Although The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hasn't caught up to its predecessor in sales just yet, it was still another smashing success for Nintendo, standing as one of its best-selling games yet. Despite improving on the original formula with new abilities, areas to explore, and more refined gameplay mechanics, the similarities with its predecessor prevented TOTK from reaching the same level of cultural impact. While it's unlikely that Nintendo will completely abandon its most successful subseries within The Legend of Zelda franchise anytime soon, TOTK already offers the perfect jumping point for the series moving forward.

Even though I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to Link or Zelda from the Breath of the Wild storyline just yet, the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment could easily offer a great sendoff for the series as one of the most exciting Switch 2 exclusives. Meanwhile, smaller-scale entries in between BOTW and TOTK have already proven that there's still demand for a less realistic art style for the franchise. On top of the stylistic choice, Nintendo has had plenty of time to experiment with creative gameplay styles to perfect the formula for the next entry in the series.

A Toon Link Game On The Switch 2 Has Plenty Of Potential

Pushing The Series To Even More Ambitious Heights

With The Legend of Zelda series favoring bigger budget experiences lately, based on their overwhelming sales alone, it's the perfect time for a Toon Link game with the same level of ambition as the BOTW series. Combining the knowledge gained from both BOTW and TOTK with the massive leap in technology of the Switch 2, I would be thrilled to see how far Nintendo could take a Toon Link game with the larger scale of BOTW. Given that Nintendo has already expressed its disinterest in making a TOTK sequel, the door is already open for an unexpected successor.

The freedom of exploration and environmental gameplay mechanics of Wind Waker feel like a close relative to BOTW.

With how massive TOTK's game world has become with the addition of both underground caverns and floating islands, it's easy to see how amazing a game inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker could be on a similarly sized scale. Even to this day, the freedom of exploration and environmental gameplay mechanics of Wind Waker feel like a close relative to BOTW and its revolutionary design. Although BOTW and its sequel also borrow plenty of game design from the expansive worlds of Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess, the open seas of Wind Waker offered much more player freedom.

This isn't to say that Nintendo hasn't been releasing more cartoony Zelda games with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, but there were smaller-scale games that didn't seem to have as much intense gameplay as their more ambitious counterparts. On top of the more classic gameplay or unique mechanics offered, both titles clocked in at a much shorter play time, with lowered, but still impressive sales to match. While these shorter experiences fit perfectly on the portable Switch, the Switch 2 needs a much more ambitious Zelda game to showcase its hardware.

Breath Of The Wild's Style Is Starting To Overstay Its Welcome

Ending A Near Decade-Long Run With A Bang

There's no doubt that BOTW and TOTK have been a monumental peak for the series, with each breaking sales records and winning critical acclaim for not only the series but Nintendo as a whole. Despite their popularity and my enjoyment of the series, after two mainline entries, two prequels, DLC, and several crossovers, I'm starting to quickly feel franchise fatigue for the long-lived series. Given that Nintendo usually only releases one loosely connected sequel to a Legend of Zelda game, like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, the amount of attention that BOTW has received is unprecedented for the series.

The amount of attention that BOTW has received is unprecedented for the series.

While I'm not opposed to the idea of Nintendo eventually returning to complete the series with a trilogy installment, it will need to innovate the gameplay enough to recapture the original magic of BOTW that its sequel failed to replicate in its entirety. Regardless of the criticism over similarities between each entry in the BOTW franchise, the subgenre of Legend of Zelda games spawned by BOTW are still some of the best experiences in the series, with plenty of mechanics and design choices that deserve to carry on long after TOTK or Age of Inpisonment have faded out of popularity.

Wind Waker's Switch 2 Release Gives Me Hope For A Toon-Inspired Renaissance

Bringing Back An Underrated Era Of Zelda Games

Even if the return of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is merely a one-off by Nintendo rather than the start of a new emulation trend for The Legend of Zelda series, the Switch 2 port feels like a further step towards Nintendo embracing the classic Legend of Zelda gameplay style. While the Toon Link games tend to get overshadowed by the larger-than-life worlds and tone of the more visually ambitious Legend of Zelda titles, they still offer some of the unique gameplay concepts and fun-filled mechanics that are some of the franchise's most memorable experiences.

While they were far from the absolute best entries the series has to offer, I still fondly defending Link's train in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks or exploring even more treasure-filled islands in Wind Waker's sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. What made these games stand out the most is simply adding a fresh take on the series while offering the same core gameplay themes that made their predecessors so popular in the first place.

Even with its final size being much larger than I expected for a Legend of Zelda game that was released decades before TOTK, the original Wind Waker had plenty of cut content that could return in a future reboot, or be reused in the future. Whether in the form of a spiritual successor to Wind Waker or a completely original entry in the series, the flexibility of more cartoony gameplay and visuals would fit perfectly into the creativity Nintendo has displayed with their latest Legend of Zelda adventures.

The flexibility of more cartoony gameplay and visuals would fit perfectly into the creativity Nintendo has displayed with their latest Legend of Zelda adventures.

There are clearly still plenty of creative ways to spice up Zelda entries that have been showcased in Echoes of Wisdom or even the Age of Calamity spin-offs, with the future of the Legend of Zelda franchise still having near limitless potential. If Nintendo wants to break away from the shadow of BOTW, the next major installment of the series will need to have a drastic change to avoid constant comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.