Highlights

  • Zelda is known for ambition, reinventing itself with each new game, like BOTW's departure from traditional mechanics.
  • Combat in Zelda games has never been the focal point, despite Link being a skilled warrior, so a shift in combat's favor could be refreshing.
  • The next Zelda could prioritize combat, reimagining the series as an action-focused game while retaining key elements like puzzle-solving.

The Legend of Zelda is at a crossroads. With Nintendo confirming that the next Zelda game will be moving on from the framework established by Breath of the Wild and expanded by Tears of the Kingdom, where exactly the franchise will go is anyone's guess. But as perhaps the most revered and long-running gaming franchise of all time, fans can at least expect a good deal of ambition from the next title.

Ambition, in many ways, is a word that defines The Legend of Zelda. This was true during the 1990s, when it was helping to lead the industry into the era of 3D adventure games with Ocarina of Time, but it was just as true in 2017 when, to everyone's surprise, it shed many of its most central mechanics and traditions in Breath of the Wild. Indeed, BOTW represents a major leap for Zelda, moving away from themed dungeons, item-based puzzles, and a linear narrative structure. The game has since proved to be revolutionary, inspiring countless developers and changing how gaming audiences view open-world adventures, but now it's in the rearview, and Nintendo will need to land on a new direction for the franchise.

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Why Honing In On Combat Could Be the Right Move for Zelda

Combat Has Always Taken a Back Seat In Zelda Games

Link is a bona fide warrior, expertly leveraging a number of different offensive tools over the course of the Zelda series, facing off against menacing foes in single combat, and saving the day in typical heroic fashion. He is even defined explicitly as a knight in Breath of the Wild, a clear signal of his skills as a combatant. This translates to gameplay in a fairly predictable way: players, as Link, fight numerous enemies during their various adventures, and virtually every Zelda game culminates in a bombastic boss fight.

But despite all this, combat almost never feels like the most important part of the Zelda equation. Even Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, which are often cited among the Zelda games with the best combat, don't offer much in the way of depth, complexity, or challenge: combat is serviceable but uninventive, and mechanics like perfect dodge and perfect parry can easily trivialize combat. This doesn't necessarily hurt the games, as puzzle-solving and exploration are often the focus of gameplay, but the franchise can shake things up by sharpening combat in the next entry.

A Combat-Focused Zelda Would Be a Breath of Fresh Air

Breath of the Wild reinvented the Zelda series: though it wasn't the first open-world Zelda (that honor would have to go to Wind Waker), it was the first game in the series to be built around limitless exploration to such a significant extent, to the point where it's the central mechanic of the game, taking precedence over things like puzzles and narrative. The next Zelda game could be another reinvention, with Nintendo leaning into the series' versatility. A strong combat emphasis would be one way to do this.

Even if the next Zelda focuses on combat, it would still have to retain the key elements that define the franchise, like puzzles, the Triforce, et cetera.

If Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are exploration games first and foremost, then maybe the next entry in the series could be an action game above all. The gameplay loop could be designed around deep and expressive combat, maybe even sharpening some of Zelda's light RPG elements for a more flexible combat sandbox. The series has already established a diverse range of weapons and magical abilities, so it would be interesting to see Nintendo draw on them with a more explicit combat focus.