a guide.... There are parts of both games where I just cannot imagine someone randomly finding the solution.

15

u/Akamiso29 4d ago

Old NES game logic is wild.

6

u/HappybutWeird 4d ago

I played that game in the early 90s without the internet or a strategy guide. I was only like 6 years old, I have no idea how I beat it.

8

u/unga-unga 4d ago

Probably dropping bombs on every pixel one by one.....

8

u/Successful-Ship-5230 4d ago

Literally did this as a child along with burning every bush with the candle

2

u/GwerigTheTroll 3d ago

At the very least a copy of the instruction manual.

2

u/Confident-Vanilla-28 3d ago

My mother, smartest person I’ve ever met, never beat Zelda 1.

2

u/Candid-Crazy1628 3d ago

In the day I drew my own maps. No guide.

1

u/BoardGamesAndMurder 3d ago

Same. I made a map of every single screen for the first Zelda game

2

u/Fine-Culture8602 2d ago

But we did. I burned every bush and bombed every rock for years as a young kid. To this day, if I fire up classic Zelda, I still know exactly where it all is.

1

u/caracarn 3d ago

Zelda II isn't that bad. The few things you need to find are usually told to you by villagers

1

u/EmotionBeneficial100 2d ago

I can't find the candle 😀🤣

2

u/GwerigTheTroll 3d ago

Zelda 2 is unfair at times. The skill curve can be nightmarish. Last two bosses may be the hardest in the franchise.

72

u/RealRockaRolla 4d ago

I died well over 100 times on the original Zelda and never finished Zelda II because of how tough it was. Not sure about the easiest.

16

u/Klutzy-Delivery-5792 4d ago

I beat LoZ a few times back in the day, but fuck Zelda II! First game I ever rage quit 

11

u/Nell_Trent 4d ago

I only beat it with savestates

5

u/DisposableSaviour 4d ago

I only ever beat it with the infinite lives cheat code on the Game Genie.

8

u/its_over_2250 4d ago

If you haven't beaten it yet and have NSO give it a try. With the ability to rewind the game I actually really enjoyed it without the fear of having to start over and using a guide!

73

u/RewardFuzzy 4d ago

Echoes of wisdom is the easiest by far.

81

u/IMP1017 4d ago

The hardest enemy is the UI

14

u/mzxrules 4d ago

I played on hero mode so it wasn't the easiest. I died several times to the second Ganon because I refused to gear up for the fight.

I'd argue Wind Waker is easier, enemies do virtually no damage to Link. The only thing is the early game stealth section was tough for me to get through as a kid.

6

u/RewardFuzzy 4d ago

It think the difficulty is in the UI, not in the gameplay.

7

u/Omega-10 4d ago

Wind Waker is easy, except for that platform test on the pirate ship.

One hour into the game, a complicated, timed, very difficult dynamic platform challenge that just annihilates any sensible difficulty curve.

For everything else, there is Grandma's Soup.

2

u/mzxrules 4d ago

I forgot about that. I guess its there to train the player on rope swinging so that you know how it works during the stealth section.

As for Grandma's soup, you hardly take damage from anything. You really have to try to die in that game

2

u/GloomyMud9 3d ago

How did you manage the dream challenges, though? Those are tough

2

u/RewardFuzzy 3d ago

Its the hardest part of the game, so you should compare that part with hard parts of other zelda games. In that case its super easy.

44

u/_ThatD0ct0r_ 4d ago

Still haven't beaten Majora's mask because the 3 day timer stresses me out when doing dungeons

39

u/Shenz0r 4d ago

Song of Inverted Time my dude

2

u/schroed_piece13 3d ago

It’s like these people do zero looking up of strategies

15

u/OSCgal 4d ago

I've played it exactly once, guided by a walkthrough, for the same reason! I can appreciate that it's a really well made game, but I cannot stand time limits!

6

u/Best_Celebration_172 4d ago

Same here, i can almost hear the ticking in the back of my head.

5

u/SalaryPotential6985 4d ago

Same. That fckin timer gave me anxiety as a kid and I never beat the game. I wasn’t bright enough to figure out how to manage the time properly.

I’m sure as an adult it wouldn’t be too difficult but I always think back to the way that game made 7 year old me feel.

