Age of Imprisonment – Creator's Voice

Nintendo has released the newest episode of Creator's Voice, where 3rd or 2nd party developers talk about their upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 projects. And today it was the turn of Koei Tecmo and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

They do confirm a number of things that we have already been speculating about... You will get to know the masked sages. You will be able to combine items (like with Fuse or Ultrahand) and you can also team up with allies. Nothing surprising here.

But there is also a brief amount of new footage, mainly of Rauru fighting, expanding what we had seen in the announcement trailer. And it looks much smoother now, almost as if the original trailer footage ran still on an old Nintendo Switch. It probably didn't, but it was an immediate concern that they will prioritize having as many monsters and effects on the screen as possible over performance. The difference may also come from resolutions, where the trailer was in 4k. They do explicitly mention having higher frame rates than on Nintendo Switch, which is to be expected... And having a higher frame rate than Age of Calamity would be great...

It also would be great if they were to release a Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade of the predecessor, so it can profit from higher and smoother frame rates as well. That was by far one of the biggest points of criticism about it.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode

The Nintendo Switch edition of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker can be expanded via DLC, the so called "Special Episode". It's actually quite cheap, costing only 5.99€ in Europe, where it recently even had a discount, making this the ideal thing to grab from Gold Points before they expire.

And it does add an entire episode to the game, featuring 18 courses in total. The catch is that only six of these courses are actually new, where the other two thirds are remixed versions of some of the original levels. There are also no Pixel Toads, making this feel very similar to the game's Bonus Episode overall.

What makes this stand out is that the entire episode was developed with the new "Adventure for Two" cooperative mode in mind. Unlike the main game, it even allows Captain Toad and Captain Toadette to travel together, which really rights a wrong.

It's also themed after crowns, where the two search for the legendary Super Crown from New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which came out about two months before this DLC. And you will collect Shiny Crowns at the end of each level, instead of the usual Power Stars. It's actually quite fitting for when you've obtained the crown from the Mummy-Me Maze Forever and now are looking for an adventure to show it off.

The focus on coop gets reflected by the tasks of the remixed stages, Crown Capture and Boo Spotting. In the former you have to collect five smaller crowns, where a timer runs between each of them. If you don't collect one fast enough, then the crowns will reset and you have to start over with the first. While this is doable on your own, it has been kept quite strict, meaning that a second player will make this much easier.

In case of the Boo Spottings, however, you will certainly need the power of two, because in these courses there is the focus on defeating lots and lots of Boos, which happens almost instantly when they are hit by two spotlights at once. For this reason it keeps spawning Double Cherries when you play alone and don't have a clone. Controlling two Toads at once is probably easier than coordinating with another player, but the problem with this "mode" is that the Boos often appear right in your face, so that you will lose your clone and then get cornered by an overwhelming amount of ghosts.

There are five of both these types, but there is also a mine cart variant of the Scalding Scaffold Sinkhole for some variety. And near the end Wingo's Double Trouble awaits, where you have to fight the final boss of the game once more, but this time he essentially ate a Double Cherry himself, so there's two of them...

Again, this is in the spirit of the cooperative mode, where then it's a 2v2. Fortunately, they don't make you go through a whole stage before the boss this time, so you can focus on the fight itself. It's also very easy to tell who the true Wingo is, but the timed challenge is quite unfair. If they both use the storm attack at the same time, meaning that no turnips appear for one turn, you can't make the time trial goal... You have to be very lucky.

In any case, the highlight of the DLC are the new courses. It starts with the Shifty Shrine, where the whole level repeatedly opens up and closes. The Spinning Starmaze has three interconnected, rotating rings and will be remembered as the biggest brain teaser in the game.

The absolute standout is the Goomba Galleon, however, which has this miniature pirate ship stranded on a beach. It's absolutely beautiful and you wish that the game had more sceneries like this to offer. Cocoa Meltdown is also quite memorable, essentially offering you some sort of Choco Lake level, where rising hot chocolate acts as lava.

Only Flip Panel Panic is a bit underwhelming, nothing that you haven't already seen a couple of times from the Wii, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS era of 3D Mario. And you have to be mentally prepared that the DLC ends on another variant of the Mummy-Me Maze Forever, called Chaos in the Grand Labyrinth.

