By Chris Harkin
The Legend of Zelda franchise has produced some difficult games, but many of the more recent ones in particular are not difficult to get through.
The Legend of Zelda franchise is a fascinating one that has ranged across a variety of game genres over the past few decades, constantly pushing the boundaries to stay at the very height of the gaming industry. While some of the entries have flopped or changed significantly, the majority of the new games provide a huge amount of excitement within the gaming industry.
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The Legend of Zelda fans have found though that the games seem to get easier with time, with many of the more recent entries providing much less complex challenges than the earlier games used to. This being said some of the easiest games across the whole franchise are surprising ones.
7 Breath Of The Wild
One of the most recent entries and a wonderful RPG, Breath of the Wild garnered a huge volume of praise and led to a sequel which is already one of the biggest games of the year. The story, which tied together many of the different eras of the world that the Zelda franchise is set in, was astounding and the open-world nature was taken to new extremes.
However, Breath of the Wild isn’t generally considered by Legend of Zelda fans to be that difficult. Though the opening areas can be troublesome, most of the rest of the game won’t give players anywhere near the trouble that some of the older Zelda games can. The game can even be completed incredibly quickly if players so wish it, making for one of the fastest Zelda speed runs possible.
6 Skyward Sword
Most Legend of Zelda games don’t actually come with any difficulty settings for players to change, instead of that, Skyward Sword attempted to just make the whole game easier than many of the other games being released at the time. While it was a huge success, there was definitely not a lot of challenge to either the combat or the puzzles for most players.
The only thing that stops Skyward Sword from being one of the easiest Zelda games of all are the boss fights. They manage to deliver a much higher level of challenge, requiring some of the most precise movements and hits for any Zelda boss fights. Much of the game is reasonably simple, some fans have even vented frustration about many of the dungeons being overly simplified, but the bosses were a high point that made players work for the big victories.
5 Minish Cap
Minish Cap is one of the Legend of Zelda games that came and went in a relatively quiet manner, but it is a lot of fun and remains one to be played by any Zelda fan running through a lot of the older entries in the franchise. That being said, it is a relatively easy addition, with many of the dungeons and puzzles considered among the easiest in any Zelda game.
The reason for it not being one of the very easiest of all is that Minish Cap does have a reasonable level of difficulty when it comes to ramping up in the final act. The last three dungeons all provide a better level of actual hardship that players have to work through. Besides this, most of the game is fairly simple, particularly for a 2D Zelda game.
4 Phantom Hourglass
Set in the same world as The Wind Waker, this is one of the earlier 3D Zelda efforts that packed some level of punch, and has been called a great leaping on point for new fans to the franchise, simply because there is enough challenge to make it an interesting adventure for more seasoned gamers while providing an accessible experience for younger gamers and more relaxed ones as well.
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Much like the Wind Waker, there isn’t a lot of punishment for making mistakes in Phantom Hourglass, but it was a great Nintendo DS title that is worth replaying today and could be due for a Switch remake. There won’t be a lot of challenges for seasoned fans of the franchise, but for beginners to the genre, there may be some difficulties in navigating this one.
3 A Link Between Worlds
One of the older Legend of Zelda entries, many of the other games which came out around the time of A Link Between Worlds were still giving gamers a much better run for their money. However, this entry in the franchise ended up only providing minimal challenges for most fans, though it is true that there is more freedom in general than previous entries like A Link To The Past.
That earlier entry provided more overall challenge across the combat and puzzles though, the only real difficulty of A Link Between Worlds is figuring out where to go at times when players are left to their own devices. On a relaxed playthrough, or for gamers who are happy to explore the world, this game provides no real challenges, though it is a great handheld Zelda game anyway.
2 The Wind Waker
Gamers are torn over the difficulty in The Wind Waker, with the majority finding it to be a simple entry in the franchise which provides a lot of fun but no real challenge, matching the pleasingly cheery and simple esthetics of the artistic style.
Despite being a surprisingly dark entry in the franchise, Wind Waker isn’t anything that gamers haven’t already managed countless times in other games. Definitely one of the more pleasing visual styles seen across the franchise, but that doesn’t translate into interesting or challenging puzzles, nor a very difficult combat system.
1 Twilight Princess
The easiest of all the Legend of Zelda games is surely Twilight Princess. Providing no real challenge through puzzle systems or combat, this entry in the franchise was an odd duck that changed up the style and made the gameplay a rather simplified version of what it ever was before.
With a very button-mashing based combat style, some ridiculously easy puzzles that are much fewer than most other entries, and the near-constant appearances of Midna by Link’s side to give him clues about literally everything, Twilight Princess is the perfect easy ride for any Zelda fan looking for a relaxing game.
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