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Discussion Will Zelda get more spin-offs now the series has exploded in popularity?

bixente

bixente

Tingle
Mario has Kart, Party, all the sports games, Paper Mario, Mario Olympics, Mario Rabbids etc.

Zelda has Hyrule Warriors.... and Cadence of Hyrule. But surely there's potential for some really neat spin-offs given how interesting Hyrule is as a universe.

I have a friend who's been playing totk, and she loves the President Hudson signpost puzzles. A smaller eshop only puzzle game revolving around these puzzles would be cool imo.

We've seen people build lots of deadly mech-likes and post them up on social media, imagine a pvp online game where you can take your creations and duke it out against other players, sorta like Custom Robo but in Hyrule locations.
 
The Sheik spin-off would have been amazing, but I’m not sure I’m expecting Nintendo to branch out that much.

IMO, we are probably six years away from the next new 3D Zelda. My guess is we will get some sort of 2D Zelda from Grezzo, an OoT remake, WW/TP ports, and maybe another Hyrule Warriors game.
 
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bixente said:
sorta like Custom Robo but in Hyrule locations
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I think I suggested it in another thread, but I say just straight up use the TotK physics engine to facilitate a new Custom Robo. PLEASE.

I've always wanted to play as a Zora or a Goron, so I'd love to get an adventure or RPG game based on the idea. Gorons in particular are already a wealth of gameplay options.
 
grobla123 said:
We don't even have a Zelda mobile game, oddly enough. A simple puzzle game feels like a natural fit.
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I’ve had a Zelda mobile game in my head for a while. Basically it would be centered around mini dungeons, you get a limited number of dungeon dives a day (more can be purchased through in game currency earned through play or micro transactions), and the dungeons have treasure you recover by completing them. This can be items, equipment, money, or maybe even other playable characters. String it all together with a season narrative that has different villains and a final dungeon for that story. Throw in some collaborative multiplayer for raids or big dungeons Ala 4 swords, and I think you’d have a decently fun, monitizeable Zelda game that can have some longevity.
 
WestEgg said:
I’ve had a Zelda mobile game in my head for a while. Basically it would be centered around mini dungeons, you get a limited number of dungeon dives a day (more can be purchased through in game currency earned through play or micro transactions), and the dungeons have treasure you recover by completing them. This can be items, equipment, money, or maybe even other playable characters. String it all together with a season narrative that has different villains and a final dungeon for that story. Throw in some collaborative multiplayer for raids or big dungeons Ala 4 swords, and I think you’d have a decently fun, monitizeable Zelda game that can have some longevity.
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timer-based gameplay limits have gone away and for good reason. the majority aren't compelled to spend to keep playing as it's easier to drop it and move onto something else
 
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I hope so. I don't have any expectations/wishes for what they'd be, I just want to see them happen.
 
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"Romance of the Hyrule Kingdom/Ganondorf's Greed" - Grand strategy game from Koei Tecmo. Pick your race/faction and see who can conquer the entirety of Hyrule and/or lay siege to the Triforce first. Special events will have CG cutscenes and voiceovers, and of course, we'll have plenty of custom scenarios to go along with the designated campaigns for each race/leader.

While the temptation is there to utilize a famous war in the mainline game's history as a backdrop, such as OoT's "Hyrulian Civil War", it'd probably be better to just tell an original story. That way, you can freely include as many cameos from past works, as well as original characters, as you wish.

TheSpaceBetween said:
Lets get a new 2d game before we start thinking about spinoffs.
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Please believe, I want one, too. But we might as well, since the existence of a spinoff won't likely take the resources away from a new 2D game.
 
I'm definitely open to more Zelda spin-offs if they're solid and creative, but right now, I'm thinking we're still not going to see more than one Zelda game a year, whether that's a spin-off, new game, or remaster/remake. I think that annual cadence would limit how many new spin-offs we could see. Perhaps I'm wrong and the series will become more like Mario with the potential for multiple releases every year. However, for the time being, I'm thinking Mario remains Nintendo's primary multipurpose IP and Zelda remains at least a little more selective. We have a lot of years between now and the next mainline game, so I'm curious how Nintendo will fill the gap.

OP, I like your ideas. Personally, I'd like a Zelda Theatrhythm. And another Hyrule Warriors.
 
Well first I want a brand new 2D Zelda

And honestly for spin-offs you don’t even need to branch out much from BotW/TOTK. Both those games probably have a zillion potential ideas that could carry a captain toad-like more focused, smaller spinoff. Id take a collection of shrine-like challenges, a collection of Eventide scenarios, a game solely focused on curated Ultrahand challenges. Whatever they put out. They’ll probably abandon a lot of ideas for the next entry, get some more use out of TOTK’s brilliant mechanics.

