Top 10 HARDEST Challenges in Zelda Games

[@catherinemarshall4492]

I had no idea Twilight Princess had that mode. These challenges sound quite interesting, and the video was quite informative on how to do them. Thanks for the great video!

[@jameslawrenson1208]

It turns the game into actual Dark Souls.

[@shadowlinkbds]

Rabbidluigi did that mode during his let's play of Twilight Princess years back so I already knew first hand how crazy that got.

[@DesTr069]

The hardest Zelda challenge is me not playing TotK until I’m done with school in 3 days 😅

[@nuggetlordalmighty1865]

Someone's getting me the game in a couple of days for my birthday so trust me I feel your pain.

[@isshintheglocksaintPlotagon]

Same i cant play til Wednesday

[@Joebob24789]

@@isshintheglocksaintPlotagon saaame that’s when I get paid lol

[@milesedgeworth8683]

And not spoiling it to yourself

[@DesTr069]

@@milesedgeworth8683 you are absolutely correct. Not easy when your entire YT and twitch feed is only that game too

[@lazypaladin]

_"Can you imagine a Reverse Dungeon, Swordless Run of Zelda 1?"_ *_Don't challenge the Internet, Rabbid!_*

[@0megaWarrior]

Do you hear that? Oh no... The speedrunning community... They're coming!

[@goldmemberpb]

The ganon amiibo modifier would be nice if, you know, you didn't have to scan it everytime you die.

[@GameHopperME]

Lmao I forgot about that. I beat the game with 3 hearts quadruple DMG way back. The lakebed mini boss frogs were a nightmare.

[@spectoestis3106]

"no defensive item ever gets the same fanfare as the Master Sword" my brother in Christ, Breath of the Wild's Hylian Shield has the same fanfare as the Master Sword

[@Algernonab]

TIMESTAMPS (because I haven't seen anyone post them yet and they aren't in the description): 0:00 - Intro 0:57 - #10, Pacifist Run 2:31 - #9, No Shield 4:29 - #8, Reverse Dungeon Order (outside of ALBW, BotW, and TotK) 5:57 - #7, Minimum Heart Challenge (3 heart challenge in most games) 7:08 - #6, Minimalist Run / Low% Run 8:49 - #5, Destroy Ganon / Any% Run (In BotW and TotK) 10:34 - #4, Deathless (esp. in Link's Awakening) 12:08 - #3, 3-Day/1-Cycle Run in Majora's Mask 13:53 - #2, Swordless (esp. in Zelda 1) 15:25 - #1, Hero-Ganon Mode in Twilight Princess HD

[@megametallimaiden8516]

That bit in Skyward Sword where you have to play the harp in that pumpkin bar.

[@Vinman1509]

Oh god

[@shawnheatherly]

Some fond memories of your Twilight Princess series coming up from that #1 entry.

[@patrickbaillargeon1933]

I generally play shieldless in games where the shield is tied to motion controls. It feels so awkward to use to me that, unless parrying is the only way to deal with an enemy, I learned to dodge and backflip my way out of fights instead. Demise is absolutely demonic with that approach, but still feasible.

[@waddlehi]

Regarding majoras mask in one cycle. There is actually a really really cool lotad demonstration of MM beaten in ACTUALLY one cycle (the same cycle you turn into deku link, so no song of time). It is amazing to see how fast they can do everything needed.

[@Steelers3624]

It's Ganondorf amiibo or nothing.

[@markhenderson9507]

Fun fact: You can cheat your way to get zero deaths in the original Links Awakening and DX. When you die, immediately press the START, SELECT, A, and B buttons at the same time to bring up the save menu and choose SAVE & QUIT. By doing so, the game won't register that a death had occurred.

[@shadowlinkbds]

While I dont consider the series as a whole on the difficulty scale (with the exception of a few like zelda 2) they can have some challenges like a three heart run or heroes mode that will even put the skilled zelda players to the test.

