I think most of us are familiar with the Zelda Cycle by now. Opinions about Zelda games seem to shift as time and new releases change things. In order to try and avoid treading the same ground, my question here is a bit simpler. Has a new Zelda game ever changed your views on an older game, or the series as a whole? We know that the community has changed its overall opinion on games, but have you personally reconsidered your own view?

The obvious candidate is Breath of the Wild. Whether it's for better or for worse, BotW has changed the landscape for Zelda games and expanded the definition of what a Zelda game can be. This could cast the previous games in a very different light. For example, BotW's lack of traditional dungeons is seen as a flaw by some, which may increase the popularity of games with traditional dungeons, even less popular ones like the DS Zeldas. On the other hand, BotW's popularity may be used as evidence that SS, TP and WW were too slow to innovate, making people less forgiving of their flaws than they once were.

These are just examples and not necessarily my opinions. I did miss the stronger narrative from the linear games like TP and SS, which wasn't present in BotW. This has made me appreciate the storytelling aspect of older titles more.

I've been aware of the Zelda Cycle, but I don't think it ever really applied to me. My opinion on each game has stayed more or less the same since the first time I beat them. Going into Breath of the Wild, I was half expecting for it to make all previous Zelda games look bad by comparison. However, this was not the case. I really enjoyed the game but I also missed a lot of things from older titles, most importantly the music.

BotW has certainly changed my expectations for future games in many ways, but it hasn't changed my views on the older games.

ALBW made me consider ALttP may not be a fossil that is utterly unplayable these days.

Same... Sorta.

Except I tried to replay ALttP and went back to my previous mindset.

I mostly agree with Stasis, there is no Zelda cycle. However I must admit I have changed my opinion on one game in the past year. How sub-par Zelda games have been for a while now (I'm talking TP, SS, BoTW imo,) it's made me bring my rating up of The Wind Waker. I used to downrate TWW because, while the gameplay is just perfect, it doesn't really capture the real Zelda atmosphere, that legendary ethereality of a lush hidden magical land, in fact it started the whole "Zelda is goofy and kiddy" thing that TP and BoTW adopted, and doesn't take childlike fantasy seriously enough like games like MM and LA mastered.

But now all these poorer, more-watered-down visions for Zelda games that have stacked up (imo TP, SS, BoTW) have changed my mind a bit about an older game, TWW. I consider TWW with a bit higher regard now, still lacking in Zelda atmosphere, but really, gameplay-wise it's at the top with MM. Essentially, these newer, watery games have made me more appreciative of the great gameplay in TWW: Gameplay that's truly investigative, with rich NPC puzzles and stories and fun mechanics and items. Gameplay that's not all about fighting and killing but something much more deep and cerebral:

BoTW confirmed in me what I had already thought before it came out: open-world exploration won't be as fun as it was in MM and TWW. That's simply because MM and TWW took care of good gameplay first. They made it highly available all around you and didn't focus on open-world as a mechanic itself, which in-of-itself lacks substance. They focused instead on creating an inventive diversity of gameplay-and-story mechanics to use all around you: as long as you used your brain, you didn't have to mindlessly travel around lengths and kill things to get very far and "explore." You could, in the very sense, explore everything that's hidden right there at your feet. Within the town and islands you've been to: they were "layered and unfolding" with proper thinking and taking action. THAT is what is brilliant gameplay: Exploration that's not what you think of as exploration, exploration that's a whole lot more cerebral, local, and character-based.

Not going to lie, but after Breath of the Wild I think Skyward Sword look bad, and I was earlier fairly positive towards that game despite its flaws. I still really like its soundtrack though. On the other hand, my appreciation for Wind Waker has grown larger after Breath of the Wild due to its music and story-elements that was really lacking in BotW.

"No" is a cool answer, right? I've never changed opinion on any Zelda game after having played another. Well, except Zelda 1 because when I first tried to play it I was just a kid and didn't know what I was doing, then years later went back and beat it and really enjoyed it. I don't think that really counts.

But yeah, the Zelda cycle hasn't ever really affected me. I've liked Twilight Princess since it came out, I haven't played the DS games in a while but they probably still wouldn't be very good, Skyward Sword still has a good story but the gameplay doesn't do it for me, BotW is still by far my favorite in the series and may as well be the Second Coming of Zelda for me. Overall I think that's a good thing considering I at least enjoyed my time with literally every game in the series I've played, which is all of them except FSA and Oracle of Ages.

I would say that the closest thing to changing my opinion is when a newer game has a reference to a previous game i wasn't too big on. For some reason that really makes me enjoy the older games and the newer games together. Also only Breath of the Wild has changed my view of Majora's Mask and that being that Majora's Mask, while still fantastic, is no longer my absolute favorite Zelda game.

No but some games made me feel nostalgic for a older one...

And also time makes me appriciate games that I found " different" at the time.

That is very difficult to make my opinion about the old Zelda Game when i'm playing Breath of the Wild.
All Zelda games are different, and release a new one make their comparison deeper.
Which one are the best story ? The best content ? The best Link ? The best Gameplay ? The best world ? etc.
It changes my opinion and my perspectives, but it doesn't change my feeling when i'm played for the first time.

It's hard to say. I think time has played more of a role in my opinion of the games versus any sort of influence from playing another one.

I remember claiming Skyward Sword as a favorite years ago, but after some time and getting my hands on ALBW and replaying other games, I've noticed that a lot of my feelings toward it were nostalgic and in reality it was more flawed than I noticed or really accepted at the time. I also feel differently about Twilight Princess, which I consider a favorite now though in the past it wasn't anywhere near my top five.

I'm curious to see how I'll take BotW, but I sincerely doubt it will shift my opinions much on other games in the series.

Well, now that you mention it...

After my first Zelda experience being years of playing Zelda II, Zelda I, ALttP, and some LA - when OoT came out it made me appreciate the 2D Zelda games all the more because I had discovered OoT to be much easier and much more simplistic particularly in the combat dept. I felt bored with the enemies that just dance around me waiting for me to attack, and missed the enemies that posed an actual threat to me making me watch my next move. Also, the overworld in OoT was so empty compared to older Zelda games. The overworld had become a hub to get from dungeon to dungeon, and only a few birds here and a few pea hats there stood in the way. I missed the challenge of fighting my way across Hyrule while having to track down the next dungeon that I haven't found yet; which is another thing I missed - having to find the dungeon - since the dungeons had become so easy to find without having to go out and get clues and look around, etc.

While I praise games like BotW & TWW quite a lot, I can't help but wonder what all would be possible now with a 2D Zelda game with the technology we have now. We've seen tastes of it with FSA, ALBW, & TFH but 2D Zelda games are a far cry from what they were when I was a kid. I wanna see a full effort 2D Zelda game with complex gameplay techniques and a focus on an open world and on combat difficulty.