Easiest Zelda?

[Pikacondon]

I need to know what the easiest Zelda is. mostly because I'm introducing my brother to Legend Of Zelda games, and he needs a easy, beginner starting point. so, if you want, tell me what Zelda game was easiest for you, and if you want, tell me, in your opinion, what Zelda would sort of "teach" a beginner.

 

[Hylian Knight]

I don't know about easy but to teach a beginner I would recommend 1 of these 3 games OoT, MM, or TP because a new VG is always difficult when you 1st play through the entire game.

 

[Pikacondon]

I've showed my brother TP om WII, but the controls don't work for him, plus it's a chinese version. all the text is IN CHINESE! I know the chinese, but translating is a pain for me. also, I don't have an N64. anyone else have opinions or thoughts about an easiest Zelda?

 

[SuperGanondorf]

Games I would recommend:
Phantom Hourglass- Probably the easiest of the bunch. I see it as "Zelda for Kids", mainly because you can easily breeze through most of the game in a few hours. Many Zelda veterans snub it, but it would be excellent for teaching a new player the basics.

A Link to the Past- Not the easiest, but still not that hard. The first Zelda game to really use the formula we know now. It leads you in the general direction of where you're going without beating you over the head and shouting "GO HERE!". There is plenty to explore. Being the second Zelda I played, it is definitely good for beginners because it smoothly introduces them to the formula.

Link's Awakening- This is 2D Zelda at its absolute peak. The music is spot-on, and the island is rich with exploration. My first Zelda, and definitely a good beginner game because the enemies are not hard and the typical formula is there and quite basic. One I would highly recommend to a newbie player.

Games I would absolutely NOT recommend:
The original- While a great opening to a great series, it is too difficult and confusing for a modern gamer to start with. The later Zeldas are actually a good lead-up to this.

Adventure of Link- Obvious reasons.

Majora's Mask- This game is a wonderful experience for Zelda vets because of the new spins on the classic formula, but new gamers would find it extremely hard to adjust to the Zelda formula while coupling it with the time limit and the overall confusion that follows this entire game. This, I think, was made more under the assumption that the player is familiar with the series by now, because it never really eases you in with the formula, but rather beats you over the head with it from the start. Great for veterans, but beginners should avoid.

 

[Crono]

The Legend of Zelda first quest hands down. I know that game 100% by heart. Unless you mean the first time we have played said game, then LoZ would not be the easiest in that situation, it was in fact quite difficult at that time.

Aside from that, I would have to say The Wind Waker.

 

[Djinn]

I think Link's Awakening has the best learning curve. And the easiest one to complete without having to consult a walkthrough a couple times.

The original LoZ was the first one I ever played but that one can be incredibly hard sometimes. And either requires a map giving the locations of a few necessary items or many many hours of experimentation with the candle or bombs. I think I still had a handfull of hand drawn maps of Ganon's Dungeon lying around somewhere. That place is real easy to get lost in.

 

[AlaskaAce1996]

If you want an easy game go with The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess. Both are fairly straightforward, but Twilight Princess does everything short if explaining what to do. If they want more of a challenge, than forget The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess and go with Ocarina of Time. Ocarina of Time still satisfies long time players like me, but is also a great game to start out with because there are several in game hints to guide you through it. I have a feeling that Skyward Sword will be easy, as it is marketed to more casual gamers, so you might want to wait a few months and try it when it comes out.

There are three games that would be a bad idea to start out with, and those would be the first Legend of Zelda, Zelda II and Majora's Mask. All three of those games are more difficult than most modern Zelda games and going retro to start would mean much frustration. If they play and complete Ocarina of Time, than you might consider giving Majora's Mask a try, and if not than maybe A Link to the Past. If you want to go really easy, go with some of the handheld titles because they are geared to players trying to get into the series. Hopefully with all this information you can add another to the ever growing fanbase.

 

[Petman1325]

If you want an easy game, I'd aim for Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass. The reason why I didn't mention Wind Waker is because since he is your younger brother, I would assume that would mean he'd have a low attention span...hardly enough to survive sailing in Wind Waker, even though they occupy you with things to do while sailing. While the cel-shaded visuals may occupy the young one, I'd suggest Phantom Hourglass. There are also a few dungeons in WW that have a bit of a confusing design, mainly with the Wind Temple.

Twilight Princess, for some odd reason, is quite easy. It looks hard until you gain the logic of the game, then it all goes quite easily. However, if your brother has skills, then you would want to go for A Link to the Past (unless he's turned off by 2D titles) or Ocarina of Time. I wouldn't go with Majora's Mask until after he's played Ocarina of Time for a variety of reasons.

 

[arkvoodle]

I'd say that Phantom Hourglass is a pretty good game for beginners. The controls are simple, the plot is easy enough to follow, and you even get a nice little prologue that tells you what happened in Wind Waker, the game before PH.

