Talking Point: Could Another Nintendo Series Take Over The 'Traditional' Zelda Template?

This is a very cool idea!! I am a big fan of the 3D Zelda games from OOT-TP (four just perfect video games!) and would adore seeing it continue on.

I voted for the frog game cuz it sounds cute (and would come close to fulfill a long standing dream of seeing Frog from Chrono Trigger get his own game)

But I’d also love to see Ever Oasis get more entries and it came close!!!

For whom the Frog Tolls is the most likely of the ones presented, but it's not even the most likely with the current dev team. The studio most likely to take over "traditional Zelda" is still Grezzo, and they have their own answer to that question already; Ever Oasis. True it got BURIED as a 3DS game in 2017, but since the house of Mana is still in Nintendo's good graces enough to make the first, non-$#!t-post Zelda led Zelda game, then I think they could talk their way into an Ever Oasis 2/HD if they really wanted to.

However, an even more likely option is Zelda's original sister series; Mystery of Murasame Castle. Even though the game was entirely made by Human Interactive and there's one member of the staff still at EPD; Koji Kondo, it's at the very least still loveningly remembered by the staff workign there today; at least by Team 10. Which is more than can be said StarTropics (no one left at EPD knows those games exist) and Heracles (the IP is actually owned by Paon, who haven't done anything with it since the DS and now mostly subist on a meager existence from mobile games.)

I’ve got an idea. How about Zelda franchise does it rather than a clone! What a strange article to write, wishing for a Zelda clone.

Or maybe this game will be really good and they can continue on as it's own thing where the Zelda games are actually about Zeldas journey.

In any case I'm glad they're trying. Far too many open world games and BoTW bored me so badly it has forever put a sour taste in my mouth for the franchise since they seem to be sticking to the wide open empty nothing-to-do-here except collect a bazillion seeds formula that lacks the life of the old games.

None really, I'd much rather see them make another Zelda game in that style and it could simply be mixed with the creative side, perhaps it is in the new game, we're assuming much based on a short trailer.

Even TOTK does it to an extent by limiting how much you can use Zonai devices initially as well as the type of devices, so you still have the progression the series has always being built upon. In the new game it certainly looks like you could well be limited where you can explore or tackle until you've learned certain echoes

Animal Crossing: Kingdom Chronicles
Animal Crossing + Minecraft + Zelda
Rated Everyone 10+ / CERO A / PEGI 7
Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Theme, Mild Language.

You missed the most obvious one, The Mysterious Murasame Castle

@Zeebor15 @JoeSooper The Mysterious Murasame Castle was like the Kid Icarus to the original Zelda, reusing its engine while making something more fast-paced. It seems like the perfect project to hand PlatinumGames...at least depending on how many Clover Studio alumni are still there, seeing as Okami is still considered among the best Zelda-style games - if not the best. A 3D reboot with their approach to combat integrated with the design of traditional Zelda sounds very appealing indeed.

I think 2D Zelda should continue sticking to the formula. Let other series be what they’re made to be!

Star Tropics please

I think Golden Sun could work for this. It’s got a great world, and it already has a lot of puzzle solving elements to its gameplay already.

The traditional Zelda games aren't even all on Switch yet so I'd want those to be brought over with the Wii U remasters being the most important of the bunch.

"The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom shares the stylized look of the Link's Awakening remake, but it appears to be putting a fresh spin on the tried-and-true Zelda formula, and we’re here for it."

"For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the ‘traditional Zelda’ formula boils down to these key elements:

• Linear game structure
• Themed elemental dungeons
• Key items which open new areas or are required to defeat certain bosses
• Side quests and collectibles"

Well, "Zelda: A Link between worlds" (the head picture of this article) did not have a linear game structure.
One could lend the items from the purple bunnyman and do the dungeons and areas in any order one wanted to.

But still it leaned more to the "classic" Zeldas than BOTW and TOTK.

"Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" seems to be set in the same world as "Zelda: A Link to the past" and "Zelda: A Link between worlds".
A sort of trilogy perhaps.

As of now, we don't know if "Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" will even have "traditional" dungeons, dungeons at all, "traditional" items or if the order of areas and possible dungeons will be linear or not.

All Zeldas have elements that are not linear: areas, secrets, items or side quests that are optional.
Also often different paths one can take to reach the same area.

Personally I enjoy both the more linear Zeldas and the less linear Zeldas and think there are room for both going forward.

I gota be honest, there's more to Zelda than it's game structure that makes each entry a must play. The music, the characters, the puzzles. While some things can be lost, changed and adapted, I feel like I'd struggle to play a Hello Kitty Zelda-like or some other random franchise Zelda-like

I would be very interested in a port and/or remake of - and sequel to The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Why did this game never leave Japan?

Id say Kid Icarus and Golden Sun would suit the old formula best.