I also think Hyrule Warriors: The Imprisoning War is more of a given than people think. It could even work like HW->HW legends and function as both a new scenario as well as a next gen definitive edition for AOC that performs better.
 
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Don’t we already get something out almost every year whether it’s a 2D game, a 3D game or a spin-off or whatever? Switch has had Cadence, 2 Warriors games, the LA remake, BOTW and TotK. I hope we get a 2D Zelda next but sure, I can’t see them making less Zelda-related games now :)
 
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The Legend of Zelda: The Lon Lon Rancher
You are **lon (your name always ends in ~lon), and you have inherited a ranch from your grandpa Talon.
It's a small ranch near Hyrule Town, where you can socialize, buy items, trade produce, buy furniture, sell crops and loot.
Yes loot! Loot that you got from venturing out in the fields, forests, deserts, mountains, lakes, dungeons etc.
I'm imagining the Ocarina of Time layout(/succesful hero timeline) fully remade in lush 16-bit-esque 2D sprites with loads of particles and effects to really bring Hyrule to life.
 
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A third Hyrule Warriors based on TotK's Imprisoning War seems highly likely, really, given how Age of Calamity did. I'd imagine they do some wacky time travel shenanigans (again) to get the present era Sages into the ancient past, though. I'll probably enjoy that, if it happens, especially if it centres things on Zelda, but I would like to see more for the series and Zelda than Warriors spin offs. That being said, after finishing things up yesterday, my main thoughts were how I'd be willing to spend more time with this cast of characters, especially if I got to play as them. Maybe a Bayonetta style action game where you play as Riju and Urbosa...

Personally I really liked the Heroes of Hyrule pitch, but it's a shame that never happened.
 
The thing is, Nintendo views Zelda as their kinda premium, 'connoisseur's choice', critical darling type franchise. It's like how most Hollywood studios have separate 'prestige' labels which pump out Oscar-friendly dramas whilst the main business focuses on blockbusters. The Zelda brand is built on critical acclaim, and an average Mario Party-equivalent would do more damage to public perception of Zelda than it does Mario, who has always been a family-friendly jack of all trades.
 
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They already have a ton of resources committed to Zelda, I'm not sure they need or want much more. 3D Zeldas are by far Nintendo's biggest projects and take a large amount of people from EPD, Monolith and numerous external studios. It also depends on what Aonuma, being the steward of the series, can take on. And he seems to be happy working on one big mainline game with a few smaller projects sprinkled in-between. There's also his comment about making a new IP but it's a bit unclear how serious he was. Currently, the series' output has basically coalesced to the mainline games and two supportive pillars.

Grezzo and Tantalus will most likely keep updating older titles. WWHD and TPHD will eventually find their way to Switch/Switch 2. My best guess is that Grezzo is working on Oracles remakes, though I have no idea what shape they will take. I personally hope that they get to work on a proper new 2D Zelda eventually since it's clearly not going to happen at EPD.

Omega Force (with or without Team Ninja) will keep making Hyrule Warriors for as long as they sell because they're relatively easy to fit into their schedules. Koei Tecmo works fast and the fanservice timeline shenanigans ensure that they don't step on EPD3's toes. The Imprisoning War from TotK is the perfect layup for the next one and I'd be surprised if it isn't named exactly that.

One problem I can see in the mid to long-term is that they will run out of old games to rerelease. 2022 was the first year in a while that didn't have any Zelda-related release whatsoever, most likely due to TotK's delay. Depending on how serious they are about yearly releases they might try to expand their offerings.

Based on past collaborations, I could see two studios take a stab at it:
Gust: Nintendo and Koei Tecmo are pretty close these days, having worked on multiple legacy series (Zelda, Fire Emblem, Marvel Ultimate Alliance) and even original stuff (Buddy Mission). Gust is so far the only KT subsidiary that hasn't worked on a Nintendo game. A turn/command-based RPG in the Zelda universe seems like a pretty easy sell. Could be set in the Age of Calamity continuity.
PlatinumGames: Also a studio that Nintendo has collaborated with multiple times in the past. A Sheik/Impa action game by one of the premier action studios is a no brainer. Less likely since Nintendo seemingly prefers them on original games but it's not completely unrealistic.
 
On one hand I wouldn't want them to dilute the brand and confuse the casuals.


On the other hand, give me all the spinoffs.
Get Monolith to make an RPG with traditional Zelda dungeons and item gating.
Let's do the Sheik game for real, Assassin's Creed Hyrule with Platinum combat, a modern reinterpretation of the world of Ocarina.
Shrinemaker with online sharing!
A game starring Zelda that is full of complex puzzle labyrinths, the hardest puzzle content in series history.
In fact... Screw it, get From on the line, it's time for Zelda Souls. Dark Poes.
 
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I would love a Story of Seasons clone set in Hyrule.

