Nintendo not too concerned with classic Zelda titles, "difficult to say" if they'll revisit that style
The future is now
Nintendo has already said that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom are the new format for the series to build on. That’s certainly worked out incredibly well so far, but some longtime fans would still love to see a new Zelda that mimics the older titles in the franchise’s history.
In an interview with RTL Nieuws, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma was asked about the potential for a new installment in the Zelda franchise that played closer to what the legacy entries offered. You can see Aonuma’s response below, as translated by Nintendo Everything.
It’s difficult to say anything about the future. That being said: thanks to previous Zelda games, a game like Tears of the Kingdom now exists. This game originated from the ideas that we had in the past. We always try to create something that offers more than previous titles. In that respect, we really aren’t concerned with our older games anymore. We prefer to look to the future.
This response certainly doesn’t give much hope for a new Zelda title closer to classic entries, but with Nintendo, you never really know what they’re cooking up. That said, they’ve clearly found incredible success with this new format for Zelda games, so it would be hard to imagine them going back to the traditional style.
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riftsilver
10M agoThere were a lot of things I loved about Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild.
Both games had me audibly exclaiming "Oh that's so cool" just due to the nature of how open and interactive everything is.
There's definitely aspects of the new formula I don't want them to take away, but I think there's elements of classic games is still like them to lean into harder. Stuff like more linear storytelling and more restrictive dungeons I think would still do well in the new formula, even if that wasn't what they were going for in TotK.
Move forward, but still take elements from the past where appropriate.
joeshabadoo
10M agoI think what is most exciting about this answer is that it very much implies that BotW and TotK don’t represent a ‘new formula’. they are linked both spiritually and very tangibly, and should be thought of us as one beautiful mega epic masterpiece; the culmination of a decade+ of allowing some of the industry’s best to spread their wings and soar. The next new Zelda game will not be ‘the sequel to Tear of the Kingdom’ and this answer from Aonuma makes me confident that it might have a few similarities but will feel massively fresh and novel and new while still focusing on adventure, exploration, and puzzling with the player taking far more of a hybrid protagonist and author role than the legacy games.
nin2000
10M agoI’d like to see a top down BOTW.
kuribo
10M agoI’d like one more entry in the current format and style. Round it out as a trilogy.
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