Metroid Prime Dev Retro Studios Pitched A Zelda Game Called 'Heroes Of Hyrule'

Ah man this makes me wish that Nintendo would let Retro have the reins on a Zelda project. Remember that Sheik concept??

Edit: Yes, I am aware that the Sheik game now sounds terrible. I posted this comment before the other article talking about it came out.

I wonder if you could switch between each Hero, like in Sonic Heroes?

Personally, I have an idea for a Zelda RPG, maybe even an MMORPG, where you can pick any race you want to play as: Human, Hylian, Kokiri, Deku, Goron, Zora, Gerudo, Sheikah, Rito, Twili, etc.

After all, why should the Hero only be Hylian? Reincarnation doesn't always have you reincarnate into the body of the same species, after all.

A zelda "Final Fantasy Tactics" ? No thanks for me !

Maybe it would've worked but does seem like it'd have been kind of too big of a departure to really be a Zelda game while also being too similar to Fire Emblem to really bother establishing as a sub-series anyway. And not feeling the concept art.

Though really when it comes to Retro I kind of just want them to be a Donkey Kong Country mill anyway.

Doesn’t the premise sound a bit like Breath of the Wild’s? A Goron, a Rito and a Zora (BOTW’s Champions) fight Ganon and a hundred years pass and now must fight him again?

@StarPoint As it turned out, that Sheik game was doomed. Did You Know Gaming just did a video where they talked to devs on the prototype and while it had cool art, the game was described as simpler than wack-a-mole. So just waggle the wiimote to attack enemies. Maybe Retro today could do something cool but that Sheik game probably won't ever happen. I recommend watching that DYKG video, it's very informative.

@JJtheTexan If I don’t come back here thanking you I will be disappointed.

Sounds better than a ***** musou spinoff.

I think the "Retro should be given Zelda IP to work on" conversations should wait until such a time that it isn't EIGHT YEARS since their last game release.

Let's see if Metroid Prime actually turns out good too... This is not the same development team as all those years ago, and their recent form (no new game in 8 years!) isn't filling me with confidence...!

I would rather they make a 2D Mario game. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze had more personality than all the New Super Mario Bros games combined and was more fun to boot.

@AstroTheGamosian

"After all, why should the Hero only be Hylian? Reincarnation doesn't always have you reincarnate into the body of the same species, after all."

I'm pretty sure it's part of the established lore that the hero can only be reincarnated as a Hylian. There's an NPC in Twilight Princess who says it is believed the reason Hylians have large, pointed ears is because they are the only ones able to hear the voices of the gods speaking to them. Ergo, Hylians are apparently the closest race to the gods, which makes sense considering they are the only race named after a goddess. Without going too much into spoilers, Skyward Sword further cements the idea that Link and Zelda must always be reincarnated through Hylia's lineage.

That said, I think it would be awesome if there was a game where the hero was incarnated as a Gerudo. Link would have brown skin, smaller ears, and a more prominent nose. Maybe even black hair. And unlike most Zelda games where you start in a small forest village, the game would begin in the desert. I invasion it being something more gritty and realistic like Twilight Princess. It's probably never gonna happen since it would contradict the already-established lore, but it would be incredibly awesome.

Maybe it could work as some sort of Ganon origin story, where he was the original hero before being corrupted by malice and the spirit of Demise. Maybe he lost favor with the gods and they needed a new champion, but there was nothing they could do to break Ganon's reincarnation cycle that was already established when he was a hero. The game could start off with you playing as a kind and shy "Kid Ganon" before he slowly matures into "Adult Ganon" and accepts his responsibility as the savior of Hyrule. But then, something tragic happens that causes him to lose his way and descend into darkness--maybe the death of one closest to him. So he spirals into a being of eternal hatred and bitterness.

I want this game to be real so badly.

@Maulbert The first Hyrule Warriors is one of the greatest couch multiplayer games on Switch. Probably more than 400 hours in right now and still not done.

@CarbVan that disapointing, i have high hopes for the Sheik spin-off, given Retro Studios predigree

I just want to play links crossbow training again...lol that game was actually really fun for a spinoff. Even if it was just ported to the switch...

@Not_Soos Actually, I envision the origin story of Ganondorf to be almost exactly like that. He starts out as a kind and benevolent ruler for his people, but lamenting how they suffer needlessly in the desert. He also does not have any kind of relationship with Koume and Kotake at first, thinking them as insane old hags for practicing the Dark Arts.

He is engaged to be married to his second-in-command (who preceded Nabooru in the position), but the night before their wedding, she goes out on patrol and is fatally wounded by a monster in the desert (possibly a Leever).

This sends him into a spiral of depression, and in his fragile mental state, seeks out Koume and Kotake in an attempt to bring his fiancée back. They then teach him the Dark Arts, which slowly corrupts his heart.