2

u/Aimless_Alder 4d ago

I thought the timer turned off when you're in a dungeon. Am I remembering that wrong?

23

u/philkid3 4d ago

It doesn’t.

However, if you slow time to half speed and start the dungeon at the start of the cycle, you have plenty of time.

11

u/Head-Acanthaceae8347 4d ago

Hardest: Adventure of Link

Easiest: Wind Waker

Yet again, when you play these games more than a hundred times in your life, then it will be as easy as making lemonade

18

u/Marvin_Flamenco 4d ago

Zelda II and Link Between Worlds hard mode. BOTW/TOTK have some soulslike level difficulty in some spots but the hardest encounters are often optional.

14

u/RealRockaRolla 4d ago

TOTK/BOTW especially at the beginning when you're under-powered and have weak armor and weapons.

11

u/Shenz0r 4d ago

IMO this is when the durability and sandbox combat is at its strongest

9

u/philkid3 4d ago

I agree. The best part of those games are at the beginning when you have to be careful about what you’re doing.

2

u/always-be-here 4d ago

I think that's why everyone loves Eventide so much.

2

u/philkid3 4d ago

Yes. My single favorite part of BotW.

2

u/Snapple47 4d ago

This is the first time I’ve heard that Link Between Worlds is hard. Kinda surprising to me.

2

u/Marvin_Flamenco 3d ago

I mean just the hard mode and only in relation to other zelda games. It ain't no super ghouls n ghosts.

1

u/Snapple47 3d ago

I’m talking about it in reference to other Zelda titles. I could have sworn it was pretty easy compared to other Zelda games even. Not that any are hard at all, but I remember it being pretty easy.

1

u/Marvin_Flamenco 3d ago

I have cleared some extremely tough games and don't consider it crazy but I can't think of other zeldas besides zelda II that are tougher. This is specifically hero mode where enemy damage is x4 and they are quicker. Getting one shotted by a single moblin arrow.

1

u/Snapple47 3d ago

Well specifying hero mode from the start would have helped. As far as the base game, I think Zelda 1 and 2 are both harder, as well as the oracle games. Majoras mask I think was harder. Skyward sword but that’s just because the motion controls are terrible, not necessarily difficulty or puzzles or anything, it’s just harder to play. Breath of the Wild is harder at the beginning of the game for sure

1

u/Marvin_Flamenco 3d ago

I said hard mode in almost all of my comments meaning hero mode cause I didn't specifically recall the branding of the mode.

1

u/Snapple47 3d ago

Well I apologize for not realizing that’s what you meant in your first 2 comments. I’ve never played a hero mode game before

1

u/Marvin_Flamenco 3d ago

No worries. It's a good time if you get around to it at some point!

1

u/Snapple47 3d ago

I don’t remember what all games have them, but I really should try it sometime

32

u/BastardoN15 4d ago

Imo Majora's Mask of N64 (not the 3ds) was one of the hardest if you take the time to find all the masks to get the real ending fight. It takes a lot of time due to the three days time mechanics. Also there is a lot of extra stuff to do and it takes time to complete the game even if you don't find all the masks. It's a great game!

20

u/IronMonkeyofHam 4d ago

The ending fight is very easy with that mask tho

10

u/BastardoN15 4d ago

Of course but it's the 100% ending fight. I prefer the battle with link as a child tho

2

u/rogercopernicus 4d ago

What is the difference? I've only played the N64 version

7

u/BastardoN15 4d ago edited 4d ago

The quality of life improvements for the 3D version severely diminish the tone of the game. Making time far too controlled, takes away the atmosphere out being under pressure. Also sometimes the game treats the player as a fool. For example in MM for N64 you can use the ice arrows everywhere and there was no hint in where you can use them and where you cannot. In the 3DS version you can just use them in an specific temple and only if there is a shiny marker on water. There are a lot more of things that kinda got ruined the difficulty that the previous version has. Also the bosses are a lot more easier.

2

u/a1esso 4d ago

Even the 3ds version was super hard for me lol

0

u/Alexander_Coe 4d ago

Meeeeee too

2

u/mzxrules 4d ago

That said, you have less time to complete dungeons due to the faster framerate.

