Random: We've Been Waiting Over Half A Decade For A "New" Mainline Zelda Game

The pandemic has completely destroyed any concept I have of time. This is bizarre.

Doesn't feel that long to me...

Developers should take their time. The quality is what really counts. And I hope the next Zelda will be more classic, especially the atmosphere should be more Zelda.

F-Zero and Pikmin fans would like to have a talk with you.

Take as long as you need to make it as good as the first one, we can wait.

BOTW was so excellent I don't mind waiting a bit to get a good sequel.

In general, I would prefer waiting for a game then getting something rushed.

I'm more bummed that it's almost a full decade(9 years) since the last new top-down Zelda, and there's no end in sight for that wait :/

If something else happens like this pandemic continuing to disrupt game development and it being delayed another few months, I'd be okay with it but truth is that we aren't getting any younger. If this game is in development hell for another few months to a year because of other world events beyond their control, I don't how we're going to deal with these long delays in video games now. This pandemic literally is ruining everything and I don't know who's to blame

how do we know BOTW 2 doesn't get delayed all the way to 2024 making it 7 years wait from one 3D Zelda to the next

What i love about zelda games, i never have enough of it. Always get back to play even after finishing it couple of times.

This is what open world is like, the gap between 2 consecutive open world games by the same studio being 5 years minimum is very common even pre-pandemic. This is why it's very likely BotW 2 launches with new Switch hardware (as in a more powerful model or successor).

Doesn't really feel like it though, does it? Between the absolutely gigantic scale of BOTW, the remakes we've had in the years since and an entire BOTW sequel on the way in less than a year's time, I don't think it can really be argued that Zelda fans haven't had anything to chew on for at least the past 3-4 years. I didn't get into the series until about 2020 with Link to the Past and even back then I thought we were grand on Zelda news (and then in the years since we've had both SS HD AND Oot and MM come to NSO. Wow that's a lot of acronyms). So yeah, it's exciting times all around. My only request now? A brand new 2D Zelda game (it's the part I love the most and we haven't had one for nearly 20 years at this point =( )

I mean theres been a zelda-tangential game released every year since the switch released.

2017 BOTW
2018 Hyrule Warriors DE
2019 Link's Awakening remake, Cadence of Hyrule
2020 Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity
2021 Skyward Sword HD

Sure, its not the next mainline title, but its something for the franchise every single year. Thats a ton more than can be said the majority of nintendo IP. I would not be surprised if nintendo announces and releases ports of wind waker and/or twilight princess HD before the year is up.

To think Breath of the Wild is just a Wii U port. The Switch had not gotten its mainline Zelda title yet.

I understand pandemic blah blah but still...this is kind of depressing. And extra ironic since BotW2 is being built on the foundation of an already completed game (assets, engine, etc).

I feel confident that this won't be the case, but I'm praying they don't pull a Splatoon 3 and have BotW2 just be morenof the same old thing. I'll need a huge new gameplay mechanic to really be hyped. Not to mention an actual story...

Wait for the new system. More time ti work in the next, hopefully best Zelda yet. Id wait another 5 years if the game set about to be ambitious.

Nintendo have their priorities wrong. Sod Xenoblade and Splatoon, how about we get literally and news about Zelda or Mario

I certainly hope BotW 2 will be worth the wait. I have high hopes. I think having some kind of Zelda release every year for close to a decade has made wait times more bearable between 3D console Zelda games.

It is disappointing the sequel is taking this long and they have hardly revealed any information about it. I hope that changes and they have some more information and video footage of it out before the end of the year. I am curious if this game is going to continue on directly from 'Breathe of the Wild' or it is going to include the changes made to the timeline in 'Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity' with Revali, Daruk, Mipha and Urbosa still being alive and a lot of Hyrule not being destroyed like it was in 'Breathe of the Wild' 'cause if not they could make a sequel to 'Age of Calamity' in the changed timeline too.

