What's the hardest mainline Zelda title? (Including hard difficulty)

[Deleted member 4292]

Of all the ones I've played, right now it is hands down Links Awakening Hard Mode on the Switch. I've been getting my ass handed to me over and over again.

I have no idea how many times I've died but it's been quite a few and I only just got the power bracelet.

next hardest if not the hardest is probably Zelda II but I don't think I'll ever touch it again, let alone beat it.

Easiest is probably Wind Waker or Twilight Princess.

What about for you Era?

(I tried to put the most difficult games in the poll)

 

[Z-Beat]

Mmmm, it's gotta be 1 or 2. Probably 2 but I'm gonna vote for 1

The real answer is Zelda's Adventure though

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Zelda 2, primarily because its combat system was super messy and you could really only reliably beat it by exploiting glitches and design flaws.

 

[Homura]

Of these the order is : Zelda 2 > Zelda 1 > ALTTP > BOTW > MM > LA

 

[Fuzzy]

Links Awakening Hard Mode on the Switch.

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That was supposed to be hard?

 

[eXistor]

I have more trouble with 1 than 2 mainly due to the more limited controls of 1. Both are quite challenging, but fair imo.

 

[Deleted member 4292]

That was supposed to be hard?

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It is for me :(

 

[Hu3]

Zelda 2

 

[Stevo]

I've voted BotW because it's the only one I haven't completed.

 

[Deleted member 60582]

Zelda 2. The mechanics were hard enough, but trying to figure out WTF to do as a 7-year-old before the age of the internet made it damn near impossible.

 

[Linkyn]

It's Zelda II. The later dungeons are near impossible to navigate (three cheers for jumping down some random pit), let alone on a limited number of lives. Also, ubiquitous actual pitfalls assure constant danger of cheap deaths.

Also, Death Mountain.

Edit: To this day, Zelda II remains the only Zelda game I've not beaten without resorting to save states.

 

[Fuzzy]

It is for me :(

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You just need to be careful, especially if you do something stupid like I did with a 3-heart run. lol

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

Links awakening hero mode is heavily tilted towards being more difficult towards the start than the end. Moldorm is probably the peak of the games difficultly in combat, even on regular difficultly because you've basically got very little access to the things that make the game easier (Heart pieces, fairies in the remake, the revive potion).


Zelda 1 and 2 are definitely the hardest in the default difficulties.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Zelda 2, although it is not unfairly difficult. There is only one unfair enemy in the whole game - the dark red Dariya's that throw axes. Every other enemy has a pattern you can follow to beat them with minimal/no damage. One of my fave games of all time. I've played it so much over the years I can beat it with extreme ease these days

 

[Onilink]

BOTW Master Mode. Trial of the sword is something dull and unforgiving (and i find Zelda 2 not difficult)

 

[MJForum Poster]

Zelda 2 without a doubt.

 

[Deleted member 4292]

You just need to be careful, especially if you do something stupid like I did with a 3-heart run. lol

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The genie fucked me up many times haha

 

[Deleted member 31923]

Zelda 2. Zelda 1 is only hard if you don't have a guide or know where things are/where the secrets are, especially in the final dungeon in the first quest or pretty much the entire second quest. The actual combat isn't that bad.

 

[Luigi87]

There are reasons Zelda II is the only one I've never beaten.

 

[Goldenroad]

Majora's is obtuse, but if you follow a guide or whatever, it's not that hard of a game. Zelda 2 is way more obtuse and hard as fuck.

 

[LegendofLex]

BotW Master Mode leaves the least margin for error throughout the game. You're constantly outgunned unless you stock up and upgrade early on. I'm sure the difficulty flattens our a bit later on, but I'm still hitting walls and one-shots all over the place despite demolishing most of the base game.

after that, definitely the NES games. Zelda II isn't as unmanageably hard as its reputation suggests...until the endgame when shit gets crazy. But it's still way more punishing than most Zelda game.

 

[Onilink]

Then i'll add the final stage of 4 sword anniversary edition, and the solo stage time trial of Triforce Heroes

 

[Weiss]

BOTW kicked my ass early on but by the halfway point you're basically indestructible, at least as long as you're not fighting a Lynel.

I guess I'll go with Link Between Worlds' Hero Mode.

 

[Aurongel]

Breath of the Wild Master Mode makes certain aspects of the endgame absolutely unbeatable if you don't approach certain encounters -PERFECTLY-

Off the top of my head, both the rematch with the water boss and the Trial room with the three white Lizalfos on a single platform are unbeatable if you approach them incorrectly. One missed input sets you back a considerable amount of time and is punishing like no other game in the series.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Zelda 2. Fucking love it as well.

 

[Weebos]

Breath of the Wild is quite difficult in the beginning of Master Mode, but after a few hours its easy enough.