The only bad thing is the repetitive central dungeon, which might be a tad difficult for new players. Don't worry though, he'll get used to it eventually.

 

[blackice_cc]

Lots of different opinions here.

Like most everyone else, I'd say PH is probably the easiest Zelda game: even a beginner shouldn't have too much trouble with it, except for some occasional tough parts. That being said, if I were choosing a Zelda game to start someone on the series, I wouldn't give them the easiest. Something more like ALttP, which is pretty difficult, would get them used to the formula much more effectively. Not to mention that I think ALttP is a much better game than PH.

If he's having too much trouble with that one, I'd then go to MC. That's a really fun one, and not the hardest in the series by far.

 

[athenian200]

I'm going to disagree with everyone else and suggest two titles that I find to be easier than than the others.

Four Swords Adventures is the easiest Zelda game I've ever played... it took me all of a day and half to beat the single-player mode the first time, and I'm sure I could do so even faster now.

Spirit Tracks is actually an easier game than Phantom Hourglass, IMO, at least for the first half of the game. It has tracks rather than an open ocean, so it's easier to figure out where you need to go due to the limited number of possibilities. Also, there's no time limit in the Tower of Spirits, and you can possess Phantoms in order to make things easier on yourself.

If your brother has any gaming skill whatsoever, though, consider Ocarina of Time or A Link to the Past as first games. They're a much better introduction to the series if you can handle them. I first played OoT at the age of 10, and I think a bright 8 year old could probably figure it out.

 

[Vanessa28]

My first Zelda game I played and finished was PH. It is really easy, has some comical elements (Linebeck) and the controls are easy. So I would suggest that. And otherwise I would go for TP. TP is also a very easy game to play and some parts may look hard but they are not. It will keep your brother busy for a while but he definitely will beat that game.

And maybe you could let him play OoT. I know that game is not that difficult and is a classic one.

You got a lot of options so let us know what you have chosen for your brother

 

[angelkid]

The easiest Has to be either Minish Cap or Phantom Hourglass.

Minish Cap is very linear (that's not to say it isn't good, it is definitely in my top three Zeldas and was in fact the first I ever played.) It is VERY difficult for you to get confused and not know what to do next, all you ever have to do is ask around and you will discover with ease where you need to go and what you need to do, there are never any riddles or even clues it's pretty much just standard "I heard there is a ______ in the _____." Then again, parts of it could be seen as mildly challenging, the temples or Vaati or any of the bosses infact. On top of that The cuccoo mini-game is still in my opinion one of the hardest there is (it gets me VERY angry .) I think part of the ease of this game though might just be that the playing area is so small in comparison to other games, thus making it near impossible to get lost or to fail to find something.

Phantom Hourglass is much less linear (though still rather much so) you can seem to actually choose where you want to go next at parts and explore as oppose to having to do everything in a very particular order. The general gameplay is much easier though, all the minigames have low high scores or easy time limits, and the fact you play with heart containers as oppose to heart pieces where in fact we could have had a lot of fun trying to find all these heart pieces on tiny islands at sea instead there are very very few heart containers of which i believe next to none are actually hidden.

I see alot of people say that Twilight Princess is one of the easiest, but I have to disagree purely because of the sheer size of it. By that I mean the size of the Hyrule as well as the actual length of the game. The size of the Hyrule makes it all too easy to get lost, or to not know where to go where as in some other games as I mentioned above, that is much easier. Not only that but the length of the game, for example the two hour temples, can make things very challenging. I got this game for my birthday a few years ago, and my birthday is in the middle of exam period, thus it was very rare I would be able to dedicate 2 hours of solid playing as I spent most of my time in exams or revising *cough*.... Anyway point is I can remember several occassions where I would have to stop halfway through a temple and save, and let me tell you, it can be VERY confusing to try and find your place again.

I think that the Zelda games made specifically for handheld consoles are generally easier as there is just much less space in the game for megabig maps or temples.

 

[Meego]

The games seeming to appear are PH and MC. For me it was actually Spirit Tracks, it was easy to figure out was you had to do. Whereas in Phantom Hourglass and Minish Cap it was more puzzling and the time limit in The Temple of the Ocean king made it a lot harder than the Tower of Spirits in Spirit Tracks.

It is easier to get hold of Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass because they are on DS, and your brother will probably be more familiar with the touch screen controls. But even though Spirit Tracks is easier I would get him Phantom Hourglass first because the story makes more sense then.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

I would suggest the Wind Waker. The game is pretty simple in many aspects. The first half of the game is linear, as the King does not allow you to go out of path. In the second half, the game increases in difficulty slightly, which would be a good thing for beginners. Then there is an exploration section, and this might give him the "adventure" feel to it. And then, there is our old friend Ganon, and personally, I think it is good if the first game he plays has Ganondorf in it, as he is seen as the main villain for Zelda.