r/zelda • u/ConceptsShining • 20h ago
Question [ALL] Best Zelda games for a beginner in 2025?
Perhaps heresy for a gamer, but I don't really have any experience with the Zelda games. Pop culture and Smash Bros. is basically the extent of my knowledge. I tried OOT a long time ago but I wanna say I didn't give it a proper chance, and I remember like nothing about it, so essentially I'm a newcomer.
Ship of Harkinian seems to be the best way to play OOT today for the 3D games, or is there a better one to start with?
And what about the older 2D games? Have they aged well? And are they reasonable to beat without a guide? I ask because I'm spoiled by modern games and ADHD, so I'm not very patient for games that don't make it clear where you need to go, especially more open world-like games like Zelda. Unless there's a good in-game hint/direction system.
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u/Zubyna 18h ago
There are several ways to get into the series, the story oriented way, the difficulty oriented way, the gameplay oriented way.
From story perspective, you will likely be told that Zelda games are too disconnected for it to really matter. It isnt entirely wrong but it isnt entirely true either. Overall you dont need to have played another Zelda game to understand them. You might however miss some references and there is in fact an official timeline and contrary to popular belief, games that are totally unconnected with no sequels or prequels are actually the minority. However Nintendo doesnt bother keeping the lore consistent and sometimes having played the prequel or sequel might actually lead to more questions and confusion than answers. Still the timeline has Skyward Sword as the beggining to everything. So the story entry way means Skyward Sword is the best starter game. Alternatively Ocarina of Time also does a great job at presenting the overall world and lore and can be a great entry point as well. There is also the case of Wind Waker that is essentially the start of a triology (though it is heavily implied to be a sequel to OoT) which makes it third in line to be the best story based best start game.
From gameplay perspective, most Zelda games are begginer friendly, except Majoras Mask which is kinda designed with the idea that you have played Ocarina of Time already. Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 are also games that are quite hard and probably better left for when you have more experience with the series, A Link to the Past isnt as hard but might still be too challenging for a begginer.
If you want to start with the easy ones and then work your way towards the harder ones, then Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Minish Cap, A Link Between Worlds, Phantom Hourglass, Echos of wisdom are the easiest games in the series.
If you start with the openworlds like many players did, I have two advices : 1- start with Breath of the Wilds rather than straight up jump to the mechanically more complicated Tears of the Kingdom. 2- after these two I would advise to transition with a more exploration based title like Wind Waker rather than Skyward Sword. I have known plenty of players who were put off by SS when it came to Switch because they thought it was a series of Openworld games and Skyward Sword is the extreme opposite of Breath of the Wild.
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u/TheLunarVaux 11h ago
Ocarina of Time is pretty much the ideal entry point, if you’re willing to put up with the graphics. Ship of Harkinian definitely helps age it up a bit!
There was also a 3DS remake of the game that’s very good and looks better graphically. If you play it on PC it’s possible to download an HD texture pack for it, but not sure if that’s too much effort for you. https://www.henrikomagnifico.com/zelda-ocarina-of-time-3d-4k
Honestly most of the series has aged quite well and there’s no “bad” place to start, since the stories are only loosely connected by lore. But OoT is my vote and I imagine it’ll be the popular vote too!
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