@Matl Yeah. True. I am still waiting for a new Donkey Kong Country game (Tropical Freeze came out 8 years ago) and I am hoping we get a sequel to 'Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.'

the only good thing about a long wait is you can dig the game out and start the whole thing from scratch again. i dont think I've played it for a couple of years now so hopefully ive forgotten everything

with the new game id be happy if they keep the map the same but just fill it out with bigger towns and more houses dotted around, farms, castles, homesteads, more people. id like caves and underground caverns like moria as well…. just make the whole world a lot busier. and lots of different enemies in all the different zones as well, because they didnt have enough variety last time

Honestly it’s been so long and my Switch is so knackered I’m ready for this to be announced for the Switch 2. I love my Switch but I’ve played too much ps5 and series X now that it’s like going back to a 360. Again, I love it, and I appreciate graphics aren’t the be all and end all, but I was impressed 6 years ago and doubt I’ll be impressed with more of the same today.

OoT and MM used the exact same engine. Portable titles had a shorter development cycle. The scale and scope of a Zelda game post BotW is massive. The gap needs context.

BotW was so good that I’m happy to wait however long it takes to make a game that can hold a candle to it.

I wonder if this kind of wait for mainline games will be the norm going forward though. To step away from the scale of BotW and its open world gameplay would be widely seen as a regression for the series. Ideally they’ll have the main team spend however long it takes to make new mainline Zelda games while having other teams (Grezzo for example) handle new top down or even 3D games that are smaller and harken back more to the traditional Zelda style. I’m happy to wait for the big games but I just hope those in between years aren’t filled with only remakes and remasters as has been the case since BotW (excluding Age of Calamity which isn’t a “Zelda” game).

@Fizza

Zelda spin-offs have also been strong post BotW, with Age of Calamity and Cadence of Hyrule.

@frabbit Nintendo have always been behind with their consoles. I get that they're not made to be powerful machines but they're always a generation behind. It's worse now with mobile phones because even they're more powerful than the Switch. I hope they go back to making a proper console and keep the portable consoles separate.

Stop moving time!

@nessisonett 2019 was just over a year ago though. Wasn't it?

Happy to wait for a new BOTW as long as its got more in. Great game but the map was empty. I'm a huge fan of open world games but not when they make a bug map thats completely empty (Ghost Recon, GTA5, Just Cause are the worst of them)

@nessisonett I guess it also messed with development timeline.

The wait for botw seemed a lot longer

@NinjaNicky I don’t think that’ll happen and honestly I hope it doesn’t either. They’ve been so much better off this generation because they’ve been able to unite all of their developers on a single device instead of separating them which has lead to software droughts in the past. There’s really no point in them making a dedicated console and trying to compete with Xbox and Playstation, it just won’t work. I’m not saying we don’t need a more powerful Switch because the current model is starting to hold back even Nintendo’s games but they’ve found a perfect niche with Switch and they’d be making a huge error to abandon that.

It's Zelda, a franchise so good it has at least four or five games in it that you could persuasively argue as the GOAT.

So, yeah, they can take their time.

The main difference is that between the others there were new 2D titles (and sometimes spin off and remakes), this time only spin offs and remakes. I want a new 2D Zelda

@Jhena there is such a thing as taking too long and I don't care what anyone says there should be a deadline for game development

Yeah, well, if it's anything like Breath of the Wild.. I think i'll be waiting a while longer yet. I fear that its sequel will just retrace the same steps as the first one and be just as forgettable and boring.

I really hope not, but..

@claypool 9 years? It been not quite 7 years since Tri Force Heroes.

I unironically had a blast with it playing online with randos, so it's your loss if you don't consider that a new top-down Zelda. It's hard to replicate that experience nowadays though.

Weird to me that a direct sequel with the same engine and models would take longer than starting from scratch…

@larryisaman there were rumours of Sony making a PSP 5G and letting people stream their PS5 games wherever they are, I'd be happy if Nintendo done that. That way you'd get a powerful home console with the option to go portable. I've always wanted Nintendo to make phones, be more powerful than the Switch and you'd have all the games the Switch has with everything else phones have.

