Summary
- The Master Sword is an iconic and powerful weapon in The Legend of Zelda franchise, with memorable appearances in various games.
- Games like A Link to the Past, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom showcase the Master Sword in epic and earned moments.
- While some entries like Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword offer unique narrative and gameplay elements, others, like Hyrule Warriors and Oracle of Seasons/Ages, don't bring anything new to the table.
The Legend of Zelda franchise is Nintendo's flagship IP, alongside a certain mustachioed plumber. Since its inception in the 1980s on the NES, the series has graced every single Nintendo console and handheld on the market, with players continuously rising to the challenge to brave the dangers of Hyrule and defeat Ganon and other mystical threats.
A key tool in vanquishing these forces of darkness is the Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane. Appearing in nearly every single installment, the Master Sword is generally a top-tier weapon sealed away for the player to discover. It carries both narrative significance and heightened power during gameplay, with its place in The Legend of Zelda series now iconic. With so many appearances, all players likely have personal favorites, however, there is a case to make a list of the most memorable and epic inclusions for this legendary blade.
Spoiler Warning for Tears of the Kingdom Ahead
S-Tier
The Master Sword is a powerful weapon, both in the context of the game's lore and for the player to use. The cream of the crop for the many appearances of the Master Sword manifest the blade in an epic fashion, showcasing its importance while also making it feel like a devastating weapon. A Link to the Past on SNES really builds up to Link acquiring the sword, as he ventures into a mysterious forest in a now iconic sequence of him pulling the sword from the stone, King Arthur style. After this, the player has access to a weapon capable of quickly defeating any enemy that crosses their path.
Similarly, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom borrow the same design philosophy to make the Master Sword look and feel incredible. Breath of the Wild recaptures the same mystical forest setting of A Link to the Past, while also requiring the player to extensively level up their maximum heart containers in order to wield the sword at all. This makes the moment the sword is pulled from the ground feel truly earned. Tears of the Kingdom stands out for providing a twist on the sword for the first time in years. The sword is destroyed early in the adventure, and the player spends most of the game trying to repair it. While different, it's no less epic and has quickly cemented itself as a new standout scene.
A-Tier
Making the jump to 3D, the Master Sword had an entirely new dimension to work its magic. Although Ocarina of Time's take on the Master Sword is mechanically weaker to actually use in combat, its place in the story alone cements its position high in the minds of gamers. The Master Sword is used as a key to travel back and forth in time in some of the game's most memorable scenes, and the game concludes with a shot of the sword on its pedestal, ensuring it would not be forgotten after playing.
Skyward Sword may be a divisive entr y in the series, but its innovation with the Master Sword should not be overlooked. The first appearance of the sword chronologically in the franchise, its narrative importance is second to what Nintendo attempted to do gameplay-wise. Taking advantage of the Wii's intuitive motion controls, Nintendo tried to simulate the actual motion of swinging a sword with each wiggle of the Wii remote, literally putting players in Link's boots for the first time. Unfortunately, the only thing holding this back from being ranked higher were the occasional motion control input errors, causing some unwanted frustration during gameplay.
B-Tier
The GameCube era built upon the excellent entries in the franchise on the N64 with the one-two punch of The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. The former features a Master Sword with faded power, which Link has traversed an endless sea to restore. Meanwhile, the latter's Master Sword is once again hidden in a deep forest, and this time is used to heal Link and transform him back to human from his wolf form. While both are interesting narratively, combat also featured new stylish move sets including dodges and finishing attacks.
The 3DS entry A Link Between Worlds served as a spiritual successor to A Link to the Past, having callbacks to nearly every aspect of the original, including the Master Sword. It is just as fun to use in this newer game, with a flashy beam of light emitting from the sword to destroy all enemies in the player's way. The one downside is that this Master Sword can have a sense of deja vu, with it being perhaps a little bit too similar to the SNES version in order to stand out on its own. Also, worth mentioning is the Master Sword featured in the original NES game, The Legend of Zelda, which laid the foundation for all others to follow.
C-Tier
It's important to note that although these final entries are placed at the bottom, in no way implies they are bad. These are all still renditions of the Master Sword that fans know and love, they simply didn't offer anything new or exciting from either a story or gameplay perspective to stand out. In the Hyrule Warriors games, the power of the sword is bolstered up to a staggering degree, but one which also makes it feel a bit too exaggerated and less special. It's undeniably fun to use and see enemies fly across the screen, but most of the other weapons function the same, taking away any sort of uniqueness.
Lastly, is the Master Sword's inclusion in the Game Boy adventures Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. Although it visually looks like the Master Sword and is a powerful in-game weapon, the issue here is that it's never outright confirmed that it's the legendary sword at all. It's clearly the strongest tool in the game, as per usual just like the Master Sword, however, it's not found in the usual location and it is breakable. Still, it's handy to have an evil vanquishing blade in any The Legend of Zelda game, and its presence here is certainly appreciated.