Mine would be Occarina of Time because it introduced me to the series.
Twilight princess hands down. I adore that game
Twilight Princess.
I’m not that much into the gothic designs and the slightly edgy, or any of the wolf stuff, but the storytelling and the presentation felt like an actual epic. Lots of scenes like the first horseback field chase, the chariot defense, the bridge horseback fight, are so infuriating to actually play (especially the first time each), but they’re all so cinematic and fast while taking a big leap forward in the story, you get stakes, satisfaction, and awe, as you realize after the fact what just changed. And then the compilation of each combat types for the final boss for the final cherry on the cake, now that you can actually play it better, you’re right there in the movie for its climax.
And the boss fights like the fire temple and the argorok are very simple but really cool.
It’s basically Ocarina, and Ocarina was great, but everything in TP is enhanced, you take every aspect of it and you improve everything. Except Ocarina goes harder on the fairytale feel, while TP is a straight medieval epic.
In 2D, maybe Minish Cap, but LBW is to LttP what TP is to OoT, like, take a great classic and improve on every aspect of it.
BotW/TotK don’t make the top for me because I’m more into the immediate story, and those two are the type to hit harder the more you think about various aspects of it, rather than while you’re in it, it’s more of a melancholic slow burn for me.