With another set to join the epic pantheon, there are quite a few The Legend of Zelda games available. In total, there are 21 mainline games and a few offshoots. That doesn’t count remakes and remasters, either, so there’s truly a wealth of options out there. Some gamers have been with this franchise since the beginning, meaning most of their Zelda playing will be of the replay variety. Most of the games are easily replayable, but some present unique challenges to the modern gamer that make it difficult to do so. Whether it’s their age, the gameplay they offer, specific controls, console troubles, or some other challenge, here are the hardest The Legend of Zelda games to replay.
Hardest The Legend of Zelda Games to Replay in 2024
Honorable Mentions: Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks, Zelda II, and Wind Waker.
The Legend of Zelda
The original game in this iconic franchise has not aged poorly. In fact, it stands up well in 2024. We recently replayed it, and it’s still a wondrous good time. It is just a difficult one to beat. What made The Legend of Zelda so unique is that it offered very little guidance. It has never been a straightforward game. In 1986, players were dropped into Hyrule and had to figure things out. Some of those things are incredibly difficult to figure out even still today. The mechanics are simple enough, but finding each dungeon (let alone beating it) is no easy feat. That makes it hard to revisit since it’s still as daunting as ever.
Tears of the Kingdom
One of the most difficult The Legend of Zelda games to replay is also the most recent (pre-Echoes of Wisdom): Tears of the Kingdom. This game is a masterpiece, but it’s not easy to dive back into. For starters, it’s incredibly long. If gamers efficiently prioritize the main story, it still takes almost 60 hours to complete. Adding in all side quests pushes it to 116 hours. To complete the entire game and do everything there is to do requires an astonishing 243 hours. That is unbelievably dismaying, especially if you’ve already played it once. Plus, it’s a little over a year old, so the replay desire hasn’t really arrived just yet.
Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time is one of the absolute best The Legend of Zelda games. It’s also one of the oldest. It was the first 3D game in the franchise, and it shows. It’s boxy and the mechanics are not great. The 3D remake for the Nintendo 3DS did fix some of these issues, but that version is harder to get since the N64 version is on Nintendo Switch Online. The story is fantastic, as is the gameplay. There are just a lot of dated aspects that make this one a little frustrating to replay sometimes. It has been 26 years, so this isn’t all that surprising.
In Conclusion
Most The Legend of Zelda games are very replayable, but some have some difficulties. Even the ones mentioned above would be a good time to revisit after some time away but be warned that in a franchise this old, age is bound to show. Modern gaming has evolved quite a lot, and especially so in recent years. It can be hard to go back to any old game, so keep that in mind when you’re taking a trip down memory lane in Hyrule or anywhere else.
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