[@leargamma4912]

Shieldless 6 hearts on hero mode with Skyward sword was the test of my LIFE. And people want to say the game's biggest issue was the motion controls. XD

[@sethescope]

that's something I really appreciate about Zelda. I'm not really looking for a challenge from my Zelda games. I want enough of a challenge for victory to feel like an achievement, not something the game is handing me, but I don't want to bash my head against a brick wall for hours. I'm trying to have fun here lol. but I like that there's room for optional challenges so you can customize your experience.

[@TalonfromtheRC]

Just beat Wind Waker on Hero Mode, no fairies, and three hearts. Really wasn't that hard tbh

[@KeiraLunar]

you can never forget the Randomizer with the worst seeds those kinds of runs can be nightmare fuel

[@jaidens.g.1920]

I did that Blue Heart Hero Mode TPHD challenge. With a 3-heart run. Shieldless. And Ordon Sword anytime the Master Sword wasn't required. It was one of the most difficult experiences I've ever had, and by far one of the most thrilling

[@warsword4]

I like to throw on the zora armor for that extra damage taken from fire and ice.

[@burra007]

Just to flex: my first playthrough of LA Switch was done deathless, and on Hero Mode

[@jebronlames7928]

The hardest Zelda challenge is trying not to spoil Totk for myself

[@noragreen109]

"The naked assault" has got to be the best challenge name i have ever heard. i mean. its accurate.

[@Azurewolfx2]

Hey i have one i self imposed on myself for specifically BotW and i plan to do it in TotK Its a no melee run. You are not allowed to hit a single enemy with a melee attack, meaning all your melee weapons must now be thrown to do damage. It helped me learn a lot about BotW and its mechanics, like places to find and way to easily obtain rods, or that a Korok leaf is the best weapon in BoTW. It may need some adjustments for TotK (maybe no sages or zonai damage too) but its definitly a fun way to go about the game.

[@brycec2183]

That TPHD playthrough scarred you I feel - understandably though

[@Johnthegamer97]

The hardest Zelda challenge is to buy the Zelda TOTK collector’s edition.

[@DolphinTillTheEnd]

I hadn't thought that the Zelda franchise is in a much tighter spot to implement extra challenges for big boys who want to suffer a little. More than any other Nintendo game both Zelda and Mario need to be approachable for as broad a demographic as possible, but Mario games tend to be structured in a way that makes the idea of "post game" much easier to implement, as for other Nintendo games, they either also have a good structure to do just that, or are niche enough to get away with spicing things up in a way that isn't as distinct from the main game without scaring the target player base. I'm not even sure if any Zelda games have a proper post game in the sense of a sizeable amount of challenges opening up after finishing the story in the sense that Mario games tend to add special challenges.

[@UNGGodYT]

I did the "only required items" on ocarina n64, so 3 hearts one bottle and i did minimal return in majoras, but my record was going back once after the tutorial, needing to get the bow asap going to goron so i can upgrade sword at the last second of first day, continuing goron to unlock race for golden dust, go back to forest finish it, dont remember if grab epona as well, upgrade sword at last hour of day 2, and do all work pre the next 2 dungeons.

[@emeraldnoir7099]

Yeah, I love origami. Been doing it for years and even decorate my work with the models I make. Lots adore the tiny paper animals.

[@eshasunrise]

Surprised you didn't mention Gamechamp's pauseless run of BotW. It's ridiculous, but she actively encourages it.

[@jamescoulson6610]

I'm glad someone mentioned that! She did a no-climbing run as well, but most of the difficulty of that one was just in getting out of the shrine of resurrection!

[@MattyTheFox89]

Also, I may have had a flashback when you said about “hearts being super important” for a gannondorf hero mode….to when you forgot the heart container in the death mountain caves…

[@weirdybeardystuff9261]

For me the hardest challenge is not watching TotK videos before my birthday on wednesday 😂

[@TheBlank49]

Keysanity from the A Link to the Past rando would also make a good case for difficulty. For added fun you could turn on entrance shuffling and make it even worse.