Why not just have both…there’s nothing stopping them from getting other developers to make more traditional Zelda games, be it top down or full 3D while the main team makes their huge open world games. It looks like that’s the plan anyway if EoW is anything to go by, even if it’s more experimental than the usual fair. No need for them to make Zelda-like games with other franchises when they can just…make Zelda games. Especially since it seems like 6+ years between games from the main team is the norm now.

Id like there to be more open world top down Zelda games. A link Between Worlds is my all time favorite Zelda game and not another franchise taking the mantel. It's been over a decade, I'd really like to see another like that. But it's own world and villain like Minish Cap.

I don't care what it replaces or if it replaces anything at all, just bring back Startopics!

Man, I just want a switch port of Eternal Darkness.

I'm no game journalist but when Mr Aonuma says that every player's journey in Echoes of Wisdom will be different...that doesn't sound very linear to me.

But really nice article. I reckon another Star Fox Adventures wouldn't go amiss

@quinnyboy58

Feels like you missed the point of the article.

Nobody is wishing for a Zelda clone, the point is Nintendo has seemingly moved Zelda in a different direction from the standard traditional style of play. So they raise the question: what series could step up and fill that role while Zelda continues to change?

I was excited when the new Zelda got revealed… until Aonuma said “does this mean Zelda will be swinging a sword? Well we decided to do something surprising…” (or something like that). I literally turned to my wife and said “Oh no.”

My hot take is that Aonuma has not done a very good job managing this franchise. I’ve thought so for years, way before BotW. I actually wrote a letter to [a Nintendo Life competitor which I will leave unnamed] making my case. They did not agree, lol. But I think my former favorite series has basically been killed. This game may be very good… but why is it a Zelda game? I feel like Aonuma just wants to make other kinds of games and I guess his position at Nintendo requires him to make everything Zelda?

Id be happy with 3 types of Zelda - classic top down, OoT 3d, and BotW 3d and just rotate. So maybe over the course of 10-12 years we get one of each

Mario. He does pretty well in any genre he gets into. Heck, Nintendo even experimented with this in 3D Land.

Well out of these I'd go with either Kid Icarus or For Whom the Frog Tolls. Kid Icarus because it would be fitting after the last game basically took over Star Fox (for a series that started as a parallel to Metroid), just keep making Kid Icarus games into reskinned versions of other Nintendo franchises at that point. And For Whom the Frog Tolls because that'd just be a neat thing to bring back, especially if they localize the original.

But I still maintain they're gonna make new traditional Zelda games at some point anyway. If for simple reasons of quantity at least. It's gonna be a while until the next Zelda from the people making this game, its gonna be a while until the 3rd open world Zelda game, there has to be something else they have planned for the new system.

@MSaturn If Zelda is going to swing a sword like Link, then what is the point? That's not how Nintendo work. The characters are avatars for gameplay. They aren't real lol. Nintendo's sequels always try to do something different. Mario Kart Double Dash for sxample (being the most stand out for me.) I dunno, sounds like you want Nintendo to rest on laurels and churn out the same game all the time. Which sounds...boring. The first thing any Nintendo fan thinks when they hear Zelda will be playable is "Ooh, I wonder how she will play?"

I’d personally prefer a new IP for this concept, as all of the examples mentioned are either too obscure to realistically make a comeback, or too far removed genre-wise.

As much as I love the idea, They won’t even make new Starfox or F-zero because the don’t have great ideas for their gimmicks, so I don’t see them adding another series style of play to another series. But I’d love it, I’ll stress that I just don’t see it happening.

Nobody mentioned Murasame Castle? That was Zelda's sister game when it came out on the Famicom!

Never played any of the franchises mentioned in the article, but I’d be happy to try a new earthbound entry as the games look neat

Nobody can take that place. It’s a unique formula that’s also very sensitive to change.
Total linearity isn’t a must for me, since A Link Between Worlds still felt like classic Zelda. I think it’s the simplicity that people are looking for. Just hacking and slashing your way through puzzles and funny interactions. A world where you get to know each area like the back of your hand.

I'm truly sad that A Link Between Worlds isn't the modern formula. It takes the best of classic 2D Zelda and adds in some more modern elements for a truly great experience. If they added in the combat from Minish Cap, they'd have a spectacular formula. Honestly, I'm not sure I'll buy any more Nintendo hardware. They've been my hardware of choice for the durability and their games. I find that I'm not enjoying their games as much as I used to. My main series was Zelda until BotW and TotK. Those games really fail my tastes.

Linear game structure
Themed elemental dungeons
Key items which open new areas or are required to defeat certain bosses
Side quests and collectibles

it's already metroid basically.

I don't really see the point, why cant they just keep making "traditional" zelda games again?

