A lesser Zelda Game is better than 95% of what's out there. But I consider this a lesser one. I was super underwhelmed by the final boss, and I think it's sort of a microcosm of my primary beef with the game as a whole. Yes the battle was "epic", with the giant beast and the horseback section and the duel in the field. But, to me it all felt hollow because Link and Ganondorf had no history in the game. He just sort of shows up at the end, says "it was me the whole time!" and you fight. I mean, as Zelda fans, we already have a relationship with the Ganondorf character, and I imagine that was what the creators were banking on, but the game's narrative should stand on it's own without having to rely on us thinking "oh, Ganon's back, cool!". I would be interested in what someone who played TP as their first Zelda thought of Ganondorf vs Zant. As I think has been said a lot before, Zant was a great villain, and the inclusion of Ganon felt shoehorned to me. But as I said, that's sorta the story with the whole game for me. Cool on the surface, but not much underneath. I remember I enjoyed playing it, but looking back I don't really feel any connection to the game, as it's somewhat devoid of charm. At it's best, Zelda has this unparalleled ability to make the world seem much larger and deeper than it actually is, but this game uncharacteristically for the series, felt kinda fell flat in this department to me. Majora might be my favorite, and I think what made Majora so good was, ironically enough, moving of the series outside of Hyrule. No Ganon and Zelda to fall back on. Just a small, personal story line. Link's Awakening benefited from this as well. Comparing the two, to me, feels like comparing the studio committee-written summer blockbuster of the month (people wanna see this, and this, so stick it in there!) with some pet project film.

On the positive side, TP game had great items (double hookshot, ball and chain, spinner) that kept it fun to play in the moment. Also the bosses were great (if not difficult), and Midna was a fun character. The Twilight Realm still doesn't make any sense to me though.