[@MamaMrL789]

Shoutout to randomized items runs, depending on the seed, those can be laughably easy or downright nightmarish

[@thecunninlynguist]

Goron dance game in oracle of ages. I could only beat it with save states after each round. My physical copy of ages is stuck at this part of the game. I will forever hate this challege/mini game. Especially since it's a requirement to progress

[@megastarwarsrocks99]

Skill issue

[@DolphinTillTheEnd]

I've always seen a lot of the dna of 3d Zelda games in soulslikes, the combat in dark souls is basically z targeting, aside from the item progression and smaller amount of puzzles Dark Souls 1 can comfortably put in a slider with oot on one end, twilight princess in the middle (maybe closer to oot to be fair) and Dark Souls 1 on the other end.

[@SirMalorak]

You forgot challenge 0. No hit runs. And challenge -1, combining as many of these as possible. And then there's that one guy who beat all big FROMSoftware titles in a row. Hitless. I can't even imagine how tense that must be.

[@twistedvtuber9894]

I did the Hero Ganon mode on stream. Tbh the Magic Armor is basically a requirement for that run, as well as the bugs for the wallets

[@spirittree8947]

"Getting 100% isn't generally that hard as long as you don't go for all the figurines in the Wind Waker because what kind of an insane person would do that?" Me...as that one insane person who completed that challenge many years ago: 😳

[@Chaos89P]

You're not the only nut who did that. I credit Miiverse for the help with doing that myself.

[@ShackleYT]

Here's a challenge. a no hearts run here are the rules. you're not allowed to pick up any red hearts. you're allowed to pick up pieces of heart and heart containers, and potions are the only way you can heal.

[@Daniel-dq7sd]

The 15 minute chicken challenge in A Link Between Worlds breaks grown men. All of it for a big Cucco that heals you

[@theinsanegamer1024]

7:50 was expecting this to segue into a Manscaped ad.

[@silverthehero1295]

After doing 3 heart and no shield runs of OoT, I tried a minimalist run. Had to burn up or let a Like Like eat my shield at first opportunity and even tried to go without the Lens of Truth but had to briefly relent to cross the desert.

[@mitchellminogue1311]

There are other challenges I've seen that seem much harder. Specifically Breath of the wild without pausing. Which limits you to whatever weapon, shield, and bow that you have in your hands, no access to your inventory, and you can only use one rune for the whole game.

[@MrJimithee]

In the words of Shakin Stevens..."Lovely stuff"

[@christanner8765]

Green Door would not make any sense lol

[@michaelgum97]

Okay, for the final one, here's an idea, doing as you explained, but turning it into a not hit run by not being allowed to collect heart pieces or heart containers, and if that wasn't enough, slap on a minimalist run as well.

[@jordanhunter3375]

17:18 Majora's Mask and the Twinova sisters from OoT merged together

[@claytonrios1]

Zelda 2 Death Mountain. Guaranteed.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

Then tears of the kingdom has an even harder run because the final dungeon is much deadlier able to reduce your max HP if not kill you outright. Plus it still makes you fight old bosses so you’ll be stuck with a fourth heart that doesn’t help that much.

[@GTrevise]

Surprised there wasn't an honorable mention of get laid % botw

[@thebenzaga]

My and my bud did a master mode no armour challenge in BOTW and we are planning on doing a No Armour challenge in totk where we have to survive the longest in the depths while unlocking as many lightroots as possible

[@bvav9678]

You can do the adult dungeons of OoT in about a dozen different orders, without glitches. Last time I played it my order was: Water Forest Spirit Fire Shadow. It does require a tricky jump in the water temple and not opening two locked doors to save on keys, but the other dungeons played pretty much normal.

[@chriskoloski32]

I think speedrunning totk will be very difficult considering you cant really get the glider within like 10 minutes

[@leargamma4912]

They fixed all the glitches and stuff so people can't abuse. Lol. Speedrunners get wrecked

[@Mrpizza9999]

@@leargamma4912They will just find more lol

[@frankyquilavafireblast895]

Shout out to anyone who remembers his Playthru of hero mode. Gannon run a few years ago.

[@rafaelmoura2103]

im trying selling my hearts and stamina to the cursed statue in botw and totk, i like that because it doesnt seem too arbitrary since its an actual option in the game and you get rupees in return

[@noble5068]

Knowing I can try to do the hardest challenge with my amiibo and wiiu with my favorite game. Definitely gonna try it after Tears.

