There are so many gameplay factors, not to mention a cynical allegation about how that game idea came to be, to define something as a Zelda-esque, so it's a little tough to explain exactly what I mean by one. In most cases, a Zelda-esque game is a game inspired by the Legend of Zelda series. However, sometimes a Zelda-esque can be so disparate from a Zelda game that I consider it too much of a separate entity to be thought of as a simple Zelda clone, but too similar fundamentally to be lumped in with the all-encompassing and way too vague "action adventure" genre.
Basically (I use that word way too often to start paragraphs), a Zelda-esque is a broad example of an "adventure" game, one that tends to have equal parts action and narrative-driven problems to solve. Action-Adventure titles try to distance themselves from regular "action" games (which would generally be things like rail-shooters or scrolling beat-em-ups, where the plot is minimal at best) with a rich narrative, often brought across with cut-scenes or strong characterisation (recurring bosses as "rivals" for instance). Zelda games are no exception, revealing more of the story with each dungeon completed and each new area discovered.
The criteria for Zelda-esques are where this genre definition sort of wobbles a tad: It must be able to blend puzzles, action (either shooty or stabby), possibly contain mini-games and have RPG elements, but very basic ones (money, HP and equipment tend to be all Zelda games really need). It also requires a story to follow, if only a very basic one to let you know where to go next. A Zelda-esque may be allowed to drop one of the above, since it's a very concise list, but you'd be surprised how many games follow the above criteria.
To rephrase in the manner of an equation: basic Action + basic RPG + Story + Exploration + Puzzle-Solving = Zelda-esque. A little crude, but those are the four necessary components.
Excepting the Zeldas themselves, I'll give you a few of examples of what I mean by Zelda-esques:
Alundra - an excellent Zelda-esque PSX game. Sony were obviously trying out the Zelda system and giving it their own unique spin for their console. Sort of like what Sonic the Hedgehog is to Mario: a similar genre blueprint for what was currently "in", taken in a completely different direction to give that game series its own personality. Alundra was considerably darker than most Zelda games, as it slowly killed off half of the village of friendly folk that the hero Alundra used as a resting hub. It's also considerably more difficult, especially when puzzles involving exact timing are concerned.
Alundra uses the standard Heart + Gold RPG features of the Zelda-esque, as well as an equipment system closely linked to the story - each time someone died, the local blacksmith is inspired by his mourning to make a new item for you to use, sometimes based on the personality of the deceased. In the same manner as Zelda, these items were required to reach the next area of the game.
Alundra is what I consider a "Zelda Clone" Zelda-esque despite its quality, meaning it borrows pretty heavily from the Zelda blueprint without really adding anything of its own. Even the basic story is the same (mysterious "chosen" hero saves medieval-era village from great evil).
My second Zelda-esque is Illusion of Time(Euro)/Gaia(US), an Enix game for the SNES. This is back when Enix was its own company that barely anyone outside Japan had heard about, despite being on equal-footing with their eventual partners Square in their homeland. Enix made several excellent SNES games which we were sometimes fortunate enough to see Euro/US releases of, such as Equinox and ActRaiser.
Illusion of Gaia (or IoG) was the second part of a trilogy of similarly-themed games (but pretty different gameplay-wise) that comprise of Soul Blazer (sort of an early frontrunner for the Dark Cloud games - descend into a dungeon to assist the town and townspeople above) and Terranigma (which is a little too complex to go into here, but is generally a "complete dungeons to follow the plot" affair).
IoG followed a young boy called Will around as he went on an epic quest to save the world from evil yada yada yada and so forth. The plot, which was expertly presented but otherwise ridden with standard Japanese RPG cliches, closely tied in to whatever area Will had to go to next, all of which were based loosely on real-life ruins and Wonders of the World. Levels such as the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids and even Angkor Wat regularly appeared as the next destination, full of interesting monsters and, of course, the Zelda-like problem solving. Tying in a bit closer to the RPG side of Zelda, Will was able to increase in stats (strength, defence and such), either by collecting the boosts from killing enemies (all enemies in an area needed to be killed for the upgrade, giving the player an extra incentive to search everywhere) or assuming the form of a powerful "Dark Knight" (and, later, a being made of shadow) to explore areas he alone couldn't reach.
IoG is what I consider to be a "Zelda Inspired" or "true" Zelda-esque, a game not too similar to the Zeldas themselves but still sharing those five defining bullet-points. For one thing, it's stylistically dissimilar, keeping a sort of 2(1/2)D platformer appearance similar to that of Crash Bandicoot or Double Dragon - The screen goes left to right but there's a small bit of room to go up and down in also. It also employs several of its own unique features, such as the aforementioned enemy-based stat boosts (which help out a lot with bosses).
The third and final example is Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, an excellent DS game I've been playing over the past couple of days (and the inspiration for this update, truth be told). While the game focuses equally on the regular dungeon-exploring and the very unique, very fun Tank Battle system (a little more on that in a later blog entry), I still count it as a Zelda-esque.
For one thing, the Heart and Gold system is still accounted for. So are the problem-solving dungeons, which usually require a story event to happen before you can proceed through them. However the aim is to rescue your fellow slime creatures, meaning you could be taken all over the level to find them as opposed to simply seeking a route to the boss room (though that is usually the main goal). There are also the alchemy and tank battle systems, which tend to give the player a lot of item-collecting to do in order to have the best ammo for your tank to use in battle.
I count this game as a "Zelda Diverse" Zelda-esque, a game almost too dissimilar to be counted as a Zelda-esque due to various additional modes or a completely different set of goals or combat system, for example. However, while it has many more besides, it still has the five required elements necessary for the Zelda-esque designation.
More Zelda-esques I can think of:
The Mystical Ninja/Ganbare Goemon games - All share various platformer/RPG elements, and has upgradable health, equipment and money features. The story is also very important (and usually very bizarre).
Castlevania/Metroid - Very controversial, but the modern Castlevanias and all Metroids share Zelda's emphasis on exploration, as well as an equipment-enabled progression (by which I mean you can only proceed through the game with the correct piece of equipment, usually found right after a boss). Both of these series started at the same time as the first Legend of Zelda, so I feel it would be equally fair to label some Zelda-esques as "Castlevania-esques" or "Metroid-esques". However, both of these series were very light on plot until recently.
Genres which are not Zelda-esque, but very similar:
Action RPGs - Diablo, Dungeon Siege, Kingdom Hearts, etc. share the story-driven dungeoneering sense, but relies too strongly on character progression and levelling up and often lacks the crucial puzzle-solving element. Likewise, Dungeon Crawls forgo the plot more often than not, another important factor.
This may be a controversial Design Genres topic, since it does suggest that all these games are just imitations of the Nintento classic, but there are so many of them these days and many try hard to be a game in of itself as opposed to Zelda's little brother that perhaps a new genre designation should be considered. After all, most samples of other genres aren't considered clones of the earliest game to fit the genre. No-one would think modern RTS games are Herzog Zwei clones or that the latest FPS is the newest bastard child of Castle Wolfenstein 3D. These games simply found a new niche to explore in terms of gameplay, and so other developers either directly imitate or try their own variations .
Ranting-aside, if a sufficient number of games take the unique genre blueprint of a popular series and do something new with it, it should be redefined as a genre in my book. Though maybe something a little less incendiary, like "Console Adventure" (to go with "Console RPG").