ILikeFeet said:
I still think a Hyrule MMO for Switch, Drake, and mobile could do well
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I would love that too. A real MMORPG is not something I imagine Nintendo doing but they do have Monolith who is already making not-MMO games with Xenoblade after all, especially with X which was basically an offline MMO already. (It did have online features but I never understood what was the goal of it, never much interacted with it beyond seeing other players' avatars.)
Would be awesome with all the races. Create your own Zora, or Goron, or Sheika, etc... So good.
I can already imagine a Nintendo MMO being really welcoming to non-MMO players, probably even more than something already casual friendly like FF14, which could be very fun and refreshing.
 
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Zelda is less easy to translate to stuff like sports spinoff or stuff.
I mean they can do them, but they would just cannibalize mario titles and sell less then them.

Something like a Warriors, Strategy (well ehre the overlap with either mario rabids or FE could be a problem), an Online Multiplayer (having the first actually reasonably possible zelda multiplayer would be great), some side adventure games set in the world of zelda, something like the sheik game. There would be potential for spinoffs, but it wouldn't work for relatively cheap spinoffs, and it would need separate aspects/focus then usual spinoff games.

I dont think "tingle party" or "goron racing" will be huge sellers, and unlike other publishers like square nintendo has already established titles running for those kinda series.
 
Aether said:
Zelda is less easy to translate to stuff like sports spinoff or stuff.
I mean they can do them, but they would just cannibalize mario titles and sell less then them.

Something like a Warriors, Strategy (well ehre the overlap with either mario rabids or FE could be a problem), an Online Multiplayer (having the first actually reasonably possible zelda multiplayer would be great), some side adventure games set in the world of zelda, something like the sheik game. There would be potential for spinoffs, but it wouldn't work for relatively cheap spinoffs, and it would need separate aspects/focus then usual spinoff games.

I dont think "tingle party" or "goron racing" will be huge sellers, and unlike other publishers like square nintendo has already established titles running for those kinda series.
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The previous multiplayer Zelda was already online.
 
Linkstrikesback said:
The previous multiplayer Zelda was already online.
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Yeah, i should have been more concrete:
a better online implementation. It feels like a nintendo online mode from the DS days.

first the way you have to connect. Second , no more or less then 3 human players need to be there (why not have 1 bot possible, or let the third be controlled by the others like in the single player). Third communication was not reasonably possible in game. Thats okay if you play with friends, and just call in discord, but if you play with random people, not having an voice chat is really problematic and misses the feel. The game also being level based kinda feels against the spirit of zelda to some degree.

Even then, the levels in 4 Swords Adventures felt more like zelda to me, while the levels in TH felt more like puzzle segments only.
 
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I don't think Zelda really lends itself to spin-offs as well as other Nintendo franchises like Mario or Pokémon. It's successful less because of its characters, and more because of its gameplay and design. I think there are limits to how much you can really do outside the core franchise, and even then I question how many customers would actually care.

Personally, I think they should keep their focus on new mainline entries (both 3D and 2D) and remakes/remasters.
 
TheMindOfThomas said:
I don't think Zelda really lends itself to spin-offs as well as other Nintendo franchises like Mario or Pokémon. It's successful less because of its characters, and more because of its gameplay and design. I think there are limits to how much you can really do outside the core franchise, and even then I question how many customers would actually care.

Personally, I think they should keep their focus on new mainline entries (both 3D and 2D) and remakes/remasters.
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Age of Calamity sold more units than many active Nintendo series and became the best-selling Musou mainly thanks to its association with Zelda and BotW specifically. People absolutely care about the world and characters.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
Age of Calamity sold more units than many active Nintendo series and became the best-selling Musou mainly thanks to its association with Zelda and BotW specifically. People absolutely care about the world and characters.
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I'd say this proves there's interest in the characters and world of Breath of the Wild specifically. The problem is that the Zelda franchise is more than just one era. Will people care when they move onto the next iterations of Link and Zelda for the next game (assuming it's not just BOTW3)? Sales weren't as high for the original Hyrule Warriors, which focused on older iterations of the characters.

I think BOTW has kind of become the FFVII of the Zelda series, where it's become an anomaly in how much people care about its world/characters vs the series at large. Zelda has historically been bigger and more relevant than Final Fantasy of course, but I feel like it was always beloved for its rich, adventurous gameplay that used the world and cast as set-pieces. The lore was something only hardcore fans cared about (and things like the Zelda timeline were only created to appease them), and the few spin-offs they tried never did as well as the main entries.
 
Agree with a lot of what @Dardan Sandiego said. I've already mentally pencilled in Hyrule Warriors 3 (Imprisoning War/Age of Imprisoning/Age of Upheaval) as a 2025 title for the next hardware. 100% time travel is involved because you can't exclude Link and the named present day Sages from that cast. Hell, depending how closely Nintendo and KT are working with Zelda, maybe Aonuma and Fujibayashi already sent a concept to KT before Tears finished development and we're looking at 2024.

