With the next mainline The Legend Of Zelda still several years away, a reader has shared concrete ideas for what it could do differently from existing games. The reader, writing for GameCentral's Reader's Feature, suggests focusing on story and combat, areas where Zelda has traditionally been weaker.
Waiting for the next mainline Zelda
Like every Nintendo fan, the reader is eagerly awaiting the remake of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time next month. For a long time, they considered it the best game ever made, only overtaken by Breath Of The Wild. Tears Of The Kingdom will be four years old in May, so it's not inconceivable that Nintendo will start hinting at the next mainline game next year, especially with the movie and 40th anniversary celebrations. The reader doubts it'll be out much before 2030, but a name or artwork might appear.
The reader notes that part of Zelda's magic is its rarity, with mainline games appearing once or twice a generation, keeping it special and giving Nintendo time to make something memorable. They also point out that Nintendo has confirmed the next game will not be in the Ocarina Of Time style nor use Breath Of The Wild's map, which is more information than usual.
Drawing from The Witcher 3
Having played a lot of The Witcher 3 remaster recently, the reader sees similarities between both franchises, as they are big open world games, and Zelda comes close to being a role-player. One obvious suggestion might be to make it an actual action role-player, as the series dabbled with this in Zelda 2, though that's not a series highlight. Stats wouldn't make much difference except for level grinding, and Breath Of The Wild already had a form of that with gearing up for Ganondorf.
The reader thinks the next mainline Zelda should finally make an effort with its story. Despite Tears Of The Kingdom being a direct sequel, it barely referenced Breath Of The Wild and had no story more complicated than 'get Ganondorf.' Even the time-travel bits with Zelda were pretty pointless. The reader also cites Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, which they're currently playing, as having a terrible script, and believes better dialogue and acting would help, but Nintendo doesn't seem to care.
Improving combat and reinventing again
The reader's idea is for the next Zelda to focus on things it doesn't traditionally do well, including story and combat. While Zelda combat isn't bad, it's adequate rather than good, with good boss battles but not great actual combat. They suggest making combat more complex, with more options and weapon types, pushing it as far as possible, not to Devil May Cry levels but in that direction.
Zelda has already been reinvented once, so the reader sees no reason it can't be reinvented again. These suggestions, plus maybe a new art style, married to the usual gameplay and dungeons, could easily result in another all-time classic.
