We got my 5 year old a Wii U for his birthday in August. In addition to the games we play together (Mario 3D World and Yoshii's Wooly World) he really loves watching me play games that are a little hard for him. He absolutely loves watching me battle in Splatoon but the controls are still a little too advanced for him.
His favorite thing though is watching me play Zelda games as I read the story to him. I go through the game and pose questions to him for what we should do next based on what we recently heard from some people and he loves feeling like he figures out the answers. He also has a quite a good memory of things that a person said a while ago that I may have forgotten. He really feels as if we're playing the game together even though it is too hard for him.
We've beaten Ocarina of Time on N64 and recently completed Wind Waker HD on Wii U. I'm trying to decide which game to get him for the holidays. I'm leaning towards Twilight Princess HD but didn't know if Skyward Sword or Majora's Mask would be a better choice (or something else). The better graphics don't really matter to a 5 year old and the cheaper price of the latter two would be nice, however if Twilight Princess is the better story I'd probably go with that one. It looks like all of these games are available digitally.
Majora's Mask might be a little to dark for him so I would stay clear of that one. Same with Twilight Princess. I can't say about Skyward Sword cause I didn't play that much. I would maybe go with Zelda A Link to the Past on the Virtual Console. Or for a new one maybe Hyrule Warriors.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
For the original Zelda or A Link to the Past on Wii U, will the game show on the TV or only on the gamepad? When I look at those games on Nintendo's website it shows a picture of them on the gamepad so I just want to make sure that the game will be displayed on the TV also.
Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess (as others have mentioned) may be a bit too dark for your son. Skyward Sword probably wouldn't be bad barring a couple of boss fights (and if he's seen things like Bongo Bongo already and didn't show any signs of fear, he'll probably be fine). Skyward Sword is an excellent game, though the motion controls aren't perfect and tend to frustrate some people.
Any virtual console game can be played on either the TV or Gamepad. A Link To The Past is a really great Zelda game as well, as is the original. A recent recommendation of mine would also be The Minish Cap, which was originally a Game Boy Advance game; the game's color palette is bright and varied, and the characters and world in general are very charming.
Edit: Also, I must say that it's really cool how you're sharing your video game experiences with your son. Not only are you playing games with him that he can easily play and enjoy, but you're also allowing him to participate in a game that control-wise would be a bit difficult for him.
If story is super important, I would recommend Skyward Sword. All of the side quests in Majora's Mask can be a bit overwhelming and Twilight Princess's story is a bit weak. Skyward Sword, on the other hand, is a story-oriented game and is somewhat more linear than other Zelda games, so it will be easy for your son to follow.
"You feel it? Fawful is also feeling it! I am needing to feel it even more, though!" - The magnificent Fawful
Thanks guys. It really has been awesome having something to do together with him. We played Ocarina about a year ago and he mainly just watched what was going on, but with Wind Waker he really enjoyed trying to figure some of the things out.
For example, there is a part where a fish tells you that there is an arrow made of ice that can melt fire and where to find it. Seeing the light bulb go off in his head and his excitement as he yelled out, "Dad, we need to get that arrow so we can use it on the fire mountain and then we'll be able to get to the mountain" is just awesome as a parent. I then would go and get the arrow and fire it at the fire mountain and he is just giddy with excitement that his "plan" worked.
The nice thing also about being the one to read the lines to him is I can filter out some of the things that I'd prefer him not to hear or rephrase it so I can soften the words.
I think I'm going to get A Link to the Past and Skyward Sword to start. Is there any indication if Breath of the Wild is going to be a darker or lighter type game? Hopefully by the time we get through all of those he'll be ready for the themes of Twilight Princess. Maybe by then it will be a Nintendo Selects too and save a little money.
I would attest to Twilight Princess as having the best story of the lot... but I might sit on that one for a while. The world and enemies are distinctly horror-themed, the combat is fair bit more violent than in other games, and there are even story scenes where characters are murdered and even sexually harassed. I was enraptured by the game at 11, though I was still manageably frightened by some parts. And I was a mentally resilient, if easily scared, child.
So yeah, probably Skyward Sword. It's loathsome in many respects, but it's a good game and the annoyingly goofy combat and character designs will probably gel well with a kid. Probably.
I do the same thing with my kids. I'd go for majora's mask, there's a lot of fun elements in it. Skyward sword is fun but Demise is brutal, though, as is the tongue freak dude. Majora's mask is quite moody, yet most kids accept the frame of reference without adopting it, so they'd probably be fine.
It'll be fun to see them wait for the granny at a certain moment to get the item, or become a goron in order to roll around a lot or be able to smash stuff.
The only thing my kids can play on their own as of yet is woolly world. The rest is either me playing along or them watching altogether. Any negative response at that point is easily managed.
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Topic: Which next Zelda game for 5 year old to watch?
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