The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure franchise inspired by the fields, woods, and caves outside Kyoto that creator Shigeru Miyamoto had explored as a boy. In his own words, the intent of the original Zelda game was to give players a "miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer."

The Legend of Zelda

 * Fundamentals: 4-Direction movement, cryptic puzzles, floors/walls/holes, 2D sections
 * Overworld: open world, enemies, heart containers, old man caves, moblin caves, great fairies, shops, lost woods, gambling minigame, death mountain boulders
 * Dungeons: map/compass, keys/locked doors, defeat all enemies, block pushing, dark rooms, bombable entrances, boss guarding health and progression, rupee room
 * Items: Sword (stab, sword beam), Shield, Bombs, Raft, Ladder, Boomerang, blue/red Candle, blue/red ring, Flute, arrows, magic rod, magic key, bait, blue/red potion
 * Collectables: Rupees, Hearts, Bombs, Timer, Fairies
 * The NES title drops you in the middle of the world.
 * 4-way movement; Pause Screen shows Map, Quest Items, Inventory Items (USE B BUTTON FOR THIS), Dungeon Map/Compass/Keys, Collectables and Life
 * Sword teaches the concept of caves; being optional is a nice touch
 * Octoroks teach Shield mechanics through sheer exposure and limited options????
 * There is something on every screen????
 * Reacting to enemy spawns or, later, movements with a stab is the most effective way of dealing with them.
 * Ideally you shouldn't get hit (hence, sword beam); but you get a few chances. The number of chances increases permanently and temporarily as a reward for progression
 * Your punishment for making too many mistakes is "back to square one", and the reward for not making any mistakes is a more leisurely play-session
 * Shop prices are initially daunting but balance out as you get stronger and learn the locations of Secret Rupees
 * Optional secrets (found through bombing walls, burning bushes, nudging armos statues): Secret Rupees, Door Repairs, Shops, Money-Making Game, Old Man Hints
 * The Graveyard could be a third of the size that it is
 * Boulders spice up gameplay for a few screens
 * Levels 1, 2 and 3 are introductory (easy, medium and hard routes), 4, 5 and 6 provide a more open-world feel, while 7, 8 and 9 are an escalating finale.
 * Levels 5, 6 and 8 can be found early to offer a taste of what's to come.
 * The first 6 Levels open with roughly 3 free keys each before presenting locked doors
 * While this allows for a lot of versatility, the thorough player will have more keys than they know what to do with
 * Collecting Triforce shards is actually satisfying; no text, you're healed and warped to the dungeon entrance.
 * EXPLORATION PREREQUISITES:
 * The Raft, acquired in Level 3, grants access to Level 4
 * The North-West corner of the map can be accessed in two ways:
 * 1. The Stepladder in Dungeon 4 to cross the river
 * 2. Navigating the Lost Woods (initially, presumably, with the Old Woman's instructions)
 * NOTE: Level 6 (the Magic Wand), the Power Bracelet (access to Warp Zones), and the Graveyard (Magical Sword - 12 hearts required) are in this area.
 * The Bow, acquired in Level 1, is required to beat Gohma in Level 6
 * The Whistle, acquired in Level 5, grants access to Level 7, and the Bait is then required to pass the friendly Goriya
 * Level 9 can be accessed after the Stepladder, but only properly entered after finishing the 8 other Levels.
 * Obviously, the Red Ring is pointless so late into the game
 * FREEDOM OF EXPLORATION:
 * Dungeons accessible from the get-go: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 5, Level 6, Level 8
 * the Whistle (Level 5) and by extension Level 7 (and the Red Candle? ehh..) can be accessed immediately
 * the Magic Key and Magic Book can be found immediately (Level 8), though the latter can't be used until after the Wand is obtained in Level 6
 * The Letter can be found immediately; granting access to Potion Shops
 * The first Bomb capacity upgrade can be accessed immediately in Level 5 (at the cost of 100 rupees)
 * The White Sword requires only 5 Hearts (which doesn't require completing a dungeon), and is guarded by a single Lynel
 * The Magical Shield, Bait, Arrows, Blue Candle, Blue Ring and 4 Keys can be bought in various Shops immediately

A Link to the Past

 * Fundamentals: 8-way movement, z-axis, picking up/throwing bushes/pots/rocks, chests, light world/dark world, cracked walls, sign posts, no 2D sections, cracked floor/falling floor
 * Overworld: npcs, houses, minigames, fortune teller, shops, witch's hut, fairy fountains, water warp tiles, mad batter, cuccoos, falling boulders
 * Dungeons: thin walls, big key/boss door, hint stones, blue/orange switches, swamp palace (water level dynamic), block pushing, lever pulling, lighting torches, moving floor, ice floor, outdoor sections, roundabouts, checkpoint warp
 * Items: Sword (slash, spin attack, upgrades), Pegasus Boots, magic powder, Lantern, mirror, hammer, ocarina (fast travel), bottles, power glove/titan's mitts, flippers, bug net, shovel, medallions, cane of byrna/magic cape, cane of somaria, fire rod/ice rod, hookshot
 * Collectables: Magic, Arrows, Rupees, Hearts, Bombs, Fairies
 * Master Sword grove still holds up today; aesthetically and thematically
 * Cryptic elements
 * Dark World/Light World mechanic takes full advantage of this
 * locations of dark world portals
 * Hookshot across dark world gap
 * Flute to get to dungeon 7
 * hammer order for dungeon 8
 * Cuccoos
 * Fairy Fountains
 * Mini-Games
 * Eating Shields
 * Fortune Teller
 * Pond of Happiness
 * Energy Ball Tennis

Link's Awakening

 * Overworld: marin relationship, trading quest, ghost quest, fishing minigame, stealing, warp portals, photos, library, submerged secrets (heart piece, mermaid), dogs
 * Dungeons: controllable blocks, eagle's tower (z-axis dynamic)
 * Items: Rock's Feather, diagonal pegasus boots, bomb arrows, optional overpowered boomerang, ocarina (fast travel), magic rod
 * Collectables: Guardian Acorns, Piece of Power, Seashells

Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask

 * "Here's a secret for saving me! A wall that you can destroy with the Goron's "special crop" will sound different than a regular wall if you hit it with your sword."

Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons

 * Overworld: tree stumps, soft soil, Ring shop, Bipin/Blossom sidequest, secret shop, maple, old man caves, trading quest, following-npcs-in-secret, subrosia, subrosian dance, sokra the wandering prophet, great moblin, gold monsters, quicksand metal detector, ghost ship, signpost subrosian
 * Dungeons: hero's cave (swordless dungeon), mine carts, rupee room, trampolines, walls-closing-in, fire & ice (concept, carrying ice/freezing volcanoes)
 * Items: Flutes, rod of seasons, shovel (digs snow), slingshot, magnet gloves, gale seeds (fast travel), magic boomerang, roc's cape
 * Collectables: Gasha Nuts, Seeds, Rings
 * Seasons: spring flowers, summer vines, snow paths, wilted trees, fallen leaves, mushrooms

The Minish Cap

 * Overworld: minish portals, swordsmith dojos, growing buds with bottled water, filling holes, warp spots, shoe-maker quest, library quest, bell heart piece, swamp water, activating statues from inside, sand walls, cows, gold monsters, beanstalk, newsletter, monster dream "game", man from a faraway land, magic boomerang/tingle sidequest, sneaking past the castle guards, hotel, school, climbable walls, biggoron, goron cave,
 * Dungeons: rolling barrel, cobwebs (used twice), mushrooms, two checkpoint warps, minecarts, melting ice with light, early boss room (frozen octorok), jumping clouds, one-way jumping panels, fans,
 * Items: ezlo (shrinking, riding gusts of wind, companion), gust jar (lilypad travel), cane of pacci (inverting holes), four sword, picolyte,
 * Collectables: kinstones, seashells

Breath of the Wild

 * Runes - Cryonis, Stasis, Magnesis
 * Mipha's Grace/Revali's Gale/Daruk's Protection/Urbosa's Fury
 * Weapon Stats - Attack Up, Durability Up, Long Range, Quick Shot, etc...
 * cutscenes suck
 * loading screens suck
 * the game is in desperate need of traditional Zelda items
 * both the runes and champion powers are clever in concept but feel tacky
 * cryonis is generically useful and a clever mechanic, but doesn't feel "fundamental"
 * infinite bombs? I don't even care that it's tacky
 * statis and magnesis are cool, but feel a tad too situational
 * the camera is flawless
 * befriending a dog has seemed too obtuse so far
 * enemy AI doesn't let you get free damage
 * they punish spin attack if its poorly spaced
 * they maneuver to avoid arrows
 * they have a response if you just run in guns-a-blazin
 * enemy histun armor is a crutch though
 * the high damage output from enemies and prolonged hitstun Link suffers when he gets knocked down is more conducive to a punishing environment than a challenging one
 * not so bad late-game when you can essentially choose how difficult you want a fight to be (stockpiling food, choice of armor, etc...) - but putting that in the player's hand is a luxury, it shouldn't be fundamental
 * the flurry rush is cool but too autonomous
 * bullet time when shooting arrows in the air should probably use more stamina
 * basic weapon attacks should be more dynamic, got very tired of the same patterns - variations like the windcleaver were a massive breath of fresh air
 * inclusion of classic enemies is cool, but a much larger variety would make the world feel larger and more immersive - got very sick of goblins and lizards very quickly
 * enemies hunting prey is nice, but they need deeper personalities
 * stone talus is a great mix of climbing and fighting; the difficult to reach weakpoints are better in theory than practice though because they take away the climbing aspect
 * each mini-boss is exciting on first encounter, but doubly serves as a great way to farm minerals, food and weapons through combat
 * NPCs are too bland. Majora's Mask gave each NPC a life and purpose
 * the game works cohesively whether you make a bee line for Ganon, play through the story in sequence or fluff around
 * weapons should be more durable, and there should be a larger blacksmithing element
 * dragons are cool, but interacting with them is tacky especially the fight with Naydra
 * death mountain is like a giant shrine; clever
 * the leviathans are excellent world building
 * the forgotten temple, the labyrinths, the Yiga clan hideout and the colosseum are great examples of open-world dungeons
 * every tower is unique, but they should be more unique
 * tarrey town is a fulfilling side quest, in the vein of the kafei and anju quest
 * having a house is cute, but it's far too limited
 * eventide island encapsulates everything that's great about the game
 * chu jelly and octo-balloons are too limited a toolkit for manipulating physics, even with magnesis and stasis
 * elixirs are generally redundant
 * luminous stones and the radiant clothes barely let off any light, and there's very few pitch-black areas in the game
 * would be nice to be able to make notes and/or draw on the map like the DS games
 * there should be a reason to revisit Kilton
 * the giant and royal horses are nice, but there should be more unique horses
 * blood moons are brilliant; you can clear out an area but never clear out the whole game
 * memories are pretty unintuitive to find, and when the incentive for finding them is a poorly voice-acted, generic-by-necessity cutscene... meh
 * Shame cause the story is pretty decent
 * changing every item of clothing is tedious, and there is little incentive to mix-and-match clothing items beyond aesthetic
 * enchanting clothes is a way to strike a balance between aesthetic and gameplay
 * it seemed that arrows were too difficult to come by early game
 * Silent Princess is suuuper clever symbolism
 * boomerangs also seem quite bad, not sure if they can even grab items