Summary
The Legend of Zeldais one ofNintendo’smost prestigious flagship properties.While it’s the portly plumber who really blows the doors off in terms of sales and marketability, theZeldaseries has established itself as a high bar of quality with almost every one of its 21 mainline releases to date launching to widespread critical acclaim.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis, in fact, still considered by many to be one of the best games of all time. So, it comes as no surprise that third-party developers would want to emulate that success and design their games around the time-tested formula. It’s fair to say theZeldaseries has consistently reinvented itself in its nearly four-decade lifespan, so all iterations will be considered in considering thebest Zelda-like games currently playable on the Xbox Series.
Blue Fireis a tricky recommendation because it was divisive with critics, and it does make a poor first impression. Once players start to level up their protagonist, gaining some cooler traversal and combat abilities, the game is a blast right up to the end, especially for fans of 3D platforming.
The game is more aesthetically reminiscent of theZeldaseries than the actual gameplay mechanics. Those thematic touches do extend to the variety of enemy types and somepuzzle-based, chest-filled dungeonswith towering bosses waiting at the center, so there are plenty of familiar tropes for fans of the series.
Minitis a game that wears its influence on its sleeve, and that influence is retroZeldagames like theNESoriginal. The hook toMinitis that the adventurer is burdened with a cursed sword that kills them every 60 seconds in real-time. Once that time elapses, progress will be saved but the adventurer will return to the nearest bed they’ve discovered and have to begin their loop again.
This gives a roguelike feel to the experience, consisting of a series of environmental puzzles that must be solved in a minute to advance to the next area. Followed by exploration to secure the next spawn point. It’s a brief adventure, well worth undertaking for any fans of classicZelda.
Hyper Light Driftersets out to modernize those retro top-down adventure titles like the originalThe Legend of Zelda— and it largely succeeds in this goal. It addsa pace and flair that energizes the now-dated game designto make it more befitting of current standards, and at its peak, combat is very fluid and satisfying.
The problem is, it kind of falls between delivering that nostalgic hit and matching the same kind of thrill as modern action roguelikes such asHades.Hyper Light Drifterdoesn’t quite live up to either of those comparisons, making it another recommendation with caveats, but it definitely has its dedicated fans.
Genshin Impactalmost shamelessly borrows fromThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildwith its world, traversal mechanics, and elemental puzzle solving such as freezing water to walk on ice. But, the free-to-play JRPG does at least make some great use of these mechanics in a way many other successors dropped the ball on.
It has that sense of exploration that madeBreath of the Wildsuch a huge success; players actuallywant to explore this world and are consistently rewarded for doing so.Genshin Impactalso adds its own distinct flourish to the formula with a rich RPG system of classes and unlockable characters that allow players to adapt the play style to suit them.
The Plucky Squireis a special little game that really toys with its concepts and pays affectionate homage to a number of classicNEStitles, one of the most prominent beingThe Legend of Zelda. The story takes place predominantly within a storybook that is chronicling the tale; rearranging or replacing words in the text to change environments is a key part of puzzle-solving.
The game is continuously shifting the goalposts with Jot, the eponymous squire, being transported outside the bounds of the book into the real world. There are a bunch of competing mechanics tossed into the meta adventure, but the core exploration and top-down sword-swinging combat of Jot will certainly give players that classic Zelda feel.
Depending on who’s asked, this entry is perhaps interchangeable withGenshin Impact, which is certainly a deeper system but does border on pay-to-progress, so it probably comes down to individual tolerance and restraint. OutsideGenshin Impact,though,Immortals Feynx Risingis themost completeBreath of the Wildsuccessor on theXboxplatform.
The similarities are so apparent that it drew criticism from the die-hardZeldacommunity upon its release, but it has since taken up its place as the best alternative for gamers who don’t own aNintendo Switch. Everything is here, right down to pretty much the exact same puzzles. There’s nothing to not recommend toZeldafans, but it is definitely an imitator rather than an innovator.
Maybe a little bias showing, butDeath’s Dooris a fantastic action-adventure game easily worth its relatively brief runtime. The design pays homage toThe Legend of Zeldaseries and is perhaps most reminiscent of theDSera of games such asThe Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
Combat and exploration are familiar with a sword, bow, bombs, and hookshot serving as the main tools. However,Death’s Doorvery much has an identity of its own, set in abeautifully realized gothic world; the player is a reaper tasked with collecting the souls of those who won’t go willingly into death.Death’s Dooris full of distinct wit and character and some spectacular boss fights to cap off each act.
Another indie release that wears its influence on its sleeve,Tuniccarves out an experience that is uniquely brilliant in its own right. The core appeal ofTunicis thesteep learning curveand the complete lack of hand-holding. It’s the classicZeldaexperience with someSoulslikedifficulty for modern audiences.
The complete lack of instruction means that figuring out the game is as much a part of gameplay as the actual dungeon crawling and exploration. That can be understandably off-putting to some players, and while online guides will greatly simplify those frustrations, that comes at the cost of some of the wonder and ‘wow’ moments from actually unearthing the secrets. For fans looking for a modern recreation and a truly challengingZeldaexperience,Tunicis still the best option on theXbox Series.
