The next Zelda game should be spin-off without Link – Reader’s Feature

It seems a good bet that the main launch game for the Switch 2 will be a new 3D Super Mario and/or Donkey Kong. And if it’s not that it’s pretty certain that it’s not going to be a new Zelda, seeing as the last one only came out last year. Maybe they’ll have a remaster of that for Switch 2 but I’m pretty sure Nintendo isn’t going to want to wait five years or more until they release another Zelda, even if it takes that long for a full-blown mainline sequel.

They’re going to want remasters and remakes to fill in the gaps but what I really hope they do is create new original games as spin-offs, that are a bit more experimental and outside the norm for the series. Mario gets to appear in every genre going but Link is stuck in the same basic type of games all the time.

Although, my idea is that he shouldn’t be in the next spin-off at all and that we finally get a chance to play as Princess Zelda. People have been talking about this for years but usually it’s in terms of being able to play as her in the main games, but I’m not surprised Nintendo has never done that because it’s hard to imagine it not being gimmicky and distracting, switching between characters. In my opinion she should get her own game.

Of course, hardcore Zelda fans will know she has already been playable in two CD-i games but considering they’re absolutely terrible, and almost no-one has ever played them, I’m going to say they don’t count. I’ve only ever watched them on YouTube but the one thing (and it is literally only the one thing) I like about them is that the set-up is that Link has been kidnapped and it’s Zelda that has to go out and rescue him.

I’d still use that as a starting point but then try and figure out what a playable Zelda should be like. After all, it’s not like she ever gets much characterisation or the chance to do much combat. I’d try and make sure it was a different timeline to the last two games, as I really didn’t like that wimpish portrayal (could Nintendo have found a worse voice actress?) and then you can start from scratch in giving her a new backstory and personality.

In terms of gameplay, you’ve got to ask the question of what has Zelda been shown to be capable of? She often uses a bow, but I don’t think she’s ever had a sword (I guess Tetra probably did but I don’t remember specifically). She’s implied to be very powerful magically but most of it seems to be defensive shields and the like. But that’s fine because you can build on that and give her all kinds of magic abilities, as that’s something Link generally never has.

Then there’s the question of Shiek. As far as I’m concerned Ocarina Of Time is pretty much the only time Zelda has been portrayed as cool, and I much prefer her in that game than the two recent ones. As Shiek she’s basically a ninja and so that also opens up a lot of gameplay that Link doesn’t typically do, in terms of proper stealth.

Having Zelda being playable shouldn’t just be a gimmick, a box to check to say you’ve done it, but an opportunity to invent some new gameplay and explore her character. Judging by the reviews it’s an opportunity that the new Princes Peach wasted but I’m hoping that if Nintendo do finally make Zelda playable (in a proper game) it will be worth the wait.

By reader Tim Rogers