Pick a setting for the next 3D Zelda.

[Irene]

This is not supposed to be a fun club thread, I accidentally hit post.
Please make this a 100% genuine conversation.

The next new 3D Zelda still perhaps ways off, and will most likely be our first brand new Zelda world and setting in roughly a decade.

But what world? What setting?

Zelda is known for changing settings often, but only on a more surface level: A water-covered world, a psychedelic apocalypse story, a sky setting, etc. A red thread of high fantasy, a bit of surrealism, and so on has always been running through the series. But what if the next Zelda is a complete setting overhaul? Something truly fresh and surprising. What would that be?

I know you could make arguments for traces of these already being in Zelda games - Breath of the Wild has sci-fi elements for example - but for this setting overhaul, I mean 100% the full-blown real deal.

So, out of these alternatives - or somethig else that catches your imagination - what would you like, or what could you see, the next 3D Zelda to be?

 

[Derachi]

BROOKLYN BAYBEEEEE NEW YORK!!! LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!

 

[Kasceis]

Medieval Fantasy is best.

 

[majimazio]

Steampunk 3D Zelda please.

 

[RochHoch]

Termina

Go all in on weird eerie Zelda

 

[JorgenRaft]

New Jersey

 

[Edie Napier]

Gothic fiction, just because I want Castlevania back.

 

[Josh5890]

San Andreas

 

[SammyJ9]

I would love to see Zelda go Steampunk but in a very specific way that's also kind of sci-fi: Think Treasure Planet - sky pirates, airships everywhere, weird cityscapes and alien worlds... and imagine being able to solar surf as transportation!

 

[andywitmyer]

An admixture of steam punk, dystopian, urban and dark fantasy with some goth/noir aesthetics might be nice. Or maybe perhaps even else that hasn't been done before.

(But, in all seriousness, I had to go with steampunk.)

 

[ComradeKoopa]

Something so weird it doesn't fit an existing theme/genre. Steampunk is the last thing I'd like.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

I just want something that's fairly traditional fantasy with a dark edge to it, like Twilight Princess I suppose.
Similar art style too, aiming for more realism would be nice.

 

[Irene]

BROOKLYN BAYBEEEEE NEW YORK!!! LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!

In all seriousness, I would be all over an urban fantasy New York Zelda.

I know Super Mario Odyssey have already been there, but you can't overuse New York.

 

[GPKs3]

Dark Fantasy

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

This is not supposed to be a fun club thread, I accidentally hit post.

I removed the prefix, hope that’s ok

 

[Common Knowledge]

Steampunk in New Hyrule (taking place after Spirit Tracks) or dark fantasy.

Not, like, From Software level of dark fantasy, but something that has a more mysterious and foreboding tone. I want to be creeped out from certain areas of Zelda games again!

 

[Leviraps]

It’s time for steampunk

 

[Scrawnton]

Give me dark fantasy. Make the game take place in the Twilight Realm.

 

[SirArthur]

Steampunk would be nice. Its not that far out from how BOTW and TOTK were tech forward.

Maybe they can do Oceanpunk, akin to Bioshock. Not distopian but having tech for living underwater and exploration. Or at least let it be a section of the game

 

[Catsylvania]

Part of me wants to go all the way back to the original Legend of Zelda with a simple fantasy setting and minimal plot. Drop Link right in the middle of the world with very little explanation or gatekeeping. The overworld would be much smaller than Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom’s Hyrule. You still have the freedom to go almost anywhere except it’s only intended to be a 20 to 30 hour adventure tops to 100%.

I’d also like to see more of an exploration of ancient futurism as in taking Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom or even Skyward Sword even farther. Like the setting is crumbling ruins of a clearly more far more advanced civilization (i.e. skyscrapers, railroads, cars etc. or even steampunk) that nature has largely reclaimed while Link’s arsenal remains firmly medieval/fantasy based because that’s where the present civilization has built itself up to. Something clearly happened to this world, but there’s no immediate explanation. You would slowly uncover what happened except you don’t get all the answers because that isn’t the point of the story similar to Ico/Shadow of the Colossus.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

Underwater

 

[NoahFlute]

Zelda A Link Between Worlds' style and setting in 3D would be beautiful.

 

[Yavga]

Steampunk would really be a fitting theme but I fear that it would feel too similar to what the setting from the past 2 games was with the whole "Fallen Kingdom against Sheikah technology"

I would love a more "Alien" theme maybe even combined with biblical elements, let Link scale something like the tower of Babylon and meet unfathomable creatures stuck between heaven and hell.