But don't worry... it's actually much easier – I even did it on my first try after a couple of minutes. There are only 30 floors, instead of 50, and the floors are only one quarter of the size. Plus, they look much more friendly, because this takes place on the outside, and you only get chased by a single Mummy-Me through the entirety of the thing. Also, statues placed on the safe floors show you what enemies you will be dealing with next. It's almost like they wanted to make up for the original and make it more fun.

However, to offer a different sort of challenge, you now have to catch a mole to reveal the exit. Since they actively avoid you, this labyrinth isn't just about dodging enemies on your way to the exit any longer. Instead, you have to be a bit more strategic. On some floors there are even multiple moles and you have to find the right one. Again, luck can be a deciding factor here, where sometime you might be able to grab the mole right from the start, so that the floor only lasts for a second.

Another challenge comes from the hidden objective and this might actually take you a couple of attempts. This time you will form a Toad Brigade throughout the course, where up to three other Toads can follow you, and your goal is to get all of them to the end. It's probably the most difficult in the floors with the Flaptors – birds that dive down once they spot you – and the Bullet Bills. However, even without fulfilling this bonus objective, the episode will be displayed as completed in the main menu...

Sadly, Toadette doesn't actually wear the Super Crown in coop, once you've obtained it. I guess that Nintendo didn't want to explain why it doesn't turn her into Captain Peachette.

Anyway, if you don't mind the many remixed levels, the Special Episode is very charming addition to the game that even fills some holes. It's a second, more fun attempt at what the Bonus Episode always could and should have been. And since it doesn't cost much, this is a good DLC purchase.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Mummy-Me Maze Forever

As mentioned in the review for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, the game does end on a challenge level that probably no one asked for – the "Mummy-Me Maze Forever". In there you are getting chased by one or multiple Cosmic Clones of Toad wrapped in bandages. There are similar bonus games that appear from time to time, meant for you to collect some coins and lives, but those only last for one minute. This here lasts until you die or reach the end... on floor 50.

It's a very Mario thing to do. Often the Super Mario games, whether it's 2D or 3D, invite you to complete them with per-level collectibles, such as Big Coins or Green Stars, on a mostly moderate difficulty level. This can be very fun and addicting, but your efforts are usually rewarded with some special course or world at the end, where the difficulty suddenly spikes and you're playing something straight out of Super Mario Maker (well, it's arguably not that bad). To be fair, the Mummy-Me Maze Forever is completely different in gameplay, but it does deliver that typical endgame challenge.

And while I was replaying Captain Toad on my Nintendo Switch, I've dreaded to return to this special stage, knowing that I will have to go through it again for true completion... It's like facing a tall mountain after a relaxing journey through flat terrain. However, it didn't turn out so bad. While it took me still more attempts than I'm willing to admit, I stayed motivated to try this maze again and again until I finally beat it... once more.

There are a number of tips on the internet about this challenge (for example on Reddit), but the most important realization is to not get distracted by coins too much. The bonus objective asks you to collect 5000, but the final floor alone will give you around 2000, so there is no need to go out of your way to collect more coins. This saves you from wasting time and making mistakes. Maybe you want to get a bit of a buffer during the earlier, easier floors, but that's it.

Later on you want to be heading straight for the exit, which is always placed at the opposite corner from where you start. It takes a while for the Mummy-Mes to spawn on each floor, where I usually just stand still for a second or two and turn the camera around to potentially scout the quickest (or only) route.

Luck can be a deciding factor in this challenge. Each floor has a preset of what and how many enemies will appear, which is helpful to know in advance to not get flanked, but the layout of the maze and any items in it (like the occasional Super Mushroom or Pickaxe) are entirely randomly generated each time. And sometimes you just need to get lucky, so that the way to the next floor is very straight-forward.

