The future of 2D Zelda is uncertain after critical success with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom; however, Nintendo hasn’t ruled out anything yet. Also, the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder does give us a little hope that 2D games aren’t dead to the developing and publishing titan. Because of the recent successes of turn-based RPGs (or similar) such as LiveALive, Octopath Traveler II, Sea of Stars, and Baldur’s Gate 3, I think the next 2D Zelda game should be a turn-based RPG.
Nintendo sticks to their gameplay formulas pretty religiously, so this is unlikely to occur, but I feel that they should try something different to keep the 2D Zelda games fresh. Aside from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening in 2019, which was a remake, the last original 2D Zelda game was The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes in 2015. Prior to that was The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds in 2013. Therefore, it’s been about a decade since a proper, new 2D Zelda game.
With the exception of Triforce Heroes (which isn’t many people’s favorite anyway), 2D Zelda games are known for its puzzles and dungeons. Combat is generally limited or simplified in a 2D setting, although the rental system in Link Between Worlds was refreshing. It would behoove Nintendo to try something new just like what they did when they went open world with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017. In the case of 2D, a turn-based RPG could bring variety to combat while retaining fun dungeons and puzzle-solving. In addition, we can finally play as Zelda and other ancillary characters when they join Link’s party. Seems like a win-win to me.
Image Credit: Sabotage via That Video Game Blog
If Nintendo ever made another 2D Zelda again (remakes excluded), I really hope they bend the genre a little. What genre would you like to see? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
Author’s Note: I want to give a big shot-out to The Zelda Cast podcast for inspiring me for this Boss Rush Banter. Their recent episode discussed what they’d want to see in a 2D Zelda, so it got me thinking as well. I highly recommend this podcast for any Zelda fan out there. Thanks Andy and Alasyn!
Pow Block Podcast – A Nintendo Podcast by Boss Rush
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