@nilcam

"My main series was Zelda until BotW and TotK. Those games really fail my tastes."

it feels good when I see other people saying it. Sometimes I feel very alone and there was a time that you'd get really piled on for saying so, around here.

edit-

"They've been my hardware of choice for the durability and their games."

I think they pretty much abandoned the "Nintendoness" of their hardware, in terms of build, this generation too.

Ever Oasis should continue the classic Zelda formula.

I honestly want Kid Icarus to follow the path that Uprising went, which is nothing like a Zelda game.

Star Tropics is what I voted for here because it is the most like Zelda, as well as The Frog For Whom The Bell Tolls.

THAT SAID. The game I really want to get a sequel and continue the classic Zelda formula is Ever Oasis made by Grezzo, the team who worked on a lot of Zelda remakes/remasters. Ever Oasis basically follows very similar beats to classic Zelda, allowing for a lot of exploration as well as items to get further in dungeons (those items being in the form of your allies.) It's the closest we got to an original 3D Zelda game on the 3DS handheld, and it is in my top 3 games for the handheld. I hope it gets either a sequel or a port.

I've always liked the Mysterious Castle Murasame. I wouldn't mind Nintendo giving that game another go.

I've always thought Kid Icarus would be good if it was exactly like the Metroid Prime games, except 3rd-person. But when it comes to adding in towns, villages, etc, there really is nothing like Zelda itself. Perhaps we could have a true Wind Waker 2, and that could be the way for traditional Zelda to continue.

If Zelda doesn’t return to its Zeldavania roots then I’m done with the franchise after 40 years. Good riddance.

@nilcam I think A Link between worlds is actually the one that started the issue to begin with. The rehashing of an old map, giving you all the items from the get go, never unlocking them or discovering them, just renting them, and the ability to start any area or dungeon in any order you wanted.
Even if it was a good Zelda game, it was the black sheep that led Aonuma and Fujibayashi to start experimenting with the games in a way that killed what old fans loved about the series to become something else entirely…. BOTW and TOTK, ugh.

I feel like people are overreacting to what's been shown so far for the new game. It could 100 percent have linear dungeons and progression. We don't know yet. My guess is some echoes might be treated like key items. But that aside, it would be neat to see a new startropics, or just a new adventure game series from Nintendo in general.

@Yoshif3 "Killed what old fans loved about the series." Which is why botw and totk are the highest selling and most critically acclaimed games in the series. Yep, that logic checks out.

@-wc-
I do love the new ones as well but there is a desperate void of 3d dungeons in the vein of Zelda that almost nothing in the industry has successfully matched.

Okami did it well but that series is dormant, Darksiders 2 had very Zelda like dungeons but I don't know about the later one.
Nothing I've played in a long time has quite scratched that itch though.

2d Zelda seemingly has 100s of spiritual successors carrying the torch for it though.

Why would they put the Zelda formula in a different franchise?
I mean sure they could but why?

I view this upcoming title as a smaller spin-off kind of deal like triforce heroes or four swords. Perhaps a little bit more than that (if we are lucky), but it's nice with a new fresh experience every once in a while.

But I bet my Stetson hat on that Nintendo is hard at work on the next big 3D Zelda game. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if that goes back to the more typical formula or something that is closer to what you think of when you think Zelda.

But well Metroid could definitely work with the Zelda formula.
Prime is almost that already (only that it's all dungeon all the time)

A Kid Icarus Uprising sequel would be amazing to adapt to the Zelda formula!

I'm still hoping they move on from aggressive openness the same way they did from motion controls, taking the best aspects into the next game without becoming overly reliant on it. From what I've seen so far, Echoes of Wisdom seems more like a comfortable middle ground than the all-in investment to the idea we've gotten in the recent 3D games. I just really want my favorite fantasy series to return the focus to going on an adventure rather than playing in a sandbox.

@DaniPooo

in my opinion, super metroid is alttp on its side with aliens, and prime is ocarina in 1st person with aliens. ✌️

edit: i just got really excited in my brain by the thought of BOTW in 1st person with aliens. has anyone else not watched the prime 4 trailer? I dont usually watch trailers.

@AJWolfTill I'm trying to think of some modern games that sort of follow a Zelda dungeon formula and a couple come to mind. There's the two recent God of War games that have unique locked off regions with puzzle solving, and usually some kind of boss fight at the end.

And actually now that I think about it, Resident Evil Village felt very much like Zelda in structure. You have the main village hub area, (hyrule field), and the four surrounding boss areas (dungeons), where you find the four macguffins to open the path to the final battle. I'm almost positive the developers took a cue from Zelda when designing that game.

@Bigmanfan we have been over the sales argument HUNDREDS of times before. The sales argument is testament of the console, not the games. EVERY. SINGLE. GAME on the Switch has outsold EVERY. SINGLE. PREDECESSOR in its respective IP.

