If there was one Nintendo game this year that could really excite me, it wouldn't be Metroid Prime 4. It wouldn't be the new Super Smash Bros. either. I don't have a Switch yet and I'm still holding off to buy one, until Nintendo sells the inevitable golden Zelda Special Edition, so for me there's no reason to get excited for Switch games yet.
A new Nintendo 3DS Zelda game would be nice, but the rumors from the beginning of this year about a Link's Awakening 3DS remake or requel were most likely fake or otherwise Nintendo would have announced this game at the last Nintendo Direct, which heavily focused on upcoming Nintendo 3DS games in 2018.
And even if another Nintendo 3DS Zelda game was coming, it still wouldn't be on the top of my excitement list, because it probably would just be another short game that you can beat in one weekend. What would excite me, however, is a Zelda title for Android and iOS.
But whyyyy...?!!!
There are multiple reasons here. For starters, I really like the classic topdown Zelda gameplay and I think that with the touch controls of the Nintendo DS Zelda games the smartphone is the platform, where this type of Zelda gameplay can and will stay alive. Of course there could be topdown Zelda games on the Switch, but it probably wouldn't be the focus, since the system can run something amazing like Breath of the Wild. For smart devices on the other hand it would be the perfect choice, when it comes to Zelda.
The most important reason, however, is that I have about 60 minutes of Smartphone game time per workday, because I'm going to work via tram, which takes half an hour. So far I've spent this time with Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, which has been nice, but I need something new soon.
I've already completed all the worlds in Super Mario Run and unlocked all characters. And I've only got eleven more items for the Kingdom Builder left to collect, where four of them were restricted to some Mario Kart promotion and aren't available right now. The rest will need extensive grinding in the Toad Rally and Remix-10 modes, which isn't that much fun anyway...
Fire Emblem: Heroes on the other hand is potentially a never-ending story, where I still like the simple strategy gameplay and the character designs. But during this Eastern the Gacha Goddess hit me hard, where I went from 300 Orbs down to zero trying to get a certain character, which sort of killed my motivation for now. Usually, when it comes to getting banner characters, I have some good luck and it only takes a certain amount of tries to get what I would like to have, but in this case there were two banner characters of the same color and I kept getting the wrong one. And once you're invested in the gambling, it's hard to stop. I wouldn't put any money in this game, but others do, seeing how it's Nintendo's most successful smart device title yet. And this leaves a sour taste...
Anyway, it would be nice to have something new from Nintendo, before Mario Kart Tour in 2019, which doesn't really feel that exciting to begin with. Also, I'm not that big of a Mario fan and I don't care much for Fire Emblem either. But I'm a huge Zelda fan and if the rumors from last year can be trusted, Nintendo planned to release a Zelda game for smart devices, following Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. And this would be perfect for me.
What intrigues me here is that this probably wouldn't be some "weekend" game like A Link Between Worlds. Nintendo's smart device titles are usually "dumbed down" in some form and are supposed to be played in short bursts, but they are also made to last and see regular updates and events. With Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem: Heroes it's the simplified gameplay, what's "dumbed down", while Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp aims at a smaller setting. But they all are perfect for the go and see regular content updates (less so with Super Mario Run, sadly).
With Zelda there is also no real reason to dumb down the core gameplay, because the Nintendo DS Zelda games already have proven that Zelda works with a touchscreen alone. But such a game would most likely aim at some level-based structure, similar to Tri Force Heroes or the Four Swords games, so that you can play it in short sessions.
In there is the potential of a Zelda game that regularly gets new content or even keeps creating fresh content on its own via randomly generated levels - like the first Four Swords game, just more extensive. Or you could take The Binding of Isaac as an example for a game that features generated dungeons in the classic Zelda style. And this is something that you could keep playing on a daily basis.
Ideally, such a Zelda game could keep me busy and entertained for the rest of the year and beyond, instead of being a traditional Zelda title that simply ends, after you've beaten all the dungeons and found everything. And that's what excites me, where I really hope that Nintendo will announce something soon.
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