No more games, no more pretense — this is our list of the top 25 Zelda items of all-time. Whether they were weapons or shields or utility items, these are the panel’s selections for the coolest or most useful inventory slots in the series. We’ll be counting down one by one until we reach the #1 pick on Jan. 31.
3) Piece of Heart – 4 votes, 446 points
Chris: This is my pick as the No. 1 item in the series. It’s the best example of rewarding exploration and adventure. Maybe you get a piece for slogging through dozens of floors of enemies, or for solving a particularly difficult puzzle, or for getting more “KABLOOM”s than “splooooooosh”s against Salvatore. Doesn’t matter. Unlike treasure chests that contain rupees or other collectibles, this is something I strive to complete in every Zelda game I play.
That has occasionally created problems for myself, since I’m not usually a completionist. For example, there are 52 Pieces of Heart in Majora’s Mask (because there’s only four dungeons and four Heart Containers), which meant I had a ton of work to do. But I never resented it, because the prize is worth it to me.
This is also an opportunity to stand on a pedestal and rant a bit. I’ve mentioned on the show a couple times that Twilight Princess is one of my least favorite games in the series. There are a number of reasons for that — the pacing, the useless items, the color brown — but my chief complaint is the Pieces of Heart. For some reason, it takes five of them to add a full heart to your life bar, and it’s the only game in the series that has made this mistake. All it does is cheapen their value, and it’s lazy design. They also decided to throw some into the main dungeons for some reason, which severely disrupts the flow to which we’ve become accustomed. Usually it’s explore/sidequests/story, and then you get set to tackle a dungeon and its awesome boss. Screw you, Twilight Princess.
Rant over. Pieces of Heart are cool. The end.
Joseph: My sole reason for playing the Legend of Zelda franchise more than any other in existence, I simultaneously love and hate these items. I obsessively searched for these health upgrades and attribute their presence in my most beloved series to my overall completionist approach to gaming. I could probably describe where all of them are in A Link to the Past, and I don’t consider my game experience complete until I have found all of them. I congratulate whoever thought of including them in the programming. That person is responsible for occupying days (maybe even weeks) of my life.
Shaun: I guess I’m the voice of dissent here? Look, Pieces of Heart are cool. My cohorts have all described what they do, in case you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know already. But I’d like to make a distinction that they voted for what they represent more than what they are. Pieces of Heart are valuable tokens that are hidden away and encourage exploration. They reward players willing to go the extra mile, which is great. But best item? Nah. From a purely logistical perspective, they’re not even as “good’ of an item as full on Heart Containers.
I’m a sucker for what they represent for the series and how the epitomize what Zelda does best, but number 3? Too high. What? You want to fight about it?
Michaela: Pieces of Hearts mean more life for me and less Game Overs, so whenever I can find one is always a good thing. It contributes to the already enjoyable exploration aspect of the Zelda games by rewarding the players with the invaluable Hearts.
Cary: What’s not to like about a giver of life? But as I alluded to in the Heart Container post, I always wanted to skip the whole find-four-pieces-of-heart-to-make-a-full-heart deal and just get to the full hearts. I mean…it wasn’t like Mario had to find mushroom pieces in order to make full 1-Up mushrooms. Besides, what a mess that would have been…rotten mushroom pieces stuck everywhere. Yuck.
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Gray Areas 
now that’s one I wouldn’t have thought of 🙂 Will #1 be a full heart container?
It will not! …Because it was already #9. lol
lol woops I missed that one. I’ve seen a few of them here and there, but I fell out of Zelda after Majora’s mask and didn’t make it far in that so I felt a bit lost 🙂