The developers of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are already talking about the future of the franchise, but it seems that the traditional formula of the earlier games may have been killed by Breath of the Wild and its successor. Tears of the Kingdom launched less than a week ago but is already being heralded as one of the best Zelda games of all time.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma spoke with the publication on the future of the series – but it’s not good news for those who preferred the linear likes of earlier 3D Zelda titles like Ocarina of Time.
“I think it’s also fair to say now that we’ve arrived at Breath of the Wild and the new type of more open play and freedom that it affords. Yeah, I think it’s correct to say that it has created a new kind of format for the series to proceed from,” said Aonuma, suggesting that players can expect more open-world BOTW-like games for Link in the future.
The sentiments echo the developers’ feelings from back when BOTW released, when Aonuma told IGN: “From now on, this will probably be the standard form.”
What The Next Zelda Game Might Look Like
When it first released in 2017, Breath of the Wild was largely praised for its bold departure from previous Zelda games. The 3D titles that proceeded it – Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword – vary greatly when it comes to style and tone, but all generally follow the same linear and self-contained gameplay. BOTW changed this, allowing users the freedom to tackle the game in any order, even packing it with side quests that spawned countless memes of a distracted Link failing to save Hyrule.
While many Zelda fans are firmly on-board with the open-world formula of BOTW – and now TOTK – many are still hopeful that the more traditional formula might return. Unfortunately for those players, Aonuma’s latest comments – and his words from 2017 – suggest the latest iterations of Zelda world design are here to stay. With that being said, Tears of the Kingdom reintroduces some of the more traditional elements of the Nintendo series that were missing in Breath of the Wild, with not only returning characters, but also the return of the more traditional Zelda dungeon.
It’s not clear if Tears of the Kingdom will be getting a sequel, or if the developers will pivot and create a new addition to the Zelda timeline, but players likely don’t have too much to worry about when it comes to the next Zelda game. With Aonuma insisting this is the “format for the series to proceed from,” it sounds as though the game developers are already thinking bigger and better than Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Source: Game Informer, Game Informer/Twitter, IGN