@KBuckley27 people cry when games take too long and people cry when they're released unfinished. It's a lose lose situation. Personally, I think developers shouldn't announce games unless they're 100% certain it's going to release within 6 months of announcing them. I don't see the point in announcing games and then adding "released in 4 years".

@KBuckley27

It is okay if you feel that way.

@NinjaNicky
There are no such rumors of a PSP 5G.

You can already stream your PS5/PS4 games onto any mobile device or PC. Not like that matters though since streaming is hardly a suitable alternative to an actual portable device like Switch (of even SteamDeck).

Please stop reminding me, it hurts to think about

The wait for Zelda BOTW 2 has been pretty agonizing. What makes this wait so much worse is the annoyingly little amount of information and marketing that we have received about the sequel. Thankfully diving into Xenoblade 3 has made me forget about this wait.

Covid started the work from home trend.
What’s happened now and come out of that with a lot of companies including the one I work for is new work from home hybrid polices. I.e WFH 3 days of the week and 2 days in the office.
It has definitely had an adverse effect overall across the business inter departmentally.
But unfortunately that’s life now.
So we have to longer for a lot of things as overall work flow efficiencies have dropped.
Anyone that tells you different, is all those WFH, as that is what they want to do.

@westman98 you can Google PSP 5g and there's literally hundreds of concept videos, website posts, images etc.
A rumour doesn't make it true, hence why it's called a rumour.

I was 10 when BOTW came out… HOW?

@claypool Play Blossom Tales 1 and 2, Ocean’s Heart, Hyper Light Drifter, Anodyne1, Shalnor Tales, and Songbringer just to start. I’ve come to terms that waiting for Zelda is a fact of life but these clones are pretty good!🧝🏻‍♂️🐷🧚🏻

Let's be real. BOTW2 is done, they're just holding onto it so we don't sell our Switches. Nintendo is still on top of the world right now and has no reason to release it yet. But yes, it's frustrating how early they announce Zelda games.

That’s actually kinda wild. The gap between Alttp and oot always felt like vast millenia passed in between. Same between wind waker and tp

I honestly am fine with the gaps so series like this don't wind up feeling oversaturated. It also gives me more time to play the plethora of other games available. How long until the next Mario? Don't know and don't care. Greatness, especially established "great" Nintendo series, shouldn't be rushed, pandemic, chip shortage, etc. be damned.

Don't mind at all. I'm more than confident in Nintendo delivering a high quality title in BotW2. Not to mention the Switch is getting plenty of games in the meantime.

We've waited 1,995 days for Breath of the Wild 2? That's not that many days. I mean, we've waited 3,325 for Pikmin 4...so comparatively it's not that bad...right?

Where's Pikmin 4?

Pre-BOTW, a wait of this nature until the next Zelda would have been driving mad.

Now though, I am sadly not that bothered. I know Nintendo haven't revealed everything about BOTW2 yet, but what little they they have shown doesn't give me hope they will fix the problems I had with it.

I do miss having new adventures in the interim on dedicated portables. The perils of having a hybrid system rather than dedicated consoles I suppose. I know we got Link's Awakening, but it was a remake, and given sales pale in comparison to BOTW, I have no faith in seeing a brand new 2D Zelda. If they do make one, hopefully it is not multiplayer, didn't get on with Triforce Heroes.

While I am excited for BOTW2, I am still finding stuff to do in BOTW and the two interim Zelda games have suited me fine (not to mention the excellent AOC). I can wait. Might want a minish cap remake though. I’m not frothing at the mouth for games anymore. I’ll leave that to others.

eh, speak up young'en. why back in my day we walked uphill both ways in deep snow just to get a new Zelder. and we were grateful!
at least spring is coming soon...ish. question is are we looking at around BotW anniversary or closer to E3 for release date?

