Daily Debate: What Minor Details Do you Love About Your Favorite Zelda Game?

When discussing our favorite Zelda games, it’s easy to focus on big-picture elements such as dungeon design, combat, or story. That said, having recently finished a long-overdue Twilight Princess playthrough, I was reminded of how many minor details there are to appreciate. You know what I’m talking about: the kind of minute, seemingly insignificant additions that – when taken all together – go a long way toward defining that game’s identity.

For instance, I love that whenever Link opens certain dungeon doors for the first time, dirt will get dislodged and fall to the ground. It’s a wonderfully subtle piece of environmental storytelling in more run-down locales such as the Forest Temple or Arbiter’s Grounds. Conversely, this detail is absent when opening doors in more populated or technologically advanced areas such as the City in the Sky or Palace of Twilight.

For as much as his promotional artwork would have you believe otherwise, Twilight Princess’s incarnation of Link is unfairly labeled as stone-cold and edgy. No, if you ask me, this guy stands alongside The Wind Waker’s Link as one of the character’s most expressive – and honestly, goofiest – iterations. His reactions to certain item pick-ups, especially, are just priceless. The look of abject disappointment on his face whenever he opens that chest in Snowpeak Ruins — expecting to find the bedroom key – only to have it contain Ordon goat cheese; it never gets old!

There are so many other little touches, too. The Banjo-Kazooie fan in me loves Midna’s otherworldly text-box speech; speaking of which, if you speak to her multiple times during the Deku Toad fight, she’ll scream “Stop calling me! That thing’s gross!” Lastly, the ability to sheath Link’s sword by pressing A right as an enemy is defeated – such an iconic flourish!

I want to hear from you all, though. What minor details do you appreciate most about your favorite Zelda game? Let us know in the comments below!