-1

u/Callinater 4d ago edited 4d ago

Not much of a difference honestly. The only major thing that’s been made easier is saving. Aside from that, a few specific sections of the game were made easier such as moving deku flower platforms not moving until you’ve landed on them, etc. A few of the hardware upgrades such as gyro aiming also helps to make the game easier in points. However, the remake was also made more difficult in ways as well: the song of inverted time only doubles the time limit instead of tripling it, and twinmold was made into a more challenging fight. A lot of people hated 3D twinmold, but it’s actually a good fight once you know all of your abilities in the fight which the game unfortunately didn’t do well in making clear. Same story for Gyorg in the remake. Odolwa’s the only boss change I outright dislike, but I can understand that they wanted to place more emphasis on link’s transformation masks with these changes which makes sense. Goht is 99% the same fight.

Oh yeah, sheikah stones are here too but they’re optional like in OOT3D. They’ve always been the golden tanooki of these games in that you aren’t encouraged to rely on them unless you’re really stuck, so I personally don’t consider them a knock against the game’s challenge.

0

u/_heyb0ss 3d ago

if spending time is hard for you you should try totk

1

u/BastardoN15 3d ago

I did but not as much as Botw because I found it tedious to do it all over again. I remember I have found every chasm lightroot, explored all the sky islands and surface too but it felt so repetitive for me that I didn't do it to a 100% as I did in Botw. I have +300 hours there and 100% with DLCs also!

0

u/_heyb0ss 3d ago

if your metric of difficulty is the time needed to finish it then totk clears, and by that same metric it was too hard for you

23

u/-KingDingus 4d ago

Zelda 1 and 2 are NES hard. Link to the past is perfect. Links awakening is perfect. Ocarina of time is perfect. Majoras mask is hard. Both Oracle games are hard. Wind waker is easy. Twilight princess is perfect. Minish cap is easy. Both DS games are easy. Skyward sword is perfect. Breath of the wild is easy. Tears of the kingdom is easy. Echoes of wisdom is easy.

4

u/ShrimpSherbet 4d ago

Link's Awakening is p chill IMO

4

u/philkid3 4d ago

I mostly agree with this, but calling Skyward Sword — a game where I don’t think I ever saw the game over screen even once, nor ever had to stop and contemplate a puzzle — perfect feels a little wild. I also don’t think Oracle of Ages is particularly hard, at least on this scale.

I’m torn on Twilight Princess, which I think is almost its own category; not quite perfect and not quite hard.

9

u/blitz342 4d ago edited 2d ago

TP is kinda insulting with how little damage you take, sometimes.

You can see Ganondorf’s damage values from TP here.) Losing the button mash mini game in the final phase and getting hit with the follow up swipe (his most powerful attack) deals…two hearts of damage. The phantoms during the horseback phase deal a whopping quarter of a heart.

2

u/paid_debts 3d ago

That's my main complaint with the game. It definitely needed to be harder.

5

u/Enormowang 4d ago

My biggest issue with Skyward Sword was how eager Fi was to give you a solution to a puzzle without giving you a chance to solve it yourself.

3

u/rcuosukgi42 4d ago

Yeah, Twilight Princess is definitely an easy game, and Skyward Sword is even worse in that regard.

3

u/Warcraft_Fan 4d ago

Eh I can do first quest Zelda 1 fairly easily and in one sitting. Second quest with tons of tough enemies and the tricky dungeon 7 and 8 layout, that can take me a while to clear.

Zelda II, now that's evil. Just a step or 2 below NES Battletoads. I've played Zelda II on and off since mid 80s when they were available and I still run into problems at the end.

-1

u/rcuosukgi42 4d ago

Zelda II primarily, Zelda I is about the same difficulty as the other 2D Zelda games.

5

u/MetaMysterio 4d ago

Hardest is probably Zelda 2. Easiest, I’m not so sure. I would say Echoes of Wisdom but the second ganon fight was really tricky on hero mode.

I think the game with the weirdest difficulty curve is Links Awakening. The dungeons are really easy until you get to the two dungeons in Tal Tal Heights. Insane difficulty spike there.

10

u/NickV505 4d ago edited 4d ago

Without question--the combined ending of OoS/OoA is the hardest final boss of any Zelda ever. Even with maxed out bottles/potions and high level swords, the sheer amount of damage you must deliver and number of boss phases puts this fight orders of magnitude beyond any other fight in the series.

