It has it easier than most games actually. A lot of reviewers score them based on nostalgia. Something a game like, say Titanfall won't have.

Second only to Final Fantasy, in my opinion

Maybe.

I know I have enormous expectations from a new Zelda game, but it's probably because they've set the standard so high themselves in the past. Still, the games are usually not underrated in the press though.

I think it all comes down to how frequently games in a series are released. If there was a Zelda game released every two or three years, I wouldn't be nearly as picky. You're right, Skyward Sword was a great game, yet I was massively disappointed by it because I had to wait five years to get it. If it had released earlier in the Wii's life I wouldn't have had nearly as much of a problem with it. But Zelda games are so few and far between that you've got a certain expectation when one finally comes around, and if it's lacking in any way it's just a massive half-decade-in-the-making bummer.

For me Pikmin is the same. Pikmin 3 is a great game, but there are aspects of it that really bum me out, seeing as it took nine years to get here. Same with Valve games, as someone said above: you expect more when the release schedule is so thin.

While Legend of Zelda does have a very divisive fanbase, it doesn't hold a candle to how much divisive the Final Fantasy fanbase can be. Some fans hate each other to death over who's favourite FF is.

Personally I'm never setting a foot ever again on a "X FF is the best ever" or "what's your favourite FF of all time" thread ever. I've been badly burned here on VGC and i'm not falling for that again .

There's some heated disputes and debates when it comes to Zelda too, but not at the same level. I do remember seeing some pretty inflamed opinions against Skyward Sword which really irked me, but one has to learn that people are entitled to their opinions, no matter how contrary they can be from your own or how they distort some actual aspects of the game.

Are you serious?  Skyward Sword has a 93 on Metacritic.  There are some great games that overcome a ton of scrutiny simply because they're a new IP or not a super popular franchise. 

Nintendo games.  Not 100 on Metacritic?  Critics are being too harsh.

NOPE. Its hands down, Sonic The Hedgehog.

I think it does have a high standard. I mean, I like to think that Nintendo itself has a high standard because of the amount of time it takes for each iteration and the control Nintendo likes to have over its own IP.

I also see it as a flagship IP for the young male demographic. In a way, Zelda is the coolest and most mature IP. The one that would probably succeed the most in the West. The one game that an older non-hardcore Nintendo fan might be interested in and have nostalgic feelings for.

The old Zelda games were also very good apparently, given how much emotional attachment people have for them.



Mm, maybe I should ask my mom to give me the Wii she never uses and play some Zelda games (only Zelda games I finished were the Gameboy ones, lol).

You wouldn't know it talking to Zelda fans. The ones I know who love the series have said Skyward Sword is either shit or they couldn't even finish it (I'm talking about you Zucas).

I blame the fanbase also. The critics loved Skyward Sword, but after hearing all the bitching from the fanbase it seems that all critic sites has made complete U turn to stay popular with the louder minority of gamers and are now all agreeing that it was a letdown. Personally, SS is my favorite game of all time, I'll spare you the details on why but I'll just say that the story/characters had a certain charm and soul that was much stronger than every other Zelda games imo.

I think it's the case for the Nintendo fanbase in general. How can you forget the Other M fiasco. I thought Other M was a solid game, I'd give it a 7.9/10. But the loud minority are yelling that it ruined the franchise... I think the older the franchise and fanbase are the harder they are to please cause they have setted themselves unreachable standards created by their younger selves and nostalgia. The same can be said for Square Enix and the FF franchise.