If Zelda changes the formula, people are going to cry with hypocrisy.

Look at Twilight Princess. How much of a change was that? Not much, yet people treat it like it's Metroid Other M.
Then there's games like Zelda II or Link's Crossbow Training that are completely different, with some pretty large hatedom going on.

I would like change, but that's an unrealistic expectation. The best you can hope for is maybe, MAYBE an eShop title with more experimentation, that lasts less then 10 hours.

That's the problem with most fanbases. They're afraid of change. Change isn't always good, but in this case, it has to be. Nintendo has creative talent under its fingertips there's no denying that but it raises questions about what direction the franchise is heading.

Oh, and Link's Crossbow Training was a tech demo not an actual game.

i'm just disappointed that there still isn't an original zelda game on the 3DS. i would like to see another classic top-down perspective, as those are my favorites.

Give it some time. The console is barely 3 years old. I'm expecting one next year or at the end of this year.

I'd much rather see new Metroid, WarioWare or Star Fox on the 3DS, but Zelda's been announced anyways. I want another one with OOT3D controls. Screw the idea of top-down, I don't trust Nintendo after the mess of the DS Zelda's in terms of controls and level design (and I only enjoyed Four Swords because of the multiplayer).

Well it helps that they've stated they want to change more things about people's expectations for Zelda. I appreciate that many people praised/hated the amount of changes in Skyward Sword and they still think they failed to change as much as they wanted to.

I think changing a series is always a difficult thing to do correctly. While I appreciate change, if you change too much it completely loses its identity and what people liked about it. And I think Zelda has done a good job at keeping a balance of making games that are definitively Zelda while still being immediately recognizable and doing new things with old ideas. People complaining about sameyness in Zelda games...I just don't get it. Most game series I play change as much or less than Zelda tends to do. Most good games series are largely the same with a few major changes but the world and characters and the way they use gameplay creatively add up to make it a different enough experience. I don't think I can perfectly word this, but I do think it really works to keep that balance between samey and new. Like, for example I could say to Mass Effect fans that 1 and 2 are just the same with their dialogue options and cover shooting, with the only differences being ME2 being more streamlined. I'd be wrong and I'd know that I would be wrong. Fans would know that I am wrong.

My main issue really has been that I'm gonna really stop caring about the characters if we have to introduce all new characters and a new world and whatever every single game. I can't care about 50 versions of the same series, it's too much. At some point I'll just stop caring about the story entirely, which is particularly bad since despite Miyamoto and others being gameplay first type of guys, there's way too much story early on in recent Zeldas made just to get you used to the new characters and whatnot for it to not feel slow and distracting. I mean, it might not be too horrible, since a lot of JRPGs I love have similar issues but I wish they would allow some legit story sequels (and not like Majora's Mask which has almost nothing to do with OOT) once in a while.

Good writing doesn't need to take hours trying to immerse the player with the characters at the beginning of the game. That's what the rest of the game is for.

If Nintendo needs to, hire some authors to write for it. Change the traditional formula to something even better. Maybe even explore an entirely different art direction and incorporate new characters and exclude the old.

Yeah, that would all be great ideas. Though, I don't think they need like authors. They just need better pacing. Though I disagree with the last point, they always use new characters. You can say Link and Zelda...they go out of their way to have characters named the same that are not the same characters instead of building on characters we actually care about. And since it's always Link and Zelda and Impa etc, it just seems pointless to do so at times. It would be like if in the Dark Knight you had the same characters but it had nothing to do with or have the same cast as Batman Begins for no reason.

That's a terrible reference considering those movies are based off of already established comics.

I feel you fall into the fanbase I'm pointing out. Why can't you love new characters as much as the old ones? That's seems hardheaded.

Though, I'm not saying every existing character should disappear, but that new characters should be in the spotlight and fill the vast majority of the roster. Oh and Ganon needs to go.

In general I find it much easier to get into characters and stories that have been established than ones that haven't and I find it frustrating that every Zelda has to have an entirely new cast despite being in the exact same universe with the same named characters. And if they're so samey like you say, why do they bother changing the case? From a story perspective, I'd find it great to see what happens next with these characters. I mean, I wouldn't want the same characters forever, but at least for more than one game, which they don't even do for the most part. People like long running series from a story perspective to see what happens next, to see where they'll go, but Zelda never really does that and yet continues to have a focus on storytelling in some form. And I don't care if this is an issue for anyone else, it's an issue for me and it's genuinely kinda frustrating the more I think about it. I think Nintendo's just trying to compromise with everyone might be the issue? I dunno.

And obviously not every Zelda ever needs to do this, but it'd be nice to have some sort of real continuation of a story once or twice.

Also, if you want change for Zelda, have a game be the major new Zelda, but stick with the core cast of characters (adding/replacing ones as time goes on throughout a couple of games or something like that) for a couple of games. A legit continuation like that is DIFFERENT for Zelda. Zelda tends to refuse to do this at any cost so Zelda keeping a new cast of characters for a couple of games would be NEW for Zelda.

In general I find it much easier to get into characters and stories that have been established than ones that haven't and I find it frustrating that every Zelda has to have an entirely new cast despite being in the exact same universe with the same named character.

I don't how it's difficult whatsoever. I have no problem experiencing a completely new roster of characters. New IPs are always welcomed and, more than not, meet the overall expectations of the experience and surpass already established franchises such as Legend of Zelda.

. And if they're so samey like you say, why do they bother changing the case?

Nintendo should introduce new, interesting characters. I should've clarified that. New characters are in every Zelda but none of them are worth mentioning years down the line.

Also, if you want change for Zelda, have a game be the major new Zelda, but stick with the core cast of characters (adding/replacing ones as time goes on throughout a couple of games or something like that) for a couple of games. A legit continuation like that is DIFFERENT for Zelda. Zelda tends to refuse to do this at any cost so Zelda keeping a new cast of characters for a couple of games would be NEW for Zelda

Anything at this point would be new for Zelda.

I wouldn't mind more interesting characters and an original story so long as they can implement it cleverly into the game play.

The last thing we want is Zelda turning into a Metal Gear Solid game with hour long cut scenes that don't make the game better in any way.

Metal Gear Solid is one of the few games where cut-scenes enhance the experience. With Zelda, that could not work. Twenty minutes, sure, anything more, no.

Though, Zelda's ridiculous tutorials (as of late i.e. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword), irritate with lengthy explanations and handholding that lasts throughout the entirety of the game (Skyward Sword).

If Nintendo was to go the direction I explained on the previous page, it would have to pan out the same way as A Link to the Past's first few hours did. Quick, epic and to the point.