Listen, I know that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a really old game—almost 30 years old, in fact—but it still has some really great exploration. Granted, almost every game in the series has memorable exploration elements, but Ocarina of Time arrived during an era where we were finally getting to see video games in 3D, and that alone allowed The Legend of Zelda to stretch its wings in ways it couldn’t before. It brought Hyrule to life on the Nintendo 64 in an incredible way, quickly becoming the kind of tangible thing we could only touch before in our dreams. There were dozens of places to explore, too many collectibles to count, and what felt like surprises tucked around every corner.
However, despite Ocarina of Time‘s exploration being top-notch, as I said, it’s not the only game in the series to have given players such a fulfilling world to discover. In fact, other games in the series have taken their exploration above and beyond Ocarina of Time, some in very specific ways, and others overall. Sure, there are a couple of very obvious entries to this list, especially if you’re a newer Zelda fan. But others may not be as readily considered “better” in the exploration department, despite actually having elements that make Ocarina of Time look like only the beginning of all the fun. And with that, here are 7 Zelda games with better exploration than Ocarina of Time.
“Better” here refers specifically to how each game handles exploration, whether through traversal, freedom, world density, discovery, or progression, rather than suggesting each game is better than Ocarina of Time overall.
Oracle of Ages
Better Use of Time Travel as an Exploration Mechanic
- JP Release Date: February 27, 2001
- NA Release Date: May 14, 2001
- Platform: Game Boy Color
This one is an interesting one, because The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Ocarina of Time both use time travel as a core mechanic. Of course, The Legend of Zelda isn’t a stranger to time travel, but it’s nonetheless true that the series hasn’t always handled it the same way, and Oracle of Ages and Ocarina of Time are perfect examples of that, even if one isn’t necessarily better than the other. However, when it comes to how time travel factors into exploration, Oracle of Ages truly does have Ocarina of Time beaten, though that’s about as subjective as it gets.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
In Ocarina of Time, time travel simply treats childhood and adulthood as two states the player accesses through the Temple of Time. Oracle of Ages, on the other hand, makes moving between the past and present a much more pervasive overworld navigation mechanic. Early on, Link uses specific portals, but later Harp of Ages upgrades let him switch eras much more freely. Changes in one period can physically alter what Link can reach in the other, like interacting with something in the past so that it grows or changes in the present. In other words, Oracle of Ages takes one of Ocarina of Time‘s defining ideas and arguably uses it more aggressively for exploration.
Majora’s Mask
Better World Density and Time-Dependent Discovery
- JP Release Date: April 27, 2000
- NA Release Date: October 26, 2000
- Platform: Nintendo 64
Without a doubt, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is one of the weirdest games in the series, but it’s also one of my all-time favorite video games. Yes, I meant to say “video games” and not “Zelda games,” because it really is a one-of-a-kind experience that you just can’t get much anywhere else—if anywhere at all. Whether it’s a better game than Ocarina of Time is something that is still up for debate today, but it’s hard to argue that its predecessor has the upper hand when it comes to exploration. Overall, Majora’s Mask wins that contest by a landslide, and once again, a lot of it comes down to time.
First of all, Majora’s Mask uses its iconic repeating three-day cycle to give locations and NPCs schedules. Exploring Clock Town at 10 AM on the first day can reveal something entirely different from visiting that same place late on the final night. In the end, this makes exploring the same location more than once actually feel like a fresh experience every time.
Then there are the transformation masks. Deku Link can use flowers to launch himself and glide, Goron Link can roll across terrain at high speed, and Zora Link fundamentally changes underwater traversal. As areas open, players aren’t merely gaining keys to new doors. They’re gaining new bodies with different ways of interacting with geography. That adds an entirely new layer to exploration that Ocarina of Time simply can’t compete with, no matter how many iconic Zelda items it gives players to use.
The Wind Waker
Better Sense of Voyaging Into the Unknown
- JP Release Date: December 13, 2002
- NA Release Date: March 24, 2003
- Platform: GameCube
Speaking of unique Zelda games, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker truly is in a league of its own in that regard. I have some very fond memories of this particular entry, primarily from getting to stay home from school after getting my wisdom teeth pulled and then getting dry sockets after that, giving me even more time to sail the seas with Toon Link. And that’s actually precisely what The Wind Waker has going for it in terms of exploration, making Ocarina of Time‘s own sense of adventure pale in comparison.
Unlike Ocarina of Time‘s Hyrule Field, which largely serves as a hub connecting the game’s major regions, The Wind Waker‘s Great Sea constantly gives players something in the distance to chase. Its map is divided into a 7×7 grid, and every square has an island to discover, but those aren’t the only things you can stumble upon while you’re out there sailing. There are submarines, enemy platforms, treasure to pull up from beneath the water, and plenty of other distractions that make it feel closer to the open worlds you get today. For a game about adventure, that sense of voyaging into the unknown gives The Wind Waker one of the strongest exploration identities in the entire series.