I feel the problem with triple A is they are obsessed with bigger and better. that's not a bad thing, but they can also recognize that sometimes side games are just as good too. You even see it with low budget indy titles actually ending up being mega popular too.

They can work on BOTW2, but they could also put a small team on just a nice little traditional top down side zelda game like maybe links awakening 2, and just reuse the engine/assets from recent remake with a small little adventure of link returning to island once more to deal with a new problem. Obviously this is just a random spitball of what they could do but there are many other opportunities to do something like that. Sequels to older zelda games are actually quite popular. Look at how well link between worlds did. More of these nintendo. Not every game needs to be huge.

I don't mind if a particular franchise takes its time, so long as they don't all take their time.

@Nintenbot

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll definitely check those games out

Don't remind me. Anyone who thinks this won't be another cross-gen game between two versions of Nintendo hardware, to quote Ron Burgundy: "I don't believe you."

Unfortunately all this extra time is being used to add even MORE ingredients to carry round in your magical bottomless ingredients satchel, so you can cook even MORE food dishes. There is also extra delay because the magical bottomless ingredients satchel is being used by other open world games so they have to wait until it becomes available again. Geralt doesn’t like sharing apparently.

Hopefully we get a glimpse of a fully restored and wrathful ganondorf in the next trailer.

I‘m glad they do it. We don‘t need a Cyberpunk disaster with our favorite Nintendo IPs.

I'd argue part of the reason why development time between OoT and MM was so short was because they used the same game engine and assets. But each new game was a different engine, different assets, and all had to be built from the ground up.

The teasers we saw appear to utilize the same game engine and assets of BOTW, but again, the pandemic has upended everything, meaning using the same game engine and assets means little when you can't even get people into the same room to put the puzzle pieces together.

But even then, it takes a while for an idea to be fleshed out into a final product. And with game development, like movies, it takes securing funding, logistics, and manpower, followed by hours of discussion and debate on the best route to go. Ideas are prone to frequent changes, and the end result may not be what was originally envisioned.

Ultimately, I just hope the game is released in playable condition. Whether or not it's actually good comes secondary to me. After all, I've enjoyed games that were given poor reviews by critics and fans alike. I don't want a broken mess like Fallout 76 or Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.

Considering botw offers so much. I don't think anyones honestly waited that long. Who is "we" lol?.

For me, it was a very long wait between OOT and TP then again from TP to BOTW because Windwaker and Skyward Sword were trash, so I can wait a bit longer for BOTW2.

i mean we’ve also been waiting five years for a new mainline mario game

@Crockin LOL, your profile picture matches your comment perfectly.

At this point, If Nintendo doesn't use BOTW2 to "anchor"/launch their next console then it'll be a colossal waste of time and resources.

Launch titles can litterally make or break a consoles future...Halo, Mario64, Wii Sports, BOTW...etc. etc.

especially strange with the game seemingly reusing assets from the first, so you gotta wonder whats making it take even longer than a from-the-ground-up sequel

@NinjaNicky

That's not true.

Gamecube had more power than the ps2. PS2 did far better, and THAT'S when nintendo stopped being technically superior, since they weren't winning that fight.

I'm just surprised that it's taking longer than the original game to develop when from what we know, the majority of BOTW's development time was creating and fine-tuning the engine and physics system. BOTW2 as far as we're aware is reusing the engine, physics, at least part of the map, and many assets from the original.
It's also taking longer than OOT to develop when OOT had to navigate many challenges of being one of the first action adventure 3D games. The developers had to invent a lot of completely unheard of mechanics and systems with practically no examples from other games. Games were simpler back then, but it's still surprising.
I'm hopeful that BOTW2 will have a lot of new features and mechanics, and will be better than the first game. Maybe it'll even be the best Zelda game of all time. I'm sure that the team at Nintendo will create something fun, thought provoking, and engaging at the absolute least.

Would be fun — crazy — if Nintendo opened up the development of a big franchise game and let us see the discussions and development over time — early access, anyone? Ha! Have no idea if that would be successful, but would be fascinating.