I would guess Zelda 2 would be the hardest, but I haven't played much of it myself.

 

[Efejota]

Zelda 2, although it is not unfairly difficult. There is only one unfair enemy in the whole game - the dark red Dariya's that throw axes. Every other enemy has a pattern you can follow to beat them with minimal/no damage. One of my fave games of all time. I've played it so much over the years I can beat it with extreme ease these days

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I think everyone thinks of this enemy when voting Zelda 2.
BotW is easily the hardest. I wouldn't imagine doing a 3 heart run there.

 

[Cordy]

Zelda 2 was just stupid for what you had to do.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Anyone who doesn't say Zelda 2 simply hasn't played Zelda 2.

 

[jph139]

Zelda II is a brilliant game and the only one in the series that's close to what I'd call hard. Enough so that I've never beaten it without save states.

The rest have occasional challenge spikes but, taken as a whole, are pretty easy.

 

[lobdale]

Zelda 2 no contest and it is always the consensus choice when this question is asked

 

[Suicide King]

Zelda II and it's not even close to any of the other games. That thing is stupid hard.

 

[Moist_Owlet]

Zelda 2 is the only hard one. The rest are almost too easy.

 

[Ferrio]

I often find the difficulty of Zelda 2 greatly overstated. Like everyone views the difficulty as when they were 8 or something.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Easily Zelda 2. The original gets really tough in the final two temples but Zelda 2 is still much harder than that. Still need to play BOTW.

 

[Euler007]

I played Zelda 2 on an emulator two years ago, it was easier than I remember. I did cheese the hell out of shadow link though.

 

[Dary]

Though (mostly) not unfairly. Losing all your lives and having to trek back to places can be a pain, though - especially if you were on the verge of unlocking a shortcut...

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I died more times in Breath of the Wild than the combined deaths of every other Zelda game I have played.

 

[JuicyPlayer]

Zelda 2 is not that hard. Maybe because I've been playing that game since I was 8 and know where everything is. But the combat in that game is so good especially against iron Knuckles.

 

[Fuzzy]

I often find the difficulty of Zelda 2 greatly overstated. Like everyone views the difficulty as when they were 8 or something.

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I agree. The only difficult parts of Zelda 2 is the lead up to the final palace and the final palace and that's only if you're not careful with the enemies.

 

[Glio]

Zelda II and the difficulty probably makes it the worst.

 

[Hint]

Zelda 2 is the most obvious answer, but for the more modern games its definitely Majora's Mask for me. I played the 3DS version after playing the original when it released and it was surprisingly difficult, especially in the beginning when you have less abilities. It would be far more difficult without any use of guide.

 

[Blackpuppy]

I put Zelda 2 and while it's not HARD.... it's simply unforgiving. Getting through Death Mountain to then have to get through the final dungeon... Oof. I save stated the crap out of that.

Even as kids, we put that game through a Game Genie.

 

[KDR_11k]

Links awakening hero mode is heavily tilted towards being more difficult towards the start than the end. Moldorm is probably the peak of the games difficultly in combat, even on regular difficultly because you've basically got very little access to the things that make the game easier (Heart pieces, fairies in the remake, the revive potion).


Zelda 1 and 2 are definitely the hardest in the default difficulties.

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Moldorm is generally known as Trolldorm. The true nightmare version of LTTP is one hit death, 2x speed oops all Moldorm

 

[SonicRift]

Some good responses here, and Zelda 2 is NES Hard, but there's an extra layer of difficulty that made Skyward Sword the hardest Zelda game to play.

 

[Oreiller]

It's very obviously Zelda 2.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Zelda 2 and it's not even close. Anyone who votes anything else has never played Zelda 2 to completion.

 

[Liliana]

Zelda 2 without question.

 

[killuglypop]

Always struggled with ALTTP, in fact I don't think I've completed it. Usually get halfway through the dungeons in the Dark World, get stuck and give up.

 

[Version 3.0]

Anyone who doesn't say Zelda 2 simply hasn't played Zelda 2.

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I've beaten it probably 20 times. Hell, maybe more. It was hard-ish when it first came out, and I was a teenager. Even then, it was not nearly as difficult as many, or even most, NES games. Now I can zip through it even faster than Zelda 1, in just a few hours.

It's still a contender for hardest Zelda, though, because all Zelda games are on the easy side.

But I'm going to say that Majora's Mask is my pick for hardest, especially due to that goddamn fish boss. That bastard had me throwing my controller in frustration. The only other Zelda game that had a boss that gave me significant trouble was Skyward Sword, and those were because the motion controls were finicky.

And outside of mechanical gameplay difficulty, I recall both Link's Awakening and the Oracle games giving me trouble with some of their dungeon puzzles, though they're now vague since I've only beaten LA twice and the Oracle games once each.