Five years ago, in January 2013, Eiji Aonuma announced that Nintendo is working on a new big Zelda game and that they want to rethink the conventions of the series with this title. The Wind Waker HD was announced at the same day and ever since we got many different Zelda titles on both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS to keep us entertained, until Breath of the Wild finally came out four years later. There were A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors, Majora's Mask 3D, Tri Force Heroes, Twilight Princess HD, Twilight Princess Picross and Hyrule Warriors - Legends. Spin-offs, remasters, as well new top down Zelda games, including a multiplayer-centric episode. There has been a lot to play for Zelda fans in those four years.
Now, Breath of the Wild has been released together with all its DLC, where the Master Works artbook confirmed that a sequel is already in the works. That shouldn't be surprising and with the success of Breath of the Wild it's only natural to assume that we finally get a proper sequel on the Nintendo Switch using the same engine, much like Majora's Mask following Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64.
However, such a sequel probably won't be finished in two years time. It's more likely that a sequel will appear somewhere between the end of 2020 and early 2022, maybe even nearing the end of the Switch's lifespan, though the Switch might be around much longer than the Wii U. So, there's again some time to gap and to keep Zelda fans busy in the meantime. We still might see another title on the Nintendo 3DS this year and we might also get something for Zelda on iOS/Android, but the focus will certainly lie on the Nintendo Switch in the upcoming years.
And it already started with the Hyrule Warriors - Definitive Edition. This combines the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of Hyrule Warriors into one neat package and gives everyone the opportunity to (re)play the game on the Nintendo Switch. So, there's already that, but what else can we expect from the Nintendo Switch in the future? What ports, remasters and even new games could be on the horizon, before the big sequel to Breath of the Wild finally arrives? Let's make a list!
Hyrule Warriors 2
While there's already the Hyrule Warriors - Definitive Edition coming to the Switch, we shouldn't expect any new contents for this release, other than the Breath of the Wild costumes for Link and Zelda. It's more likely that Koei Tecmo will soon begin working on a proper sequel, after Fire Emblem Warriors got its DLC done with the "Fire Emblem Awakening Pack" in March 2018, which is around the same time when the Definitive Edition of Hyrule Warriors gets released.
Since the Nintendo Switch kicked off with Breath of the Wild and it became an overwhelming success, it's clear that Hyrule Warriors 2 will set its focus on the new Zelda game. The four Champions will likely be introduced as new playable characters, alongside other characters from the game. And of course there still plenty of interesting characters from previous titles left for lots and lots new content.
Interestingly, the upcoming Dynasty Warriors 9 will for the first time in the series try an open world formula. Maybe that's something that they will adapt in Hyrule Warriors 2 as well? More thoughts about the sequel in later post!
Skyward Sword HD
After the Wii U got both the Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD in its library, it's only a matter of time until Skyward Sword will get an HD remaster as well. And the Nintendo Switch seems like the perfect system for the job, where the joycons are predestined to bring back the motion-controlled sword battles of the Wii Zelda. It's a no-brainer, really.
It wouldn't need extensive work, in fact the graphics could be upscaled in a similar fashion to the Wind Waker HD, where only few Nintendo developers worked on the project. They could also hire Tantalus, the studio that made Twilight Princess HD, for the job. Fixing the bug, where you get the explanations for all treasures and insects again after rebooting the game, would make it automatically a hundred times better. Add another trial cave and some amiibo support on top and they got themselves an easy HD release.
However, after Nintendo admitted that they developed Breath of the Wild around the shortcomings of Skyward Sword, it will leave a potential HD version in a bad spot. So, they'd probably wait one our two years, when that's water under the bridge. Or they could advertise this as a "classic" Zelda experience for those, who didn't like Breath of the Wild as much. There are always two sides to each coin.
The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD Ports
Why only release Skyward Sword HD? Why not create a "Zelda HD Collection" with the game and the HD remasters from the Wii U? That's certainly a question that some readers might have at this point, but it's more likely that The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD will stay on Wii U for now. And there are three good reasons for this:
1) The Wii U needs some exclusives after all. Many of its interesting games have been ported to the Nintendo Switch already and Nintendo has to draw a line somewhere, where we're talking about ports of ports now. And these games were mainly filler-material to keep the fans entertained before Breath of the Wild, which was available from the start on the Nintendo Switch.
2) Both titles heavily advertised the usage of the Wii U GamePad while playing the game on the TV. And such comfort features as looking on your map while salvaging treasure or switching items on the go wouldn't work on the Nintendo Switch. Of course both games were playable with the Wii U Pro Controller only, so this won't exclude a Nintendo Switch port, it just makes the thing less likely.
