Summary
The Legend of Zeldais one of gaming’s greatest franchises, hardly ever faltering in terms of cultural relevance and critical reception since its genesis in 1986. There are countless reasons for this, from the series' captivating tone, simple yet powerful narratives, and, most importantly, meaningful innovation. Having said that,The Legend of Zeldahas had one major boon supporting its sustained success: its loose anthology format.
This design approach has allowed Nintendo to always keep creativity at the forefront ofZelda, never sticking to one setting, story, or gameplay gimmick for too long.Zeldahas had some direct sequels, though, most notablyMajora’sMaskandTears of the Kingdom. But whileMajora’s Maskis wildly different fromOcarina of Time, offering a completely disconnected story and totally different structure and pacing,Tears of the Kingdomis a far more linear video game sequel, with a design approach that is more evolutionary than revolutionary, adding rather than transforming.
Why Tears of the Kingdom Should Be Zelda’s Last Direct Sequel
The Legend of Zelda Has Always Been About Innovation
Nintendo has confirmed that the nextZeldagame won’t be a sequel toTears of the Kingdom, and this can only mean good things for the franchise.Breath of the Wild’s approach to open-world design was not only unique for theZeldaseries, but within the open-world genre as a whole, and this is a significant part of what makes it a special game. WithBOTWpresenting such a rich, detailed, textured world, there was definitely space forTOTKto keep innovating and iterating, giving players new stories, locations to discover, and mechanics to play around with.
ButTOTKalso highlights a particular strength of theZeldaseries: its ability to innovate and reinvent itself. Though there is certainly a’Zeldaformula' that many games attempt to emulate, the seminal series as a whole is actually remarkably fluid, its developers seemingly never afraid to take risks or abandon popular features. This keeps the franchise a step ahead of the rest of the industry, especially when so many other major developers seem hesitant to mess with perfection, a bearish approach that can lead to stagnation.
Zelda’s commitment to innovation is the reason why countless developers, big and small, draw inspiration from titles likeOcarina of Time,Link’s Adventure, andBreath of the Wild. These games establish trends rather than attempt to chase them.
The Quasi-Anthology Format Is Key to Zelda’s Innovation
While franchises with linear, progressive narratives can still innovate, they are necessarily restricted by some key factors. For example, a game likeThe Last of Us 3likely won’t change to a pixel art style, as this would fundamentally alter its tone and narrative delivery, which need to stay relatively consistent for the overarching story to be satisfying. ButZeldacan have a dark,brooding game likeTwilight Princessjust a few years after the bubbly and colorfulWind Waker, and both can be considered good, validZeldaexperiences. There isn’t one ‘true’ way to experienceZelda; top-down dungeon-crawlers, open-world adventures, and side-scrollers are all equally viable, and so the series has the freedom to take such radical stylistic, structural, and tonal leaps between releases.
Tears of the Kingdombuilds on the foundations set byBreath of the Wildin a number of valuable ways, but it can sometimes feel like an upgraded version of its predecessor rather than a wholly distinct, surprising release in and of itself. The nextZeldagame will hopefully reinvent the seriesonce again, continuing its long tradition of experimentation and bold, trailblazing game design, unshackled from the restrictions inherent to being a direct, proper sequel.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