Does it mean they are better and loved by every fan? Or that the IP and console have selling power? Everyone, including me, bought TOTK because it’s Zelda.
Is it a good Zelda? Not by a mile…. And people have started to notice. It’s called the Zelda cycle for a reason.

@-wc- Hahaha that's one way to look at it.
But year there's definitely similarities in gameplay. Metroid prime would just need an explorable "world" between it's "dungeons"

Like if you could manually fly Samus's ship around the solar system and explore. And perhaps land at some space merchant ships to buy supplies and talk to NPC's for side quests. Then it would totally be like space Zelda

We have 2d mario and we have 3d Mario.
Both arms of Zelda can reign.

@Yoshif3 Oof. Seems I struck a nerve. While it is true the switch increases sales, the gap between sales numbers is absurd. The wii was very popular. The ds was more popular than the switch. And yet their Zelda game sales have been dwarfed by the new games.

Nah, they just need to stop being stubborn and give us an traditional Zelda! Not everyone likes the generic open world that the series has gone off in... Breath of the Wild is by far the most boring, generic and painfully dull open world game I've ever played. Tears of the Kingdom is slightly better, but not by much.

They're giving us a brand new 2D Zelda though with EoW, so there's hope for us traditional 3D Zelda fans yet.... I HOPE.

@Anti-Matter Pretty sure what you describe is called Stardew Valley…

@DaniPooo

I've been thinking about this for a long time 😊 ive always wanted a space exploration metroid, since super metroid's cutscenes depicting samus flying about.

2d metroid could have top down space exploration a la armada. 🤤 or yeah "botw in space," omg. dogfights in samus' ship, answering distress beacons and taking jobs (read: quests) as a bounty hunter.

@Bigmanfan "The DS was more popular than the Switch"

The Switch is on a steady course to overtake the DS in sales

@DaniPooo very true. But it still hasn't yet. I'm excited for it to though.

@Bigmanfan ooff, seems you need some critical thinking or really analyze why. The Wii was popular sure, but when you release a game at a point where piracy in the console was rampant, everyone was growing tired of motion controls, you needed an extra peripheral, it was released at the end of the console, had rocky showings and was at a point where HD consoles were the fad and the norm, then yeah, you cannibalize your sales.
You just need to analyze the sales from other games released at the time and you’ve got your answer as to why there was that gap.
You can add that yeah, the Wii had numbers, but the target and audience was WAAAAY different. It wasn’t a console purely bought by gamers, unlike the switch. Remember a big piece of its audience was CASUALS, grannies and kids?

As for the DS games… are you really comparing big AAA Zelda games to the DS games and you’re surprised there’s a big gap in sales? You know what, I’m not gonna even answer that one.

@Yoshif3 imma be honest. I disagree with your points. They have no validity. And it seems we will never agree. However, your sense of humor cracks me up. You seem alright in my book.

Mallow from Pushmo. Dungeons filled with block pulling puzzles, and give the guy a sword. That’s my hope.

@Bigmanfan ok man, nothing personal. Respect your opinion too. English isn’t my primary language so it may sound a bit aggressive at times but it’s never personal.

That will never happen as Zelda fans will never let it die or be replaced...if anyone wants the same ol over and over theres literally probably a few thousand Zelda likes made by Indie artists

Startropics. At the time it was a bit of a Zelda rip-off but I’ve always felt there is so much more the franchise could do. Earthbound needs a fully 3D game - I remember the Earthbound 64DD screen shots back in the day…

@GrailUK well I think you’re making a fair point, but I would just say that to me a game (and a series) is defined really by its mechanics and structure. How does the game play and how does progression work? Zelda has done everything imaginable it feels like and at this point it has almost no identity left. The last thing the franchise needs in my opinion is even more experimentation. They need to take one of the many promising ideas they’ve introduced and give them another shot so they can refine them.

I want Zelda to have some of the 'traditional Zelda template' again. We can have both, you know. I like the 'modern' style, but it clearly has issues. Sometimes freedom isn't the answer in game design, it's restriction. One hand crafted solution can still be rewarding. Keep the freedom and creativity in the overworld but bring back those old, giant dungeons with their more locked progression and unique items ...If not, at least remake the old games for all the new folks getting into the series. My favourite Zelda games, even long after TOTK and BOTW, are still Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time. That's not just 'nostalgia' either as I only played through the latter two years after BOTW (Wind Waker has a lot of it though lol). I also know plenty of people who only played the modern games, then tried the older ones and found them better in many ways ...Mostly the dungeons, of course.

I'd be fine either way, though, as I'll always have those older games to go back to. If only I could play them all on Switch ...