[@Monafide3305]

Master Mode Trial of the Sword, especially those beginning trials, and ESPECIALLY floor 10 with the Lizalfos. One of the most unfair challenges Nintendo has designed.

[@Korobooshii]

I never equipped a shield in Skyward Sword. I just never felt a need to do it. The controls, atleast in the Wii version, are so incredibly good that - as long as you aren't just straight up bad - you don't really need a shield at all (Assuming you aren't handicapped in some way, really the only bad thing about those controls are that they aren't as available to everybody as games using only buttons). The sword really is all you need most of the time, and the shield is never required from what I experienced. Not even for the final boss.

[@danielgibson3422]

Oddly enough I did the skyward sword shieldless challenge my first time playing the game. When I found out they could brake I said nope and never wasted an item pouch slot on them until I got the hylian shield at the very end.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

The thing is in the first Zelda Game that you cannot harm Ganon without the Sword, Silver Arrows to kill him are not enough, you have to hit him at least with the Magical Sword 4 Times to give him the finishing blow with the Silver Arrow

[@shonkyhonker9347]

The hardest is the DONT fall in love challenges. It’s nearly impossible in ocarina of time. I have to admit seeing kind zora slowly shuffle to the side…. Makes me feel things

[@amirgarcia547]

Since I don’t really do self-imposed challenges in Zelda games since I prefer playing the game normally, I’ll go with the regular ones. For starters, the Cave of Shadows was so tough that despite loving Twilight Princess to death, I never ended up finishing it. I just didn’t enjoy the grind and effort it took, and it was definitely clear that it wasn’t designed around the OG game’s difficulty. The Trial of the Sword is the next closest thing though, which I had a blast with going through these different challenge gauntlet where you’re left with nothing but the resources given to you. The one where the Bokoblins riding on horses swarm you as soom as you enter the room can go burn in a chasm though.

[@Chaos89P]

Never thought of a Ganondorf Hero Mode in TP as a self-imposed challenge, for some reason.

[@GSballreborn]

There's also the cursed ring in the Oracle games, you take double damage and deal half as much. How about a cursed ring, 3-heart challenge with no sword upgrades? And for the really daring, add on no deaths.

[@ultimatehope549]

I did a minimalist, 3 heart, hero mode, Ganondorf amiibo, shieldless, Ordon Sword, Zora Armor only run of Twilight Princess a couple years back and it was the most fun I’ve had with a game in many years. I tried replicating the challenge in OoT and MM, but it’s honestly nowhere near as fun in those games

[@khodexus4963]

No mention of randomizers? Those are some of my favorite challenge runs to watch let's plays of.

[@XenosInfinity]

They're not really within the constraints of the game, though. That's the player going and getting a different version of the game that's specifically altered to be like that.

[@khodexus4963]

@@XenosInfinity I'm not saying he needed to rank them. Just thought it'd be nice to at least mention them somewhere in the video.

[@Trevor_NewJerusalem]

I once did an OoT no damage 100% run. Was pretty fun, nailed it first try too.

[@trustyourforce4041]

I got the secret ending in the remake of Link's Awakening with only having to save scum once.

[@lazykyuubi4300]

Oooh oooh! I've got a good Zelfa challenge run idea; Play Zelda II. At all. Just normally

[@JustJulyo]

My hardest Zelda challenge is finding the free time to play these games anymore

[@riahlexington]

I found this one shrine in tears of the kingdom that didn’t let me bring outside gear and I had to kill a few enemies with no shield and it made me mad.

[@fanboyfromfanboyandchumchu2722]

I’ve actually done a no shield run of skyward sword… with 6 hearts on hero mode

[@WritingGeekNL]

A Randomizer is always a fun chal- 10 Arrows!

[@MrSailing101]

Twilight princess three blue heart hero mode no shield cave of ordeals round two minimalist run (no bottles, no bombs, no arrows, no slingshot pellets, ordon sword,)

[@SerenaWisdom]

I've done some of these, but the most fun in my opinion are the randomized runs!

