Submitted by twovests in killallgames
Cadence of Hyrule is a Crypt-of-the-Necrodancer spinoff in the Zelda universe. The main gimmick is it's a rhythm game, which is actually pretty excellent. As it turns out, one of the main reasons to play a Zelda game is that you like the Zelda music, and it shines in this game. This game takes a 180 turn from Breath of the Wild's sparse musicality, where almost every second of the game has you bumping to tunes.
You play as either Link or Zelda (!!!), making the first good Zelda game where she's a playable character. It's mostly a roguelite dungeon crawler, and it's apparent through the lack of intentionality that the whole map is procedurally-generated. But, its roguelike elements are not too punishing, and the ceiling for perfect play is low enough that it encourages mastery. The result is a game that really pulls you in. The rhythm-game gimmick gives it a legitimacy among other Zelda games.
The main thing is that it scratches the Zelda itch a lot more than I expected it to. The only problem is that the roguelite elements makes it feel like the boss battles had to be tuned way down.
Tunic is a videogame that unabashedly copies the aesthetics and structure of a Zelda game, but makes for a game so damned excellent that it's impossible for me not to mention when discussing the series.
I've reviewed Tunic in depth before. If I were to describe it in the terms of other games, it's a world which unfolds much in the same was as Outer Wilds, with the aesthetics and sensibilities of the Zelda series, with Souls-elements (which I appreciated despite being a Souls hater), and bosses which are quite punishing but make you feel great once you beat them.
Mina the Hollower special mention because I am eagerly anticipating its release.