@Yoshif3 To be fair Zelda Skyward Sword sold 3.5 million on the wii and 4.4 million in the Switch, so by your logic that BOTW and TOTK have only sold over 20 million each is because the Switch is popular and has high sales then why doesn't Skyward Sword have similar figures?

If people didn't love BOTW then TOTK would have flopped yet in just over a year it's sold over 20 million, probably the best sales figures for any Game sequel period, and not many people are going to play a sequel without playing the first game meaning the majority of those 20 million sales are people who also played BOTW and if they didn't like that game then they wouldn't buy TOTK.

Fans loved the game, Critics loved the game and sales are at at record high for the series so I see no reason why Nintendo would go back to the older formula for future main games.

I just want the traditional zelda formula WITH the zelda franchise. Or star tropics to make it's comeback.

I've always felt that this "other" franchise already exists. Completely different setting and mechanics of course, but structurally very similar. I am of course talking about the Luigi's Mansion Series.

@MSaturn I get you. Maybe sensibilituies have changed over time. I'm old so take each game on it's own merit. Look at how Legend of Zelda 2 isn't the same game as Legend of Zelda 1 on the NES. Now I don't bat an eyelid to this. In fact, back in the day, folk used to complain if it was too similar! But I can't blame you wanting more Zelda hahaha

If Dread & Wonder are any indication they'll someday put out a new top down Link driven Zelda in the linear vein again. They're careful but absolutely not against bringing back the roots of a franchise. A Link Between Worlds came out of nowhere. Those other series already have their own pedigree, they don't need to be shoved into a repainted Zelda game. And if we're going to mess with Metroid do something crazy like throwing Samus in a Red Star-like game fighting in a war against the space pirates.

The original Zelda was not linear, you could go in any direction and tackle the dungeons out of "order". If I'm not mistaken, Zelda II was similar in that regard.
Only with subsequent games was the linear structure introduced.

@PtM

I can see that point of view, but I feel there’s a difference in “Zelda clone” and “something to fill the void left behind when Zelda went open air”

Voting for Golden Sun, as unlike Kid Icarus it wouldn’t make me thing of Ubisoft’s Fenyx thingy, whatever it’s called. As an RPG it already had puzzles, so turning into an action adventure like old-school Zelda would work pretty well. Also, has a slightly different feel to its setting, a bit more Arabian Nights than the old-school fantasy of Zelda or Greek myths of Kid Icarus.

Eternal Darkness is my favorite game ever. I would love for a remaster of that game to come out. I would pre-order today even if they announced for 2027. haha

I could see Echoes of Wisdom spawning a Princess Zelda series much like Super Mario World 2 begat the Yoshi Island series.

1. I think the Ocarina formula will return, or some blending of it. The "traditional" Zelda has sort of evolved, the original Legend of Zelda was non-linear. You have three sort of mainline branches:
A.) Traditional 2D: A Link to the Past > Link's Awakening > Oracles > Minish Cap > Phantom Hourglass > Spirit Tracks > A Link Between Worlds
B.) Ocarina > Windwaker > Twilight Princess
C.) Breath of the Wild > Tears of the Kingdom

We then have the odd balls:
Zelda 2, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword.

it is more like BOTW/TOTK should and COULD have been a new IP.?

yes LoZ did need an overhaul, but not to the point of losing its' spirit. Which actually started with the experimental DS games.

Time for Aunoma to move on, imo... new fresh take and blood on ALL eras of Zelda to work from. He has way too many hangups and it quite disconnected and arrogant (again, my opinion) is 'his' direction for these games.

Way too much control for someone carrying resentments and baggage that causes an over-correction on Aunona's part, over and over again.

For the poll, I voted Star Tropics. I think there is some gold in them hills. Maybe Golden Sun IP would work for this too?

I got a great series. Ever heard of Zelda?

Can another franchise pull off the "Zelda formula"?....Didn't Enix try this in the 90s?

The next Animal Crossing game is going to be pretty hardcore.

NintenDogs + Cats? 😆

For sure StarTropics and The Mysterious Murasame Castle get my vote hands down. I'm very open to Kid Icarus filling those shoes.

StarFox… just like it did in the past, with Dinosaur Planet

I read all the words and I understand what is being stated as ‘needed’, but this idea doesn’t register with me. To rearrange a saying: any other flower called a rose does not make it a rose..?

@Yoshif3 I didn't agree. Aonoma was messing with the formula as far back as Majora's Mask. ALBW want so popular that it would push the team out of the old formula. If it wasa huge success, the formula would have become untouchable. It seems that all of the hidden temples in Wind Waker were a preamble to the approach of the item works games.

I liked that ALBW did away with the sequence to a degree but kept the interesting dungeons and boss battles. BotW and TotK both had terrible boss battles and no real dungeons.