My hope is the long wait means plenty of content. That would be the way to build on the previous engine, really. The content is what takes the most time, and imagine how gratified many would be if there was a return to the traditional and intricate Temple/Dungeon/Level areas. No hint of that, but it's the kind of thing that would take a long time.

@Serpenterror BotW isn't a Wii U port. It's just a product that got released simultaneously on two Nintendo platforms, the same way Sonic Frontiers will be a multiplatform (PC/PS4/Switch/XBox) title.

@NinjaNicky
Concept art and speculation isn't a rumor.

Games are getting bigger innit.

I’ve said it before and I carry on about it at every opportunity but man, just put together a team to drop some fresh $30-40 handheld size Zelda games to fill the gaps like they used to do.

Without a dedicated handheld we’ve got tentpoles and not much else.

I want kirby forgotten land dlc, just 100% it today and im not ready for it to end

I'd argue it's been almost 9 years. While I do think BotW is ok, it changed so much from the core formula that it's barely a Zelda game. We haven't had a new Zelda game since 2013 with A Link Between Worlds, in my eyes.

And if it's up for debate whether ALBW was a new entry because it used ALttP's map then Skyward Sword in 2011 was the last actual Zelda game. And people don't even like that one.

All in all, it's been over 10 years......god, I hope BotW2 is good.

The same could be said about a 3D Mario with the exception of Bowser’s Fury

Didn't skyward take roughly about 5 years?

I want them not to feel rushed as much as the next person so that the game turns out good, but as someone who's been a die-hard Zelda fan since Ocarina, the longer waits between releases is getting so much more painful these days. Especially since BOTW only partially felt like a Zelda game to me and the sequel looks like more of that.

I miss the 2000's when there were fewer Zelda spin offs and tons of mainline Zelda game releases. Not to mention the fact that each one always had a new world + sometimes a new art style too, and were much less padded, with them instead being short and sweet (20-35 hours).

Let them take another 5 years if it means we get a masterpiece. I have plenty of other games to play.

Development takes time, longer than it used to. Big whoop.

If that’s the longest you have to wait, you have it pretty good.

@nitrolink Uhuh… sure, that doesn’t sound like fake news at all…

@claypool Yeah, and ALBW used Link to the Past's map, Spirit Tracks was a follow up to Phantom Hourglass, which was a follow up to Wind Waker. So the last time we got a fully original 2D Zelda was 2005 with Minish Cap.

Doesn't feel long because despite all of the complaints and criticisms that each "filler" game has received, they have all successfully fulfilled the purpose of holding players over for BotW2... MOSTLY. The sales comparison doesn't reflect that, unfortunately.

On a developmental standpoint, Link's Awakening would be the last mainline to be developed and released. The outside remains the same, but the inside was entirely rebuilt from the ground up, essentially being the same as making a new game with no need for the story and character development.

my backlog says "no problem, you have me! spend some time with me in the meantime!"

I'd be cool with a remake this fall. But who knows at this point.

Only issue I have is when this finally comes out it'll end up being alongside the next console "Nintendo go" or some crud. I'll then have to buy this console and botw and botw2 again because they won't have that cool already owned on previous system rollover gig like they had with the wii - wii u

With how long development is taking this game needs to be a masterpiece. Although I think it will be considered a disappointment regardless of how good the game is. People have hyped up that it will be a perfect game and better than any other Zelda game. Any flaw, no matter how small, will be considered big.

Not to sound morbid, but I’ve wondered at this rate, how many more Zelda games will I live to see and play? They better all be good lol!

Metroid fan here.

yawn 1,995 is child's play, lol.

@Thumbsofsteel I grew up with the NES, every once in a while, I have the passing thought of "will [insert series here] still be around 30 years from now?"

