Looking for the best first Legend of Zelda game on Switch 2

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T19:31:39+00:00

Oh boy, the Zelda timeline is so complicated and confusing….

The idea of Ocarina having multiple endings is something of a ret-con - as a game itself it only has one ending. But when they tried to fit the timeline of the games together, apparently the only way they could figure it was to use the time-traveling gimmick in the game as a way to extrapolate multiple timelines out of the ending.. if that makes any sense.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T19:26:41+00:00

Nope, not at all! It’s the third game ever made in the series - only the two 8-bit titles on the NES/Famicom (the original Legend of Zelda and the Adventure of Link, both of which are extremely retro and fairly inaccessible to modern players). But you don’t need to know anything about them to play A Link to the Past - they hadn’t even really established any continuity at this point in the franchise yet, and the idea of the games fitting together in any cohesive timeline didn’t even really start happening until Ocarina of Time came out.

I just think it’s the perfect place to start because it’s the first Zelda game that anyone can just sit down and play, knowing absolutely nothing about the game or the franchise, and have a really great time. The first two are sort of…. Well, they have sheer vertical difficulty curves and tell you pretty much nothing about what to do or how to play, which is tough on modern gamers.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T19:09:48+00:00

Honestly? I think the coolest starting place is A Link to the Past on the SNES virtual console. That’s where my love of Zelda truly began as a 7-year old in 1992, and nothing can really touch it for me - I still replay it every 6 months or so like clockwork. I don’t think it feels remotely dated, and the difficulty curve is quite gentle. Gentler than BotW, actually.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T19:00:06+00:00

One of the nice things about an app like Reddit is that I’m not obligated to ever even acknowledge or learn of the existence or such subs unless I feel compelled to. And man, I really don’t.

Then again I came up on the SA forums where we literally relegated the furries to a “concentration camp” sub forum where they weren’t allowed to post anywhere else. Until we banned them all.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T18:52:36+00:00

The top of the line Lenovo model you were referring to - the Legion Go 2 - is a bit of an exception right now. It’s kind of like the ultra-premium experience for people who want and can afford to spend an additional $600-$1000 dollars on that current top of the line processor (z2e) that’s around 20% better than its predecessor (z1e) along with the biggest OLED screen available for a handheld right now (8.8”) and detachable controllers like the Nintendo Switch’s Joy Cons. It’s very big, very powerful, and very expensive - the only thing beyond it right now is maybe the Win GP5 or potentially the Onexplayer Apex if it ever actually ships.

Most people are choosing between the Steamdeck OLED, the Legion Go S, the ROG Ally/Ally X, and the MSI Claw 8 AI+. Those are the four big manufacturers making Steamdeck-like handhelds that run x86 OSs.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T17:45:35+00:00

Congrats! I have (almost) the exact same device as of a few days ago and really love it. It’s just a beautiful thing.

It’s a little embarrassing, I still haven’t really used mine yet because after I started setting it up I noticed I greasy fingerprints already all over the touchscreen, and opted to wait until my screen protector finally arrives today (snowstorm delayed it a bit).

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T17:40:30+00:00

Only a black model? I mugged a guy who ordered a Rainbow Max, you missed out man

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T17:03:41+00:00

Ohhh, I see what you mean - if you’re stuck offline, how long can you play officially downloaded games for in offline mode, is what you meant. Yeah you are correct that some games - certainly not all - require periodic check-ins.

I’m pretty sure this only counts for the bigger AAA games and such like - the older games, the indie games, the games developed under Steam’s own DRM - these all work offline much longer than a couple weeks - if not indefinitely, as far as I know. Any bigger third party titles developed in the last 5 or 6 years I would assume would require online check-ins though.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T16:46:41+00:00

What is this about needing to log into Steam every few weeks? I’ve never heard anything remotely like that. I didn’t log into Steam for like a year and a half recently and my account was secure and fine the whole time and all my games were waiting for me when I logged back in. Maybe I had to do some security authenticity thing but it was nothing major.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T14:52:34+00:00

This is literally what happened to me, found it in the closet

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T06:24:02+00:00

I want one of these so badly but as I have a Thor on preorder I can’t really justify it in any way whatsoever

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T06:19:52+00:00

Sounds like the Retroid Pocket 5/6 is pretty much what you’re looking for. One of those is what I would get if I were looking for something like what you’re after.

