Highlights
- The next entry in The Legend of Zelda series aims to provide fans with an "entirely new" experience, potentially exploring a previously unexplored era in the complex Zelda timeline.
- A return to an older era in the official Zelda timeline could blend classic and modern gameplay mechanics, bridging the gap between old and new Zelda fans.
- The Legend of Zelda's official timelines offer plenty of untapped potential for compelling stories, filling in gaps in the lore or potentially remaking earlier games as a holdover until the release of a new mainline entry.
For the first time since the long period of dormancy between 2011 and 2017, the future of The Legend of Zelda is wide-open, with series producer Eiji Aonuma himself even admitting that the team is aiming to provide fans with an "entirely new" experience in the next entry. As far as whether that means fans can expect the conclusion to a trilogy that began with Breath of the Wild remains to be seen, but a franchise with as rich a legacy and history as The Legend of Zelda has plenty of different paths it could potentially take in its next iteration. One of these is for the series to return to an earlier era in the complex Zelda timelines.
Since the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and the publication of the Hyrule Historia lore compendium, fans have had a clear picture of how each game in the series is connected following the critical events contained within Skyward Sword's conclusion. What's less clear, though, is where BotW and TotK sit in the timeline, with speculation over whether the games are part of their own original chronology or if the "Age of Calamity" sits after Ocarina of Time's branching timelines merge back into a single continuity. With the future of the franchise unrestricted, there's a strong case for a new Zelda entry that takes players back to a previously explored era.
A Return to Zelda's Previous Eras Could Mix Both Old and New Mechanics
Breath of the Wild was a necessary step forward for The Legend of Zelda, course-correcting the franchise's trajectory in the wake of disappointing sales for Skyward Sword despite that game's importance to the overarching series narrative. The experiment proved to be a rousing success for Nintendo, with Breath of the Wild's total sales surpassing the cumulative figures of all other 3D Zelda titles combined. Still, longtime fans vocalized some frustration at the lack of definitive dungeons and the inclusion of breakable weapons, with both concerns somewhat addressed in this year's Tears of the Kingdom.
A return to an older era in the official Zelda timeline gives appropriate cause for the team to advance the "best of both worlds" approach of Tears of the Kingdom even further, finding creative ways to blend the classic 3D Zelda formula that originated with Ocarina of Time with the newer mechanics and freedom of the Switch's open-world Zelda titles. This could provide a perfect opportunity to bridge the gap between Zelda fans old and new, the blending of classic and modern Zelda gameplay is fertile ground.
The Legend of Zelda's Earlier Timelines Still Have Plenty of Unexplored Territory
Regardless of what form the next game in the series takes, The Legend of Zelda's official timelines are rife with potential for compelling stories in that universe that haven't been told yet. A game that fills in the gaps between the "Golden Era" of Hyrule and the "Era of Decline" leading to the original Legend of Zelda or an adventure taking place following Twilight Princess could help answer questions about the series' lore that fans don't have official canon for. Another potential form that a game set in an earlier era could take is that of a remake, with one of the most likely candidates being that of the series' "black sheep", Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link.
Considering the limitations of the technology at the time to tell Zelda 2's story effectively or render its gameplay mechanics as less obtuse, perhaps no other Zelda game from one of the earlier eras is more fit for a ground-up remake. Nintendo has already remade a game from this era with 2019's Link's Awakening, and even if the next Zelda release from Nintendo isn't a mainline entry, a remake of an earlier game is a perfect holdover to keep fans busy until that new Zelda game eventually arrives.