Hugging the walls can be a life savior, especially when you're chased by multiple mummies and you end up in a dead end. But for the most part you want to make sure that it never gets to that. Also, staying too close to the walls may also get you stuck accidentally on a corner, which can result in a hit. The last 15 floors are especially evil, because the fourth Mummy-Me falls so far behind that he can easily blindside you whenever you have to take a turn, so heading straight for the exit is usually your best strategy. This means that the quicker you get an overview of the current maze, the better.

I'm also not sure about turning the headlight off. To me it never made a big difference, because you will have to get so close to enemies in your path that they will notice you anyway. And you certainly want to keep the headlines on in the floors with Boos on them, because this is the only way to stun them.

The other enemies can be stunned with the touchscreen or motion-controlled pointer, where it's easier with the latter. With most enemies you don't have to bother, but it can be critical with the Fire Flowers, which are the enemies that hit me the most often. And I highly recommend to run via the ZL button (which has to be remapped in the system settings), so you never have to take your thumb off the right analogue stick. If you have someone to help you, you could also cheese things with Assist Mode.

Your efforts will be rewarded with a crown that Captain Toad or Toadette will be proudly wearing going forward. Well, since you most likely have already completed the rest of the game, this won't see much usage, unless you are saving it for the DLC courses in the Special Episode, like I did. And this will be the last topic about Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, coming tomorrow.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Review

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker originally came out on the Wii U in 2014 and was re-launched for both the Nintendo 3DS and Switch four years later. Out of the Mario franchise this is probably what comes closest to a Zelda game in spirit. Its idea even had been envisioned as a Zelda spin-off starring Link at first, before they made Captain Toad the main character and integrated it as a mini-game into Super Mario 3D World. But both this and the recent top-down Zelda installments embrace a cute diorama style, where you're looking onto a small toy world.

Now, I had played and completed the Wii U version about ten years ago and recently felt like replaying it on the Nintendo Switch, also because its DLC was discounted and seemed like the ideal thing to get from my last remaining Gold Points. And since I never had reviewed the original in any way or form, it is now time to make up for it, here on Hyrule Blog.

 

No Jumping!

The idea of the game is quite simple: it's a platformer where you can't jump. So, if you move off a ledge, you will just plummet down on the square right below (or to your death). You need to use things like slopes, staircases, elevators or ladders to get to higher grounds, where in many ways this is similar to your classic Zelda top-down gameplay. But Captain Toad can't hit enemies, unless he throws something at them (usually turnips) or picks up the Super Pickaxe power-up, which makes you invincible for a short period of time and lets you break through certain blocks.

What stands out the most are the levels themselves, however, where the majority of them was designed as these little dioramas, a chunk cut out of its environment, which you can freely rotate. A big part of the gameplay is exploring these miniature worlds in close detail, not just with your playable character, but also with the camera. Things may be hidden around a corner, where you don't see it initially. And this is really the core charm of the game.

 

Short & Sweet

With the nature of these dioramas comes a shorter level length overall, but they make up for it with replayability, or at least giving you an incentive to play them multiple times over. It's a very addicting game to complete, where it starts with collecting three crystals per stage. These stay collected even when you die, but you will have to finish the level. And they are used to unlock more stages, where going forward requires a certain number of them, but usually not all of them.

Then there's a hidden task, which gets revealed after finishing a level once, but often it's fun to figure it out beforehand. This can be things like collecting a number of coins, finding a hidden Gold Mushroom, defeating all enemies, activating switches only a certain amount of times, and so on. Collecting all three crystals and clearing the hidden task marks a level as completed.

Your record of collected coins is also stored per level, where it can be fun to top those, but the coins aren't required for anything outside of the hidden tasks. 100 of them will give you an extra 1-Up and that's it.

In addition, there is a "hide and seek" game with the Pixel Toad, where you have to go around the level to look for him. Often he is hidden quite cleverly, where you even need to progress in the stage a bit to reveal the spot. On the Wii U this feature required you to use the Toad amiibo, the later versions unlock it after the stage got finished once.

And if that's not enough to do for you, you can also challenge yourself by completing the stage in a given time. That can be surprisingly fun, because it's often like a puzzle in itself to figure out the fastest route. But you also need to be quite efficient in multi-tasking, which can lead to some frustrations (more on that later).

