A Zelda game developed for Android and iOS mobile devices, following games like Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, isn't unlikely and already had been rumored last year. In a recent post I've explained, why I would like to have such a game, but in the meantime I've been putting more thoughts into how the contents of such a game could look like and how it all would be structured.
For this I didn't look far, but instead I've been taking many pages from the multiplayer Zelda outings, mainly Four Swords and Tri Force Heroes. Those count as some of the least popular Zelda games, but let's face it, a Zelda game on smartphones probably won't become a fan favorite either. But it could become something that works well on the platform and would focus entirely on singleplayer this time, which certainly would be preferred by some fans.
Let's go through the basics again. The game would utilize the top down perspective and Toon Link as its protagonist, similar to Tri Force Heroes or the Nintendo DS Zelda games. The touch controls would be based on the latter, so you point in the direction where Link should be going, you tap things in the environment to interact with them, you tap enemies to attack them and there would be button in one corner of the screen to activate your current item. Simple.
With smartphone games people often want to play in short bursts, instead of going through extensive play sessions that they get from PC or console games. There are exceptions, of course, but Nintendo's smart device titles so far have backed this up. Playing short levels in Super Mario Run and quick rounds of strategy in Fire Emblem Heroes support this play style.
So, with a Zelda game on smartphones it's likely that it will adopt the level-based structure of the multiplayer installments: Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures and Tri Force Heroes. Instead of having a big connected overworld, the game world would be divided into individual areas that give access to shorter levels. Let's take a look at Four Swords and Tri Force Heroes here:
Four Swords featured the Sea of Trees, Talus Cave (ice cave dungeons), Death Mountain and Vaati's Palace. The Anniversary Edition also had the Realm of Memories and the Hero's Trial on top of that.
Tri Force Heroes had the Woodlands, the Riverside, the Volcano, the Ice Caverns, the Fortress, the Dunes, the Ruins and the Sky Realm. Additionally, there has been the Den of Trials as a free DLC level. From the selection of areas this is looking really good here.
The difference between both games is that Four Swords had randomly generated stages in each area (except for the additions in the Anniversary Edition), while Tri Force Heroes had four static levels per area.
It's remarkable how Four Swords featured procedurally generated content at its time, which is quite popular with "Roguelike" games these days. Technically, the game didn't fully generate everything at random, but put together its stages based on different templates. But there are so many that I kept discovering new floors and rooms, even though I've played through the game various times. It really adds to the replayability, which is something you want to have with a smartphone title.
In the case of Tri Force Heroes you had three additional "Challenges" per level, which gave you a reason to replay them, but once you've beaten all 32 levels in all four variants you were done with the game and there was no reason to keep playing other than the fun of it or to support other players with their remaining Challenges. But you'd really want to avoid such a stop here, where procedurally generated levels are the key.
Of course even with level generation you will learn and discover all patterns eventually, but it still would offer a lot more to discover than static levels. It would also allow for a continuous increase in difficulty, where the more often you beat a certain level, the harder it will become.
Now, I would add the typical "themes" as areas to the game: forest, volcano, water, ice, desert and so on. But each area would have an overworld stage and a dungeon stage. So, if you select the forest, you can play either some Lost Woods type of level or a Forest Temple dungeon. You can chose every area from the start, but you need to beat the overworld section first, before you can go into the dungeon. And the dungeons always end with a boss. So, there are two sides to each area, which makes sense for a Zelda game.
Beating a boss for the first time will reward you with an additional Heart Container. Beating a stage will score you something different. Four Swords used different keys for Vaati's Palace for this, but it could be something like Force Gems or Spirit Orbs. Let's say you keep collecting "orbs" from the levels, because this seems like a typical mobile game currency. You could keep getting more orbs from repeating the same stages, however, each playthrough will become more difficult and challenging. Tougher puzzles, stronger enemies, harder to find secrets and so on. You might be able to select lower difficulties again, but then you wouldn't get any new orbs.
Finally, those orbs are required to enter the final dungeon. This could be something that has levels to it, like a giant tower. You need a certain number of orbs to open the first floor, but once you've beaten it, you can strive for higher floors, where the difficulty increases and where you might get different endings and greater rewards. You can compare this to the three Epics in Four Swords, where you can replay the game two times for a greater challenge, just that this would be longer lasting and more challenging. It could even go on forever.