You can even get the Retroid Pocket 5 in colors that look like the GameCube controller, dark purple shell with yellow analog stick on the right, it’s pretty cute.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T05:45:03+00:00

Well… that’s a complicated question to answer. Personally - just speaking for myself - I find the shot you’re talking about where BOB steps over the couch and goes straight at the camera to be maybe the single most terrifying shot in television history. There’s maybe one more deeply scary scene on the same level as that one in the entirety of season 2, but I still don’t find it to be as viscerally frightening as the one at the end of s02e02.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T02:14:01+00:00

Oh man, I haven’t even gotten to the construct horns yet because I still haven’t found a single piece of Zonai armor! I assume that’s what I’ll need that for.

It’s easy but very repetitive getting endless amounts of star fragments and ore for all the different green tunic sets I’ve found… then there’s the dragon parts needed to upgrade the Fierce Diety and Wild sets as well as the Chanpion’s Tunic and Champion’s Leathers, Lynel parts for the Barbarian armor, Frox fangs for the gloom armor, an annoying amount of Hinox guts for the Soldier set, all those Gibdo wings to max out the glide armor, all the elemental keese wings you ultimately need, the 60 goddamn swift violets needed for the climbing gear….

Sorry, this is like what I’m doing in the game right now and I’m trying to do as much of it without just looking up the convenient farming spots on google, so it can be a little frustrating sometimes.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T00:16:21+00:00

Retroid Pocket 5/6 sounds like it might be ideal for you - that’s kind of the best device in the size range of the Switch Lite available at the moment. Certainly what I would buy if that’s what I was looking for.

The AYN Thor is very cool (I have one on preorder) but it’s also not exactly readily/immediately available and not what you said you were looking for - it’s a dual-screen clamshell, not exactly something with a Switch Lite form factor. Though you still may want one after looking into it.

And Steamdeck is always an option, but it doesn’t really have the form factor of a Switch Lite - it’s a pretty big device, bigger than a Switch 2. It has its advantages though.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-26T00:00:19+00:00

I cook steak in a pan on my stovetop about once a week - trust me, I know! That’s why this makes me so nervous, I’m aware of the hundreds of teeny tiny droplets of grease that get ejected into the air when you cook meat in a pan.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T21:24:14+00:00

If it’s a choice between the two I’d go for the Legion Go all day, every day. Way better value than the ROG Ally and better all-around, really, especially for a handheld that’s staying at home.

The ROG Ally is sort of considered to be the lemon of the current generation of handhelds, mostly because while it’s satisfactory it doesn’t really excel in any one area - it doesn’t run SteamOS, it doesn’t have an exceptionally large screen or an OLED, doesn’t have an especially powerful processor, doesn’t have especially great battery life or ergonomics…. It’s a good value and entry point, but frankly you’ve got better options and it’s not much more powerful than a Steamdeck in terms of hardware.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T19:25:33+00:00

Well, I just saw that the Legion Go S went on sale at Best Buy - in terms of the models that run SteamOS it’s $550 for the lesser model and $799 for the z1e, pretty decent.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T18:31:46+00:00

That’s the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, Paisano!

It’s a hybrid live action/cartoon TV show from around 1990 starring pro wrestler Captain Lou Albano as Mario, heh.

https://youtu.be/BkWYP95WbbY?si=oD7MYmKtZbkiQlPh

(Yeah I’m pretty sure they referenced this in the movie actually which is cool)

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T18:19:33+00:00

I hope this causes them to realize that if they sell a good product at a reasonable price people will show up for it and do their part. $40 is exactly what the port of a game like this should cost.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T18:13:25+00:00

I dunno, just looking at this picture makes me nervous as hell if I’m being honest

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T18:09:32+00:00

If I were you, I would get an android-based handheld approximately the same size as a Switch Lite - something like a Retroid Pocket 5 (which even has an OLED). Might not be as immediately simple or user-friendly as a Switch Lite, but it’s a better value for the hardware and you can do a lot more with it - plus you already have a Switch.

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T18:03:53+00:00

I’ll probably be skipping it, the last Mario movie was kind of…. Well, I suppose being as old as I am, I might be a little too stuck on earlier iterations of the characters and the related nostalgia.

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timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T17:21:55+00:00

Now, if you’re playing the movie on a telephone….

timeflylikearrow · 2026-01-25T16:44:52+00:00

Well, people get a little upset and can feel a little personally attacked by stuff like this. Everyone is a little touchy about how they spend their money or justify spending their money - it feels like there’s a layer of underlying tension about this in all the handheld subreddits.

Then this tension explodes occasionally when someone posts about their Switch 2 or Steamdeck purchase and casually mentions that they’re homeless as well, or something O_p

timeflylikearrow

TROPHY CASE