Both the Pixel Toad and the time trials are completely optional, so there is nothing to unlock from them, except for a mark on the cover of the corresponding book, which appears once you've done these tasks in all of its stages. The books are called "episodes" and there are three of them in total. The first two have 18 stages each, and the third one has 28 stages in total. This includes boss fights and some special levels, where you drive around in a mine cart and shoot turnips.

You will swap between Captain Toad and Captain Toadette between these episodes and within the third one. There is even a bit of a story, starring a big bird named Wingo, who steals Power Stars and riches from them two, usually leaving one of them alone and in search for the other. But it's very simple, the usual Mario stuff.

Throw, Turn & Touch

Now, for a game that is so strikingly simple, its controls are irritatingly overloaded, so much so that it often feels like you need three hands to play it. Controlling the camera is very important, where this gets primarily done with the right stick, like in many other games. And this poses the first problem, because in order to pick up things or sprint you have to press or hold either A, B or Y (the latter can also turn your headlight on and off for some reason), which means you have to change between those and the right stick all the time.

When playing the time trials or some of the bonus challenges, you often need to hold down one of these buttons to run faster, but you will also need to adjust the camera constantly... Well, some camera work can be done with the shoulder buttons (mainly L and R to rotate), but it's not as precise and intuitive as using the stick. And they also don't let you change the camera's Z-axis. The solution is to alter the button mappings in the system settings, so you can perform the basic actions with ZL or so, where the game doesn't have any control options outside of inverting the camera. And that isn't ideal.

On top of all that, the game was originally intended to be played with a touchscreen, so there are a lot of interactions in the environment that can only be achieved by touching things, like special platforms (and even the Pixel Toad). Enemies can also be stunned by touching them, which can be critical later on. If you don't play in handheld mode, then there will be a motion-controlled cursor, where you trigger things via ZR. If you've played Super Mario 3D World on the Nintendo Switch, then you will be familiar with this, because they have used the exact same method there. And this works surprisingly well, given that you perform this on its own. The problem arises from when you have to multi-task in the game's various challenges. Then you have to run, turn the camera and activate things with the touchscreen / cursor all at the same time, and this can get a bit overwhelming...

Another problem came from ladders, where sometimes you stop climbing them, even though you keep pressing in the same direction, because of the camera. That's a bit annoying. What can also be annoying are the wheels, which are automatically grabbed even when you are just running... Often you just want to run past by them, but then get stuck on them. At least they are much quicker to use on the Nintendo Switch thanks to motion controls. The propeller platforms are also gone entirely in the Switch version, which required you to blow into the microphone...

 

Bonus Book

After completing all three episodes, it unlocks the "Bonus Episode", which contains a number of different stages. First and foremost, there are four levels based on another Super Mario title: Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U and Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo 3DS and Switch.

The former were just levels taken from that game. They were slightly modified, so you can play through them without jumping, and weren't all that exciting. Meanwhile, the Super Mario Odyssey stages were all completely new and offer two true highlights with Secret of the Inverted Pyramid and Updown, Downtown. So, it's a very good trade overall.

That being sad, it still leaves a sour aftertaste that this game's connection to Super Mario 3D World got cut off like that. After the credits of the third episode have rolled, you could see how Captain Toad enters the Sprixie Kingdom to continue his journey there. So, it was set up as a prequel, which made sense, considering that both games share a lot of assets. And while Captain Toad also appears in Super Mario Odyssey, it was really 3D World that first featured him in a playable role that then spawned this game.

Ideally, the ports would have retained connections to both titles somehow. And even if the Sprixie Kingdom stages weren't that great, they could have remade the six original Captain Toad levels from 3D World instead and modified those a bit.

Speaking of modified levels, that's the other main part of the Bonus Episode. Seven of the existing stages got remixed here with new objectives. In the four "Toad Brigades" you will have find three other Toads, who will then follow you and need to be protected. And in the "Mummy-Me" variants you are chased by this game's version of the Cosmic Clones from other 3D Mario titles, so they will follow your every move and you can't ever stop for longer than a second.

