Are the Zelda games approachable?

[MrPopo]

You only needed to draw a little bit:

[darsparx]

You only needed to draw a little bit:

Oh yeah....well I'll have to print out a copy because I don't want to draw on the original(mine that i got is still clear of any markings and i intend to keep it that way! )

[casterofdreams]

I only used a guide for Majora's Mask when I was younger but when guideless with all other Zelda game as from SNES to today. The most approachable are the GBC games IMO because the map is pretty useful. I don't think they were made to be overtly complicated and that goes for 2D iterations. Except the first one (or first two).

[alienjesus]

The game actually features cutscenes with both of the instrument playing characters earlier in the game. Makar's one is particularly notable. They make a point to introduce them both to you. It's not like they've just thrown you into the void and said 'guess where to go'.

Wind Waker is also excellent, no matter what some people in this thread think

And yes, I'd say the Zelda games are definitely approachable, at least from A Link To The Past onwards. The NES games are difficult and obtuse and not very approachable at all by modern standards, but everything after that is pretty easy to get into.

[Omerta]

If you're having trouble figuring out what to do, I'd say play a 3D and a 2D Zelda each with a guide. That'll give you a feel for the general flow of the game and how the puzzles work.

Any subsequent Zelda titles you run through should feel more natural and intuitive without a guide.

My two cents anyhow...

[ninjainspandex]

First off you're playing the worst Zelda game. Wind Waker sucks. I don't care who disagrees. The game is trash. This is coming from someone who has been playing Zelda since the very first game on NES and has played every Zelda game since then.

Wind Waker is far and above my favorite Zelda game, and probably one of my favorite games of all time. I found exploring in that game more enjoyable than in any other Zelda game, coming across new islands and just wondering what secrets they may hold. It really truly felt like an adventure.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Link to the Past
Link's Awakening

You're welcome.

[irixith]

Starting the Zelda series with Wind Waker is a mistake, because it's the turning point where the franchise jumps off the rails. In a bid to be different from the others, it pretty much changes everything that makes the Zelda series the Zelda series. (However, if you started with the Wii U version, it's a better experience but still not a series starting point.)

The game is fraught with cut content, and some of the worst moments of the game emphasize it. I won't spoil anything, even though there's not a lot of content in the game to spoil! One of the hallmarks of the series has been going into a dungeon and emerging victorious with an item. That item typically has some introductory use in a portion of the dungeon, and then you're left to see how it might help you progress towards the next dungeon in the overworld. In WW, you are very rarely tasked with using an item outside of the dungeon you find it in. There's the illusion of a grand world to explore, which hides the linearity of the quest (which only gets worse in future installments...Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword might as well be on rails for the amount of freedom to explore that you get). Once you explore island #50 and find nothing but a few rupees, you realize that outside of the main quest the world is dead.

The previous entries were more accessible and established the method of play better. A Link to the Past (SNES) is an excellent series starting point as it establishes everything important about the series in one game. Link's Awakening (GB, GBC) is a good jump-off from the SNES game, as it changes up the formula but stays true to the core of the series. The Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC) are a good follow-up from that. Once you've played all of those games, the entire series opens up to you in a different sort of way. Not that there's any particular order or way to play the series, but playing the games I mentioned give you a much better background into how to approach the gameplay than starting cold at Wind Waker.

[Flake]

Wind Waker is so damn good. Great story, excellent gameplay, and it doesn't require 40 hours to play through like the console entries that came after it. The key to not getting lost on wind wake is to just feed the fish.

[ZeroAX]

Wind Waker is so damn good. Great story, excellent gameplay, and it doesn't require 40 hours to play through like the console entries that came after it. The key to not getting lost on wind wake is to just feed the fish.

so true

My thoughts on the whole Zelda franchise more or less: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOC3vixnj_0