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I think that's to be expected a bit, as Link Between Worlds has been copied and expanded upon ad nauseum both within the franchise and by others of the genre since its release.

Much like the original Zelda and Ocarina, they were fantastic in their time but modern players (especially without any emotional attachment via nostalgia) won't generally find anything they haven't seen done as well or better elsewhere. That's not really a negative for those games though, but rather shows how influential they were in shaping the genre.

At this point the old Zelda game that always feels freshest to me is actually Zelda II... it gets a lot of hate for not fitting what we recognize today as the typical Zelda mold and, somewhat justifiably, for being quite difficult and cryptic at times, but otherwise it had what I feel is just about the best 2D side scrolling combat and hitboxes of the 8bit genre. The controls are just spot on and it honestly feels like a legitimate duel against many of the stronger enemies, with ducking, jumping, dodging, and constantly tapping your shield. If you don't use the now infamous "sit in the corner and swing" trick on the last boss, meanwhile, I really feel he's one of the best bosses in all of 8 bit gaming... you'd swear he actually had a brain the way he reacts to your every move.

Anyway, that one held up the best imo as it hasn't been done a thousand times over since it's release. Otherwise, you'll be hard pressed to play a game from gen 3-5 that doesn't feel fairly stale, especially in a franchise with a legacy like Zelda.