I sure hope the Zelda team at Nintendo shakes things up. What would you guys like to see in a new Zelda game?

I'd be cool with more rpg elements.

Monster Trucks would be bitchen.

I just don't have any real affinity for the series. So as someone that's not crazy in love with the series they would need to do something big to get me to care. What that is idk.

Zelda. Hopefully, of legendary status.

I know I'm part of the problem, but I love whatever they do with Zelda. IMO they can never go wrong with a Zelda game. I have loved absolutely every single one of them. Except for the CD-I games of course. They don't count for obvious reason.

What would be cool is perhaps a sort of RPG system. Think Super Mario RPG but with Zelda.

But honestly I know that whatever they do with it I will love.

Try out the rental system in 3D, allow you to tackle dungeons in any order you fancy, cut back on some of the fluff, no yellow turban rebellion.

I keep saying this wherever this is mentioned. Four Swords. Do it, Nintendo. Let me save the world with three other "friends," in which only one of us will become ludicrously rich, and everyone will die trying to steal all the rupees.

One of the things which made Majora's Mask my favourite was the ability to see more of the Zelda Universe through the eyes of it's other races, some more of that might be cool

I love when Zelda games have a more open nature like Link Between Worlds and Wind Walker. Also, while it wasn't perfect, I liked the idea behind the crafting in Skyward Sword.

Well idk cause I really liked Skyward Sword, and I also really liked A Link Between Worlds. So I guess I just want em to keep doing what they've been doing?

I love Zelda how it is personally, though I wouldn't mind a change. I think RPG elements is a cool idea. I REALLY don't understand the Zelda burnout people talk about though. Last time i checked mainline Zelda games RARELY come out! There's at most 2 a generation...unlike a lot of franchises which come out every year or two years. So how are people tired of a franchise that comes so few and far between with installments that have totally different content in each?

SNES: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1 Zelda game)

N64: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask (2 Zelda games)

GC: Wind Waker, Twilight Princess (2)

Wii: Skyward Sword (1, twilight was just a ported GC game really)

Just as an example...

Assassin's Creed

360/PS3: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

So in one generation's time assassins creed has as many mainline titles as zelda has had in 22 years.

and that's just one popular franchise there's plenty more. What I'm just trying to point out is i don't often hear people calling for change in other franchises that come out far more often.

That's because they're complaining about how those games feel exactly the same.

Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf team-up.

I have yet to play A Link Between Worlds, but to me the thing they need to do first and foremost is fix the broken gameplay. (Apparently A Link Between Worlds does this to some degree)

In short:

The reward for almost everything in the gameworld is Rupees.

Therefore, Rupees need to have actual value.

Therefore the world has to have things to spend money on.

Therefore Link needs to have "needs". They can solve this problem however they like, but traditionally, if we use Zelda 1 as the template, it means that Link needs to buy adventuring supplies. (medicine, bombs, arrows, magic, equipment upgrades, armor, keys, etc. ) For Link to need adventuring supplies:

Link has to take damage and need to recover.

Therefore combat has to actually be difficult and challenging.

I think if Zelda just fixed the gameplay, it would be the best game ever.

Hmm, i would like it to adopt a Wow art style, incorporate a "post apocalypse" world where Link must prove his innocence by defeating ganon, Mark Hammel plays his fairy. Ummmm and a portal gun.

Alternatively: rogue-like with non-linearity or hand-holding. Basically, a hard mode.... also make combat more of a thing(imagine a zelda game with dmc style combos, using all the items....too bad that will never happen).

Team Deathmatch and microtransactions.

Imagine if Epona was from the land of the undead and could just be summoned instantaneously at any moment. I can't believe that's never ever been done before... in any game....ever....

Also I'm tired of big open spaces I need to go across that are essentially barren wastelands (Ocarina's Hyrule Field, Wind Waker's Open Seas, Skyward Sword's Skies). I'm not saying it should be Fable levels of linear corridors but more something like Elder Scrolls where there are open fields but you're never more than a minute away from a village of cave or camp. Maybe I'm just really pissed at the sailing in WWHD.

Dynasty warriors. Oh, wait.

@kiddynamo04: Yeah, rupees essentially tie into upgrading equipment, so it was the first time in awhile that finding a gold rupee somewhere actually meant something.

Totally agree. I don't even think it's that hard. MOST Zelda games did it that way. But then Mario64/Zelda64 decided all 3d games need a "hub" that all the actual content connects to. If they just laid Hyrule out like a real place, instead of making a big boring hub, that problem would be solved.

That is to say "you have to go THROUGH the lost woods to reach Death Mountain, which is next to Lake Hylia, which contains a river that takes you to the graveyard" etc. Things biomorphically bleed into one another instead of being layed out via a hub.

I was pretty much done with Zelda when, in one game, I went into the first or second dungeon with a completely full wallet. There was no way for me NOT to have a full wallet at that point in the game. And the reward for solving all the puzzles in the dungeon was rupees. It was the moment I was like "this game is just freaking broken!".

