Best Legend Of Zelda Games For Exploration Fans

There are many reasons as to why someone may want to pick a game in the Legend of Zelda franchise: for its gripping narratives, its epic boss fights or its mind-breaking dungeons & puzzles. But there’s another prominent gameplay element that also attracts a fair share of players, and that is the exploration.

The kingdom of Hyrule and the various other regions around it are some of the most interesting locations in all gaming and, fortunately, gamers were able to travel through it on numerous occasions, which has gotten even better as technology evolved throughout the years. There are a lot of solid Legend of Zelda games for fans of exploration to choose, but the following eight will definitely satisfy them the most.

8 The Legend of Zelda

It Was Ahead Of Its Time

The game that started it all, the original Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System, may seem unimpressive nowadays, but this was a truly ambitious and revolutionary title for its time. Before the NES, most home console video games were not able to offer true exploration that would make gamers feel adventurous, at least not in the scope of the Legend of Zelda.

From the moment Link meets the Old Man, who gives him his first sword (which the player can choose to ignore), this game felt like something truly special, and this sentiment echoes all over the adventure, like the treacherous journeys through a Hyrule infested with dangerous monsters or the deep dives into mysterious dungeons with epic bosses at the very end. Exploration is one of the key elements of the Legend of Zelda franchise, and it has been evident ever since its first installment.

7 Echoes of Wisdom

The Echoes Encourage Players To Explore Every Single Corner

The most recent entry in the series, Echoes of Wisdom, may not be as ambitious or as open-ended as Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but it is still quite interesting to explore the 2.5D version of Hyrule within it. For starters, this game finally lets players play as Princess Zelda herself, and she interacts with the characters, enemies and environments in different ways from Link.

But the most creative and entertaining gameplay mechanic in Echoes of Wisdom are the titular Echoes, which allow Zelda to copy and create replicas of almost every single item and enemy she can find throughout Hyrule. This sole mechanic changes everything since it encourages players to explore every location they can reach to obtain new Echoes that will spice up their play style in fun and unique ways.

6 Ocarina of Time

The First Fully 3D Map In The Series Was Really Ambitious

The Legend of Zelda series was renowned for its wonderful sense of exploration during the NES, SNES and Game Boy eras, but it jumped into the next level after the arrival of 3D graphics changed the entire industry. In 1998, Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, an incredible video game that was immediately praised by fans and critics alike. And its ambitious new portrayal of Hyrule was one of the main reasons behind its success.

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The semi-open world map of Ocarina of Time may not seem all that massive today, but back in the late 90s, this was one of the biggest and most adventurous locations ever put in a video game. Hyrule is filled to the brim with interesting areas, quirky characters, fun side-quests and valuable bonus items. Some of the best parts of the game are completely optional and missable - like the famous Biggoron’s Sword quest - so players who explore everything are always rewarded for their efforts.

5 Majora’s Mask

A Bizarre World With Living Characters (And A Lot Of Masks)

Majora’s Mask features a semi-open world of similar scope to its predecessor, Ocarina of Time. However, it does have some key differences that completely switch up its gameplay and, as a result, it’s way a more rewarding experience for fans of exploration. One of the most interesting aspects about Majora’s Mask is that its NPCs have precise routines that are completely independent of the player's actions, so it’s always interesting to find every single character and find out what they’re up to at different times.

Another part of Majora’s Mask that sets it apart from other installments in the series is its large number of side-quests. Since the gameplay is centered on Link’s masks, there naturally are a lot of optional side-quests that will reward him with new ones that would otherwise be easy to miss. This game encourages exploration so much that its final boss and ending change completely if the player is able to collect every single mask, which was a first for the series.

4 The Wind Waker

A Beautiful Ocean With Many Islands To Find And Explore

In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the land Hyrule has been submerged underwater and, thus, most of the world is made up of vast oceans that are populated with mysterious and intriguing islands. The large amounts of water may mean that different areas of the map are not as easy to access as the Hyrule in Ocarina of Time, but it more than makes up for it because the exploration of this game is much more interesting and unique.

The ocean in The Wind Waker is filled to the brim with different islands that have many secrets in them, and the populated areas feature many memorable characters and fun side quests. Nevertheless, this is one of the few Legend of Zelda games in which the mere act of exploring is a magical experience in and of itself, regardless of any potential rewards, because just sailing away in Link’s boat will always fill the player with a wonderful sense of adventure.

3 A Link Between Worlds

The First Real Non-Linear Zelda Adventure

Every Legend of Zelda game released before A Link Between Worlds was mostly linear: the player could deviate from the main path in order to find some optional items or side quests, but they didn’t offer full freedom of choice until the final boss was defeated, and the map fully opened up. This finally changed in 2013, when Nintendo released the spiritual successor to A Link to the Past on the Nintendo 3DS.

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The main mechanic of A Link Between Worlds is the possibility to rent key items, especially those that are needed to complete one of the main dungeons and to defeat their respective boss. Just this one feature made this game way more open-ended than any of its successors, and it gave players the freedom to complete each dungeon in whatever order they want. Granted, Link will lose all these temporary items when he dies, but he can rent them again from Rovio the moment he respawns. As a result of all this, exploring Hyrule in A Link Between Worlds is very fun and refreshing.

2 Breath of the Wild

A Massive Open World Game That Changed The Entire Industry

But A Link Between Worlds was just the beginning of an entirely new era of The Legend of Zelda franchise. Just a few years later, Nintendo released the excellent Breath of the Wild, the first fully 3D entry in the franchise that featured a massive open world the player can explore in whatever order they want.

The map of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild is absolutely massive, way bigger than anything before it, and it’s chock-full of things for the player to discover: shrines, side quests, armor sets, weapons, powerful monsters and more. This game is so open-ended that players can immediately go face the final boss a few minutes after starting a new game but, of course, those who explored most parts of Hyrule will be way stronger and more resilient. Breath of the Wild' s brilliant change in the formula was so revolutionary and so successful that it even inspired other games in other franchises, like Elden Ring or Sonic Frontiers.

1 Tears of the Kingdom

Tripling The Size Of BOTW’s Already Huge Map

It truly seemed like Breath of the Wild was the peak of the Legend of Zelda franchise in terms of exploration, until Nintendo released its sequel in 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This game already has all the same good qualities of its predecessors, like an expansive map of Hyrule with tons of shrines to complete, items to collect and enemies to defeat.

However, what makes Tears of the Kingdom the best game for players who want to spend countless hours exploring is the addition of two new maps that are almost as big as Hyrule: the Sky Islands and the Depths. Tears of the Kingdom literally tripled its map size, offering fans a lot more avenues for exploration, with tons of treasure, shrines and creatures to find in either the sky or underground. And, of course, all of this can be done in whatever order the player wants.

But what makes Tears of the Kingdom even more distinctive is all of Link's new abilities, especially the Ultrahand, which lets players build a large variety of vehicles, weapons, objects and more. This means that not only the rewards in this game are valuable, but traversing the world is a satisfying experience in and of itself. This is one of those video games that can be played for a very long time before reaching one of its main mandatory quests.

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