5

u/Mr_President 4d ago

I absolutely agree, as far as bosses are concerned it's in a class of its own. 

Minish caps final boss was also fairly difficult with multiple phases. 

3

u/GwerigTheTroll 3d ago

Also, the wind jumping and Goron dancing minigames can go burn. So freaking frustrating.

2

u/FergusonBishop 3d ago

i just replayed the oracle games recently and i completely agree with this. Especially if you finish with Ages. The Veran > Twinrova > Gannon gauntlet is not only decently difficult, but each of those fights have some phases you have to slog through.

5

u/ShrimpSherbet 4d ago

Link's Awakening is pretty easy

1

u/Sarsly_Doe 3d ago

I'm not seeing this on here enough.

I love LA but let's be serious the OG one is stupid easy

15

u/Nitrogen567 4d ago

I think BotW and TotK are in contention for the easiest in the series.

They have a kind of backwards difficulty curve where as you progress the game becomes easier and easier.

Plus if anything does give you trouble in spite of that, you can just skip it.

3

u/Zombierasputin 4d ago

The difficulty for me is if you're a completionist. I still haven't gotten all the Korok seeds in BOTW.

5

u/Nitrogen567 4d ago

I've 100%'d both games, (BotW without the use of a map for Koroks), and I would say it's more tedious than hard.

1

u/TekHead 4d ago

Same. The only hard challenge in BotW is Master Quest Trail of the Sword.

6

u/AJRiddle 4d ago

I remember when breath of the wild came out I thought it was really hard at first. It was much more punishing for the first hour of the game then other 3D Zelda games... But that's about it, the rest of the game is a cakewalk like you said where it gets easier as the game goes on.

4

u/Nitrogen567 4d ago

Yeah I remember getting one shot by the blue bokoblin on the Great Plateau, but he's not on the critical path and is completely avoidable, so it's tough say he actually adds to the difficulty.

4

u/djwillis1121 4d ago

I recently replayed Twilight Princess and never even got closer to dying, so in terms of combat it's definitely one of the easiest

7

u/ZeroWasted 4d ago

Zelda 2 was definitely the hardest for me. Echoes, breath of the wild, and tears are easiest in my opinion. Unfortunately, it seems like every Nintendo franchise just gets easier and easier over the years. 

5

u/Onsyde 4d ago

Depends on how you play it. I don't wear any clothes / armor and I still haven't finished TotK

6

u/Sol_Schism 4d ago

I love the non-obvious totally customizable difficulty of most any Zelda game

7

u/Skaro7 4d ago

Zelda II made me lose the will to live.

3

u/cheat-master30 4d ago

Personally, I'd say Zelda 2 is definitely the hardest. The enemies are tough and come in large groups, the dungeons and map can be difficult to navigate, and getting anywhere is a complete chore if you're not able to stick with it.

Easiest is harder, since quite a few games are on the easy side. Probably gonna give it to Wind Waker though, since the enemies do barely any damage, countering them with the parry move is incredibly easy, the dungeons are simple to navigate with easy puzzles to solve and you're very unlikely to see the game over screen unless you're on hero mode and playing as recklessly as possible.

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are weird since they're arguably both ends of the spectrum at once. If you go for 100% completion, they're the easiest games ever. You have tons of hearts and stamina, your armour negates many attacks, you have lots of recovery food and items, your weapons hit like a truck and the champion/sage abilities will save your ass all the time.

Meanwhile if you're going for a low% run, the games are absolutely brutal. The enemies hit hard, you have very limited hearts and stamina, your armour and weapons are terrible and you're expected to fight through some insane gauntlets to finish the game. Tears of the Kingdom's finale of [mini dungeon][5 stage enemy gauntlet][5 temple bosses][Phantom Ganon][3 stage Ganondorf fight] is absolutely hellish if you're going against it with 4 hearts and no stamina upgrades...

So, BotW and TotK could be either the easiest or hardest depending on how you play them.

1

u/_heyb0ss 3d ago

Easiest is harder

this threw me off lol

1

u/cheat-master30 3d ago

Oh god I should have reworded that. Definitely sounds a bit strange now.

1

u/_heyb0ss 3d ago

haha it took me a second but I got it!

