just finished replaying zelda 2 after saying i never would, idk it's a lot less painful when you're letting yourself use guides and maps but gosh i'm really still not huge on this game
for what it is i think it manages to be done well, but i don't really think that makes for a great game
like yeah it's a combat-focused platformer with a level system and it does all those things without any jank (obviously there's a couple very annoying design choices, but the core gameplay fundamentally works how it should and how the player expects it to), but in my mind that's really all it is? and it's just not very interesting to me
it doesn't have a very strong identity, it's the sequel to the first zelda and while yeah the zelda series was in its infancy and it's unfair to say a zelda-like quality had clearly been defined by this time (as one of the most common critiques that i hear, actually only through refutations of it, is that it doesn't play like "other zeldas," which isn't something i really care about), it doesn't really carry any of the charms that i enjoy from the first game forward
gameplay's fine, i think it's what most diehard fans of the game point to first and foremost as the main appeal of the game, but i like things to have more than gameplay, and to me zelda 2 has very little else
what i said on discord is that it feels like an NES game, that is to say, just a very generic NES title, it's not bad by any means but like, for me it has nothing going for it over any other not-bad even-good NES title
i do think it's the lack of interesting vibes that really kills my potential enjoyment of the game, like if the game was given an entire visual makeover, go for something brighter and cartoonier or something edgier with more detail, anything that makes it visually unique or attractive to play, i'd have a much MUCH easier time getting into it
there's nothing going for it storywise either, nothing interesting about its protagonist, not even a villain of any sort to speak of (while these all also hold true for the first game, at least that one had the excuse of being the first game, and also had other things i appreciate about it)
the game's not without merits though, it's a neat experience to get through at least (I Beat Zelda 2 and All I Got Was This T-Shirt), dark link makes for a very cool final boss (much better than ganon, who looked silly and was simultaneously deeply obnoxious yet pathetically easy to fight - dark link is also both these things but at least she fights you in an interesting way rather than a really boring and cheap one), and it does include the best mechanic in the entire zelda series in letting you turn into a fairy
so in short, i don't like the game but i do like fairies