When he learns about the Triforce, he initially seeks to use it to bring back his dead fiancée, but continued use of the Dark Arts corrupts his heart, mind, and soul to the point where he ultimately forgets about her, and seeks to use the Triforce to give himself more power, becoming the King of Evil we know of today.

So he is more of a tragic villain, with the true villains actually being his surrogate mothers, Koume and Kotake. Heck, to even add a twist to the story, they could be the ones to summon the monster that killed Ganondorf's fiancée, so that incident could serve as the catalyst for his journey to become the Dark Lord. But by the time he learns the truth, he is already too corrupted to even care anymore.

I might put this idea to paper and write a fanfic of it, if I can find the time. Most of my downtime is spent either watching manga dubs or Ironmouse clips on YouTube, or playing Genshin Impact. I'm practically obsessed with that game.

Retro should have been given a third DKCR game at the same time as working on the DKCTF port from Wii U to Switch. It's clear that they were working on something (not Star Fox GP lol) that got canned since there's a 5 year gap between DKCTF and their appointment on MP4 - no idea why anyone would want them anywhere near Zelda based on recent form. Yes the MP Trilogy is fantastic, and the DKCR games were also very good - but we're nearing a decade since DK and 2 decades since MP - it isn't the same team or the same credentials.

Retro have a lot to prove with MP4.

Nintendo have a lot to explain with regards to Donkey Kong and to a lesser extent Star Fox being MIA on Switch.

This would've been so cool. Once Retro's done with Metroid Prime 4, they should pitch this idea again!

I would love a strategy Zelda game.😭

Such a missed opportunity! I would have loved this game so much!!!!

@StarPoint I just watched this video from did you know gaming I think and they did some research where the gameplay for that was actually going to be a whack a mole style game. So while the art was awesome and the story sounded cool, the gameplay was going to be very lackluster and that's why it was canceled

I wish Retro would work again on Donkey Kong instead of these zeldas or metroids.

This would've been cool! I'd love a tactics game set in zelda lore.

@AstroTheGamosian @Not_Soos
Well now I want this Ganon's origin game too, but there is no way it will ever happen. Damn you both!

@Not_Soos it would explain why the hero on that tapestry in BotW has Ganondorf's red hair. And why someone who in OoT tries to convince Hyrule that he's friendly shows up using a name that practically has "evil" right at the beginning; if the suffix -dorf means something like "opponent of", then Ganondorf means "Ganon's Opponent", and it's not a huge plot hole, but a bit of braggadocio instead.

So Ganondorf was the first hero, gifted Power by Hylia, but becomes corrupted by it, so Hylia, who can't just take it back, chooses a new champion and gifts him with the only element that can oppose Power. It's a neat little narrative, really.

@Aventurier I tried it. I couldn't imagine sinking 10 hours into that crap, let alone 100.

Old man Link is not a concept I envisage current Nintendo management ever allowing. They love their character archetypes and are fiercely against deviating from them too much. "Young man embarking on a hero's journey" is pretty much Nintendo's definition of Link... But maybe there might be a chance once Miyamoto retires.

I think my childhood dreams of a big budget dark, mysterious Zelda-style game were sated by the FromSoft/Souls games. Sadly, after playing BotW, I don't think Nintendo has it in them to make a Zelda game that has the same dark tones of OoT and Majora's Mask anymore.

I'd like to remind people that a "pitch" or "idea" ultimately means nothing, everyone has ideas, they are literally a dime a dozen. Implementing that idea and making it actually into a good game, that's the hard part, and identifying which ideas will actually be worthwhile and which ones are not as much is what makes a great leader, of which Nintendo has several, and some of the best in the industry.

Retro has so many ideas and concepts, but in the end they're just the Metroid Prime Team for Nintendo.

A Zelda-themed turn-based strategy game sounds awesome, with all the different races and heroes available and varied job classes for each race. They can even include characters outside the game's timeline, like how Cloud was playable in Final Fantasy Tactics, and I'd still take that, flimsy excuse and all.

Or how about a Zelda brawler with the same look and feel as TMNT: Shredder's Revenge? Give WayForward the license to do it and I'm sure magic will happen.

Or perhaps a Street Fighter-style fighting game with complete disregard for the timeline? A business sim starring a Hylian merchant (or Ravio)? Ah, the games one can dream about.

The plot concept sounds somewhat familiar to BOTW...

@Not_Soos It doesn't have to contradict the existing lore - Don't forget, Gerudo mate with Hylians. After enough time has passed, most, if not all Gerudo are also descended from Hylia. And more easily, it's entirely possible Link's father would be Hylian, and his mother Gerudo.

This seems to share some interesting similarities with Breath of the Wild despite having been before that. How interesting!

@StarPoint That sounded like crap. It's on another article.

@Maulbert Just to make you happy I checked it, and it is 370 hours here. So far