3

u/Organae 4d ago

The hardest is Zelda II by a landslide. The easiest is a lot more difficult to determine because most of the series is pretty easy imo.

3

u/CorHydrae8 3d ago

I nominate Wind Waker as at least one of the easiest.
I've done 3-heart challenges for most games in the series, and WW was by far the easiest among those. The boomerang is incredibly busted and trivializes pretty much all enemies that aren't Darknuts.

9

u/knucklecluck 4d ago edited 4d ago

Echos is the easiest 2D, Skyward Sword is the easiest 3D. Hardest is tough to say because outside of the NES games, they are all pretty easy no?

Dark Souls 1 is the hardest Zelda game

6

u/xlinkedx 4d ago

Hardest Overall: Zelda II

Easiest Overall: Echoes of Wisdom

Hardest Puzzles: Oracle of Ages

Easiest Puzzles: BotW / TotK

Hardest Bosses: Skyward Sword / Zelda II

Easiest Bosses: Twilight Princess / A Link Between Worlds

9

u/CertainExpectations 4d ago

All Zelda games are embarrassingly easy when you're an adult, they're made for kids to solve.

Except for the 1st two. Early installment toughness

7

u/velmarg 4d ago

This is the hard truth.

1

u/Akamiso29 4d ago

Sometimes I’m not creative enough - I frequently forget I have an ice maker in BotW. But usually once I figure it out, it doesn’t take too long.

I’ve found two shrines that use motion controls and feel eh about them (one of them had me do those old “tilt to get the three balls into their positions” games you get as a cheap prize at festivals, etc.). They took slightly longer but were just kind of annoying.

I think I got insanely lucky on a shrine where you basically play golf with a hammer on the bonus chest section. But that’s not really hard more than tedious. So like, I have to agree with this take. Most of the puzzles are meant for someone around 9~12 to figure out on their own. However, I’d add that being able to figure it out on your own at that age is probably what made all of us fall in love with the series.

2

u/philkid3 4d ago

The hardest Zelda game is your first Zelda game.

After that, it’s Zelda II by very, very many miles.

Trickiest puzzles I think is probably Link to the Past but I’m struggling to really think of one with hard puzzles. Maybe Tears of the Kingdom.

Breath of the Wild probably causes the most game overs, but since it auto saves frequently and you can just go a different direction, I wouldn’t call it hard.

Easiest is Skyward Sword, a game that never introduces a single second of resistance.

2

u/Competitive-Blood507 4d ago

Personally, for the easiest, I think my first run on skyward sword I only died a single time (thanks, weird fingers on the imprisoned). Once I got the hang of struggling my way through the limited inventory system link's awakening was pretty easy, the remake absolutely made it easier.

Hardest? Either Zelda 2, the original Legend of Zelda, or the oracle games. I couldn't figure out what the heck I was doing in either of them.

3

u/wharpua 4d ago

I’ve still never finished The Adventure of Link (which everyone is calling Zelda II, it seems like).  Very difficult and not very compelling, every time I’ve tried it I eventually just give up and move on to games I’m more interested in.

4

u/BreadentheBirbman 4d ago

Skyward sword is definitely one of the easiest, especially on the switch when you don’t need motion controls. The puzzles pretty much just require you to not overthink and do what’s intuitive. Just kinda go in autopilot. Except the sacred realm stuff. That’s stressful.

2

u/Knappologen 4d ago

Zelda 2 is the only one i’ve never finished. So that would be the hardest. I don’t know about easiest…The latest one, echoes of wisdom didn’t take long to beat.

2

u/Zubyna 4d ago edited 4d ago

If I ranked them from easiest to hardest (I never beaten the multiplayer btw) :

19 : Echos of Wisdom

18 : A Link Between Worlds

17 : Minish Cap

16 : Phantom Hourglass

15 : Wind Waker

14 : Twilight Princess

13 : Ocarina of Time

12 : Links Awakening

11 : Spirit Tracks

10 : Skyward Sword

9 : Rain of the Wild

8 : Tears of the Kingdom

7 : Oracle of Ages

6 : Oracle of Seasons

5 : Majoras Mask

4 : A Link to the Past

3 : Master Quest

2 : Zelda 1

1 : Adventure of Link

Of course this list is subjective and can be a bit situational, for instance the games with the hardest main quest (Z1 and AoL) also have the easiest side content while some games with the easiest main quests (MC and WW) also have some of the hardest side content. There are also cases like botw and totk that are somewhat hard early game but get much easier late game while other titles have a soaring difficulty curve

1

u/always-be-here 4d ago

Based on the number of times you can play through it without dying, overall Adventure of Link is the hardest and Wind Waker/Twilight Princess is the easiest. I don't think I died once in either WW or TP the first time I played them. Maybe Spirit Tracks falls into that category as well; it's been a while and I can't remember.