A little bit what Sakurai uses as inspiration for the Kirby and Smash Bros games.

 

[oldpuck]

This feels more like genre than setting, but I'm into it!

I don't love Wind Waker or Phantom Hourglass, because as much fun as traveling in the sea is, in both games it feels pretty empty. The Sky in Skyward Sword is even more extreme version of that. I'd love something where pure traversal felt as fun as that, but richer in stuff to do.

So give me - steampunk submarines. Instead of the surface being below you and dangerous, the surface is above you, and dangerous. Instead of being one society separated from the earth, which seems mostly barren, Link reestablishes lines of communication between lost Hylian tribes after a calamity sends them all beneath the sea, trapped in bubbles created by ancient tech they no longer know how to use.

How's that for a pitch?

 

[WestEgg]

As fanficky as it might seem… yeah I think a modern urban fantasy would be super cool. I’m a fan of the genre anyway, and I think Zelda may be better served branching into wild new varieties and reimaginings than always trying to reinvent the high medieval fantasy wheel.

 

[7threst]

I picked noir, which I want in a slow moving, little bit creepy but especially in a vibey Davin Lynch' Twin Peaks way where memorable cinematic music and motifs carry meaning while traversing and are cues for the player, combined with visuals that guide the player and visual cues on the face of the protagonist serving as a guide.

... Lol I don't really know how to explain myself. But put into keywords I want the next Zelda to be: dark, desperate, melancholic, throwbacks, memories, hard, sadness, and at the end: bitter sweetness.

 

[Síriocaz]

Cancún

 

[BowserIsMyFather]

Steampunk.

That concept art where link was kinda like a cyborg, with a mechanical arm and some kind of laser eyed mask, bring that back.

 

[redmutineer75]

Early modern era and Age of Revolution. Widespread use of firearms in line infantry by militaries, emergence of parliamentary democracy, beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, etc. I want Link to shoot Ganon with a Kentucky rifle.

 

[Aether]

reading through the list: gothic fiction would be fun, but thats just not their style and i would so not be happy with their interpretation.

Steampunk: kinda would lead back to spirit tracks in a way. If its more FF9 steampunk...then we can talk.

Urban Fantasy: that would be new, and i would be curious how they would handle their open world design in more ... enclosed environment. But i can't think of a way how hyrule and the races would fit into that, and i sadly don't expect them to do a "this time outside of hyrule" again.

my problem is not that i cant see many of themes for zelda, but i cant see many of those themes without to much of a zelda twist, devolving the theming to a gimick.

Like i would love a horror themed zelda, especially looking at some artworks of botws concept phase.

Or heck, the early forest screenshots of OoT and TP -> that feeling of beeing lost in a never ending forest.

But in the game that feel was never captured, and the new ones have to much vertical movement options, so that "foggy forest" was never even an option, link would just klimt a tree and done.

Other good ones: space/sci fi... but hyrule is back in mideaval. Essentially the same as sheika/zonai, but what they left is travel to other satelites of the planet (moons, meteors), so that you always have the vista in the sky of th other planets where you can find resources, dungeons, etc above your head if you are in hyrule, and if you are visiting one of them, you see a huge planet with hyrule above you. That would just look damn cool all the time.

portal based phantasie: traveling different realities. I see it more with mario, doesn't work to well with zelda. and im not talking dark/light world mechanic. more phase shifting between widely different parts, more like Rift apart but in dungeons.

Nausica style, with huge ofrrest, fungi, animals... kwindmils, etc. eco fantasy, gliders, planes... a lot of the themes of TotK can be taken over, and mechanics, and really worked on. Having the gliders be more... capable, and less diy physics toys to open up dogfights and longer travel with them.

Angels egg style, maybe with a ton of unusuall collors (for example...don't have the sky blue... at all).
Thats maybe going more into artstyle then fantasy style.

And obviously, nautic. We had that, but i could see it work again with an archipeligo and naval travel between them, with a big "field" kinda where link can travel to the ocean floor, and there looking up you can see the sun through the watter, huge whales and stuff swimming above you like the dragons in botw... weird kreepy see creatures... and link would be able to move just as above water with some magic. (but lets say he first needs to unlock that skill, and its tied to a resource)

 

[Earthbounder]

Dark Fantasy, so that the Majora's Mask gang can get a bone thrown their way after 24 years.

