2022 was a pretty dry year for the Legend of Zelda series. We saw no new games, no new spin-offs, and — other than Majora’s Mask coming to Nintendo Switch Online — no new remakes / re-releases. But just because The Legend of Zelda was MIA this past year doesn’t mean there weren’t other games out to there if one needed to get their so-called “Zelda fix.”

For me, the fantastic indie title Tunic really scratched that old-school Zelda itch earlier this year. Taking obvious cues from The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, and Link’s Awakening, this game perfectly captures the unique charm, whimsy, and sense of discovery of the earliest Zelda adventures. And beyond that, Tunic shakes up the formula by adopting the punishing difficulty of FromSoftware’s Souls series, implementing indie-rific ARG elements, and introducing a uniquely brilliant instruction manual system. Some have argued that Tunic is the best Zelda-like game ever made, and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment.

Speaking of FromSoftware, the acclaimed developer’s new title Elden Ring definitely helped ease the wait for Tears of the Kingdom this past year. Taking the Souls series in the open-world direction, much like Breath of the Wild did for the Zelda series, Elden Ring offers a grand and fulfilling fantasy adventure that most Zelda fans will appreciate. Sure, the game’s challenges may be as difficult as The Adventure of Link and as cryptic as the original Legend of Zelda; but the sheer sense of scale and unmatched sense of discovery in Elden Ring rivals even Zelda‘s most iconic game worlds.

And that’s not to mention other Zelda-like titles that released this year, like Blossom Tales 2: The Minotaur Prince and Dungeons of Dreadrock. What about you? What 2022 games did you play to get your Zelda fix? What games helped make the wait for Tears of the Kingdom a little easier? Let us know in the comments below!

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