This includes a variant of the first Draggadon encounter, the dragon boss that you've probably seen before from Nintendo's promotional material around the game. And at this point this boss has really overstayed its welcome, because one of these fights can be found in every single episode. If you also replay the levels for the target times, then you will have to deal with him eight times at minimum...

The "Mummy-Me Maze Forever" then takes things to the utmost extreme, where this a 50 floor long trial dungeon, something all too familiar to Zelda fans. It's that slap in the completionist's face that Mario games often like to do at the end and I will talk a bit more about this in a separate post...

Otherwise, the Bonus Episode also lets you replay all three prologues, as well as all the Coins Galore bonus stages, which appear from time to time and let you collect lots of coins (which are only good for adding lives). There are no Pixel Toads to seek in the entire episode, but it still wants you to speed-run all of its levels, with the exception of the Mummy-Me Maze Forever (luckily). So, all in all there is quite a bit to do in the game, which can keep you busy for up to twenty hours.

 

Track Together

The Nintendo Switch version comes with two two different cooperative modes, which can be played together locally: Assist Mode and Adventure for Two. The latter was added in the 1.1.0 update, so you can't use this out of the box.

In Assist Mode the two players have to share a set of Joy-Cons. The main player will use the left one and the assisting player the right one. As the assist you are in charge of the motion-controlled pointer, but you can also throw red turnips to defeat enemies, which is basically cheating in certain levels. So, use this mode to make your life easier with any of the game's challenges. Both players can control the camera, but player 1 gets priority here.

Adventure for Two on the other hand really lets you play together, where for most of the game the second player is represented by a purple Captain Toad. The camera stays centered on the first player, who again has camera control priority, and therefore this mode can get a bit frustrating for the second player, because you might end up out of view.

A Treasure

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a fantastic, little game. Other than the fact that you sometimes have to control three different things at the same time, it's highly recommended for everyone who is looking for a charming, slow-paced, puzzle-focused adventure title. The game also sells on a lower price point and will get a free update for Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5th, so you can't go wrong here.

The Legend of Zelda: Face of the Trials (Shrine Maker Concept 2.0)

Both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are going to be relaunched on June 5th with their Nintendo Switch 2 Editions. You can just pick up from where you have left on the Nintendo Switch or potentially even start all over again, using the second save files. Or maybe you will be playing them for the first time ever.

Whatever is the case, thanks to the power of the Nintendo Switch 2, both titles should be free from any limitations of their previous systems, so you can enjoy them with smooth frame rates even when there is a lot going on at once. And with that in mind, this opens the doors for new possibilities, which brings us back to the idea of a Shrine Maker, an idea as old as Breath of the Wild itself.

 

The Basics

First, let's run through the basics again, but with some refinements. This will be Zelda's equivalent to the Super Mario Maker, but instead of 2D platformer levels you will be making 3D mini-dungeons. This will set it apart from both the Super Mario Maker, but also something like the Super Dungeon Maker, which was inspired by traditional top-down Zelda dungeons. It will utilize a similar interface to the Puzzle Creator from Portal 2, where you carve out a 3D space via a voxel-based grid, while making good use of the different assets from Breath and Tears.

Each level has an entrance and you will have to reach the shrine at the end, which is essentially your flag pole. Both can be freely placed by the person designing the level, and whatever challenges await the player between is also up to that person, where they could design a puzzle, or have the player defeat enemies in a series of rooms (like the Trial of the Sword). But in order to upload a level you will need to beat it yourself first.

Clearing a shrine will reward the players with something akin to the Spirit Orbs or Lights of Blessing, let's call them "Hero Tokens", where four tokens can be traded for either a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel, just like in the main games. The maximum is the same as in Tears of the Kingdom, so 40 hearts and three stamina wheels, where unlike in the main games you can actually maximize both here, since there is technically an infinite number of tokes to obtain.

Designers can define a recommended value of hearts and stamina for their trials and they will have to beat the shrine with these prerequisites, but players are not bound to them, so they can try their luck with less or completely steamroll shrines that are meant for beginners.

