I can't do Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda is widely acclaimed as one of the most important game franchises. I go back a long way here as a 40+ year old gamer so I've seen many, many Zelda launches over the years on every Nintendo console since the NES.

I can't do it though. I've tried, but it just doesn't work for me. To be clear, I'm talking about playing the game and getting enjoyment out of it. Last year I picked up the 3DS release of Ocarina of Time as my first 3DS game - that's how committed I was to finally getting into Zelda. I lasted about 60 minutes on it before I became bored. I never went back.

This year the 3DS release of A Link Between Worlds was chosen by many gaming sites as one of the best games of the year. Giant Bomb selected it as their runner up for best game. So I decided to give it another shot. I like good games, why not this one? I gave this one more time - a full five hours - before the strong sense of boredom hit in and I just couldn't play it anymore. I'm therefore putting aside my pride and announcing that I'm quitting Zelda. She's beautiful, and complicated, but we're just not right for each other.

So long Zelda. I wish you well ;.(

at the very least, when you say you find zelda boring, you can bring up how much you actually tried to play it and enjoy to back you up. it's not like you're making an uninformed statement.

You are not alone. I did enjoy Zelda back in the Super Nintendo days, but not since then. I was kind of tempted to rebuy a 3DS XL and try the new Zelda game, but i did not because i know what the end result will be.

Different tastes I guess. Zelda's my favorite series due to its design, stories and sense of place.

Don't give up, it took me about 8 years to figure out how great Zelda is....I'm sure you'll get it one day.

At least you tried the game and gave them a chance. It is better then what most do due too all the bullshit people spew without even playing the titles.

Quoted For Truth!!

let me guess TC....the last of us or GTA was your game of the year...

heavy rain is an amazing game...beyond two souls is underrated...lol

am i close?

This.

TC, it's totally fine to dislike Zelda games. Not everyone is supposed to enjoy the same thing, reason why we have so many different genres in the video game industry. I give you major props for trying the games out.

Well good on ya for trying. Just out of interest, do you like other games that might be similar in theme or genre? Okami? Darksiders?

It more might be the genre, I wasn't a fan of Okami either. It's essentially a puzzle solving platformer with action elements - which sounds awesome - but I find the puzzles unintuitive (maybe I'm not smart enough or I've lost too many brain cells over the years), the platform parts frustrating and the action parts repetitive. To be honest, I think that if I could stick with it for 10+ hours to level up and to get some great loot that I'd get into it, but I can't make it that far without forcing myself to... and who wants to be forced to do something that's supposed to be entertaining? I love the 3DS in general though, probably my favorite platform at the moment.

I'm on the same boat, with a few exceptions (LTTP and WWJD), I find most of them very boring

I don't think A Link Between Worlds is the best example. I'm a huge fan of Zelda, but I thought A Link Between Worlds was pretty dull.

@farrell2k: I'm not limited to just those three franchises but like you there are very few games I can get into

I can tell why people might find Zelda boring. It's slow and methodical.

I'm really pulling for wii u zelda to be something special.

My GF is pretty much the same. I don't really understand it. When she doesn't know what to do on a puzzle or know where to go in about 5 seconds, she asks me what to do. And she can't read more than like 3 sentences of dialogue before she starts skipping the text. She's not like that on other games, so I guess Zelda isn't for everyone. Personally, I love not knowing what to do or where to go in Zelda games, and reading what people say in order to get some hints. It's like I love everything about Zelda, and she hates everything about it.

Yea, I'm tiring of Zelda also. I suppose I'm outgrowing it and wish for a more mature take on things but know that Nintendo will never do this. I find the characters are for children, the story is simply there as a pretense to go to each dungeon, I'm bored of the same items, and the dungeons (while different) all feel like I'm simply going through the motions again and again. Worst of all......I can no longer tolerate the slow beginnings and incessant hand-holding. It destroys the pacing and difficulty and I can't be bothered to force myself to play past the first few hours.

I'm holding out little hope for the upcoming one.

