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Discussion IGN Presents: The Top 10 Legend of Zelda games of all time (post-TOTK edition)

Hero of Hyrule

Hero of Hyrule

Frieren the Slayer
Pronouns
He/Him


10. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
9. The Legend of Zelda
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
7. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Alright, and we're down to the last two

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Obviously for most of us even trying to rank TOTK right now is a fool's errand, it's too early, but I guess IGN has had a month with the game so they have been able to sit on it and can decide where in the series' pantheon they feel it should go.
 
Iā€™m sure the methodology behind the lists was different, but IGN ranked BOTW #1 on their GOAT list a year or two ago. Kind of wild to see it clock in at #2 on a franchise list from them now.
 
IMO Wind Waker is too low, but otherwise good list. Not far enough in TotK to know where it stands and I'd shove Skyward Sword in there somewhere as the story is the best Zeldas ever been, also has some of the best dungeons Zelda has ever had.
 
I think this is less about what is better and more what style of game you like (Open World / Linearity / Grid based level design /ā€¦). Though still, I think BOTW is for Open World Action Adventures one of the most impactful games ever.

After playing TOTK for some hours, I really like everything I see, but Iā€˜m also quite overwhelmed to a extend that I miss the simplicity of BOTW. I really canā€˜t say right now which game I think is better.
 
lexony said:
I think this is less about what is better and more what style of game you like (Open World / Linearity / Grid based level design /ā€¦). Though still, I think BOTW is for Open World Action Adventures one of the most impactful games ever.

After playing TOTK for some hours, I really like everything I see, but Iā€˜m also quite overwhelmed to an extend that I miss the simplicity of BOTW. I really canā€˜t say right now which game I think is better.
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I was in this spot for the first 6 hours

Now I am squarely in the ā€œthis game is a fucking masterpiece to an incomprehensible degreeā€ camp though
 
Lack of Skyward Sword is criminal. But given basically every Zelda if of such high-quality, it's hard to argue against this list.
 
It will be interesting to see how TOTK fares on these lists.

I feel like Galaxy 2 gets overlooked relative to its predecessor when it comes to all time rankings, despite the fact that many would agree it surpasses it.

Thought the same would be true for TOTK, but maybe it is just that much of an improvement in every way in a way that galaxy 2 wasnā€™t
 
Phendrift said:
It will be interesting to see how TOTK fares on these lists.

I feel like Galaxy 2 gets overlooked relative to its predecessor when it comes to all time rankings, despite the fact that many would agree it surpasses it.

Thought the same would be true for TOTK, but maybe it is just that much of an improvement in every way in a way that galaxy 2 wasnā€™t
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Itā€™s less likely it gets overlooked by Galaxy 2 because Mario is purely mechanics based, so even if G2 was more accomplished than 1 on that front, it canā€™t compensate for the lack of impact that 1 made back in the day.

TOTK has a very strong narrative hook that keeps it in contention imo
 
Phantom Thief said:
Itā€™s less likely it gets overlooked by Galaxy 2 because Mario is purely mechanics based, so even if G2 was more accomplished than 1 on that front, it canā€™t compensate for the lack of impact that 1 made back in the day.

TOTK has a very strong narrative hook that keeps it in contention imo
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I think TOTK might give more of that ā€œobsoleteā€ feeling with BotW than SMG2 did its predecessor.

Like yes SMG2 is a mechanical expansion in so many ways, but itā€™s still its own set of levels separate from 1 while TOTK takes the entire world of BotW, brings it back and fills and expands it more.

Not a perfect comparison, but itā€™d be like if there was a launch star on starship Mario that took you back to the comet observatory and you could access all the galaxies you found there with changes in them lol
 
Makes sense that TOTK is ranked higher, itā€™s BOTW with a ton of extras on top.
 
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I have no idea how you can fairly rank TOTK in its immediate aftermath.

As always, ALLTP too high, Linkā€™s Awakening too low.
 
I'm several hours into TotK and it's sitting firmly in my #1 spot. Without hesitation I already know lol
 
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Haven't played TotK yet, but the rest of this feels like pretty much the safest list possible, with the exception of the first game being there. I wonder if it's a thing now that BotW is going to cause people to rate it more highly than they used to?

