When Will Nintendo Update The Zelda Timeline

If you do determine to trek through Zelda history, y'all will detect that there are loads of games to get through, and the easiest way to do it is to play them in release order. But what if you desire to experience the story in chronological society? Well, that is where things become a lot more than complicated.

But nosotros've given explaining it all a go and y'all will find both ways to play all the principal Zelda games detailed out for yous below!

How to play the Zelda games in release order

As with nearly long-running franchises, the lodge to play tin can get a fleck jumbled if yous want to play them in story society. But if you desire to experience the main entries in the Zelda serial like everyone else did, in the order of release, here is how to do it:

The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Zelda Ii: The Adventure of Link (1987)
The Fable of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (2001)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
The Fable of Zelda: 4 Swords Adventures (2004)
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004)
The Fable of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007)
The Fable of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009)
The Fable of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013)
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ii (2022)

Information technology's worth noting that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (2020), Cadency of Hyrule (2019) and numerous other titles are considered spinoffs rather than core entires, which is why we've left them off this listing. Y'all tin can normally spot a spinoff by the fact that Nintendo isn't the merely adult that worked on it.

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How to play the Zelda games in chronological order

Let'southward be honest, post-obit a narrative with the Zelda games is by no means straightforward and there are many unlike variations of what people call up to exist the go-to order for experiencing the lengthy saga.

Information technology gets complicated thanks to the three, at least, different timelines that the games exist in the games. And because of that, at that place is no definitive order that you tin can play them in that everyone will agree on.

The main timelines that y'all demand to know most the Kid, Adult and Fallen Hero timelines, which we'll try to explain below. There are also some games which come earlier the split into different timelines, which hither we've decided to phone call the Prequel Timeline just so we have something to telephone call information technology.

Then, with that in mind, this is simply our preferred style of working through the games if yous desire the story to catamenia the best it can. This order starts with Skyward Sword, and it volition terminate by nicely teeing yous up for BotW ii. Accept a look beneath for our recommended order:

The Fable of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Prequel Timeline)

Released: 2011

Platform: Wii/Wii U

While things get confusing quite quickly with the Zelda timeline, one of the things that nosotros tin all concur on is that Skyward Sword is the entry point for the overall narrative - going way farther back than any other core game in the franchise has washed.

So many cardinal parts of the franchise are established here - so much so that nosotros don't think any future game in the main series will ever go as far dorsum as this one did. It would be fun to be proven wrong on that, though!

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Prequel Timeline)

Released: 2004

Platform: Game Male child Advance

Slotting into the original Zelda timeline betwixt Skyward Sword and Four Swords, The Minish Cap is relatively unique due to the fact that it shrinks Link down to the size of a bug so he can collaborate with a race of lilliputian people called the Minish.

If yous only want to play the more than famous games, y'all could skip this ane, but you'd be missing out if you lot did - the reviews were very strong for The Minish Cap, and so we'd recommend giving it a go if you oasis't already.

The Legend of Zelda: Iv Swords (Prequel Timeline)

Released: 2002

Platform: Game Boy Advance (bundled with A Link To The Past)

Y'all could easily pair upwards this petty multiplayer feel with The Minish Cap, as there are a lot of similarities between the two regarding where they identify in the overall Zelda mythos - before about of the famous and mod games, basically!

In terms of story, in that location is plainly quite a few years between The Minish Cap and Four Swords. But since there isn't a game that fills that gap, you lot don't need to worry besides much about it.

The Fable of Zelda: Ocarina of Fourth dimension (Kid and Adult timelines)

Released: 1998

Platform: N64

Nosotros mentioned the different timelines that Zelda has, didn't nosotros? It is here, with the Nintendo 64's Ocarina of Time, that the separate first occurs - this game is set in both the Child and Adult timelines, so this is where it starts to become confusing.