If Wario Land/Yoshi can in their own way it's probably possible. Many other third parties had good uses of the Zelda formula of using items, dungeons, puzzles and more with their OWN additional ideas and other games crossovered as inspiration.

It's just if they try hard enough as they don't these days.

I think yes Murasame Castle, Kid Icarus or others could but at the same time many other Nintendo IPs going their own direction besides just slap the Zelda formula and add the themes/setting isn't a good way to make a game which is why Nintendo goes further then that with every IP and i appreciate that.

I mean a Rhythm Zelda (thought Rhythm Heaven but not minigames) that isn't Cadence of Hyrule or some other options could work. I mean Crush did Super Paper Mario for puzzles well and that came before it and on PSP/3DS later.

A moving character like a blob could. Making me think of Mercury Meltdown (PSP, PS2, Wii).

An Under the Skin disguises type different then Wario Master of Disguise.

More animals with different movesets as a new IP. Besides a Mole Mania or Splatoon formats. To me Splatoon 3's desert with cosmetics trailer made me think it would offer an open world in the desert but it was just fair hubs expanded upon. Not bad but still.

Fire Emblem could but not sure.

Anything is possible. If they want to compete with an open world Zelda and have the new top down one there that's fine but depends what they have in mind.

No. none of them can. The only way to bring Zelda back to its earlier roots pre-BOTW is to kick Aonuma the hack off the team and relegate him to making shovelware-tier games. That would be such a fitting disciplinary correction to bring the Zelda series back to greatness, nothing can replace it.

Original top down template? Most Nintendo IPs could work. 3D OoT/Twilight style… Metroid has more or less done that, but I don’t think Mario or DK would fair as well in that kind of template. BotW style? Most could work in an open world/open air environment.

What id really like to see is Nintendo fill Konami’s shoes and start taking on the MVARPG category. Zelda 2 remake, Bayonetta….…. eternal darkness… all those could work really well in the genre. Remove the ARPG part and toss Mario and DK in a Metroidvania style fashion of exploring and finding new items to progress….

I would prefer having dungeons. I would not mind an open world Zelda game, like BOTW, but with actually multi-hour-long dungeons mixed in. Also no more Minecraft systems please.

People will be crying until the end of time if there aren't the exact same biomes, races, equipment and progression in every Zelda game. I loved TotK, but I'm pretty tired of the races, enemies, and areas. I hope the next 3D entry changes that stuff up in particular.
I haven't read comments here yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the same old arguments against the BotW formula. I've played and beaten every mainline Zelda, but I'm sure preferring the modern games means I've also never played a "real Zelda."
Anyway, there's plenty of games out there doing the old school Zelda thing. Doesn't need to be Nintendo.

The series that should take it. Is Zelda. There's no reason we can't have both kinds of Zelda. Other Zelda games will use that formula in the future. Maybe we can have a different dev make more traditional Zelda games while the main team makes the open ones. And someday the main team very well might revert to making more traditional Zelda games.

@OctoCallie20 who gets punished for tossing the incredibly profitable BotW formula?

@spacely_sprockets not true, you needed items to access some dungeons, such as the raft, the flute and the candle. People tend to forget that but Zelda 1 was semi-linear (or semi open world, depending on your point of view) but that is why the Zeldavania type of progression is in its roots.

103 comments in, and how did everyone miss Marvelous from 1996? It's a Nintendo property and was intended as a Zelda-like for Eiji Aonuma himself to direct so that he could prepare to direct Ocarina of Time. Sure it has no brand recognition, but pedigree is almost as good.

@OrangeSoda I've been wanting a Mario game that's structured like a Zelda game. Imagine riding Yoshi across an interconnected Mushroom Kingdom, visiting different areas to find stars, maybe using switch palaces to unlock new power-ups allowing you to reach new areas. I think that would be awesome.

I'd like to see what Retro Studios could do with Zelda. They're highly talented just by going with the Donkey Kong Country Returns games and Metroid Prime(s).

I just wish Nintendo would have traditional Zelda side by side with the new BotW/TotK style.

The best Zelda game that wasn't a Zelda game that I've played since Wind Waker/Twilight Princess was the original Darksiders. So it can be done because Darksiders was a great game with some great art design and lore.

As for top down Zelda, Capcom made some great ones with the Minish Cap and the Oracle games. Minish Cap is in my short list for favorite Zelda games.

Leave Zelda alone!

AAA blockbuster and the bite-sized/handheld experiences of old can happily coexist.

I don't care for the Warriors crossovers though.

İ played none of then here from this list. İ know that Nintendo have more his own İP games. İ have voted for Kid İcarus because that looks the most fun here from the game Kid İcarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS.

İ did not know that there was a game like this Kid İcarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS.
İ saw it 2, 3 years ago.

Darksiders 2 already did it.

What kind of article isd this? Not even a mention of the obvious A link between worlds, which was an evolution of the so-called template. Very odd and out of place article.