Sure, some series are 30+ years old now, but these 30 years have seen the infancy of gaming advance well into the adulthood of gaming (not including VR and AR). So many ideas have already been considered and refined, it's really hard to imagine where gaming will be 30 years from today. I'm sure VR will advance to be much more realistic. Holograms are still science fiction AFAIK, so a real life holodeck doesn't seem realistic yet.

People use ur nut nowadays theres so much in games yes i miss the days when gaps were not as long but masterpieces live Zelda, Elder Scrolls I myself would prefer them to take the time it requires to perfect it GTA is different they just milk online is you see R* tell them to hurry the duck up with Bully 2

@arnold337 Like Zelda and online if typos stupid PlayStation dictionary bar on text input thing

I am surprised Nintendo didn't carry on with BotW DLC TBH

This only makes me more excited for the game, can't wait to play it on Switch Pro.

I’ve been waiting over half a decade for a new style savvy game too. In fact, I’ve waited more than 11 years for a new Nintendogs game, and 8 years for a new Tomodachi Life game. 🤔

The time span between games has gotten out of hand. Let’s get back to 900 days. Also, who is Zelda? It’s been so long I’ve forgot. Who was I supposed to save?

I don't think the gap between the release of Breath of the Wild and its sequel has been too long, but I do think potential has been somewhat wasted in not making original, traditional Zelda games in other forms. Add in Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks and A Link Between Worlds into the equation for the previous generations' release schedules, and the Switch definitely with Zelda has not really tapped in yet. I hope we don't go two console generations in a row without having an original Zelda exclusive for the existing platform.

@westman98 Rumour definition: "a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth". If I go online and make a claim about something without proof, I've started a rumour.

I bet they are waiting for the Switch successor to be ready to launch and release it in both systems…

WTF? It’s raining Zeldas.

BotW2 in 2023 hasn't felt like as long a wait because 1. we've known about it for a few years and 2. Nintendo gave us the release year (2022 and then 2023) a while ago.

The next 3D Zelda is going to feel like the longest wait because Nintendo will tell us nothing about it until it's close, and it'll be a tremendous challenge for them to follow up on the success of the two BotW games.

I think it'll be near enough 2030 before we have a brand new 3D Zelda. It'll be nearing the end of lifecycle for the Switch successor.

In the meantime I do fully expect WW and TP to obviously port across from Wii U (in successive years) and I am also predicting Ocarina of Time to receive a full remake - potentially as a close to launch title for the Switch successor I.e. Nintendo are already well in development on this game.

So yea. If you think this wait is long...

Funny, because at the time Link’s Awakening was considered a spin off, not a mainline Zelda game (it is missing many of the series staples and was a handheld game). In fact I believe it was even called Zelda Gaiden in Japan at one point.

I remember as my first Zelda was Ocarina of Time (I was a SEGA kid in the early 90s) and the hype was massive, as to many the last true Zelda was Link to the Past (Sept 92) with OOT delayed (December 98). I remember it was a really big deal at the time that OOT was not only the first 3D Zelda but also the first console Zelda in over 6 years.

@Cunir That's a great idea. Have it be a hundred years later than Breath Of The Wild. Same map. More busy

It's not even that long though?!

At this rate this will be the last ever Zelda game haha

Many have pointed out that BOTW2 is able to reuse a ton of assets. I really hope all this time is dropping in 8 epic dungeons and a light/dark world element or something.

They’ve taken so long my hype is building for something massive to have been added to the game.

I'm looking forward to it, not waiting. God plenty of other games to play on PC.
Having said that, Q4 this year looks a little weak for Nintendo, unless they have something that's not been announced yet.

At least there's a release window.

Metroid Prime 4 (announced E3 2017) meanwhile...

@NinjaNicky They're not always a generation behind. The NES was more powerful than the Atari 7800, the Super NES was more powerful than the Sega Genesis, and the GameCube was more powerful than the PS2 but powers doesn't always define greatness in consoles. You could be more powerful and still get crappy games if the devs that supported that platform are either lazy or the system is too complicate to make games for it. The PS2 and Sega Genesis may be less powerful but making games for those are quite simple and easy, same for the Switch but systems like the N64, Sega Saturn, and Atari Jaguar are more powerful but the hardware is a nightmare to make games for thus not many devs bother with those.