Majora should be above Ocarina, Twilight Princess above Wind Waker, ALBW and LA above ALttP, and I'd probably bump off Wind Waker or the original in favor of Minish Cap.

I also kind of do suspect TotK will make BotW basically irrelevant to me, its exclusive content like the Divine Beasts was not really the most important parts of that game, so if TotK is better I probably would just leave BotW off because it's about as redundant as including both versions of Link's Awakening.
 
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Ocarina at number 4? The 90's are in tears right now (no pun intended).

I'm only ~18 hours in and it feels like TotK is BOTW x100. I think the new game will rank higher on the charts as time goes on.
 
Pretty predictable list. TOTK is great but Iā€™m not far enough in to say more than that. I mean the game is like 3 days old lol, dunno how you make a list like this.
 
Any top 10 list us gonna be controversial, because thereā€™s 12 games that generally seem to make up the ā€œtop tierā€, and therefore 2 games will always be left off. In this case, itā€™s Skyward Sword and Minish Cap.

My controversial opinion is that the original NES game is near the bottom of the list, but I also grade games strictly on how they play today rather than including importance to the industry, so the disparity makes sense in my eyes.
 
Iā€™d have loved if they had been bold enough to not include TotK in the list but still call it a post TotK list.
 
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Thunder84 said:
My controversial opinion is that the original NES game is near the bottom of the list, but I also grade games strictly on how they play today rather than including importance to the industry, so the disparity makes sense in my eyes.
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I'm the same way, but I actually do like the original Zelda and would definitely put it above at least some of its sequels. Not sure if it'd make top 10, but it probably wouldn't be that far off.

I don't think putting it near the bottom is controversial though, or at least it didn't used to be. I assumed they had put it so high here for historical significance too, but they actually don't talk about that in the video so I'm going with "reevaluation due to Breath of the Wild's popularity".
 
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Phendrift said:
It will be interesting to see how TOTK fares on these lists.

I feel like Galaxy 2 gets overlooked relative to its predecessor when it comes to all time rankings, despite the fact that many would agree it surpasses it.

Thought the same would be true for TOTK, but maybe it is just that much of an improvement in every way in a way that galaxy 2 wasnā€™t
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TotK is the better game, but BotW is the more important game. I think BotW will ultimately stay on top of most lists.

If someone could only play one, I would easily recommend BotW, as I feel TotK is infinitely better if youā€™ve played its prequel first.
 
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Phendrift said:
It will be interesting to see how TOTK fares on these lists.

I feel like Galaxy 2 gets overlooked relative to its predecessor when it comes to all time rankings, despite the fact that many would agree it surpasses it.

Thought the same would be true for TOTK, but maybe it is just that much of an improvement in every way in a way that galaxy 2 wasnā€™t
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Galaxy 2 requires the original title to appreciate it since it strips away so much of the ā€œheartā€ in favor of a streamlined gameplay experience, whereas totk can stand on its own. I kinda just lump Galaxy 1+2 together as a pre-DLC age combo packā€¦. Making it being MIA from 3DAS all the more frustrating lol
 
It's like they feel compelled to list the original Zelda because it's the progenitor of the IP, but it's really not better than any sequel after it. Especially Skyward Sword of Minish Cap.
 
Iā€™d tentatively still rank BoTW higher than ToTK so far. The latter has a lot more going on, but I do think some of the elegance of the first game has been lost.

Still, very early. Honestly, lists like these are silly - particularly in launch week, and even if theyā€™ve had it for weeks.

Huge games in long-running series need to sit in the stomach for a while. Their reputation in the fan base is shaped over years and decades, not weeks.
 
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The true most surprising thing about this list is putting Zelda 1 in the top ten. The historical precedent is there, and I do get it (Super Mario Bros. is probably in my top 10 Super Mario games), but I'd probably slide Minish Cap in there instead personally.

Oh, is this turning into another Mario discussion? Don't mind if I do.