@MirkoS77: funny because a Link between worlds did away with all the hand holding and slow starting sections

So which way are you going to complain?

You dislike the slow beginnings but then that's the only part of the game you play.

Obviously you like the slow beginnings or else you'd play more and get to the rest of the game. Instead you like to play the slow start and then when it starts to pick up you leave.

OMFG!!!!!! You just described me. I now own 6 Zelda games and they all sit as unfinished games due to me losing interest in them as I played. The latest victim for me is A Link Between Worlds. Hated every Zelda I owned before it, but was sucked in by the praise and bought the game. Started out loving it, but after collecting two paintings, I just sorta lost interest and haven't advanced anymore through the game. Every time I put it in and load it up. I can only stand to play it for like ten minutes tops before shutting the 3DS XL off.

You're not required to like it. There are other great series out there too. I'm sure you've found them. :)

Not sure about TC, but I loved Darksiders. I own Darksiders 2 also, but have yet to play it.

I know, I was referring to all the new console games. It was based upon a game that was made in a time when those problems didn't exist.

Obviously, I very dislike slow beginnings. I'll give a game an hour at most to get moving, if it hasn't by then I'm moving on. I don't need to play past the 4 hours of molasses moving baby stages to see that they're there.

What's your point?

@MirkoS77: actually according to aonuma and the other devs they specifically made it so there was never any handholding and to give the player freedom, not just because it was based off of lttp. The fact that they went with the whole non linear dungeon order(which wasn't even in the first lttp) supports this philosophy.

Well I hope they keep at it. But even still, if it starts out real slow with no hand-holding that'll still be a problem. We'll know soon enough, but it's good to hear that they're aware of this problem.

Oh, well.

I've tried to like Zelda as well, but I just don't get the hype. I completed tPHG, thought that was okay. Spirit tracks was a struggle, gave up after a few hours. Then came the 3ds & the OoT. 30 hours in, & the water temple destroyed it, can't even look at the box art without a small cringe setting in.

Honestly OP, I agree with you.

The franchise needs to evolve. Its been so stagnant since Ocarina. The combat is dull and they seriously need to improve on it. Hopefully they take some tips from Hyrule Warriors.

I played Twilight Princess and LOVED it. it was my first Zelda game. After that I played Skyward Sword and was bored out my mind. I started Wind Waker and am in the Temple thats out in the middle of the sea (forgot what its called) and can't get myself to get back into it.

I've played Darksiders and honestly I feel like its the better franchise at this point. It also evolved greatly just between 2 games. Darksiders 2 isn't similar to Zelda, its more like a mix between Skyrims exploration, Zelda like bosses, Prince of Persia traversal, and it has the right amount of puzzles too.

If you havne't I STRONGLY recommend it.

Attention span not there maybe for this type of game.

Sorry to hear that. My PC gaming big brother got hooked instantly on ALBW, also my GF enjoys it greatly.

As I said in a similar thread on another board, I'm sure there are quite a few games that you're a fan of that I just can't get into no matter how hard I try. Different strokes for different folks.

Part of what makes Zelda so great for me is completing one of the games and looking back at the entire adventure you just took. It truly seems like an epic.

If you are still wanting to enjoy Zelda games, might I recommend starting with the original or trying Skyward Sword? Possibly starting with where it all started might help you find enjoyment in other entries of the series and it isn't too long of a game. Skyward Sword on the other hand has a different feel to it than other Zelda games, partially because of the motion controls but also because of pacing.

Not saying you should try these games, especially if you don't think it would help. Just mentioning them in case you want to give Zelda one more try.

TC ever thought that you might simply got old for certain games? I kinda feel the same sometimes, I still wanna play all the franchises that I used to play when was younger but some of them simply do not the trick anymore. I tend to prefer different games nowadays, more scenario based with RPG elements such as Mass Effect for example.

Saying all that I still got Pokemon Y and enjoyed it, even bred some perfect pokemons with perfect IVs, but yea I can feel what you're saying.