[@nayru33]

No shield playthrough = translation: the Arin Hanson method

[@LunaticJ]

You missed out on a BIG one. NO HIT. Beat the game of your choosing without saving, taking damage, or using shields/magic to block attacks and damage. Reset and start over if you get hit. Samura1man has completed every 3D Zelda game no hit except Tears of the kingdom

[@Sniperbear13]

well that Twilight Princess challenge does sound hard; but what if you combine it with 3 heart challenge?

[@mrgottem2848]

so basically a no hits run?

[@Daveanoncomedy]

I just finished Link's Awakening remake Hero Mode with 3 hearts, no deaths, im lookin for my next challenge

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

In Tears of the Kingdom I sometimes avoid combat when I feel like I won't get much out of it. 5:52 How do I get to the boss room as Adult Link? Doesn't that require a boomerang? I have successfully gotten no deaths in Link's Awakening. I died a lot in Tears of Kingdom though. 16:32 I always wondered what happened if you are unable to push Ganondorf's Sword away.

[@MajinK]

Hardest Zelda challenge is avoiding TotK spoilers til I get the chance to buy and play it

[@matthewtrujillo7228]

I'm surprised you didn’t mention A Link Between World's hero mode which also has 4x damage.

[@christanner8765]

Love these videos Will. Keep them up matey 😂😂 by the way, thanks for the likes. When I get a bit of money I’ll support the channel sir !! You are some seriously entertaining tasty gravy mate lol

[@MrSentinel07]

Breath of the Wild as a whole was hard for me, to the point where I'm not sure whether to try Tears of the Kingdom as I hear it's even harder.

[@Placeholder501]

No death runs seem the least special and interesting to me since people naturally including me just play the game while trying not to die and manage to beat the game without dieing.

[@erinexplosives]

this is some insane stolen footage, I think I lost 5 years off my life from all the random aspect ratios

[@ThomastheRiolpixQueen]

14:57 how come when i try to open up that secret stairs the fire does nothing?

[@RonnyLive19881]

Playing on an emulator most likely.

[@Brilliams]

I'm very curious on how pacifist run on botw is supposed to work, considering you have to very least kill Ganon

[@sonickhable]

Meanwhile i feel like totk might be the hardest Zelda game excluding hard modes

[@alphqbet_soup9234]

hardest challenge is not watching ToTK gameplay footage until getting the game

[@phoenixstar0755]

Now do the Cave of Shadows Herodorf run with only three hearts.

[@Ashtarte3D]

RL: You can't expect [Zelda games] to be really difficulty. ToTK: HOLD MY BEER. Seriously whoever tuned ToTK enemy damage needs their brain checked; I think they believed they were making Fear & Hunger: Zelda Edition.

[@riahlexington]

I know how hard 3 hearts is in botw and tears of the kingdom because I always go for stamina first so yeah it’s hard

[@benalmeida2601]

someone did botw 100% damageless, i don't know if that was out when this video released though

[@MattyTheFox89]

Rabbid, are you doing a let’s play or TOTK?

[@mangomage33]

I'm certain that people will start doing totk blank map runs

[@jonmcknight18]

So totk it would be a 4 Hart run because they force you to get a heart container before getting to the ground

[@Castle4473]

Randomized Zoolander- you can’t go left at all; learned that from Nesman88

[@riahlexington]

I tried to do a 3 heart one on ocarina I almost beat it but the final bosses was too much lol.

[@HectorGould-e8y]

How about shieldless, 3 heart, double damage, permadeath twilight princes?

[@The.Real.Strudl]

Sigh, now i have to do all of these at the same time!

[@angbald]

Just commenting and thumbs upping now to help the algorithm for ya. I'll be watching later tonight. You always make good videos so I have no worries on the premature thumbs up.

[@robertAGC]

I feel like the only missing one is damageless.

[@lusoagaihei4330]

tbh what is that zen music playing during the pacifist run challenge for #10

[@562.anthony2]

Baseball heart piece in a link between worlds

[@BlueBerry20071]

Wait when did zelda month get moved to may? I thought it was november?