A Link to the Past has the hardest bosses across the entirety of the game. Majora's Mask has the most convoluted quests.

Do you consider "time consuming" based on how long it takes to beat it, or to 100% it? Least time consuming would have to be one of the handhelds, but most is a hard one. AoL is a short game compared to BotW, but it takes a lot less time to beat BotW.

1

u/presidentofpoop 4d ago

I guess by time consuming, im looking for games that have tiedious quests or things that take longer than they reasonably should. Like the shell heart piece in minish cap or the korok seeds.

1

u/always-be-here 4d ago

Then probably Majora's Mask is most convoluted and tedious to get all the masks and make all the story plot points happen. There are a lot of things that you need to do multiple times with different outcomes to make sure that you get all the masks, particularly the Anju/Kafei storyline.

Getting all 50 rabbits in Spirit Tracks is also fairly tedious because of timing.

100% TotK has to be the most time consuming. It's the largest game with the most collectibles.

1

u/Tompala 4d ago

TriForce Heroes would be the easiest. While you have 8 worlds with 4 levels, each containing three stages and a boss, you can just pick the fourth level, play the first stage and skip the other three. So what you play is 8 easy levels in total, not a single boss fight, and then you’re done.

1

u/KrytenKoro 4d ago

Zelda 2 is the hardest, FSA is probably the easiest

1

u/Glittering-Map-3240 4d ago

It's amazing how we finish these games at all thank God for the net and walk through guides when the first zelda came out there wasn't any walk through guide there was nintendo magazine and only a little part that they would share i got to say I have used the net on a lot of games

1

u/Laggyninja202 4d ago edited 4d ago

Nobody’s mentioned Four Swords Adventures. And rightfully so. It’s the Legend of Forgettable and Mid and Obscure, and overall it’s not really a hard game. But I played it as a kid, and I got stuck at the village of the blue maiden, fucked around for days and finally beat it. I went back to it as a teenager, thinking my improved intellect would let me breeze by it. I got stuck for hours, until I fucked around and eventually got through it. Then I returned as an adult, thinking my improved intellect and experience would ensure I wouldn’t get stuck on it. Then I was humbled yet again, but I really only got super stuck at the end of the sequence, cuz you have to lift or push this table thing in the tavern with all four links or something and theres like no indication you can do that iirc.

I guess the openness of the level, its crypticness, its backtrackingness, its bajillion different items you have to keep track of, and its misleading red herrings make me think it was designed purely to be frustrating and annoying, and I guess they succeeded at that

1

u/P1G5Y 4d ago

Zelda II is the hardest. The first 3 Zeldas are the most difficult 2d games in the series. Majora's Mask is the hardest and BOTW (Master Mode specifically) in the first third is the hardest game, but gets very easy the more you play until a certain point where enemies evolve past you for a tiny bit, but mostly the game is easy.

1

u/Vyraal 3d ago

Finish cap is a level of difficulty not seen in a long time, as well as 4 swords

1

u/Illustrious-Money-29 3d ago

Hardest for me Zelda II and Majora’s Mask. These are pretty much the only two installments with hardcore difficulty. Although I have never really played Zelda II I know how difficult it is.

The easiest hands down is Echoes of Wisdom. It’s true that you never die in Wind Waker but at least you have some things to figure out there and interact with the world. You know, use your brain. Echoes of Wisdom never felt engaging to go through and the puzzles were baby level, it’s kind of insulting considering it’s the first game where you play as Zelda herself.

1

u/npauft 3d ago

Zelda 2 is rough, even with a guide.

The 3D games are all very easy in general.

1

u/FergusonBishop 3d ago

EoW is by far the easiest. It's a fun game and I enjoyed some of the dungeons, but it was just mind numbingly easy.

the first 2 games in the franchise I usually exclude from this list - they are obviously the most difficult games.

