Hey it's Tarrmu and welcome to Thinking Out Loud and in In today’s video, we’ll be talking about The Legend of Zelda—and more specifically, where the series might head after Tears of the Kingdom. With the Switch 2's release, it’s a fascinating time to speculate, especially since Tears of the Kingdom felt like the most complete realization yet of the open-world Zelda formula.

So the question is: where do they go from here? Do they move beyond Hyrule to introduce a brand-new setting that reinvigorates the series? Do they add a bold new mechanic that redefines the experience? Or do they return to their more traditional roots, with handcrafted dungeons and unique tools that expand exploration?

Personally, I wonder if the next Zelda might try to bridge the gap—bringing together new players who were drawn in by the sandbox freedom of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, with long-time fans who prefer the classic, adventure-driven structure. If Nintendo can truly combine the strengths of both approaches, the result could easily stand among the very best entries in the franchise.

The first three Zelda games would be considered open world for their time and sure over the course of the years the formula for Zelda became more refined and in turn that lead to the more linear exploration of your N64 and GameCube era games. But in a weird way I do feel with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, that this is a full circle moment where the formula has returned to its origin point with new technology and ideas, now with Nintendo stating this formula is still the way forward in future, I really wonder how it will be iterated on, and evolve over time.

Of course, how exactly they’d achieve that balance is hard to predict. But it’s worth thinking about, especially when you consider how Breath of the Wild itself was a modern reimagining of the blueprint set by the original Zelda and refined by A Link to the Past.

Then there’s the hardware factor. For the first time in years, Nintendo won’t be constrained by the limitations of the Switch. Could that mean a larger, denser Hyrule? Entirely new regions to explore? Or a deeper evolution of the systemic, cause-and-effect design that defined the recent games? But them have this coupled in a way that could work with the more traditional blueprint.

And finally, there’s the matter of story. How will the next game continue the narrative—or reposition itself—within the ever-expanding Zelda timeline?

There are many routes that the series could go, and it does feel like it is at an interesting crossroads in terms of what it can do now with the new technology. Another element they could add is go full Four Swords, and add some sort of multiplayer function, I mean it was in demand with the mods that people made a couple of years ago.

It feels like simply building on the current blueprint a third time around does feel like it could lead to fatigue, so I'm predicting that they'll have to do something to spice up the formula. To me, I feel the best direction forward for Zelda is bridging the fanbase between old and new, utilizing the systems in a way that could be threaded into traditional dungeons, and at the same time could retain its open-world blueprint that sparks curiosity and creativity. I think this in large part comes down to the tools that are given to Link, I think that they could mix these to work in dungeons in a traditional sense, but in the open world in a modern sense.

To me what I feel the modern Zelda excels at best is creating a sense of curiosity through the exploration of its world, what is off in the distance, and Tears of the Kingdom further built on this with taking that curiosity further but infusing it into the creativity of building and constructing a world in this sandbox depiction of Hyrule. Taking these ideas and marrying them with the puzzles, unique and intentional dungeons of old, and having a narrative that is linear in how it is told would be a home run. Because the disjointed story of the modern Zelda's is the one setback I think is undeniable compared to the more linear Zelda experiences.

But I want to ask you, I'm sure there are many fans out there who are fans of many different iterations of the Zelda series, so I want to ask, where do you feel the series should go next, and what would you like to see from Zelda in the future? Do you think that the series should go back to its roots, or would you like to see another game in the more open-world sandbox formula.

As always I am Tarrmu, and this has been Thinking out Loud, thanks for watching.

Notes

https://www.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/s/jYguzuH7gb