What’s next for The Legend of Zelda? It’s anyone’s guess, especially with the Nintendo Switch 2 out now. There will undoubtedly be some remakes, and there is an immediate Hyrule Warriors game coming soon for the Switch 2, but what’s next for the mainline games?
After Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom, it should be clear. The Zelda team has said it’s effectively done with the Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom version of Hyrule. That could mean they swing back to classic, structured Zelda games, or it could just mean a different version of open-world Hyrule. The most important thing is that they shouldn’t be abandoning that version of the fantasy realm like that just yet.
There is a perfect sequel just waiting to be made. Maybe it’s technically a prequel, but it is a subsequent game within the Breath of the Wild era. Light spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom, but in that game, Princess Zelda gets sent back in time, where she must fight alongside the Zonai to defeat Ganondorf.
Therein lies the perfect sequel. It’s very clear that Zelda fans have the appetite to play as Princess Zelda. Echoes of Wisdom was a delight and a wonderful breath of fresh air. So were Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, so why not merge them both?
Princess Zelda Deserves Another Game
The princess undoubtedly does things in every single game that we, as Link, do not see. But in Tears of the Kingdom, we do get a small glimpse into what she had to do, positioning the princess not as a damsel in distress but rather as her own capable heroine who made a significant sacrifice to help Link.
She was a more-than-capable heroine in Echoes of Wisdom, but this version of the princess is the ultimate version. Zelda fought off Ganondorf, studied, and ultimately sacrificed herself. It’s the perfect tale for a Legend of Zelda title, and it’s probably being overlooked.
While Link is certainly the more iconic character, Zelda is the titular character, and Link has had a lengthy run. At least in this game and Echoes, it is a perfect opportunity to give him a break, reshaping the franchise and giving players something new but not too different.
It is certainly plausible that Echoes of Wisdom was a feeler. They swapped out the iconic, male hero from the longstanding franchise for a woman, something that could have been poorly received. It wasn’t, and the game was good, too. There should be a lesson learned there, but it’s unclear if Nintendo will learn it.
Gamers did ultimately see plenty of flashbacks for Princess Zelda during that time while she was trapped in the past, but there is also plenty of opportunity for the story to be added to. She was there for years, and with the creativity the development team has shown over the last few entries, that’s a perfect canvas for a good game.
This untitled, hypothetical Princess Zelda game could also be a really good way of furthering the lore that fans adore so much. Echoes added Null to the mix, giving the realm of Hyrule a much more well-rounded history.
While the overarching timeline is a mess that Nintendo generally prefers to ignore, even going so far as to retcon it and say that Breath of the Wild started a new, divergent timeline branch, this would be a great way to create some continuity.
Rather than fans and players speculating where a game might fit in the overall Zelda timeline, which they’ve done for every entry except Tears of the Kingdom, it would be very clear. It’s set in the distant past of the Breath/Tears timeline.
Additionally, this could be seen as a springboard for the franchise as a whole. How much longer can Nintendo milk the Ganondorf vs. Link storyline? To avoid being stale, they can start adding games with other characters. If this Princess Zelda game is as well-liked as Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo could branch out even further, filling the timeline with spin-offs for all the characters that fans love.
Unfortunately, this is all a pipe dream of sorts for now. It’s totally unclear what Nintendo has planned for its second-most-popular franchise, but a backstory for Princess Zelda set in the universe it claims to be moving on from is unlikely at best.
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