As additional rewards, the shrines can contain optional treasure chests with Rupees in them. The system will be similar to the Chamber Dungeon from Link's Awakening, meaning that their value will be determined by the shrines theoretical difficulty. Of course, this system still can be cheesed somehow, e.g. by making a shrine full of strong foes that can be avoided, but you won't just be able to create a shrine that offers a hundred chests filled with Gold Rupees. Replaying shrines will also lower the value of Rupees obtained from any previously opened chests and you can't get a token from the same shrine twice.

Rupees then can be used to purchase and enhance armor, which the players can freely equip before a trial... given that the trial allows it. Tokens will also be required to enhance your armor, so that they still have a usage once you've maximized your stats. The available armor will offer anything from the main games that can be somehow useful in a trial, which is most of it. They can also be dyed, where applicable, for an amount of Rupees – you don't need to collect any other materials here.

So, unlike Super Mario Maker, this game will offer constant progression, which will allow you to overcome more difficult challenges. A number of default trials that come with the game could even give you a basic goal, without the need of dealing with player-created content.

There even could be an actual story, taking place after the events of Tears of the Kindom. Purah discovers a plethora of ancient shrines all hidden deep under the earth and sends Link to investigate them, by teleporting him directly into the shrines. Simple, but effective.

 

Inventory

As already mentioned, players are able to equip a set of armor before starting a trial, where they can pick whatever they feel is best suited for them, given that they have unlocked it, and can also mix and match pieces as they see fit. Set Bonuses still apply, so you could use an enhanced Flamebreaker set to avoid fire damage. But you won't be able to change armor in the middle of a trial, unless certain pieces are given to you as part of the challenge.

Players will also be equipped with the basic Master Sword and – unlike in the main games – it will not break, so you will always have a fallback weapon. There will also be plenty of mechanics to ensure that the players won't run out of necessary resources to beat a trial, where weapons can respawn or fruits will regrow. Potentially, you could even make select weapons unbreakable as well.

However, the creator still has the option to make limited resources part of the challenge. They can also make their trial a "Proving Grounds", in which case the player won't be able to choose armor and won't have the Master Sword. The creator can give them a set of pre-defined armor, however.

In any case, you will have access to the Paraglider, where all the different fabrics could return as another unlockable, whether that's from amiibo, from Rupees, or both. Potentially, you could also have the Earthwake as a fallback for when you have no weapons. And the other key item(s) may be determined by what type of shrine we're looking at...

 

Sheikah or Zonai?

The most important choice when creating a level is whether you want to build an Ancient Sheikah Shrine or a Zonai Shrine of Light. It's a choice made upfront, because this will not only alter the aesthetics, but also the different gameplay elements, where unlike in Super Mario Maker they won't be easily interchangeable. The main reasons for such a split are Fuse and the Ultrahand.

Fuse, in particular, changes heavily what kind of equipment you should have access to. Tears of the Kingdom only had very basic weapons and plain arrows, where you are meant to fuse them with materials or other weapons. It's not really compatible with all the advanced weapons you had in Breath of the Wild, which is why they got cut. What would happen if you were to fuse an opal to a Flameblade, for example? Would their elemental effects cancel each other out? Nintendo probably didn't want to bother with figuring out such questions, since Fuse is already insanely complex as it is.

So, when going for a Sheikah Shrine, you may not be able to fuse things any longer, but you will have access to all the weaponry from Breath of the Wild, including the different arrow types. Maybe there could even be new ones, like Water and Wind Arrows, just to give you a bit more of the versatility of Fuse without having Fuse.

Ultrahand on the other hand relies a lot on the different Zonai devices. Of course, they could simply make a Sheikah variant of everything, so it's not necessarily a limitation by style, but it would make sense from a lore perspective and also makes it clear right from the start what type you're dealing with.

Let's say that Link obtains some sort of Zonai bracelet, which gives him access to Fuse, Ultrahand, Ascend and Recall again. But it's only active within the Shrines of Light. Likewise, there could be a "Purah Pad 2" (as a nod to the Nintendo Switch 2), which by default gives you the Camera Rune and maybe the compendium. But within a Sheikah Shrine it draws power from them to enable Bombs and Stasis (in their enhanced form), as well as Magnesis and Cryonis. There could even be Bombchus as a third type of bomb and maybe you could use Cryonis on lava in this game to create rock platforms.