Phendrift said:
It will be interesting to see how TOTK fares on these lists.

I feel like Galaxy 2 gets overlooked relative to its predecessor when it comes to all time rankings, despite the fact that many would agree it surpasses it.

Thought the same would be true for TOTK, but maybe it is just that much of an improvement in every way in a way that galaxy 2 wasnā€™t
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I think the vibe of Galaxy 1 being so novel and Galaxy 2 being so close to the original mechanically both contribute to this. The novely factor and the emotion isn't there in Galaxy 2 comparatively.

...even if I do think Galaxy 2's nore focused level design takes it over the top.
Phendrift said:
I think TOTK might give more of that ā€œobsoleteā€ feeling with BotW than SMG2 did its predecessor.

Like yes SMG2 is a mechanical expansion in so many ways, but itā€™s still its own set of levels separate from 1 while TOTK takes the entire world of BotW, brings it back and fills and expands it more.

Not a perfect comparison, but itā€™d be like if there was a launch star on starship Mario that took you back to the comet observatory and you could access all the galaxies you found there with changes in them lol
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This is a feeling that I'm actually really disagreeing with as I start TotK. Swapping out Link's core abilities means that BotW still retains its own identity. And the reuse of Hyrule instead get used to recontexualize your abilities and adds to the story. It's a sequel but it feels like it stands on its own. Galaxy 1 and 2 have different level design, but playing both in the minute to minute isn't too different from each other.
 
ngpdrew said:
I have no idea how you can fairly rank TOTK in its immediate aftermath.

As always, ALLTP too high, Linkā€™s Awakening too low.
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Because reviewers had the game way longer so they also put more hours in it :).
That said: Tears is amazing. Not sure where I put it, but for now I wouldn't be surprised it hits my top spot.
 
I guess BOTW really made some people reconsider their opinion on the og Zelda, wich is fine, game's great.
Phendrift said:
It will be interesting to see how TOTK fares on these lists.

I feel like Galaxy 2 gets overlooked relative to its predecessor when it comes to all time rankings, despite the fact that many would agree it surpasses it.

Thought the same would be true for TOTK, but maybe it is just that much of an improvement in every way in a way that galaxy 2 wasnā€™t
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I think it's gonna be more like Portal 2 where most people agree the sequel was the better game.
 
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Quite a few eyebrow raisers on that list.

No Skyward Sword, ALLTP being ranked so high, TP being ranked so low. Most maybe aren't prepared to admit it as well but at this point Ocarina of Time is probably one of the weakest 3D Zelda's behind only Wind Waker at a push.
 
The Wind Waker ahead of A Link Between Worlds and Linkā€™s Awakening?? And where is Skyward Sword?
 
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I've always highly disagreed with the Galaxy 2 comparisons for TotK because not only is there the obvious "Galaxy 2 isn't reusing the first game's levels" thing, Galaxy 2's entire design philosophy is very very different from the first game. I seriously consider it to be a Returns to Tropical Freeze level jump in terms of design. It's not remotely an expansion or level pack for the first one. I don't think describing a game as a "level pack" is ever really true, even the NSMB games have their individual design philosophies, but this is far more extensive than the differences between any two of those.
 
I will say that I'm not exactly surprised that Skyward Sword isn't on the list. It's been considered a devisive game for a while, and I say that as someone who enjoyed it quite a bit and more than some of the games on the list.
 
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Really just shows what an amazing series Zelda is. Not really much I disagree with here, Iā€™d have SS over TP, and would rank LTTP under both LBW and LA, but thatā€™s pretty minor stuff. Even the original Zelda, as someone who played it for the first time a couple years ago was still a lot of fun.

No comment on TotK being number one as Iā€™m still pretty early.
 
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ngpdrew said:
I have no idea how you can fairly rank TOTK in its immediate aftermath
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Mekanos said:
I mean the game is like 3 days old lol, dunno how you make a list like this.
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Getting the list ā€œrightā€ or ā€œfairā€ is less important than having content at the ready to draw people in or keep them on the site. Zelda is one of Nintendoā€™s ā€œeventā€ games and pretty much every gaming site I read has been doing daily articles for the last week relating to the franchise.

