3 major design choices I want to see in the next 3D Legend of Zelda game

Now that Tears of the Kingdom is well over two years old, I have been wondering what we might see in the next major 3D Zelda game. I am certain we will explore a re-imagined world of Hyrule and it may be time for a new art style. There are also multiple outstanding complaints and debates that originated with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom that could be addressed. I could write several pages discussing dungeon design, open world philosophies, or debating the pros and cons of weapon durability, but none of those are topics I want to elaborate on today. Today, I want to focus on the bigger picture.

Let’s discuss 3 design choices I want to see in the next major 3D Zelda game.

1. A commitment to a linear timeline

The Zelda development team has recently given mixed messaging on the importance of the Zelda timeline. Is it something we should care about or not? Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are set so far in the future that the previous entries are irrelevant. The backstory of Tears of the Kingdom may even feature a new Kingdom of Hyrule that has long forgotten that a previous Hyrule already existed. In the official marketing, the games are displayed separately from the rest of the Zelda timeline.

I am generally happy with this approach. Breath of the Wild is a great reboot for the series, and I was really happy to get a direct sequel. Unfortunately, then Echoes of Wisdom was released and revived the older timeline again. Instead of fitting into the new continuity established in the latest games, Echoes of Wisdom fits before The Legend of Zelda in the oldest branch of the Zelda timeline.

Most recently, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment added another game to the newer timeline by telling a canonical story that fits before the events of Breath of the Wild. So, we now have multiple games releasing across two different sets of timelines where one story (the Breath of the Wild continuity) seems intentional and the other story (the older Zelda timeline) feels like a dumping ground for everything else.

I think it’s time for the old Zelda timeline to be retired. Even if the next Zelda game re-imagines Hyrule and changes the art style, it can still be a sequel to Tears of the Kingdom set hundreds of years in the future. If we are going to have a timeline, then it’s past time for the series to have a predictable coherent timeline where new games are placed at the end of the story and follow what came before. The inevitable time travel mechanics and storylines can help to keep the mystery alive.

2. Explore Hyrule in its prime

Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom take place during an era where Hyrule has been destroyed. The scattered ruins of the king of Hyrule each tell their own stories, and the environmental storytelling from the ruined kingdom was the right choice for those games. It’s been eight years, and I am tired of exploring the ruins of Hyrule.

We have not seen a bustling version of Hyrule Castle Town since Twilight Princess almost 20 years ago, and even that version of Hyrule felt like it was already in decline. In the next major 3D Zelda game, I want to see Hyrule as it should be — the way we sometimes see it in top-down games like The Minish Cap or even Echoes of Wisdom.

Show me a grand castle filled with guards and servants attending the royal family and a nearby town market that never sleeps. I want to see the Gorons, Zora, Gerudo, and even the forest races (perhaps the Deku) traveling the world and interacting with each other, and I want to see Hylian towns that do not feel like they are on the brink of collapse. Imagine exploring the temples of Hyrule when they are still used as places of worship instead of always being dens of monsters.

Obviously, the game needs a conflict, but that conflict doesn’t need to include a world shattering event that like the Great Calamity of Breath of the Wild or the Upheaval of Tears of the Kingdom. Twilight Princess featured a kingdom-wide conflict that most of the common folk were oblivious to. There are compelling stories waiting to be told that do not include a kingdom in ruins, and those are the stories I want to see next.

3. Traverse two parallel worlds

Many Zelda games have two worlds. It could be Hyrule and Lorule in A Link Between Worlds or Hyrule and the Still World in Echoes of Wisdom. You might even consider the Depths in Tears of the Kingdom to be a sort of second world. But only two Zelda games have true parallel worlds that can be instantly switched between. Oracle of Ages lets you use the Harp of Ages to traverse time between the past and the present. But, of course, the most famous example is the Light World and Dark World of A Link to the Past.

While the Dark World of A Link to the Past can only be entered from specific portals, you can leave the Dark World at any time using the Magic Mirror. Using the Magic Mirror in the Dark World instantly teleports you to the exact same place in the Light World. If the Light World location is somewhere that you could not normally stand, the transition fails and you are sent back to the Dark World to try again.

This type of instant parallel world traversal has never been attempted in a 3D Zelda game, and I think it’s time to revisit the idea. I think the foundations have already been established in Tears of the Kingdom with the Ascend ability.

Ascend only works if there is a suitable location for Link to stand on the surface above him. The game calculates the new location and takes you there immediately (sometimes with a brief transition screen). It’s not a completely separate world, but it can sometimes feel like it. You might be traversing between the Depths and the Surface or a cave and overworld above. The calculations are detailed enough to even place you on top of a crate if it happens to be in your path.

I think the same logic could be applied to a transition between two 3D overworlds, and the idea opens some exciting possibilities. What if the coordinates in the first world are an empty field, but the same coordinates in the second world were inside a mountain cave that has no natural entrance? We might even apply the same logic from A Link to the Past and allow changes in one world to directly affect the other. A river drained in the first world could flood an entire enemy camp in the second world.

This is the idea that excites me the most.

We may not have to wait for long!

These are my favorite ideas for the next Zelda game, and I suspect we will not be waiting too much longer to find out what is happening next. This February is the 40th anniversary of the Zelda series, and there’s always a chance we may see a glimpse of what is coming next. Now is the perfect time to begin speculating!