The long-running feud with Ganondorf kicks off here, also. And as for what causes the timeline to split, well, that would be Princess Zelda sending Link back in fourth dimension, a move which in turn forever inverse Zelda history.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Child Timeline)

Released: 2000

Platform: N64

Information technology is mostly thought that subsequently Link was sent hurtling back through fourth dimension, he decided to leave Hyrule for a bit. And it is during that fourth dimension away that he gets caught up in a time loop that keeps repeating the same three days over and over once more.

He does return home, at the end of the game, where he joins the Hylian army. This game continues the Child timeline, and is remembered by many for its creepy moon.

The Fable of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Child Timeline)

Released: 2006

Platform: GameCube/Wii

Sticking with the Child timeline now, this i adds more confusion to its placement in the timeline, because we actually take two versions of Link on our hands - as if things were not confusing plenty!

Nosotros too come across the end of Ganondorf here, but it doesn't really stick - he is killed in this title, but he soon shows up again in a reincarnated course in the next game.

The Fable of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (Kid Timeline)

Released: 2004

Platform: GameCube

Onto the last game in the Child timeline, now. Ganondorf returns in Four Sword Adventures, a sequel to the aforementioned GBA game, which wraps up the Four Swords arc. Just it still remains a game that is hotly debated equally to where it should be placed.

Originally, many thought it was connected to Link to the Past, but the Child timeline reveal changed all that. Vaati is too killed off in this ane, so information technology'south worth checking out if you haven't already!

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Adult Timeline)

Released: 2002

Platform: GameCube

Welcome to the Developed timeline! Centuries have passed since Link was sent back in time in Ocarina, and without anyone to protect the world, Ganon was able to do some pretty hefty damage.

To counter that, the goddesses decided to inundation, and then sink, Hyrule - the iconic location became locked in the depths of the bounding main. As far as Zelda goes in terms of pure storytelling, this is one of the all-time chapters the series has given usa.

Current of air Waker introduces a new Link, who has grown up hearing tales of the legendary Link of onetime (the ane who was sent back in fourth dimension in Ocarina). The new Link comes of age in this game and becomes the protagonist of the series for a time.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Adult Timeline)

Released: 2007

Platform: DS

Link and Tetra set off to find a brand new kingdom at the stop of the terminal game, and in Phantom Hourglass, the pair are unfortunately shipwrecked and and then trouble ensues - as it inevitably does.

This is a strange one, really, equally it is more of a mini-game than a full entry in the franchise. No major impact is made on the timeline and near of it takes identify in a dream. One to skip if you don't want to play everything!

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Adult Timeline)

Released: 2009

Platform: DS/Wii U

New Hyrule is the setting for this game, which is also role of the Developed timeline, even though it takes place almost 100 years later the events of the previous game. Information technology is also the first to give united states a playable Zelda!

Cole is the main villain here, sort of, having been possessed by a resurrected Ganon (he has a habit of doing that). This is definitely one to play as it brings the Adult timeline to a close.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 1991

Platform: SNES

Now we are out of the Adult timeline, let's move on to another - this game kicks off what fans like to call the Fallen Hero Timeline! We leap into this timeline years afterward Link was defeated by Ganondorf (in what is believed to be an unseen alternate catastrophe to Ocarina of Time - simples).

Obviously, this is an older game in terms of release date, and information technology has been shunted further and further down the timeline every bit the many prequels have come out since 1991. This one features a notable moment where Link touches the Tristone and undoes a lot of the damage done in the world so far by Ganon.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 2001

Platform: Game Boy Color

This is some other game that tin can be debated about where it fits, thanks to a pocket-sized chip of dialogue that acquired some confusion, simply most tin can agree that it follows on from A Link to the Past in 1 way or another.

Nosotros know that the Link in this game has already Tristone and that is ane of the biggest clues. Plus, he has definitely already defeated Ganon once - maybe even more than that!