I don't see why they should take a weaker IP to bring the Formula.
Just as 2D and 3D Marios exist

I would love va new for whom the frog.. game... preferably with a new hemingway pun.. The old frog and the Sea? A farewell to frogs?

but i don't really agree with the premisse of the article... to me it looks like Zelda Echoes is quite traditional... with just some things swapped around (zelda instead of link, magic instead of shuffle around puzzles)

Wow, a lot you people depress me. What do you mean NOTHING can take the place of old Zelda, except Zelda going down that route? It has a certain charm besides the formula, like music? Well then that should be easy to adept to if it was just that, but we know it isn't. You want Zelda to return to its routes, because you folk are too lazy to try other IP.

"Gee, I don't think I'll get the next Nintendo console, because Nintendo ruined Zelda" then play other games on the Switch. Get out of this mindset of "I will ONLY play X franchise and not really too many others on Z console", because it ultimately kills the franchises you guys beg for. You want to know why F-Zero is dead, even though it had that unique feel for a racing game? Well, despite not being that much like Mario Kart, it was going up against Mario, and each game ended up selling less and less. F-Zero being dropped in favor of Mario Kart back then, is why it was dead until 99. And yet there are still games that feel like F-Zero, like Fast RMX.

So, if you want the style of old Zelda (which didn't really kick off until ATTLP to be quite frank), and if you want that atmosphere, memorable characters, and good music to set you in, Startropics. Startropics is the series that should return because it checks all the boxes, and old Zelda has been gone for over a decade. Considering the fact that BOTW/TOTK are still loved, and are the best-selling Zelda games by a country mile, it is time to move on. Petition Nintendo for a Startropics game, or just play games like Tunic. Or give other Nintendo series like Metroid a shot. I know most of you haven't, because the best-selling one is Dread, and that still only sold 3.10 million copies.

Rant over, and also play Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, if you want to play a game that feels like Kid Icarus Uprising (and a lot better than it).

@PikminMarioKirby and this is why this new title leaves a bad taste in my mouth, if they wanted BOTW type gameplay they should keep it in the more recent titles, not slap it in the top down series like an odd concussion, it really stands out and I'm put off by it, I'll "try" on loan but I wouldn't pay full price for something like this

@OctoCallie20 well said on that one! He doesn't even know what he is doing anymore these days smdh

If we’re talking just slotting one franchise into a Zelda shaped hole there can only be one answer.

W A R I O L A N D

Were it to happen, it would trump all other uses of the Zelda template merely by existing.

Oh and it would be called Garlic Breath of the Wild.

Thanks and goodnight.

Kid Icarus would be the perfect candidate for this. I'd love to play a Kid Icarus themed, top down Zelda-like with segments of the game that incorporate the verticality made possible by Pit's ability to fly!

"Which Nintendo IP would you like to see take over the 'traditional' Zelda formula?"

I would not like any IP to take over the traditional Zelda formula.
I hope there will continue to be traditional Zeldas.
And by traditional I mean the top down Zelda games with traditional dungeons.
Can still be sort of open world like "A Link between Worlds".

But for other Nintendo IP or new Nintendo IP to use the traditional Zelda formula or be inspired by it? For sure!

I think a Zeldaish Mario game would be very interesting.

Mario has been in so many genres by now:
https://www.mariowiki.com/Genre

Maybe it’s time for "Super Mario Adventure".
A sort of top down action adventure, action RPG.
Exploring, dungeons, puzzles, and so on - but no turn-based battles.

I mean - Mario has 3 different RPG series now with turn-based battles:
Super Mario RPG
Paper Mario
Mario & Luigi

A Zeldaish Mario has been done to a smaller degree in Super Mario 3D Land, World 5-2.
The whole course was made like a top-down mini Zelda dungeon.

"Super Mario Adventure" could take gameplay inspiration from:
Zelda: A Link to the past
Zelda: Link's awakening
Zelda: A link between worlds
And the Mario series as a whole.

The visual style could be "Chubby Mario" and take inspiration from:
Zelda: A link between worlds
Zelda: Links awakening - Remake / Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Super Mario RPG - Remake (But not a diagonal style.)

I would not want Mario to have a sword though.
Oh, and Link could have a fun cameo somewhere in the background.

Nintendo, are you there?
Can you pretty please make Super Mario Adventure?

I honestly would love a StarTropics comeback in any form, I think there's a lot of potential.

Linear game structure
Themed elemental dungeons
Key items which open new areas or are required to defeat certain bosses
Side quests and collectibles

This formula first appeared in the original The Legend of Zelda

Um, no? LOZ was not at all linear. There were no themed elemental dungeons. There were no side quests and no collectibles other than heart containers. The only accurate part is that there were key items necessary to get to certain areas and that made bosses a lot easier (maybe a couple were necessary to beat bosses? Not most of them though).