3) Both games added actual ingame items based on Miiverse, which is now dead. The Tingle Bottles in the Wind Waker HD were already a replacement for the Tingle Tuner and used to incorporate Miiverse messages in a beautiful way into the game. And the Miiverse Stamps in Twilight Princess HD replaced the contents of chests that only contained lots of useless Rupees in the original. Both were excellent additions and both would have to be replaced yet again for potential Nintendo Switch versions. So, we'd have replacements for replacements in ports of ports.
With all of this in mind, it's more likely that Nintendo will stick to Skyward Sword HD on the Nintendo Switch for now, instead of adding more to the grand Wii U port tide. But of course it's not impossible, just don't expect these ports any time soon.
Side-Scrolling Zelda
While Zelda games are for the most part are either played from a 3rd person or top down perspective, it also used side-scrolling in its past, mainly with Zelda II - The Adventure of Link. It's often considered as the black sheep of the series, but it doesn't have to be. Nintendo could revisit this title and maybe create a remake or "requel" of the NES classic on Nintendo Switch.
The thought has been around for quite some time (see this post for example), but it's getting more likely, after Grezzo started "hiring for a legend 2", where the job offers are asking for experience with the Unreal Engine, which is quite versatile and can be used to make side-scrollers like Shadow Complex.
Games like Ori and the Blind Forest or Trine 2 also show how amazingly beautiful side-scrollers in a fantasy setting can be, where Nintendo could create its own outing based on Zelda II - The Adventure of Link. And if they bring back that game's music, it will already be a win.
Multiplayer Zelda
Aonuma stated at E3 2016 that he would like to try another multiplayer Zelda game based on what they learned with Breath of the Wild (source). And with the upcoming online service for the Nintendo Switch, as well as local multiplayer support of the Switch it seems rather likely that Zelda will be getting another multiplayer-centric episode on the system.
But right now it's hard to estimate what this would mean. It could be an online experience based on the world of Breath of the Wild, where something like a MMORPG would be a possibility. It could also mean that they might create another top down multiplayer game like Four Swords, but use an open world approach for the game instead of letting you play linear levels. We could even get both or something else entirely.
Anyway, for local multiplayer a top down experience seems like the best choice, because this perspective comes off more natural while playing with a handheld, which is the exact same reason why they used this style for A Link Between Worlds, the new Zelda game on the Nintendo 3DS. So, something similar to Four Swords or Tri Force Heroes, but maybe in a bigger scale, where you have larger worlds and player counts, is more likely, if they want to push the local multiplayer mode of the system.
Apropos Four Swords, it's notable how both games were basically lost in time in the last generation. At least the Four Swords Anniversary Edition was available for a brief time on Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, but Four Swords Adventures was only ever supported by the GameCube (and Wii backwards compatibility) and was never re-released ever since, unlike all the other Zelda games. And seeing how much Nintendo advertises the local multiplayer features of the Nintendo Switch it comes to mind that they could port the game to the system somehow. However, Four Swords Adventures was played on multiple handhelds and a TV at the same time, which the Nintendo Switch currently doesn't support. The TV screen also used to cover large areas, which won't translate to smaller screens that well. So, it might be that this game will be lost in time forever.
Classic Game Selection
It doesn't seem like the Nintendo Switch will get its own Virtual Console any time soon. Of course they could simply re-release The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II - The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the Switch for fifth/sixth time, but instead Nintendo seems more interested in putting its Virtual Console on the "Nintendo Classic Minis", where versions of the GameBoy and the Nintendo 64 will most likely follow,
The Nintendo Switch on the other hand will face a new approach with its upcoming online service, where the focus seems to be on adding online multiplayer to classic games like Balloon Fight or Super Marios Bros. 3. This could finally lead to an online version of the GBA Classic Four Swords, but also maybe Four Swords Adventures, if they're willing to put in some more effort.
Zelda (Shrine) Maker
Well, this isn't the likeliest candidate and at first we'd have to see, if Super Mario Maker even makes its way on the Nintendo Switch, where you can only use the touchscreen in its handheld mode. And even then a "Zelda Maker" would probably be not as attractive. Zelda is more complicated than your typical Mario level and would probably even need "programming" similar to the RPG Maker, unless they stick to the classic NES style of the first game. But then it would lack the variety and many features of modern Zelda games.
An alternative could be a "Shrine Maker" or "Trial Maker" based on Breath of the Wild, which works similar to the easy-to-use Test Chamber Creator in Portal 2. Players could create and share their own Sheikah Shrines, where the goal would be to reach the end with a given equipment. This could lead to many interesting ideas and lots of fun for Zelda fans.
Summary
Breath of the Wild will certainly get a sequel on the Nintendo Switch, where in the meantime Nintendo could entertain us with various side projects. Breath of the Wild itself could lead to a new multiplayer experience and/or a Shrine Maker spin-off, as well as heavily inspire a potential Hyrule Warriors 2. Otherwise we can look forward to more ports and maybe even a return to side-scrolling Zelda. While this is all speculation, we do know for sure that the Switch hasn't seen the last of Zelda.
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