I really don't think "the game needs more money sinks" is the biggest concern that Zelda is facing right now. Link Between Worlds found a (one-time) solution to that by making you rent and buy weapons. I think they're more aware of that issue compared to the N64 days of limited wallet sizes and having nothing to spend money on anyway.

The bigger issue is just that there needs to be more to the game. More change, I guess. They need to mix up the combat more, there needs to be more Link progression/customization, they need to come up with more original items instead of constantly falling back on old items, Link needs to have more traversal/climbing abilities besides "climb obvious vines". Maybe all of this is at odds with Nintendo wanting to keep it a simple kids' game, but each console Zelda still feels like something that was designed in the N64 era but happens to have better graphics. So many basic gameplay paradigms and mechanics just feel out of date.

I want to play as Ganondorf. Maybe play up the balance of the triforce and have alternate versions of the three main characters.

Maybe Shiek, or the other races will join in. Thanks to MM we know how a Zora fights.

They need to make it more adult and with the new hardware they can, and I just don't mean graphics. For starters, they need to have blood and limbs getting chopped off. Stop calling the money rupees because India just sucks and all that stuff going on with how they treat women, it is not a good look. Call them pesos. Also, have the story circle around not just Zelda and Link but their unborn child who will be the future leader of the Hyrule Kingdom. Show that Zelda and Link actually have sex ala Witcher style. Then also throw in some terrorism, like Link walks around with all these bombs, and someone kills Ganon by blowing him up and they blame link because it was a van that had his face on the side. So he has to prove his innocence while evading a robot from the future.

I want Dark Souls Zelda.

I wouldn't mind some visible and meaningful armor and weapon progression, more so than what was seen in SS and ALBW. I'd also like to see more complex sidequests to populate the barren world. ALBW is definitely a big step in the right direction, through.

talking animals that need furniture traded from one animal to another..... which was the plot to Link's Awakening.

This....

http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/47724463171/inspired-by-anita-sarkeesians-video-game-tropes

I would prefer more RPG leveling elements and a master quest version that has a steep difficulty curve with a well built co-op/vs mutiplayer, but more so (and i know Nintendo will never ever do this) a much more sinister tone to the story. Much like Darksiders.

Like, what if the story starts with Hyrule in a complete shit state where ganondorf has been ruling for decades after "enslaving/trapping/brainwashing" Zelda, finds and brainwashes a young Link and builds him into a powerful agent of darkness to dispose of King Hyrule's rebellion and the Sages who are trying to save Zelda. The King and Sages attempt to activate Link's Triforce of Courage to but shatters due to his lack of morality weakening him greatly and breaking his sanity. Ganondorf banishes Link to the 'Twilight/Lorule/Termina/shadow' realm where Link steals the upside-down Triforce to teleport back and face his betrayer Ganon. Ganon kicks his ass, takes black Triforce and breaks both worlds completely. Crazy pissed off Dark link now must travel between two worlds and time to save two Triforce's, Zelda, The King and Sages while rediscovering who he really is and take revenge on Hyper-Ganon.

Some of you guys have a really promising career in fan fiction. You know who you are.

- Armor and weapon progression
- Dungeons having meaningful upgrades in them
- More cutscenes and a better story (bassicly follow in SS and ALBW's footsteps)
- Preferably take place in any time line that's not the Downfall one
- Have an ending that's not completely generic and boring
- A coliseum type thing for multiplayer where you battle real people over the internet
- Have Zelda play a more meaningful role in the game (still want Link as the protag, though)
- Same, but more polished, sword motion controls from SS

I can probably think of a bunch more things but this post is long enough as it is. :P

"Crazy pissed off Dark Link" is still one of the funniest things I've ever read on this site. Really all of Neox's post. Pure gold.

zelda mmorpg

just thousands of fucking links.

No princess Zelda and no sacred sword. A new land. Not Hyrule. New races. Realistic body proportions. An entirely original soundtrack. I don't even want to hear the old house/shop theme. Fewer items. More naturalistic puzzles and environments. A denser overworld than most of the 3D games. More meaningful side-quests, with characterization. A good story that doesn't follow familiar patterns. Challenging combat. More openness, meaning not always requiring an item to explore a place.

@ezekiel: So play something that isn't a Zelda game, then. There comes a point in asking for change where you're basically asking for something else entirely.

• Open world might be nice
• Don't gate progression with items (the rental system is a pretty decent half-step towards this)
• A deeper combat system (possibly integrating the SS controls)
• Maybe make the game a bit tougher
• Don't make me save Zelda from Ganon. Please.
• Voice acting (not necessarily on Link)
• Meaningful side-quests and side-characters a la Majora's Mask
• For the love of god, don't over-tutorialize me. I know how to play games!
• Weapons/armor besides the Master Sword and Mirror Shield.

Basically, make the game more like this:

Nothing specific, really. I just want to see them take more chances. Something along the lines of Wind Waker. Get crazy with it, even if it means pissing off some fans. Better to piss of a few nerds who never want anything to change then to rot into ambivalence.

A great man named Ryan Davis once said that he didn't know what exactly it is he wanted, but he would know what it is when he played it. I'm paraphrasing that, but I really agree with the sentiment.

