The Legend of Zelda series has sent dozens of players from the comfort of their couches onto grand and glorious adventures worthy of a Tolkein novel. Heroes, princesses, magic, and swords are just a handful of ingredients needed to make a basic entry into the franchise, yet they all seem to find their way into the games throughout the years.
While slightly formulaic, the adventures of Link rescuing his beloved Zelda have delighted gamers for decades, and there's a reason for that. The culmination of familiar elements is what gives the series its identity, as well as what keeps players coming back for more. From the 1987 original to Breath of the Wild, the series is home to a tried-and-true structure gamers continuously enjoy.
A Vast Open Map
One of the first things that players immediately notice when diving into a Zelda game is the large world the kingdom of Hyrule presents. Right from the original title, would-be adventurers are presented with a sprawling map just begging to be explored.
Although most gamers might not need to rely on pencil and grid paper to keep track of their progress, especially in the more modern titles with a map feature, there's no denying that each rendition of the kingdom presents a strange new world that calls players to adventure. With perilous mountains, deep lakes, and charming villages, it's practically a standard-issue fantasy landscape.
Swords And Sorcery
While the kingdom might be pretty to look at, it's loaded with several monsters, minions, and other hazards that will make life difficult for any green-clad hero. Octoroks, Moblins, and more are waiting around every corner to drain Link of his hearts and cease his questing. Fortunately, Link doesn't travel empty-handed.
Since it's dangerous to go alone, Link is armed with the Master Sword and a variety of other spells and enhancements to hack and slash his way to victory. The monsters might be many, but he's not going down without a fight.
Dozens Of Dungeons
To put it bluntly, dungeons are a key component in any Zelda entry. Exploring these cavernous corridors, creepy crypts, and hazardous hideaways is what establishes a majority of the series' gameplay. No matter if the game is a top-down traditional title or a fully-rendered 3D adventure, dungeon-crawling is a skill all players have to master at some point.
Exploring the many dungeons and tombs hidden throughout the realm is part of the whole Zelda experience. It's the journey into the unknown that helps drive the sense of adventure. With so many twists and turns, it's hard telling what a player might find.
Key Artifacts And Weapons
Swords and shields might be the standard tools of the trade, but Link is fully equipped with several articles of adventuring gear to help get him out of any tight space. From uncovering hidden doors to setting enemies ablaze in fire, saving the princess is going to take more than the bare necessities.
Bombs, arrows, hook shots, and fire rods are just a small sampling of the various items and weapons that Link will find in a standard Zelda adventure, and he'll need all the help he can get. Giant monsters and pig wizards don't go down easily, and sometimes it takes more than a well-aimed sword blast.
Water Temples
If there's one common factor that could be considered the bane of most gamers' existence, it's water levels. Although there are countless series that feature them, Zelda's are by far the worst. Water temples, water dungeons, and water hazards are all fully capable of getting under everyone's skin.
Ocarina of Time's Water Temple might be the most infamous, but even highly praised titles like Breath of the Wild aren't immune from these aquatic nightmares. Too bad Link can't find a decent set of scuba gear for his hero's arsenal.
Gimmicky Bosses
No adventure game would be complete without a few end-level bosses sprinkled in to keep things challenging. However, there's something peculiarly familiar about many of the gigantic creatures and bosses seen in the Zelda series. Blindly slashing away might not get certain players very far, but many bosses have some sort of pattern or gimmick that allows them to be defeated.
It might be a weak spot on a giant centipede or an attack pattern on a shadowy knight, but most bosses have one tell that can be exploited to put them in the ground. Of course, Link is only too happy to fulfill that duty.
Hidden Treasures And Surprises
One of the best feelings a player can have when enjoying this series is discovering some sort of hidden treasure, secret area, or healing spring to make their journey easier. A potion here, a chest full of rupees there, maybe even a fairy willing to fill up their health bar, but no matter what useful item players might find in the Zelda games, it's always a delight to find a little something special.
Some secrets are better kept than others, whether by well-placed stones, a hidden door, or simply packed into the walls, but others take a certain amount of skill or completion just to gain basic directions. Either way, completionists can't resist finding every little trinket and treasure.
A Dark Magical Villain Or Evil
Although Zelda games are a traditional hero's journey, any interesting progatonist needs an antagonist. Some say a hero is only as good as his villain, and Ganon/Ganondorf/Calamity Ganon is certainly one of the most versatile baddies in the business. While it might be true that the Gerudo sorcerer has been pulling a similar shtick for decades, he does have quite an impressive palate to work with.
Whether he appears as a porcine conjurer, a shadowy desert-dwelling warlord, or a monstrous mass of dark energy, he means destruction for the kingdom of Hyrule. But as the character has grown and evolved, so has his difficulty. It will take more than the Master Sword to defeat this legendary final boss.
A Princess In Danger
To her credit, Zelda has become more than the standard-issue damsel in distress that she was in the original games, but it's her peril that drives Link to save the day. That being said, modern interpretations have her being an active leader or powerful figure instead of the standard pretty princess in need of rescuing.
Next to characters like Peach, Zelda is one of gaming's most recognizable of royalty. While she has evolved over the years, the entire premise of most of the games involves saving her from the forces of evil or otherwise restoring her to her place on the throne.
A Hero To Save Her
Zelda, Ganondorf, and the kingdom of Hyrule have all undergone different changes in the years since their debut. However, one thing that has always remained the same is that a certain pointy-eared hero rises to the challenge of rescuing the princess from impending doom. Thanks to his years of dedication, Link has saved Zelda for 17 original games and several spinoffs.
Link has essentially followed the same script for decades. He is called from his home, sleep, or pastoral situation and thrust into the folds of a grand adventure to save the kingdom from an oncoming evil. While his physical appearance has certainly changed over time, his hero's journey is what gaming legends are built upon.
