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[Gaiff]

I realized this a while ago but my opinion has only been reinforced by playing Link's Awakening remake. I'm having so much fun with it and one of the main reasons is the pacing; 2D Zelda games send you from one adventure to the next and the little side-quests are fun. 3D ones on the other hand love wasting your time with mundane garbage you don't care about.

I can't even play TP or WW anymore because of the incredibly long and tedious opening sections. The whole wolf shit in TP wears thin after a couple of minutes and you just wanna go back to being Link but every dungeon is padded with bullshit you gotta do with wolf Link. Wind Waker? Same problem. The opening is a slog and getting from one temple to the next is sleep-inducing and don't get me started with the Triforce hunt.

OOT is also pretty bad there but not as horrible as the GC title. Skyward Sword is just lol. This has somewhat been remedied by BOTW and TOTK but these two games lack too many things that made past Zelda games great. MM is the exception to this rule because the worldbuilding and side-quests are actually fascinating and better than the main game.

Minish Cap, Link's Awakening, the Oracle games, A Link Between Worlds...just brilliant. A Link to the Past is also pretty fantastic but I feel overstays its welcome a bit with one too many dungeons. I need to do the DS ones next because I never played them.

Fight me.

 

[BennyBlanco]

ALBW is so underrated

 

[nkarafo]

No. When it comes to exploration games i prefer exploring a 3D space. It's far more immersive this way.

 

[ssringo]

I agree.

I also feel the same about 2D vs 3D Mario; for different reasons of course.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Idk, I've attempted to get into multiple 2d Zeldas and bounce off of them almost immediately. 200 hrs in both newer ones and probably 20 in OoT. Maybe one day it will click.

 

[nial]

Yes, they are. The Link's Awakening remake sucks though.

 

[Fbh]

I prefer 3D Zelda, but 2D Zelda is great too and it sucks that the only one we got this gen from Nintendo was a remake.

 

[kunonabi]

I'd have to agree based on numbers since only 3 of the 3D entries are any good but those include 2 of my 3 favorite games in the series including my number 1.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I also prefer 2D Zelda game structure as 3D games have terrible pacing and an excess of fetch quests.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

2D Zeldas are cute.

But that's it.

 

[RoboFu]

LTTP is still my favorite..

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

OG Link's Awakening (and not the DX color one) is still unbeaten, I'll give you that. It was pixel design perfection.

The 3D games had lost their way over time by adding too much narrative. LA has narrative, but it's never more than a few lines of text at a time, it never makes you wait for some tedious sequences of forced character interaction or cutscenes.

I still feel that BotW/TotK are the peak of the 3d games since they brought back the exploration and mostly sidelined story garbage. But 2d is perfection.

 

[Interfectum]

I like both.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

OoT, TP, BotW, TotK, WW are the GOATs

 

[Danjin44]

I can enjoy both.

Fight me.

sure...

 

[mortal]

lol that's not a hot take. There are Zelda fans that have been making this argument for years.

 

[Muffdraul]

I played ALttP in 1993 and it changed my life. I have loved Legend of Zelda ever since. I must have played it from beginning to end 100 times from '93 to '96 or so.

The last time I replayed it was probably whenever it appeared on the Wii Shop Channel. I vaguely recall it was a struggle to play the whole thing.

I tried to play it on the Switch a few months ago, a few weeks before TotK released. I only lasted through the first two dungeons. Then I got so bored, I told ALttP to suck my dick and turned it off.

 

[Naked Lunch]

The open world Zelda are just not good imo. I could care less. LTTP or the OG Zelda no contest.

For the most part - 2d beats 3d everytime.
Not a hot take.
Castlevania, Contra, Mario, Metroid.

2d shmups are the best gaming genre period.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

 

[diffusionx]

No, I don’t think so. And I grew up playing the 2D ones. OOT and MM are both better and more interesting games than the ones that came before it.

 

[kevm3]

I prefer the 2d ones, especially a Link to the Past. I just think the metroidvania style progression where you get an item that unlocks a new area is much more rewarding in 2d for some reason.

 

[Inanilmaz]

I agree but exactly at this moment i rage quitted at the Minish Cap final boss..

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Agreed. But it's also sort of 2.5D.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

 

[bender]

A Link To The Past still hasn't been topped.

 

[Little Mac]

 

[cartman414]

No. When it comes to exploration games i prefer exploring a 3D space. It's far more immersive this way.

Slow pacing breaks immersion.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I definitely prefer the 2D games to the 3D ones, largely because the pacing is sooooo much faster. I prefer all of the above to the slog of BotW and TotK, though.

 

[Ozzie666]

I do prefer the 2D games in traditional pixel art style. But I also respect the 3D entries for what they bring to the table. Why not both? If any franchise can release 2D and 3D versions, its Mario, Sonic and I would argue Zelda. There is money to be made with 2D Zelda, brand new adventure similat to LTTP. Any time now, soon as there is a new 2D Golden sun.

 

[Codes 208]

How tf is that a hottake?

 

[Pegasus Actual]

A Link Between Worlds was awesome. A Link to the Past is the GOAT. The Legend of Zelda to this day is still pretty fun and amazing of course for its time.

