Twilight Princess vs Skyward Sword

[Jumpin]

Anyway, my ranking of Zelda games based on how much I liked them on my most recent playthroughs rather than any real attempt to try and assess quality:

1. Breath of the Wild
2. Link to the Past
3. Link Between Worlds
4. Ocarina of Time
5. Majora's Mask
6. Zelda 2
7. Link's Awakening
8. Skyward Sword
9. Twilight Princess
10. Wind Waker
11. Zelda 1

I skipped out some games I have played, but either they were so long ago (Oracle games) or didn't leave enough impression on me (4 Swords) to properly assess how much I like/dislike them.

Ocarina of Time used to be my favourite, but I haven't been able to seriously pick that one up, or older 3D Zeldas since playing Breath of the Wild. The paradigm shift was so good that it makes the older Zelda games seem small and annoying in how they are structured behind so many "Find key A in large area B in order to proceed to C" type puzzles that line a critical path - Breath of the Wild got rid of the whole concept of a critical path and gave players freedom. The moment I realized I had to look at a guide to find something I had forgotten was the moment I realized I hated 3D Zelda prior to Breath of the Wild.

What Breath of the Wild also did was made dungeons fun again, rather than a series of chores. The last Zelda game where I found the dungeons fun was Link to the Past. That is why it is my second favourite one. And Link Between Worlds is 3rd because it is basically a remake of Link to the Past with some expansion. Also, Link to the Past has short dungeons, and the game feels alive in the overworld. 3D Zelda prior to Breath of the Wild made the overworld feel like an obstacle course between dungeons - and, I know people won't agree with me here, but I think dungeons suck for the most part. The games where they're actually fun are few and far between: Breath of the Wild is one, Chrono Trigger is another, Link to the Past is another, and I struggle to think of others where I actually think "This dungeon is fun!"