Vantell said:
Because reviewers had the game way longer so they also put more hours in it :).
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Even if reviewers were given a week or less itā€™s pretty much guaranteed that this video still would have been posted a day or two after launch. Top 10 lists like this are digital crack for driving site traffic.
 
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Kingpin Rogers said:
Quite a few eyebrow raisers on that list.

No Skyward Sword, ALLTP being ranked so high, TP being ranked so low. Most maybe aren't prepared to admit it as well but at this point Ocarina of Time is probably one of the weakest 3D Zelda's behind only Wind Waker at a push.
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Ocarina of Time is still a masterpiece and worthy of the #4 spot. And Skyward Sword is not a good Zelda game. Yes, it had some great dungeons and a quality story, but has so many things wrong with it and really lacks in the exploration department.
 
Really hard to argue with that. I prefer Ocarina to either of the Breath of the Wilds, but games media loves anything open world. Thats probably the top 10 games even if you argue with the order
 
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Kingpin Rogers said:
Quite a few eyebrow raisers on that list.

No Skyward Sword, ALLTP being ranked so high, TP being ranked so low. Most maybe aren't prepared to admit it as well but at this point Ocarina of Time is probably one of the weakest 3D Zelda's behind only Wind Waker at a push.
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Damn, this is the beauty of subjectivity in Zelda rankings because I disagree with all of this!
 
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Kind of an interesting list here. Not sure I remember quite when the last time I read IGNā€™s top ten Zeldas exactly, but I think Breath of the Wild especially caused a lot of the older games to get reevaluated.

Seeing the list in general though, makes me want to rank all of the Zelda games once I beat Tears. Iā€™ve always felt odd doing a full series ranking when I hadnā€™t played all of the games, but I did finally beat Zelda II for the first time last year. Might be fun.
 
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BassForever said:
What are you taking off for it?
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Either the original, or link between worlds. Though, Iā€™m heavily biased by having just played Minish and for the first time at that. Perhaps replays of those would sway me.

If removing LoZ - it would be from a perspective of removing historical context. Buuut, even still, with such a clear line between it and botw, thatā€™s a hard ask.

If removing LBW - it would be because aside from the open-ended nature of it (which frankly weakened parts of it), a lot of what it delighted me with back on release I have since realized comes from previous 2D titles I hadnā€™t yet played at the time (eg. minish cap new perspectives -> 2D Link)
 
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My personal list:

  1. Breath of the Wild
  2. A Link to the Past
  3. The Wind Waker
  4. Ocarina of Time
  5. A Link Between Worlds
  6. Link's Awakening
  7. Majora's Mask
  8. The Minish Cap
  9. Twilight Princess
  10. Phantom Hourglass
Tears is headed for a top three finish at the moment, unclear where it will go. I think I can see it beating out Wind Waker fairly easily, but LTTP and BOTW were just so massively impactful and influential games for me I don't know if TOTK will manage to edge them out yet.
 
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So far Iā€™m not sold on TOTK being better than BOTW but I have a feeling that will change as things progress. Outside of that the only other 3D Zelda I have really played is Ocarina of Time on 3DS and I didnā€™t think it was all that amazing so my list is probably BOTW, TOTK and then 8 2D Zelda games.
 
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The biggest question I have with these lists is that, as someone who prefers WW over TP, I do wonder how WW always seems to place above it. OoT I get, and MM well, thereā€™s really nothing like it. SS is usually low or left off because itā€™s divisive. But TP and WW have a lot of the same problems, but TP has VASTLY better dungeons.

Itā€™s not something I value as much, I just prefer WWā€™s whimsy and sea exploration, but Iā€™m surprised to see most people place it above TP
 
Haven't touched TotK yet, so we'll see if it changes. For now...

10. Spirit Tracks
9. Majoras Mask
8. Adventures of Link
7. Link's Awakening
6. The Legend of Zelda
5. Skyward Sword
4. Ocarina of Time
3. A Link Between Worlds
2. A Link to the Past
1. Twilight Princess
 
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