A Link Between Worlds
Better Freedom Over Route and Progression
- JP Release Date: December 26, 2013
- NA Release Date: November 22, 2013
- Platform: Nintendo 3DS
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds might not look like the game that would eventually help steer the series toward Breath of the Wild, but its approach to progression was a pretty big departure from what Zelda had been doing for years. Ocarina of Time gives players some flexibility, particularly once Link becomes an adult, but it still frequently relies on the familiar formula of entering a dungeon, finding its key item, and then using that item to reach somewhere new. A Link Between Worlds loosens that structure considerably by making many of Link’s traditional tools available through Ravio’s shop instead. Rather than waiting for the game to hand over the item required for the next leg of the adventure, players can rent what they need and choose where they want to go.
That freedom becomes even more noticeable once Lorule opens up and several dungeons can be tackled in whichever order you want. Then there’s Link’s ability to merge into walls, which turns surfaces that would normally be nothing more than boundaries into routes of their own. Cracks become passages between Hyrule and Lorule, narrow ledges suddenly become traversable, and familiar spaces have to be looked at from an entirely different perspective. Ocarina of Time is certainly not as rigid as some later Zelda games became, but A Link Between Worlds does a much better job of making me feel like I’m choosing the adventure rather than simply discovering where the adventure wants me to go next.
Echoes of Wisdom
Better Variety of Player-Created Traversal Solutions
- Release Date: September 26, 2024
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom takes that freedom in a different direction. It doesn’t necessarily give players the enormous playground of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but it does give Zelda an absurd number of ways to interact with the world around her. Once Zelda learns an Echo, she can summon it elsewhere, and that means objects and enemies that might have served one purpose when she first encountered them can become traversal tools somewhere completely different. Beds can be stacked into makeshift staircases or bridges. Water Blocks can be piled on top of one another and swum through to reach higher ground. Certain monster Echoes can even help Zelda get to places she otherwise couldn’t.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
Then Bind and Reverse Bond complicate things even further. Instead of merely asking whether Zelda has the right item to reach a ledge or cross a gap, Echoes of Wisdom frequently lets players improvise their own answer. That’s a very different philosophy from Ocarina of Time, where exploration is still largely built around Nintendo creating a specific obstacle and Link eventually acquiring the specific tool intended to overcome it. Echoes of Wisdom is much more willing to hand players a box full of weird toys and see what happens. Sure, there are limits, and progression still keeps certain parts of Hyrule out of reach for a while. But when it comes to the actual act of moving through the world, few Zelda games give players as many opportunities to say, “I wonder if this will work.”
Breath of the Wild
Better Freedom of Movement and Environmental Exploration
- Release Date: March 3, 2017
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Wii U
Here we go. This is probably the first game most people thought of after reading the title of this list, and there’s really no getting around it. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild completely changed how exploration works in the series, to the point that going back to Ocarina of Time afterward can make Hyrule feel surprisingly restrictive. In Ocarina, a mountain is often a wall until Link finds the proper path around it or obtains whatever item the game expects him to have. In Breath of the Wild, a mountain is usually just something to climb. Whether Link actually makes it to the top depends more on his stamina, the weather, and the player’s preparation than whether Nintendo placed a convenient route there.
That one change alone makes exploration feel almost entirely different, but Breath of the Wild doesn’t stop there. The Paraglider turns elevation into opportunity, towers give players a chance to survey their surroundings and choose their next destination, and Shrines scattered throughout Hyrule constantly reward anyone willing to wander off the obvious path. Some of my favorite moments in the game came from seeing something strange in the distance, placing a pin on it, and then figuring out how to get there. Sometimes there was something worthwhile waiting for me, and sometimes there wasn’t, but the journey itself was usually enough.
Tears of the Kingdom
Better Verticality and Player-Created Traversal
- Release Date: May 12, 2023
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
If Breath of the Wild made almost all of Hyrule explorable, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom somehow found a way to make that freedom feel limited in hindsight. That’s not because Hyrule suddenly became dramatically wider. In fact, much of the surface is obviously based on the same version of the kingdom players explored in Breath of the Wild. The difference is that Tears of the Kingdom builds upward and downward, adding the Sky Islands above Hyrule and the enormous Depths beneath it. Suddenly, exploration isn’t just about deciding which direction to head in. Looking up and looking down become just as important as looking toward the horizon.
Link’s new abilities make that verticality even more fun to explore. Ascend can turn ceilings into exits, Recall can send fallen pieces of sky islands back upward with Link riding on top of them, and Ultrahand lets players build their own transportation when the world doesn’t provide an obvious way forward. That transportation can be practical, completely ridiculous, or somewhere in between, and that’s part of the appeal. Ocarina of Time gives Link tools that help him navigate a world Nintendo carefully designed for those tools. Tears of the Kingdom gives Link tools that let the player start arguing with the world itself.