Additionally, the game could have a special trial area, where you would have something like the Den of Trials (a survival dungeon like the Cave of Ordeals from Twilight Princess or the Trial of the Sword from Breath of the Wild), with bosses thrown into the mix. And maybe also special super challenging stages like the Hero's Trial in the Four Swords Anniversary Edition.
Unlike in a normal Zelda game you wouldn't keep the items with you, but they would be part of the stages, like in the Zelda multiplayer games. So, for the sake of simplicity you can always only carry one item with you at a time, which can be swapped on item pedestals.
There could be many different items throughout the game for lots of variety. Anything that was established in top down Zelda games and that works with touch controls could be considered. Here's a list of ideas:
These are all items that were featured in past Zelda games, but of course there could and should be new ones as well. There are many possibilities here, though Nintendo often likes to keep the selection of core items small, like around eight different ones. This has been the case for the multiplayer installments and Nintendo DS games, but it's still possible that Nintendo could make Ravio really jealous with such a game.
There shouldn't be any usage limitations like ammo or even a magic / stamina / energy meter. Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures didn't have any limits to the items and it worked fine. The Nintendo 3DS games introduced the energy meter for items to prevent spamming and to add a little challenge, but with touch controls you couldn't go all crazy anyway. As long as nothing gets as overpowered as the Hammer in Phantom Hourglass, things will be fine.
And not having a meter will add to the simplicity. You don't want too many things to clutter the screen. Ideally, there only would be the item and your hearts visible at all times.
With a game like this you want a collectible that's useful and that stays with you outside of the stages. Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures didn't have something like this, but Tri Force Heroes then introduced the outfits, which were arguably the best thing about the game.
And this is quite popular with Nintendo games right now. Breath of the Wild offers over a hundred different armor pieces and Super Mario Odyssey has many fun costumes, where they currently keep adding new ones in updates, which is exciting. But Tri Force Heroes did it before and put Toon Link in many cool and crazy outfits, which all had different abilities.
There's also lots of potential for fan service by putting Link into costumes based on different tribes and characters from the Zelda universe, like this neat Darunia outfit, which lets you walk through fire and swim through lava:
There were also outfits based on Fierce Deity Link, Linebeck, the Kokiri, the classic River Zora, the Hammer Bros. from Super Mario, Tingle, Princess Zelda and more.
It was a great feature, where they could just copy the whole thing and even bring a majority of the outfits back. I doubt that anybody would mind. Some outfits were based on multiplayer features or the Energy Gauge, which probably wouldn't return, other outfits might be altered and there certainly would be many new outfits that Tri Force Heroes didn't have, for example to enhance any of the new items. It would be like with the masks in Majora's Mask, which originated in Ocarina of Time, but were expanded even further for the sequel.
Like in Tri Force Heroes you would craft the outfits from Rupees and treasures found in the stages. The main difference here would be that the treasures aren't a reward for beating a stage, they are found everywhere inside the stages by killing enemies, cutting bushes, lifting rocks, opening treasure chests and so on. This would really reward the players, who take their time to explore everything within a level, instead of simply rushing to the finish like.
While this entire concept has taken a lot from the multiplayer-centric Zelda games, it was so far focused on singleplayer and for good reasons. When playing a game on your mobile phone the connection isn't always the best. And with Nintendo's smart device titles it's already annoying enough that they require a good connections (think LTE) for most of the time or they won't work... The situation wouldn't become any better with an unstable multiplayer on top of that.
It will be interesting to see what Nintendo has planned for Mario Kart Tour, but so far the multiplayer modes were based on "ghosts". Super Mario Run puts you against other players' attempts at the "Toad Rally". And in Fire Emblem Heroes you can create a team for the Arena, which will be controlled by the AI, if another player chooses to challenge you.
But the Zelda series has done something similar before with the StreetPass Shadow Link Battles in A Link Between Worlds. There you could create your own Shadow Links and face the Shadow Links of other players in an arena, which was the fiercest enemy in the game. Tri Force Heroes brought this special AI back, but sadly only for the Den of Trials.
Here it could work similar to A Link Between Worlds. Your Shadow Link will have the same number as hearts as you, which gets used to rank you with other players in the beginning. Additionally you can equip your Shadow Link with an item and an outfit.