Im glad Nintendo errs on the side of delaying a game to ensure quality.

Well maybe I’m an outlier but I actually have felt that development times have been worryingly long for a long time. I agree with the whole “A delayed game is eventually good” argument, but there is a limit because there are human time spans involved that do not change. Childhood will only ever be about 15 years - when a child experiences only one or two new Zelda games in their entire childhood, how could Zelda possibly compete with other games that release more content more quickly?

I don’t just mean financially but culturally? How will Zelda control mindshare? How will Nintendo convert these people (some percentage of them) into adult fans that keep buying every Zelda game for their whole life? What happens if Nintendo ever releases another Zelda game that is met with lukewarm reception, like Skyward Sword?

There may be answers to these questions (DLC, cross media content, etc) but this all becomes very important if development times are going to be so protracted. And it’s not just Zelda, as the article points out many games are taking a long time to get sequels out. I think it will ultimately prove unhealthy for these franchises.

Statistically speaking so yeah

With each entry getting bigger and bigger and adding more content than the last even with more people working on the games it is still going to take longer and longer to make new games. There is also the overwhelming expectation to make the next game feel grander than the last. We will be lucky if we get one a decade for certain games series at one point. Just look at how long GTA6 has been in development as an example.

@arnold337 You know you can edit your comments? Also, it's not Playstation's fault you didn't proofread.

@Kilroy thank you so very much but I will be honest I don't really care and what are you on about "proofread" said there text input/dictionary was rubbish

@NinjaNicky I would love for some kind of Wii U game pad device just for streaming from a PS5/Xbox especially directly with as little latency as possible. I used my Vita a lot for remote play on PS4 and it was great (aside from games that needed to use L2/R2 and the analogue sticks as buttons). I know you can use your phone but a dedicated device would nice to have.

I wouldn’t want that for a Nintendo console though, I really wouldn’t want to rely on any kind of streaming to play portably. I travel a lot by train and it’s a god send to have my Switch on hand and not need any kind of internet access to play. It’d suck to have to rely on 5G or train wi-fi to be reliable to play games on the go, and if they made a separate handheld alongside a console they just open themselves up to a world of problems that they haven’t had to deal with since releasing the Switch.

I know it’s a shame that we’ll probably never have a powerhouse Nintendo console again and if you want to play Nintendo games as well as the majority of third parties you’re always going to have to buy more than one machine but it’s really the best thing for Nintendo going forwards. They’ve always been the “second console” with their handhelds and the Switch covers that niche perfectly while still being Nintendo’s home console, nothing wrong with that IMO

Surely Link's Awakening - a smaller handheld title - doesn't count. The relevant gaps are ALttP-OoT and SS-BotW.

I was really hoping they'd make a Majora's Mask to Breath of the Wild's Ocarina of Time and turn it around in 2-3 years. The ship has well and truly sailed on that idea.

Something really needs to be done on the development side about games taking longer and longer to make. More AI tools or something. It's not sustainable.

I just don't understand why they can't have been working a second mainline game parallel to botw2. Whether that be a top down Zelda, a sequel to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, or some other new idea/concept. The handheld and console dev teams have merged and we haven't had a greater output.

What's even more random is it's been half a decade since Splatoon 2 came out and NL pretends it came out yesterday.

@IronMan30 It's also been over a half decade since the Switch came out. Coincidently, it's been over a half decade since we've gotten a successor to the Switch. Surely, we should've had two or three others by now!

@Kilroy 3? Should be 6, at least!

Ok, half a decade sounds a lot worse than only 5 years

I think we've reached a concerning point in the gaming world when we use the specter of games released unfinished or imperfect as an excuse to forgive long development times. Although it makes sense to take the time needed to ship out a polished and tested game, there is a point where it's clearly taking too long for a crew of skilled developers to complete. I have to wonder if there's something else going on for a game that's being placed in the same world, on at most a modified engine of the previous title and is already slated to come out no earlier than six years after that same predecesor.