 

[PixelKnight]

There would be so much complaining about it. But I’d love to see something totally different. Like Dark City or something. A thriller where Link and Zelda feel that something isn’t right in the industrial, steampunk setting they work mundane jobs in . But somehow it’s all a magical construct to trap them in a dystopian reality while the real Hyrule is under threat. It’s all a dungeon, a thriller, a maze full of metaphor about courage and wisdom where every small victory takes them closer to the truth and back to Hyrule where the big bad isn’t expecting them to literally bust through a wall, cast off the smoke and shadows, and step into a world of bright colours and blue skys as the Zelda march kicks in. It’s all connected by the Lost Woods that connect all places and people that are lost, even if they are nothing more than a locked-up, shabby old park in the urban, noir world.

Mainly I just want to see Link as a PI with Zelda as the classy lady who turns up with a thread they just can’t stop pulling at together.

It should be a romance too. Obviously. Once back in Hyrule Link keeps his green suit and raincoat, and Zelda her cool flapper dress and umbrella. Because reasons.

 

[Balfreys]

I worry that if Zelda changes the genre of its setting too much, it'll lose what shaped its identity as a High Fantasy story to begin with, but if I had to choose one of these however... I wouldn't mind being in a steampunk-fantasy world that sort of builds on the Ancient Sheikah tech with a Sheikah main character who works behind the scenes of the Hyrule Royals, but that is incredibly lofty thinking. Impa Justice, you cowards!

 

[Famicrono]

I actually would like to see Space themed Zelda.

 

[Aether]

oh damn, i forgot to mention another one: bug planetary maze. Blame! style.
Hypersphere. can also be purely phantasy, something happened, for long times the races now live in this maze, but link and zelda relaize there was a world before the world reshaped to this maze/sphere, and they need to find some mcguffins/deities and other races to get the world back to where it was and see the light of the sun again, something only spoken on in legends.

What was the reason? dont know, so many options, but since the concept is so out there lets keep is close to home in the narative: ganon gained the triforce and wished for a maze with endless night where he can torment them (a little bit of revenge) and also bring his hell army to the upper world (outer layer of the maze), the hell spawns now roaming the surface.

 

[balgajo]

I'd love to see something with the vibes of OOT, MM or TP(my favorite zelda games). High Fantasy would be my answer but I voted for Dark Fantasy option.

 

[PuppyPrincex]

anything except dark fantasy. I am so sick of society's obsession with dark fantasy. It is never fuckign ending. I think a Wild West Zelda could be cool, or a Space Zelda, or a Tokyo Zelda. there's been like 20 zelda games set in places that basically all look the same, give me something new please

 

[Bowser Sr.]

I'd like a modern Zelda set in modern days with a Link who is a on the ball teenager with a sword that he carries on his back like a baseball bat and a Zelda who is a on the ball teenager who is more worried about prom date and her studies than saving the day and a Ganondorf who is a plucky on the ball teenager who is kiiind of a bully at their high school and basically there would also be an Epona who is a on the ball teenager who trots and struts on the way to the mall and of course we'd have other returning faces like the King of Hyrule who just can't catch a break balancing the act of being a parent and a on the ball teenager

 

[MinxyEMF]

Detroit. No, I will not elaborate.

EDIT: I didn't read the OP thoroughly enough before hitting post, my bad.

 

[MonHunterORB]

Science fiction or a dark/gothic fantasy that leans more into horror elements.

Both horror(Shadow Temple, Arbiter's Grounds, redeads, Dehydrated ganondorf etc.) and Sci-Fi elements are reoccuring in Zelda(Guardians and Sheikah tech and Zonai devices for example) but never really dominate the overall setting.

A Zelda that is outright Sci Fantasy or heavily leans horror elements could be very interesting.

 

[PuppyPrincex]

I'd like a modern Zelda set in modern days with a Link who is a on the ball teenager with a sword that he carries on his back like a baseball bat and a Zelda who is a on the ball teenager who is more worried about prom date and her studies than saving the day and a Ganondorf who is a plucky on the ball teenager who is kiiind of a bully at their high school and basically there would also be an Epona who is a on the ball teenager who trots and struts on the way to the mall and of course we'd have other returning faces like the King of Hyrule who just can't catch a break balancing the act of being a parent and a on the ball teenager

why are they on the ball? Who is link's slacker friend? Groose? Tingle? Minoru Shiraishi?

 

[Chaotic Neutral]

I second wanting 3D Zelda to take a handbrake turn after TOTK. Do modern urban noir in Kakariko City or whatever. Bring the magic to a completely new genre.

 

[Rainbow]

Do a dark world and grotesque horror like creatures with dungeons (in an open world setting). That's where Zelda is best.