Before you enter the arena, you can chose the same: one item and one outfit. The arenas will be based on the different areas and dungeons from the game and have various hazards, but won't have any items in them. This added too much of a luck factor to Tri Force Heroes, where players may or may not spawn right next to their desired items. So, it's best to let them choose what they want upfront.
It's also thinkable that you might face multiple Shadow Links in one match, instead of just one. There could even be different modes, like one where you need to collect Force Gems in a given time.
Nintendo likes to update their smart device titles with new content, features and events on a regular basis. This keeps the games in the news and brings players back to them. And it adds a significant reason to keep playing the games.
Here this would be simple. Major updates would add new areas to the world, which could come with new items that are useful in there. For example there could be a swamp area that features the Water Rod. And of course there would be new outfits to upgrade the new items or to help within the new environments, like a Deku outfit that prevents you from sinking in bogs.
New outfits could also always be part of smaller updates, which are released more often. These could even be there to promote other Zelda or Nintendo games at the time.
Additionally, there could be special "Challenges" for specific areas, which are only available for a limited time and which will reward you with rare materials or many Rupees or "orbs".
With games on smart devices there is always the question, how they eventually become profitable for the developers. Nintendo has tried different approaches here, where Zelda could be somewhere between things.
The game could only give you access to one or two areas in the beginning. You can still enter the final dungeon, if you grind enough "orbs" (or whatever) from those areas, but you can also unlock additional areas by purchasing them. Ideally, there would also be a way to buy the full game, where you get access to all current and future areas at once.
Additionally, there could be micro-transactions to purchase "orbs", Rupees or materials. I'm not a fan of those, but I also don't mind them, as long as they are fully optional.
All of this doesn't really re-invent the wheel here. Make it singleplayer, take the controls of the Nintendo DS Zelda games, take the procedurally generated levels of Four Swords, take the outfits from Tri Force Heroes and the Shadow Link Battles from A Link Between Worlds and all of this would make an entertaining mix for Zelda fans, who want to game from time to time on their smartphones. Of course Nintendo would potentially come up with something new instead, but past Zelda games have already proven that the series might work just fine on smart devices with what it already offered.
For this I didn't look far, but instead I've been taking many pages from the multiplayer Zelda outings, mainly Four Swords and Tri Force Heroes. Those count as some of the least popular Zelda games, but let's face it, a Zelda game on smartphones probably won't become a fan favorite either. But it could become something that works well on the platform and would focus entirely on singleplayer this time, which certainly would be preferred by some fans.
Let's go through the basics again. The game would utilize the top down perspective and Toon Link as its protagonist, similar to Tri Force Heroes or the Nintendo DS Zelda games. The touch controls would be based on the latter, so you point in the direction where Link should be going, you tap things in the environment to interact with them, you tap enemies to attack them and there would be button in one corner of the screen to activate your current item. Simple.
Areas and Dungeons
With smartphone games people often want to play in short bursts, instead of going through extensive play sessions that they get from PC or console games. There are exceptions, of course, but Nintendo's smart device titles so far have backed this up. Playing short levels in Super Mario Run and quick rounds of strategy in Fire Emblem Heroes support this play style.
So, with a Zelda game on smartphones it's likely that it will adopt the level-based structure of the multiplayer installments: Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures and Tri Force Heroes. Instead of having a big connected overworld, the game world would be divided into individual areas that give access to shorter levels. Let's take a look at Four Swords and Tri Force Heroes here:
Four Swords featured the Sea of Trees, Talus Cave (ice cave dungeons), Death Mountain and Vaati's Palace. The Anniversary Edition also had the Realm of Memories and the Hero's Trial on top of that.
Tri Force Heroes had the Woodlands, the Riverside, the Volcano, the Ice Caverns, the Fortress, the Dunes, the Ruins and the Sky Realm. Additionally, there has been the Den of Trials as a free DLC level. From the selection of areas this is looking really good here.
The difference between both games is that Four Swords had randomly generated stages in each area (except for the additions in the Anniversary Edition), while Tri Force Heroes had four static levels per area.
It's remarkable how Four Swords featured procedurally generated content at its time, which is quite popular with "Roguelike" games these days. Technically, the game didn't fully generate everything at random, but put together its stages based on different templates. But there are so many that I kept discovering new floors and rooms, even though I've played through the game various times. It really adds to the replayability, which is something you want to have with a smartphone title.