I definitely (despite my repeated too many RPG complaints) welcome something in the RPG vein. A traditional party based RPG set a few years after Tears of the Kingdom, starring the Sages? Or the Sages set out together as a group to a new kingdom or realm on an errand from Zelda? Yes please. My joke prediction of a Zelda tactics game from Team Asano, modelled after Triangle Strategy, named Triforce Strategy, and replacing morality/liberty/utility with wisdom/courage/power has become a low-key dream project of mine. I think that gorgeous sprite work and isometric maps would look great for the Zelda universe. I'd also welcome a Platinum-developed action game, but I'd be happy for an interpretation of Impa or for Riju or Urbosa to be the star.

Finally, when it comes to the 2D series, I don't think Nintendo hand it over to Grezzo entirely. I think we'd have a situation closer to Metroid Dread or Pikmin 4, where a small core EPD team of 20 to 40 people retain tight creative control over the project and co-develop with Grezzo (Triforce Heroes was basically this, but I think the concept was held back by the 3DS and by the decision to go for 3 players). Equally, while Grezzo seem the obvious choice, you never know what new partnership might emerge.
 
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TheMindOfThomas said:
I'd say this proves there's interest in the characters and world of Breath of the Wild specifically. The problem is that the Zelda franchise is more than just one era. Will people care when they move onto the next iterations of Link and Zelda for the next game (assuming it's not just BOTW3)? Sales weren't as high for the original Hyrule Warriors, which focused on older iterations of the characters.

I think BOTW has kind of become the FFVII of the Zelda series, where it's become an anomaly in how much people care about its world/characters vs the series at large. Zelda has historically been bigger and more relevant than Final Fantasy of course, but I feel like it was always beloved for its rich, adventurous gameplay that used the world and cast as set-pieces. The lore was something only hardcore fans cared about (and things like the Zelda timeline were only created to appease them), and the few spin-offs they tried never did as well as the main entries.
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The original Hyrule Warriors still sold 1m on the Wii U of all consoles so it's not like people didn't show up for that.

That the popularity of BotW was a driving factor in the success of AoC is unquestionable but to me that just means they can't just slap the Zelda name on anything and expect it to sell gangbusters. It doesn't always work for Mario either (see Mario + Rabbids 2).
 
Age of Calamity had pandemic factors against it. The game ended up shipping in a state that could have used more polish, so some of the word of mouth wasn't as glowing as it was for HW1 out of the gate.

I can totally see a Hyrule Warriors 3 coming sooner or later, but whether it's focused on one Zelda title or a crossover is anyone's guess.
 
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Triforce Heroes is up there with the worst single player Zeldas, yet the multiplayer really was fun as hell, especially with competent people. Played through with 2 of my closest friends and there wasn't a session that didn't have at least one loud laughing break. It also has some really creative level design if you're playing with good people.
 
souio said:
Triforce Heroes is up there with the worst single player Zeldas, yet the multiplayer really was fun as hell, especially with competent people. Played through with 2 of my closest friends and there wasn't a session that didn't have at least one loud laughing break. It also has some really creative level design if you're playing with good people.
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Multiplayer Zelda is absolutely a concept that I think Nintendo will return to. It feels like Switch is the perfect system for that - better processing power and online than 3DS or GameCube, and an enormous installbase which increases the chances of there actually being people to play with (actually assembling a group of players was especially tough with FSA, for obvious reasons). Four Swords Adventures and Triforce Heroes absolutely showed the idea had promise, but both games were probably badly timed and held back the hardware they were on.

In fact, I'm surprised we don't have multiplayer Zelda on Switch yet. It really feels like this is the system where that idea could finally shine.
 
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Well, i wouldn't mind if they made a deal with KT that every new mainline Zelda game get's its own Warriors pseudo-sequel/prequel. I enjoyed Age of Calamity.
 
Lugia667 said:
vanpool closed recently actually....
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The price of neglecting the Fairyman. The toll must be paid.

JoshuaJSlone said:
He neglected to show up worldwide.
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A wrong which clearly must be righted. As we consider spinoffs, let us endeavor to set the world in order, even if only in this small way.

A compilation of the series wouldn't be a bad idea, I reckon.

And, as I have been known to suggest a Panel de Pon anti-RPG, likewise have I suggested a Tingle anti-RPG.

Beyond that ...

MissingNo. said:
Before reading anything that has already been posted itt: Triforce Tactics is a must.
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Supreme Overlord said:
I read something wrong and my error has wrought a horror, unleashed upon the world: Tingle Strategy, henceforth known as Tingle Tactics for the alliteration

Hylia have mercy on our souls.
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