You play as Zelda/Sheik while Link is off trying to get items and courage or whatever.

@hailinel said:

Yeah, it's really interesting that a lot of people have this idea of how they thought the Zelda series was going to keep getting more and more elaborate and detailed and have this rich story, and that Ocarina of Time was just the starting point. And these people still think that their vision is a possible destination that the Zelda series will eventually arrive at. But hey, like 15 years later, I think it's become fairly clear that Ocarina of Time isn't really a stepping stone, and is instead just the underlying chassis and engine of a console Zelda game, and all Nintendo is capable of/willing to do is put different bells and whistles on top of it. Nintendo seemingly does not have the same ambition as other devs to keep increasing the scope, the systems, the detail, in their fantasy adventure game.

People seem to think Nintendo is like on the cusp of finally making the Zelda game they want, but naw dawg, they are really nowhere close to suddenly making the game you think you would like Zelda to become. Zelda isn't like, a hop and a jump away from suddenly being The Witcher or Dark Souls or something. Design wise, it is still leagues away from that. Like, Nintendo is very deliberately not increasing the complexity of the gameplay and customization, probably so it is constantly approachable for a new generation of kids. It's like the opposite of Assassin's Creed bloat: instead of tacking on more and more systems each game, at best they just swap out one system for another, and the overall complexity of the game remains the same as Ocarina of Time, more or less.

Also, half the people in this thread are basically just asking for a less depressing, maybe less difficult Dark Souls, with a bit more explicit story that happens to feature Link and Hyrule. Has anyone made a Zelda texture pack for PC Dark Souls? They should.

Majora's Mask has a great story with meaningful side-quests. Better than Ocarina of Time, and it neither follows the pattern of three dungeons > turning point with mystical item unlock > four to six more dungeons, nor have the princess or the Master Sword as an important plot device. It didn't rush you from dungeon to dungeon. Instead of having a lot of dungeons, you had to explore and figure things out in the overworld more, which I liked. It had the densest overworld of all the 3D games until possibly Skyward Sword. I haven't played that and am probably not going to, so I don't know. I had more drastic changes in mind. I don't think what I'm asking for here is too much. I don't want Zelda to be "The Witcher or Dark Souls or something". The N64 games are my favorites because of how innovative, unique at the time, dark yet charming, and well designed they are.

Well, first off, Majora's Mask being better than Ocarina of Time is strictly a matter of opinion, and arguments can be made for or against both games in that debate.

What made Majora's Mask work wasn't the fact that the plot doesn't revolve around Zelda and the Master Sword, but the nature of the time and mask mechanics. They could have very easily devised a game utilizing the same gameplay structure and flow that somehow also included the Master Sword and Zelda. Also, if one of your requirements is "no princess," well, Zelda isn't a princess in Skyward Sword, which actually has a fairly sizable amount of side content outside the main dungeon progression as well as a combat system and flow that is entirely unique among other Zelda titles and Wii games in general.

I meant that the story is better than the one in Ocarina of Time. I don't really find that debatable. It made more sense, was pretty unique and had an important, heavy theme. How people deal with death. The side-quests were very integral to that. Ocarina of Time was more epic, but the story wasn't as strong. It has unexplainable prophecies and lots of convenient magic.

I don't want the stories to keep focusing on Zelda. It's not that she's a princess. Skyward Sword doesn't interest me because I don't believe that the controls improve or make the gameplay more convenient, and because it looks pretty familiar and safe when ignoring the new controls. That's what I've read from people who played it too, as well as complaints about the linearity and structure.

One more thing: When I say realistic body proportions, I don't mean that they shouldn't be cartoon characters anymore. I want them to have legs and bodies that are proportional to their heads and want their faces look less alien. Also, I want Link to have brown hair and eyes and simple clothing again.

Why is it not debatable? How does Majora's Mask's plot make more sense?

Make it so you fight more than one enemy at once. Like hyrule warriors

Who wants to take bets on there being voice acting?

Also, I'm wondering about this open world business. It works with Elder Scrolls because every battle you're leveling up some skill, but in Zelda if they have random baddies running around what's the incentive to fight them? Wouldn't it just be easier to run around them? I hope they figure something out to keep me wanting to fight every enemy I see.

More challenging puzzles to be honest. I can't remember the last time a Zelda puzzle was actually hard to figure out.

Having the movement from Skyward Sword but let the stamina get better over the course of the game, as well keep the energey system from ALBW. I don't want the Skyward combat, but still have some kind of parry system similar to a Souls game I guess. That being said "just make Zelda like Dark Souls" is losing mentality in most ways. Also have the Heroic mode unlocked at the start and make all the cutscenes skippable. As well, the direction taken with Zelda's character in Skyward Sword was good, so was the Dark World-version of her in ALBW.

Voice acting (even for Link) and a more robust combat system.

Having seen the new Zelda since my last post in this thread, I have a new wish. Kill Epona. Kill her! I never want to see her or any other transportation in the series again. That stupid horse has been the cause of too many big, empty overworlds. The demo was boring.

A story that isn't predictable.