why do people dislike zelda 2 so much, anyway? we like it a lot
-F
@Felthry Just replayed it on the new Zelda Game & Watch thingie, so my memory is fresh. It's mechanically distinct from the rest of the series, and a bit clunky even compared to Z1, but not a bad game by any means.
Its main thing is it lacks a distinct identity, borrowing from other popular games of the time instead of being inventive. Castlevania combat? Check. Dragon Warrior magic system? Check. RPG random encounters and town scenes? Check. Platforming and lives system from Mario? Check.
@Felthry The main thing is that while all of these elements are serviceable and blend together okay, they weren't as refined as their genre-specific counterparts.
So you have this loose bag of gameplay elements that remind you of other games, with constant context switching (from overworld to underworld, from gameplay to menuing, and from the start of the game or dungeon every game over) instead of the smooth transition Z1 provided. Plus manually running back to town or resetting to heal.
@Felthry What it did offer is a more cinematic and immersive experience, which felt amazing at the time and still plays well now. But it definitely wasn't the same game as Z1, and was definitely more rough of an experience than its predecessor or games that followed it due to having so many moving parts.