Topic: Thoughts for the next Zelda game?

Just wondering what thoughts you have on what the next Zelda game should be like?

Don't hate me but I am not a fan of Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom and all those Hyrule Warriors.

BOTW/TOTK were both epic games in terms of scale and content, but personally I found them really boring and didn't feel like Zelda to me. The constant search for weapons that broke far too easily, and constant running around for hours gathering food, arrows and all the other tedious stuff just got so boring, and it felt 'lonely' running around all the time in vast open empty areas of nothingness.

I want a Zelda game in the traditional style where weapons don't break, you don't have to constantly run around looking for food and cooking and forging, I just want to pick up a weapon and go, and I want enemies to drop hearts and stuff to pick up along the way, and I want dungeons to explore and puzzles to solve.

I just want them to go back to the traditional formula and I really hope they do.

Please no more BOTW style Zelda games.

Between Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom, and Age of Imprisonment we've gotten a good mix of different Zelda styles in the last 3 years.

I'm guessing 2026 will have either a port or remake of a traditional Zelda game.

In terms of brand new mainline games? Echoes of Wisdom was very traditional in some ways though obviously not the combat. I would love a brand new fully traditional Zelda game but with both Link and Zelda playable - 2D or 3D, take your pick.

For the next Zelda game, I suspect Nintendo will try to blend together the styles of traditional and modern era Zelda.

It would have an open world (ideally, one not set in Hyrule) and emphasize exploring the world as a way to get stronger. There should be plenty to do throughout the open world.

The story, however would be less open than BOTW/TOTK to improve the narrative, while still preserving some amount of player choice. I think they used Echoes of Wisdom as a sort of test run for this, with how the story is linear before guiding the player into a selection of 3 places to go, then returning to linearity after all 3 options are completed, and then repeating once more. This would allow the new Zelda game to have a more coherent story while not abandoning player freedom.

I also presume dungeons will see a return to form with classic dungeons, as BOTW and TOTK disappointed many in that regard.

Finally, I hope we get better, more action driven combat in the next Zelda, as BOTW made combat feel rather sluggish and rigid.

Overall, I expect the next Zelda game to exhibit a design that balances the new and old styles of Zelda.

Zelda + Minecraft + Animal Crossing = Portal Knights / Dragon Quest Builders

I will buy DAY ONE for Dragon Quest Builders style of Zelda games with Toon Link as the main character and he can get customized with different hair style, skin tone, outfits, even his house.

I have no certainty as to what form the next Zelda will take, but I am certain that folks are gonna have Chernobyl-level meltdowns when they find out that it isn't like OoT/LttP.