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In the wake of the twin financial titans that are The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its six-years-later sequel, Nintendo has made the executive decision never to look back. Series producer Eiji Aonuma is all-in on the open-world formula, and while BOTW and Tears of the Kingdom are two of my favourite games ever made, the semi-linear 3D Zelda approach invented in Ocarina of Time and tweaked to great effect with four more games may never return.
While the 2D Zelda entries have maintained that classical identity, three-dimensional mainline projects have largely abandoned the approach, and fans are turning up in droves to lament that loss of identity – and to discuss which games from other series, if any, can scratch that Ocarina-forged itch.
Searching For Some Links To The Past
On r/TrueZelda, a thread’s presently popping off filled with fans who are holding vigils for the more in-depth dungeons and directly-presented stories seen in Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. A common theme in the discussion centres on a lack of replacements in the OoT style from other studios who still treasure that design philosophy enough to hold the torch.
“By throwing most known Zelda elements out the window with the Wild era games, the franchise has lost an identity and style of game that was unique to it,” the thread’s creator begins. Folks quickly line up to concur. “Yeah, sadly it’s in the domain of 2D games now seeing as everything has gone open world,” Martin_UP replies.
Reminiscence is the name of the game here. “Classic 3D Zelda is my favorite game type,” says Nintendomandan (I like the name, by the way). “I’m with you 100 percent. No one else makes games like that, not even close.”
But it’s not all bitter Deku Nuts and repeatedly regrettable gifts for Hestu. Some vintage-era devotees have found suitable stand-ins now that Link’s adventures in the realms of three dimensions emphasize nonlinearity at the expense of a more focused form.
“The Star Wars Jedi games (Fallen Order, Survivor) had a lot of 3D Zelda elements of exploration, upgrading/finding new gear that opens up previously locked parts of the map,” Naismythology points out. And mhNOVICE has found a 3D Zelda saviour in the Metroid Prime games.
In a December 2023 interview with IGN, series producer Eiji Aonuma really kicked off this ongoing sense of loss with the following passage:
“It’s interesting when I hear people say [they prefer the old entries] because I am wondering, ‘Why do you want to go back to a type of game where you’re more limited or more restricted in the types of things or ways you can play?’ But I do understand that desire that we have for nostalgia, and so I can also understand it from that aspect.” -Eiji Aonuma
I have a great deal of respect for Aonuma-san. Like I said, I adore Breath and Tears. I truly do. But he’s off-the-mark here. It’s not just about nostalgia, as social media discourse like today’s continues to spring up month after month. At least modern 2D Zelda still gets it.
