The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomfollowed up on what madeBreath of the Wildso exceptional and now that the series is about to make another pivot, it’s interesting to imagine where the franchise could be headed.Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomwere both stunning as open-world adventures, but there’s no telling where Nintendo could take the series now.
Ultimately, the two games have been lauded as some of the best in the series, bringingZeldagames into a new era of open-world exploration. Luckily, Nintendo has two key opportunities to replicate, or even surpass, the latest games' success.
The Legend of Link: Zelda’s Adventures in Hyrule
Link has always been the protagonist inZeldagames despite Princess Zelda being the titular character. Zelda has played many roles throughout the games, but she has never been a proper protagonist, and a game entirely focused on her perspective and experience would be a welcome change to the usualLegend of Zeldaformula. Players have long wished for an adventure withZelda as theLegend of Zelda’s main protagonist. In this case, Link could take on her role in turn: he could be a prince, rather than a knight, and channel the Triforce of Courage to seal away evils.
In almost all of her incarnations, Zelda is capable of shouldering the burden of being a protagonist. She had proven not only to be wise but also strong and determined. Often, she has magical abilities and even some hand-to-hand combat skills when she assumes the role ofSheik, Zelda’s alter ego. Above all, she demonstrates a deep dedication to protecting Hyrule and its people, something she and Link share.
The Sheik identity, introduced inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is a skilled warrior capable of fighting side-by-side with Link.
Giving Zelda her turn in the spotlight would mark a huge milestone in the franchise and likely result in a wildly successful game, even if just for the sake of novelty. Shaking up the usual formula is something that Nintendo should consider asBreath of the Wildwas a breath of fresh air, bringing new life and new mechanics to the series. Now, even big changes likea standalone Princess Zelda gamecan be great if done well.
A Return to the Zelda Dungeons of Old
The Legend of Zeldahas always been known and celebrated for its dungeons. Therefore, another ace that Nintendo has up its sleeve when it comes to the nextZeldagame is in its dungeon design.
Ever since the big changes brought byBreath of the Wild, it has been expected that the series would eventually return to the old dungeon formula. The shrines ofBreath of the Wilddeviated considerably from the Fire, Water, and Forest temples from titles likeOcarina of Time,butTears of the Kingdombrought back the elemental temples.The first fourTOTKtemples can be visited in any order. Six temples inTears of the Kingdomreturn to the series' roots:
In the past, these traditional temple dungeons were marathons, giving players a huge sense of accomplishment upon completion. On top of the temples,Tears of the Kingdomhas 152 shrines. Conquering them all is a massive accomplishment, but also a time-consuming one.
Rather than having 152 more in the nextLegend of Zeldatitle, Nintendo could opt instead to have just a few, large dungeons based on the franchise’s original formula. Shrines can be largely skipped over to begin with, so an increased emphasis on dungeon crawling would be a welcome return to the original formula.Whatever comes next forThe Legend of Zeldais burdened with the immense pressure of living up to its predecessor’s success.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