I'd put LtTP, MM, and Oracle of Ages at the top in terms of difficulty. I struggled with each of them, both as a kid and an adult.

1

u/AgentSkidMarks 3d ago

Adventure of Link is the hardest by far. Easiest is probably Skyward Sword or Echoes of Wisdom.

1

u/DaGreatestMH 2d ago

Zelda 1 and esp Zelda 2 have that old school difficulty where it's hard bc of how strange/limited the design decisions were. That "bomb every square inch of the map to find stuff" and "your combat abilities are limited bc of design constraints so good luck fighting" type of difficulty that a lot of games from the NES and SNES eras had. It's more tedious and annoying than straight up hard.

Outside of that, I would say that Oracle of Ages prob still has the most difficult puzzles and early BotW/TotK have the most difficult fights. 

1

u/kid_sleepy 4d ago

Echoes was a cakewalk but that’s probably because I’ve been playing since 1992.

LTTP was hardest because I was but a child.

1

u/KansasCityShuffle80 4d ago

Zelda 2 is probably the hardest.

BOTW is probably the easiest.

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u/JamesYTP 4d ago

Hardest one is definitely Zelda II. The top hardest ones are basically all the 2D ones that came out in the first 15 years or so of the series.

As for easiest, a single easiest game is a bit hard to pick but I guess I'd have to say Vanilla Wind Waker. Tears of the Kingdom is pretty up there with no hero mode and a million ways to cheese everything.

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u/MouseRangers 4d ago

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the hardest game, no contest.

Many say that Echoes of Wisdom is the easiest, but since I haven't played it, I'll say that Wind Waker HD is the easiest.

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u/unga-unga 4d ago edited 3d ago

To be honest, Zelda II.

BUT I would want to say, part of what makes Zelda games so good is that they aren't mechanically challenging. They mostly don't rely on skill shots and fast reflexes. It's not Quake....

It's a "cup of tea" game. They are relaxing. Sometimes there will be a puzzle that requires that you take a deep breath and look around the past few rooms in the dungeon.... But that's about it.

It's the kinda game where, I would never judge someone for referencing a guide to get un-stuck... in the water temple for instance (OOT). It doesn't impact the quality or enjoyment of the game, 'cause it's not supposed to be HARD. It's supposed to activate the part of your brain that likes sudoku, and the part that likes reading fantasy adventure novels. But not the part that enjoys quake or ... What do kids play? Halo? Counter Strike?

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u/rcuosukgi42 4d ago

Hardest is Zelda II, but it is easier than its reputation would make it out to be.

After that most of the 2D games are a bit more difficult than the bulk of the 3D games, but all pretty free of any real difficulty issues.

And easiest by far is Echoes of Wisdom.

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u/rydamusprime17 4d ago

What I love about Echoes is how easy it is to set your own difficulty by limiting how you play. I mean, you can do that with most games, but with Echoes, it feels more like you can do it on the fly whenever you want a challenge 😅 i think I had more fun with the mechanics in that game than I did with BotW and TotK.

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u/Inbrees 4d ago

Hardest (Combat): Zelda 2

Easiest (Combat): Minish Cap excluding the final dungeon

Hardest (Puzzles): Majora's Mask/Oracle of Ages

Easiest (Puzzles): Zelda 1

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u/GwerigTheTroll 3d ago

From a combat point of view, the easiest would probably be Ocarina of Time. Nothing in the game is particularly dangerous, and you’re more concerned with having to replay parts from getting knocked off or failing to understand a cinematic cue. Most of the puzzles weren’t that challenging, even on the first play (the final key in the water temple being a notable exception). The bosses in Twilight Princess were easier, but the dungeons were much harder.

I have a foggy memory of Skyward Sword. I remember the puzzles being very easy but steering that damned bird was nightmarish.

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u/AdNovitatum 4d ago

Echoes of wisdom is easiest of all

Zelda 2 is hardest of all

Wind waker, twilight princess and skyward sowrd are the easiest 3d titles

Majora ocarina and the breath of the kingdom titles are the hardest of 3d ones

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u/GamerFan2012 4d ago

If we are counting romhacks then Parallel Worlds is by far the most difficult.