In the case of Tri Force Heroes you had three additional "Challenges" per level, which gave you a reason to replay them, but once you've beaten all 32 levels in all four variants you were done with the game and there was no reason to keep playing other than the fun of it or to support other players with their remaining Challenges. But you'd really want to avoid such a stop here, where procedurally generated levels are the key.
Of course even with level generation you will learn and discover all patterns eventually, but it still would offer a lot more to discover than static levels. It would also allow for a continuous increase in difficulty, where the more often you beat a certain level, the harder it will become.
Now, I would add the typical "themes" as areas to the game: forest, volcano, water, ice, desert and so on. But each area would have an overworld stage and a dungeon stage. So, if you select the forest, you can play either some Lost Woods type of level or a Forest Temple dungeon. You can chose every area from the start, but you need to beat the overworld section first, before you can go into the dungeon. And the dungeons always end with a boss. So, there are two sides to each area, which makes sense for a Zelda game.
Beating a boss for the first time will reward you with an additional Heart Container. Beating a stage will score you something different. Four Swords used different keys for Vaati's Palace for this, but it could be something like Force Gems or Spirit Orbs. Let's say you keep collecting "orbs" from the levels, because this seems like a typical mobile game currency. You could keep getting more orbs from repeating the same stages, however, each playthrough will become more difficult and challenging. Tougher puzzles, stronger enemies, harder to find secrets and so on. You might be able to select lower difficulties again, but then you wouldn't get any new orbs.
Finally, those orbs are required to enter the final dungeon. This could be something that has levels to it, like a giant tower. You need a certain number of orbs to open the first floor, but once you've beaten it, you can strive for higher floors, where the difficulty increases and where you might get different endings and greater rewards. You can compare this to the three Epics in Four Swords, where you can replay the game two times for a greater challenge, just that this would be longer lasting and more challenging. It could even go on forever.
Additionally, the game could have a special trial area, where you would have something like the Den of Trials (a survival dungeon like the Cave of Ordeals from Twilight Princess or the Trial of the Sword from Breath of the Wild), with bosses thrown into the mix. And maybe also special super challenging stages like the Hero's Trial in the Four Swords Anniversary Edition.
Items
Unlike in a normal Zelda game you wouldn't keep the items with you, but they would be part of the stages, like in the Zelda multiplayer games. So, for the sake of simplicity you can always only carry one item with you at a time, which can be swapped on item pedestals.
There could be many different items throughout the game for lots of variety. Anything that was established in top down Zelda games and that works with touch controls could be considered. Here's a list of ideas:
- Lantern
- Shovel
- Slingshot
- Bow
- Bombs
- Boomerang
- Hammer
- Grappling Hook
- Whip
- Gust Jar
- Fire Rod
- Ice Rod
- Lightning Rod
- Tornado Rod
- Sand Rod
- Water Rod
- Cane of Somaria
- Magnetic Gloves
- Roc's Feather
- Pegasus Boots
- ...
These are all items that were featured in past Zelda games, but of course there could and should be new ones as well. There are many possibilities here, though Nintendo often likes to keep the selection of core items small, like around eight different ones. This has been the case for the multiplayer installments and Nintendo DS games, but it's still possible that Nintendo could make Ravio really jealous with such a game.
There shouldn't be any usage limitations like ammo or even a magic / stamina / energy meter. Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures didn't have any limits to the items and it worked fine. The Nintendo 3DS games introduced the energy meter for items to prevent spamming and to add a little challenge, but with touch controls you couldn't go all crazy anyway. As long as nothing gets as overpowered as the Hammer in Phantom Hourglass, things will be fine.
And not having a meter will add to the simplicity. You don't want too many things to clutter the screen. Ideally, there only would be the item and your hearts visible at all times.
Outfits
With a game like this you want a collectible that's useful and that stays with you outside of the stages. Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures didn't have something like this, but Tri Force Heroes then introduced the outfits, which were arguably the best thing about the game.
And this is quite popular with Nintendo games right now. Breath of the Wild offers over a hundred different armor pieces and Super Mario Odyssey has many fun costumes, where they currently keep adding new ones in updates, which is exciting. But Tri Force Heroes did it before and put Toon Link in many cool and crazy outfits, which all had different abilities.