 

[wrowa]

I don't know, but I'm excited to see what the next world will look like. I think it's clear that after BotW/ToTK a new world that's just another interpretation of the usual Hyrule landmarks would be quite boring, so I'm sure the next one will shake things up again a bit.

I guess we'll see in 2028 or so. Welp.

 

[Rareware]

A couple of things I’d be interested in. One, another take on a seafaring adventure. The Wind Waker is still amongst the best Zelda games and I’d love to see it expanded on in a really big, open world game. I guess it would be kind of like what you see with Sea of Thieves, minus the simulation of a pirate life and with the charm of Zelda with its combat, story, puzzles and characters. You know, just more Wind Waker, but bigger!

Secondly, I’d love to see the Adult Timeline continue beyond Spirit Tracks so we can see how far the technology grew. It seemed to be on the trajectory of becoming a steampunk type world, so did it? Ocean Horn 2 is kind of how I imagine the new Hyrule in Spirit Tracks became, but I’d like to know definitively.

That’s all I’ve got in terms of settings. What I really, really want is to see a new 3D game that isn’t set in Hyrule so we can get some new characters, enemies, and evil antagonist. Much like it is with Mario & Luigi Brothership. Getting out of that “comfort zone” really allows the devs to stretch their creative muscle in a lot of ways they’re otherwise restricted to.

 

[Aether]

I don't know, but I'm excited to see what the next world will look like. I think it's clear that after BotW/ToTK a new world that's just another interpretation of the usual Hyrule landmarks would be quite boring, so I'm sure the next one will shake things up again a bit.

I guess we'll see in 2028 or so. Welp.

Your word in fujibayashi's ear...

Just new artstyle and slight twist on the world won't do it, that's why I honestly hope for a trilogy, with the hero of the wild moving to a different land and helping there out.

Mm, oops/ooa, pH/st and th where all continuations that either reused the hero or artstyle or both.

A new art style and hero always meant hyrule, so I hope that either they reuse the base a third time (artstyle, link) but in a new land, or the big wish would be a whole rethinking (mentioned ideas above)

 

[Rareware]

Your word in fujibayashi's ear...

Just new artstyle and slight twist on the world won't do it, that's why I honestly hope for a trilogy, with the hero of the wild moving to a different land and helping there out.

Mm, oops/ooa, pH/st and th where all continuations that either reused the hero or artstyle or both.

A new art style and hero always meant hyrule, so I hope that either they reuse the base a third time (artstyle, link) but in a new land, or the big wish would be a whole rethinking (mentioned ideas above)

I 100% want it to be the same Link & Zelda. That massively increases the chances of us getting a game that won’t feature Hyrule, like Majora’s Mask and Phantom Hourglass. Because as it currently stands, every single game that has ever featured a brand new Link & Zelda has been set in Hyrule. All of them.

The developer interviews though made it sound like they were kind of done with this Link and Zelda, so our chances aren’t great

 

[Concernt]

For a time there were two parallel series of Zelda. Phantom Hourglass started with proper engines and Spirit Tracks had trains. I'm almost surprised we HAVEN'T seen a fully steampunk setting yet. The costume design, a real strong point of BOTW/TOTK could go especially hard. It also allows for them to both explore big city design AND have plenty of untouched countryside.

My concern would be the story, because inevitably it's going to be Hyrule controls the machinery, so they can't have the machinery itself be evil, and we'll get another boring "it's not the tool that's wrong it's the user", which would suck. An example present in TOTK would be monarchy, where the message is strongly "patriarchal monarchy isn't morally wrong, you can only have the wrong king".

After TOTK I'm not sure the Zelda team can manage with moral gray areas Steampunk is primed for, be it because of management keeping the story "plain" for marketing reasons, avoiding controversy or what have you.

 

[MagicOtters]

I'm going to champion a sci-fi Zelda for the rest of my life. There's already so many sci-fi elements in the series--I think it's time.

 

[Phendrift]

What I’ve always wanted was Zelda in Space, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Sci Fi. Stuff that would normally be high tech like spaceships, space suits, would be like a “Zeldafied” version of those instead of the actual thing.

Basically the series would stay as fantasy as it usually does, just… in space. And ideally focus on the loneliness, melancholy, and beauty of space like Mario Galaxy 1 did a lot, rather than the usual high tech Sci Fi that comes with that setting

It’s almost becoming a “need” to me after how heavenly the Sky felt in TotK. I just know the Zelda team would nail that atmosphere.