Never managed to slog my way through one of the 3D entries, which puts them maybe on par with Zelda 2.

 

[ZehDon]

I think it's a respectable opinion; A Link to the Past is pretty magical, A Link Between Worlds is criminially underrated, and the DS titles are inventive if nothing else. Minish Cap gets overlooked too much, too. However, the sense of scale and adventure that Ocarina of Time has outshines it for me - even though its basically ATTP but in 3D. Ocarina of Time on the 3DS is still one of my favourite entry in the series, and I don't care much for the titles that came after it.

 

[TexMex]

Just an insanely hot take. Not only of this incredibly controversial but I’ve absolutely never heard it before.

This thread is going to turn a LOT of heads.

 

[IAmRei]

I love both, my fave 2D is minish cap, while 3D is BoTW.

The 2D is good for linear pace, and focused design. Sense of progression is stornger here. But the freedom is not much here

But The 3D help to prolong the game, yet also let me see the world closely and sometime wandering to see world building via strolling in sceneries it had. Sense of adventure is stronger here. But foor some, it will prolong the game to bored if the world is not attracting enough for them

They all had their goodness and weakness.

 

[GigaBowser]

2D Zelda is more boring for me my friends exploration and combat not 1 gabillion as goord

 

[justiceiro]

Link's awakening is the worse 2d Zelda though. Just not worse than first Zelda, maybe.

2d Zelda's are more inventive, specially regarding how they treat verticality. However, the 3d ones are better regarding exploration, because you have to circumvent stuff to find entrances, pits, etc.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Link's awakening is the worse 2d Zelda though. Just not worse than first Zelda, maybe.

2d Zelda's are more inventive, specially regarding how they treat verticality. However, the 3d ones are better regarding exploration, because you have to circumvent stuff to find entrances, pits, etc.

How do you mean? It is better in its pacing and character interactions than A Link to the Past. I may find Oracle of Seasons to be more interesting, but even the final boss battle is the best of any Zelda game to me.

 

[DryvBy]

Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening are peak for me. They both can be amazing.

 

[cartman414]

A Link Between Worlds was awesome. A Link to the Past is the GOAT. The Legend of Zelda to this day is still pretty fun and amazing of course for its time.

Never managed to slog my way through one of the 3D entries, which puts them maybe on par with Zelda 2.

I'd rather play Zelda 2 than many other Zeldas.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Link's Awakening is a game of rare pacing. The Oracle games and Minish Cap have a lot more fluff and tedious sections and feel more formulaic. LA is the only one that I can pick up and play to completion without regretting starting a playthrough at some point. It's just that good.

 

[Pejo]

I prefer the 2D games too OP. It probably has less to do with the dimensions than it does the style of games being created though. BotW/TotK were both great games that sadly fell into Ubishit open world pitfalls. ALttP and ALBW were both perfectly paced tight controlling puzzle games with combat. I vastly prefer that type of Zelda game than "collect 200 korok seeds", but in another franchise I might enjoy the open world collect-a-thon type games.

I can say for sure that I wish the new Zelda genre had more traditional dungeons that tie progression around the understanding and mastery of a new item/mechanic. TotK kinda tried with their 4 elemental dungeons but there was just a lot of room to bullshit your way through it instead of actually being tested on your knowledge/skill.

No shame if you prefer open ended open world stuff though.

 

[existensmaximum]

Well, duh? A Link to The Past is one of the greatest games of all time, and infinitely better than any 3D Zelda game ever.

The other 2D Zeldas aren't as great, but close enough.

 

[Robb]

They have their own flavor, just like 2D/3D Mario games, imo. I love em’ both.

 

[L*][*N*K]

i disagree, moving on.

 

[AV]

Not really a hot take amongst those that have been playing Zelda for over 20 years.

I don't think either dimension is inherently better, some 2D are better than 3D and vice versa. Minish Cap isn't better than OoT, sorry. LA on the other hand?

 

[DenchDeckard]

A link between worlds is incredible but I'd say both 3d and 2d are as good as each other.

Zelda is just very, very good

 

[yurinka]

Back when they were released, the original Zelda, A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening were masterpieces.

On their context IMO were way better than any 3D Zelda was when released with maybe only Breath of the Wild as exception that could be included at the same level.

Many praise Ocarina, but when released it looked bad and blurry visually compared to the games available on PS and PC at the time and its controls were kind of a mess, something that didn't happen with the previous 2D Zelda. I'm also not a special fan of the 2D games Oracles, Minish Cap and later ones. As happens with many 3D Zeldas I think they are good but not as brilliant as Zelda, ALttP, Link's Awakening and BotW.

 

[Akuji]

How is this a hat take. Lttp is the best zelda by far.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

That’s not hot.

Now if you said Zelda 2 is better than some 3D Zeldas, well, you wouldn’t have to pay for heating this winter, OP. (but I wouldn’t disagree, it’s a criminally underrated game)

 

[sigmaZ]

Overall, I actually agree. I really liked the Link's Awakening remake. I like the explorative aspect of the 2D games more. Though I did like the crafting aspect of ToTK though.