Fans of the series will have years of gaming fun with The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom, but we’re still going to look ahead at the prospect of the next Zelda game in the series. It’s easy to forget a few of the options that could be up next in the dazzle of the latest games, but we’re going to try to cover all of the bases for you.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is arguably the greatest game ever made and its a similar story for its predecessor, Breath of the Wild. The next entry after these, Echoes of Wisdom, isn’t as mindbogglingly huge, but it’s still a lot of fun, returning to the top-down style of Link’s Awakening on the Nintendo Switch.
AdvertisementThe reality is that the next Zelda experience we get after this could be DLC for TotK, but this doesn’t really count as a stand-alone game. Instead, we’re talking about the next full title to be released with Link/Zelda as the main protagonist, so buckle up for a ride into both the past and the future of the series.
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Option 1. We’ll get a top-down Zelda remake for the next game
One of the most likely answers is that we’ll get a remake for the next Zelda game after Tears of the Kingdom and the success of Echoes. The big question is what game is most likely. We’ve already had a remake for Link’s Awakening and Skyward Sword in the Nintendo Switch era, which covers both more recent titles and blasts from the past.
There are plenty of other games that could be up next, but if you look at the previous two remakes, there’s plenty to build on. To start with, The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening created a top-down model that could easily be fitted to a number of titles, as seen recently with Echoes of Wisdom (video below), and the 3D capabilities of the Nintendo Switch makes anything from the N64 onward a possibility.
AdvertisementIf you look at a prospect for the top-down contender, it’s hard to look anywhere other than The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which debuted on the SNES back in 1991. It’s one of the all-time great Zelda games and would look incredible with a similar style treatment as the Link’s Awakening remake and Echoes.
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As such, this is top of our list for the next title. It sold well, but more importantly, it’s a firm fan favorite with a classic setting. However, it’s got a darker, moodier feel than the two previous games, so could be interesting.
It’s not the only contender, though, with other options including 2013’s The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds, which blended top-down and a unique side-scrolling mechanic. It blurred the line between the first two Zelda games and it could work well in a similar style to Link’s Awakening.
None of the other top-down games have as much clout as the two mentioned above with the exception of 1 and 2 on the NES. These would need a lot of re-working to remake them for the modern era, so we’re kind of discounting them, despite the addition of Gleeoks to Tears of the Kingdom.
This gives us A Link to the Past and A Link Between worlds as our best contenders for a top-down remake. The former is our preference, but we’d be happy with a remake of the Nintendo 3DS title in the short term if the big N decides to go down that route.
Option 2. We’ll get a 3D Zelda remake for the next game
The other option is that we’ll get a 3D remake next, but considering the fact that we had The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword ported to the Switch a couple of years before TotK, it might be the one after next. However, it’s still a possibility and our big shout is Ocarina of Time.
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We’ve had HD versions of pretty much every 3D Zelda game since this, which makes them less likely, but the last version of Ocarina of Time was the Nintendo 3DS port in 2011. Rebuilding it from the ground up like the Resident Evil 4 remake would deliver the kind of experience that could really deliver for fans of the series.
It’s the game that introduced a lot of gamers to the concept of an open (ish) 3D world in the first place, so it’s fair to say that it’s the spark that lit the touch paper for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It’s also got horse riding and some incredible bosses, so would work very well as the next entry.
AdvertisementIt’s entirely possible that we could get Majora’s Mask with the armor being in TotK, but this is the sequel to Ocarina of Time, so surely it makes sense to start there. It’s also possible we could get a remake of The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, but as mentioned above, these have both had recent HD versions, so they’re not quite as likely.
Option 3: Another brand new Zelda game
The likelihood of the next Zelda game being a brand new title is pretty low, but you never can tell with Nintendo. Tears of the Kingdom is still blistering thumbs all over the world and with the prospect of a DLC on the horizon (fingers crossed) it makes sense for Nintendo to look elsewhere.
Add to that the fact that we’ve also just had The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom and it seems increasingly likely that we might be in for a wait for something brand new from the series.
As a result, we might have to hold our breath until 2028 before there’s another brand-new title, which would be a similar gap to the one we saw between BotW and TotK. It’s hard to imagine Nintendo topping the latest entry in the series, but we thought that about the 2018 masterpiece.
If we had to take a punt, we’d say that the next brand-new game in the franchise will be a third and final follow-up to these. This will make it a trilogy and the only way to top it is to throw Demise and Null into the mix.
AdvertisementIf you don’t know much about the evil force behind the evil forces of Hyrule, you can read more details with the link below. Demise was the final boss in Skyward Sword and the ultimate malevolence that inspired Ganondorf and his demon form Ganon to be the gits that they are.
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Null added to this mythos with his introduction in Echoes of Wisdom as the entity that the Godesses sealed away. He is the embodiment of chaos and likely the source that send forth Demise, so we might be treated to a little more from them in a third open-world title.
Another option would be to take the action away from Hyrule and set it in a neighboring land. This way, they could give us a continuation of the story and narrative, but still deliver a brand new experience. It’s something that the series has done well before, so it would fit in nicely.
You can read more in the section below, but the only reason why we might get something new and exciting next would be the introduction of new hardware from Nintendo. With expectations high for this in the coming 12 months, all bets are off, so watch this space.
What console will the next Zelda game be on
With the Nintendo Switch in its 7th year, it’s already racked up the biggest gap between a console for the gaming giant. As a result, speculation has been pretty big that the next console is on its way, with spring 2025 being a possible launch window.
This means that we may well see the next Zelda game out on whatever that is. Maybe a Super Switch or maybe some kind of VR hybrid that creates a totally new Nintendo experience.
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If the latter is the case, then maybe we’ll get a brand new VR Zelda game and we’ll have to throw our theories out of the window, but that’s an equation that we’d be fine with. Either way, the next title will probably be a duel release in the vary least, so it’s going to be an interesting year for Nintendo fans.
Check out our full guide for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom for more help to get the most out of the game. You can also see our computer games section for more news and features on TotK, or visit The Legend of Zelda website at https://www.zelda.com/.