The Fable of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 1993 / remade in 2019

Platform: Game Boy / Nintendo Switch

Originally intended equally a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, Nintendo has caused some defoliation by saying this game could accept place with any version of Link that has defeated Ganon - so y'all can really take your selection of a few places with this ane.

But the story and overall narrative do have a scrap of a backseat in this i, something that was welcomed by some, so it is a fun game to play regardless of when you go to it.

Buy the remake of Links'due south Awakening at GAME

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 2013

Platform: 3DS

This is all the same another interesting i! You lot become a lot of lore in this game but information technology actually pulls from various games from various timelines which once more, makes information technology i that could be shuffled about a bit if you wanted to.

That being said, it does very much feel like a game that belongs in the Fallen timeline and the name of the game itself suggests that it is, at least in some ways, a chip of a hybrid.

Buy digital version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Betwixt Worlds at Nintendo

The Fable of Zelda: Tri Forcefulness Heroes (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 2015

Platform: 3DS

This is another game that you can quite easily skip without missing annihilation crucial to the complex world-edifice nosotros accept had in the Zelda franchise. It is a game that has not really had much love from the fans - then much so that there are many that don't count information technology as a main Zelda game at all.

Play it here if you like, as it is technically part of the Fallen timeline, but letting this 1 pass you lot past is no bad thing.

Buy The Legend of Zelda: Tri Strength Heroes at Argos

The Legend of Zelda (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 1986

Platform: NES

We exercise observe information technology quite amusing that the first game in the series - The Legend of Zelda, released fashion back in 1986 - is one of the more contempo games in the serial chronology.

Besides known as The Hyrule Fantasy, this game features Link on the hunt for the Triforce afterward Hyrule has been decimated and but monsters are left to walk the land. You lot can play this 1, alongside Zelda II: The Risk of Link equally part of Nintendo Switch Online.

Zelda II: The Take a chance of Link (Fallen Hero Timeline)

Released: 1987

Platform: NES

While it was only released one twelvemonth later than the first, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link actually takes place three years after the events of that game and is a direct sequel to it - so an like shooting fish in a barrel one to place on the timeline.

What is notable here is that some think this is the furthest ahead in fourth dimension the serial has gone and there are arguments to exist made for that. We've gone with the notion that Breath of the Wild takes place thousands of years after it - and non just considering playing BOTW later on this is about as strikingly different as yous can get in every mode.

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The Fable of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Fallen Hero Timeline?)

Released: 2016

Platform: Wii U/Nintendo Switch

The virtually recent game in the franchise, until next yr anyhow, has also been heralded as one of the greatest games of all time - a championship that it fully deserves. Every bit for its placement in the timeline, that is nevertheless up for debate. In that location are clues that betoken toward it existence office of the Fallen Hero timeline - Ganon existence very much alive is one of them - but the jury is still out.

Whether you think BotW is in the Fallen Hero Timeline or not, the chief thing to know is that it takes identify more than 10,000 years afterwards Ganon's previous defeat. This ways that you lot don't really need to know the specifics of the previous games. Instead, BotW tells y'all what it wants you to know.

Incidentally, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is said to take place merely prior to BotW, so while we have not included it in the list (because it'southward not a fully-fledged entry in the franchise), just before you start this one is a skillful fourth dimension to play information technology.

Buy the remake of Jiff of the Wild at GAME

The Fable of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (Fallen Hero Timeline?)

Release appointment: 2022

Platform: Nintendo Switch

This brings usa to the adjacent game to come in the franchise. All indications are that the sequel will follow on from the first, it would exist foreign if it didn't, and while we are all the same some way out from the late 2022 release date, we do know that this side by side game will come across the destruction of Hyrule (again) and we volition see Link have to the skies!

And maybe we volition finally take official confirmation of the Nintendo Switch Pro by so so we will be able to play it in glorious 4K! Only time volition tell on that front end, though.

Pre-society of Jiff of the Wild 2 at GAME

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Source: https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/zelda-games-in-order-guide/

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