There's also lots of potential for fan service by putting Link into costumes based on different tribes and characters from the Zelda universe, like this neat Darunia outfit, which lets you walk through fire and swim through lava:
There were also outfits based on Fierce Deity Link, Linebeck, the Kokiri, the classic River Zora, the Hammer Bros. from Super Mario, Tingle, Princess Zelda and more.
It was a great feature, where they could just copy the whole thing and even bring a majority of the outfits back. I doubt that anybody would mind. Some outfits were based on multiplayer features or the Energy Gauge, which probably wouldn't return, other outfits might be altered and there certainly would be many new outfits that Tri Force Heroes didn't have, for example to enhance any of the new items. It would be like with the masks in Majora's Mask, which originated in Ocarina of Time, but were expanded even further for the sequel.
Like in Tri Force Heroes you would craft the outfits from Rupees and treasures found in the stages. The main difference here would be that the treasures aren't a reward for beating a stage, they are found everywhere inside the stages by killing enemies, cutting bushes, lifting rocks, opening treasure chests and so on. This would really reward the players, who take their time to explore everything within a level, instead of simply rushing to the finish like.
Shadow Link Battles
While this entire concept has taken a lot from the multiplayer-centric Zelda games, it was so far focused on singleplayer and for good reasons. When playing a game on your mobile phone the connection isn't always the best. And with Nintendo's smart device titles it's already annoying enough that they require a good connections (think LTE) for most of the time or they won't work... The situation wouldn't become any better with an unstable multiplayer on top of that.
It will be interesting to see what Nintendo has planned for Mario Kart Tour, but so far the multiplayer modes were based on "ghosts". Super Mario Run puts you against other players' attempts at the "Toad Rally". And in Fire Emblem Heroes you can create a team for the Arena, which will be controlled by the AI, if another player chooses to challenge you.
But the Zelda series has done something similar before with the StreetPass Shadow Link Battles in A Link Between Worlds. There you could create your own Shadow Links and face the Shadow Links of other players in an arena, which was the fiercest enemy in the game. Tri Force Heroes brought this special AI back, but sadly only for the Den of Trials.
Here it could work similar to A Link Between Worlds. Your Shadow Link will have the same number as hearts as you, which gets used to rank you with other players in the beginning. Additionally you can equip your Shadow Link with an item and an outfit.
Before you enter the arena, you can chose the same: one item and one outfit. The arenas will be based on the different areas and dungeons from the game and have various hazards, but won't have any items in them. This added too much of a luck factor to Tri Force Heroes, where players may or may not spawn right next to their desired items. So, it's best to let them choose what they want upfront.
It's also thinkable that you might face multiple Shadow Links in one match, instead of just one. There could even be different modes, like one where you need to collect Force Gems in a given time.
Content Updates
Nintendo likes to update their smart device titles with new content, features and events on a regular basis. This keeps the games in the news and brings players back to them. And it adds a significant reason to keep playing the games.
Here this would be simple. Major updates would add new areas to the world, which could come with new items that are useful in there. For example there could be a swamp area that features the Water Rod. And of course there would be new outfits to upgrade the new items or to help within the new environments, like a Deku outfit that prevents you from sinking in bogs.
New outfits could also always be part of smaller updates, which are released more often. These could even be there to promote other Zelda or Nintendo games at the time.
Additionally, there could be special "Challenges" for specific areas, which are only available for a limited time and which will reward you with rare materials or many Rupees or "orbs".
Payment Options
With games on smart devices there is always the question, how they eventually become profitable for the developers. Nintendo has tried different approaches here, where Zelda could be somewhere between things.
The game could only give you access to one or two areas in the beginning. You can still enter the final dungeon, if you grind enough "orbs" (or whatever) from those areas, but you can also unlock additional areas by purchasing them. Ideally, there would also be a way to buy the full game, where you get access to all current and future areas at once.
Additionally, there could be micro-transactions to purchase "orbs", Rupees or materials. I'm not a fan of those, but I also don't mind them, as long as they are fully optional.
Conclusion
All of this doesn't really re-invent the wheel here. Make it singleplayer, take the controls of the Nintendo DS Zelda games, take the procedurally generated levels of Four Swords, take the outfits from Tri Force Heroes and the Shadow Link Battles from A Link Between Worlds and all of this would make an entertaining mix for Zelda fans, who want to game from time to time on their smartphones. Of course Nintendo would potentially come up with something new instead, but past Zelda games have already proven that the series might work just fine on smart devices with what it already offered.
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