The formula you're talking about first appeared in LttP, and reigned supreme until BotW, which everyone rightly noted was a REVERSION to the original open world formula.

Honestly I would love if Nintendo went with part of the original futuristic concept for zelda where the Triforce was originally miceochips and create a new IP based on it.

Fire Emblem easily could branch out into action adventure. I think it's high time for the franchise to explore other genres. I understand turn-based strategy is the IP's roots, but I think it's capable of much more.

The closest we ever got to 3d Zelda was Starfox Adventures. Surprised not to see it in the list.

Eternal Darkness? Seriously, that game has got nothing to do with Zelda. It was a one of a kind thriller game.

From the candidates Kid Icarus and especially Star Tropics could fit the bill somehow.

@Joriss Darksiders 2 is a gift. No Zelda game except Twilight Princess comes close to the sheer amount of dungeoneering.

3 wasn't terrible, but it wasn't 2! I am looking forward to an eventual 4th game

Pokemon. You could have key abilities tied to different 'Mon. You had a bit of this with Arceus' traversal options.

This article has it the wrong way round. They should restore Zelda to the original template and make a new IP or use another series to use with the open world/nuts & bolts gameplay instead.

Although I wanted to go with Kid Icarus at first so we can get back Kid Icarus I honestly had to go with Fire Emblem. Personally if you ask me they haven’t missed with the series since I got in with Awakening back in the day and to take those stories and those characters of any of those games or games to come but to have it play like a Zelda? That sounds just absolutely Nirvana.

This article answers its own question: other than the echo mechanic, the new game is a traditional Zelda game. So why not start a new branch of games featuring Zelda as the playable character that stick to the template?

@LikelySatan
"Profitable"? It was forgotten and rightfully so mere weeks later and fell off quite quickly. Everyone is absolute exhausted of and so beyond done with open world games.

@JalapenoSpiceLife I think it's time to replace Aonuma with someone who actually understands what made Zelda great-

Bit late to this discussion but just want to point out that evolution in a game series is necessary. Do you really want to play another version of LTTP again and again? Forever?

Ocarina of Time is my favourite game ever but I found Twilight Princess incredibly boring as it was just doing the same thing, but less well. Would the people here complaining about BOTW’s evolution rather have played a third version of that? Or even worse, a second version of Skyward Sword?

I can’t wait for this new game, it looks incredible from the small bits we have seen, but still way too early to say the extent to which there is evolution of gameplay.

@BongoBongo I think the difficulty of BotW, rather than the evolution, is what turned many off. They think it's a shallow world as it's too difficult to explore the interesting areas. Ironically, it's eventually also what makes the game so rewarding and brilliant. At least the majority got it.

No because Breath of the Wild and subsequent Zelda games are different in degree from "typical" Zelda games, not in kind. In Zelda 1, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and A Link Between Worlds the dungeons can be completed in many orders without doing anything douchey like entering a dungeon and getting the key item without completing it. All Zelda games contain optional content (including whole dungeons, sidequests where you get a horse, and heart containers), most have some form of open world (every 3D "open world" game ever cites Mario 64 and its sequel, Ocarina of Time, in its design blueprint), and there are often multiple solutions to a given puzzle. Breath of the Wild simply takes it one step further by making most of the dungeons and content optional, allowing more freedom throughout the overworld and more solutions to the puzzles, and allowing players to fight Ganon with three hearts. Open-world vs. linearity is a spectrum, not a strict formula. That's how it's been since 1987. The only real dichotomy is 2D vs. 3D Zelda, both of which get good entries fairly regularly.

@OctoCallie20 20,000,000 copies sold and counting (31,000,000 for Tears of the Kingdom). The third-best selling was Twilight Princess (7,000,000). Sneezing at that is simply delusional.

Unfortunately I see my fears come true.
It seems that The Legend of Zelda, as it was so loved by players, is coming to an end.
So difficult to maintain the character and dynamics but create a new story? It seems so.
I will jealously keep my old copies of The legend of Zelda games to play when the dark times come.

@OctoCallie20

https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/best-selling-nintendo-switch-games

Data comes from Nintendo's shareholder report.

@Euler Ok? And? Try again without ever using Nintendo as a source.

@OctoCallie20 I think their numbers (used by investors and shareholders) are more likely to be accurate than a random internet person's conspiracy theories. We'll have to disagree.

Personally, I hope the old formula makes a comeback. I would love to see a new 3d Zelda in the same vein as Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask, with new types of puzzles and fresh dungeons (do not need to follow the elemental themes of the past). I would love to see it in a more fleshed out world with realistic 4k graphics. An homage to those games, but with a fresh story and new characters for Link to meet along his journey.