Nintendo is obviously the primary force behind the enduring quality ofThe Legend of Zelda, but when the next game rolls around, I’d be happy to see it come from a specific alternate source. There’s plenty of precedent for involving other parties inZeldatitles, most recently with the involvement of Grezzo. Although Grezzo has long been connected with Nintendo, it’s an independent studio that developed severalZeldaremakes before ultimately co-developing the new titleThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
I’m glad to see Nintendo placing some faith in Grezzo’s ability to create new material, and based on my time withEchoes of Wisdomso far, I think it’s definitely paying off. Grezzo isn’t the only studio that could make a greatZeldagame, however, and branching out even further could bring some exciting talents into the mix. Some of the best games in theZeldaseries weren’t made in-house at Nintendo, and as long as it’s approached as carefully as I imagine it would be, I’d love to see more experimentation in that regard.
I’d Love To See Another Capcom Legend Of Zelda Game
The Minish Cap Is Still One Of My Favorites
More than anything else, I think it would be neat to get a newZeldagame from Capcom. Similar to Grezzo’s modern position as a partial steward of the 2DZeldatitles,Capcom handled the development of handheld adventures in the early 2000s. While Nintendo worked onMajora’s Mask,The Wind Waker,andTwilight Princess, Capcom and its subsidiary Flagship created theOraclegames,Four Swords, andThe Minish Cap.Despite coming from an outside source, Capcom’sZeldagames felt like natural evolutions of the 2D titles before them while incorporating some smart ideas from the 3D games.
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I’m personally ahuge fan ofThe Minish Cap, which maintains a place among my favoriteZeldaexperiences, and I have friends who are equally passionate about theOraclegames.Nintendo took back the handheld reins withThe Phantom HourglassandSpirit Trackson the DS, but while both of those games are memorably creative, I don’t think they quite measure up to the high bar that Capcom set. I do love Nintendo’s 3DS entryALink Between Worlds, which doesn’t match the beauty ofThe Minish Cap’s world but delivers exceptional gameplay to make up for it.
Nintendo’s got a good thing going with Grezzo right now, and I have no interest in that getting disrupted. At the same time, I think it’ll be a while before the next big 3DZelda,and repeating anything like the six-year gaps betweenSkyward Sword,Breath of the Wild, andTears of the Kingdomwould leave room for more than one side studio.I’d be happy to see a game from Capcom slot in before the next major Nintendo entry, whether that’s just anOracleremake or a new game entirely.
Capcom Has Changed, But It Still Makes Great Games
A New Creative Environment Could Be Good
The Capcom of today obviously isn’t the same as the Capcom of the early 2000s, and Flagship doesn’t even exist in an official capacity anymore, ultimately being absorbed into its parent company.Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the director of Capcom’sZeldagames, ended up at Nintendo afterward, ultimately directingSkyward Sword,Breath of the Wild, andTears of the Kingdom.Fujibayashi’s central position in the modern vision ofZeldaproves how much Capcom brought to the table, but it’s also an effective symbol of how much that specific creative environment is a thing of the past.
Even if Capcom’s prior experience wouldn’t translate very directly to new titles, the Capcom of today is great, and the studio’s been on a roll in recent years. While the late 2000s and early 2010s saw a relative slump, Capcom’s delivered frequent hits likeDevil May Cry 5,Monster Hunter Rise, andResident Evil Villagein the years since. It’s one of the few major companies currently hitting the level of consistent quality that theZeldafranchise deserves, and it would be interesting to see what new creative forces would bring toZelda.
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AnOracleremake might be more likely than a completely new game from Capcom, as the studio has mostly been sticking to remakes and remasters in between the major releases. While fans of most Capcom franchises have likely been having a good time in recent years,Mega ManandOnimushaaficionados haven’t been as lucky.Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddessproved that there’s still room for off-beat creative ventures at Capcom, however, and itsgorgeous mix of action and tower defense strategyearned it a place as one of my favorite games this year.
A Capcom Zelda Game Wouldn’t Have To Rock The Boat
Capcom Could Lean On Classic Strengths
Although I adoreBreath of the Wild, which took a hatchet to theZeldaformula, I’m not really looking to upend the series. Something as simple as a new game willing to revisit the obtusepuzzle design ofOracle of Agesmight be enough for me, particularly considering how much the flexibility ofEchoes of Wisdomhas made it a breeze so far. I’d also be happy to see another gimmick that shifts Link’s perspective of the world as thoroughly asMinish Capdid, and a new game might be able to implement something equally transformative in a more fluid way.
A Link Between Worldsdefinitely deserves another honorable mention here, as Link’s ability to flatten himself into walls is used to wonderfully creative and fun effect.
I don’t really see a new CapcomZeldagame as a likely endeavor, and any hopes I have for another qualifying entry are mostly idle daydreams. All the same, it’s fun to imagine, especially in a post-TOTKtime period where the future ofZeldadesign seems unclear. Nintendo and Grezzo are both capable of making greatThe Legend of Zeldagames, but they’re not the only studios that could do something interesting with the material, and I wouldn’t hesitate to place my vote of confidence in Capcom as a third possibility.
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda franchise follows the adventures of Link, an elf-like Hylian, and Princess Zelda as they protect the land of Hyrule from the evil warlord-turned-demon king Ganon. The series is known for its mix of action, adventure, and puzzle-solving elements, often revolving around the collection of the Triforce, a powerful relic left by the goddesses who created Hyrule. Each game features different incarnations of Link and Zelda, maintaining core elements while introducing new characters and settings.