The pandemic can excuse some of it, but even then that shaves off at most a half years worth of development, if we accept that there was still some level of work being done in 2020. I'm more worried that we're being strung along with this game, being asked to invest more and more interest in it so that they can either have a group ready to pounce on it the second it releases regardless of release; or, and it would be reprehensible if Nintendo is pulling this con again, using that popular investment to push the game with a new console.

I seriously doubt that these delays are being done for the benefit of fans or employees, and I suggest those who post things like "I'm happy to wait longer for a perfect game" take stock of what has been going on for the past two decades and ask themselves if these delays really are for the sake of the game and its fans, or just the company producing them.

We live in a world where silence and apologies without proof of true development should be openly and repeatedly questioned by the fans.

laughs in Kingdom Hearts

One important aspect that affects the development time of a game is the size of its world and the total play time. I don't think that the equation "bigger=better" always applies here, and in my opinion, BotW has already maxed out the world size within a scale that I consider reasonable. In this regard, I don't want future Zelda games to be bigger than BotW. If developers keep increasing the size, it will prolong the development time, add expenses and make the game simply too long at some point. Those who do nothing else than play games may be happy about it, but we should not forget those people who work for a living (and maybe have a family) and who would lose motivation to play and find no time if it takes hundreds of hours to complete the game. In my opinion, the "ideal" wait time for a new game of a series is the same as the wait time between Olympic games and soccer world championship games - that is 4 years. One more year is also fine, but anything longer than 5 years is too long.

Bear in mind that Nintendo may have strategically chosen to wait this long to release BotW2, they haven't necessarily been spending all this time producing it.

Having the re-releases in-between these releases has definitely helped. I enjoyed playing through Wind Waker and Twilight Princess again in HD while waiting for Breath of the Wild to come. Having the wealth of options the Switch has for quality gaming makes the wait feel a lot shorter.

Zelda games are a touchstone cultural event for me, but these longer delays with every installment feels like trolling at this stage. It's either incompetence or a lack of regard for a loyal consumer base (I've never bought anything other than Nintendo) that they can't keep to a timeline, even a timeline within the same year. And the argument 'that once it's ready it'll be ready' or look at cCyberpuck is just lazy. Loyal customers should be a bit more demanding and less fawning.

@ragingdan27 Hit the nail on the head. If it takes six years, come out and say it and then have the decency to deal with the backlash. But continuously delaying and saying we should wait for a perfect game just shows a real lack of strategy, competence and regard. Consumer base is partially to blame too for not demanding better.

@nessisonett It's been well over a year. time to leave your house.

I bet Nintendo is holding BotW 2 back so they can do a dual release on the Switch and whatever the next Nintendo system will be, similar to what they did with Twilight Princess and the first BotW.

Metroid fans: First time?

" half a decade" lmao!!!! So you mean FIVE YEARS....half a decade, talk about being over dramatic just for the sake of it. So ridiculous

@gcunit
They said they want to make it as good as possible. I'm pretty sure Zelda team is not just sitting on their asses and letting the fans wait for nothing.

As for all the "pandemic caused it" arguments, ok. But then the same applies to other big games such as Elden Ring.

Is it so hard to believe it takes Nintendo a long time to develop the latest in their crownjewel series? They want it to be able to compete with other big releases. Actually, I'm pretty sure they want to make it the best of the best. And while the games get bigger and in some aspects better, development obviously takes longer too.

It's worth the wait if it's half the game of BOTW 1.

Game releases will not likely take longer, remember companies are also getting bigger, and so is enviromental workforce. I hope they indeed make this something special, after all fans still bring support to BoTW even to this day.
But you know Nintendo, they like to bring new ideas to the table and then immediately start development of a new game, so long-term support for ToTK is maybe unlikely, as cool as that would sound.