But throwing materials will work in any type of shrine, so finding a Sapphire would be actually useful in a Sheikah Shrine for some freezing blasts. In general, the quick inventory management will be based on Tears of the Kingdom, so you can quickly drop stuff and so on.

There also shouldn't be any limitations regarding enemies, other than what kind of weapons they are able to wield. But you could theoretically deploy a Guardian in a Shrine of Light, or a Gloom Spawn within a Sheikah Shrine. The only exception might be the Constructs due to their ability to fuse, but otherwise that's something where you could break completely loose from the usual shrine conventions, where you only ever face either Guardians or Constructs. Instead, you can have any type of enemy, even overworld bosses, similar to the Trial of the Sword. But Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity already has done this as well with its Coliseum challenges.

And this does not only concern the monsters, but other elements as well. You wouldn't normally find a cooking pot within a shrine, but this could be something that can be placed nevertheless. They could even go wild and include all sorts of recurring structures from the overworld, like trees or the skull caves... Again, the Trial of the Sword already did the same, even though it is not a real shrine, but a trial of the mind.

 

Themes

Well, if we really were restricted to only having the blue Sheikah Shrines and the green Shrines of Light, then the visual variety of the game would suffer quite a bit. It's already a major complaint about both Nintendo Switch games that their shrines all look the same. One way to avoid this would be a number of skins, which can be freely swapped during creation.

The first thing that comes to mind are the Divine Beasts as an alternative to your typical Sheikah Shrine. The Final Trial from The Champions' Ballad shows how those aesthetics can be used to create something that was essentially a larger shrine. There could also be a twisted Yiga Shrine variant, where everything is in red/orange and the Sheikah symbols are upside down.

As for the Shrines of Light, maybe let's reduce those lights and go for a "Zonai Mining Facility" variant, where they are placed within the Depths and give the same gloomy feel. There could also be a theme based on the ancient Zonai ruins, like the Lomei Labyrinths.

screenshot from ArchitectureOfZelda.com

If we wanted the fanbase to lose their minds, however, there could even be styles based on past Zelda titles. The most obvious example is something based on the Palace of Twilight from Twilight Princess, which feels like a predecessor to the whole magical technology theme from the later games. In such a case you wouldn't just want it to be a visual theme, however, but also something that alters part of the sound effects or potentially even some of the gameplay elements. For example, instead of the usual metallic orbs, you could have Sols. And the sockets that are activated by these orbs could get a corresponding reskin.

Technically, this could even warrant a third main variant of shrines – Shrines of Twilight essentially, or Twilit Shrines –, where they could take things even further, maybe even re-introduce enemies like the Shadow Beasts. But with such a project they would probably just want to focus on re-using the assets from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom one more time.

Another good candidate for a classic theme would be the Tower of the Gods from The Wind Waker. It also gives similar vibes of ancient technology and fits the whole "trial for the hero" concept that these shrines all go for. Naturally, such classic themes would have to be created within the engine and visual style of the new games.

 

Only on Nintendo Switch 2

This whole idea isn't new and Nintendo could theoretically already have done this on the current Nintendo Switch, as a direct follow-up to the two games that this based upon. However, like with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, there might be a number of advantages of having this exclusive to the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.

• Performance. That's the obvious reason, where both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom don't always ruin smoothly on the Nintendo Switch. Rest assured that things will be tested to the extreme with such a tool, where creators will certainly throw too many monsters at you. But at least you will have stable 60FPS when you fight those dozen Lynels all at once.
• Mouse controls. This new Joy-Con feature will certainly make it a lot more convenient to control a level editor in 3D. Pointer and touchscreen controls will still work as well, but won't be as comfortable.
  

If the next Zelda game continues the open world direction, then it will likely have shrines again, or at least something similar that works mini-dungeons. And if the next game were to continue the Breath of the Wild brand, then it would be possible to expand a shrine maker with everything new. Maybe it won't even come out before, so it will already feature the next game and its shrines as the basis, but also still supports everything from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

The Future of Zelda on the Nintendo Switch 2

Earlier this month Nintendo has given us all the information about what to expect from the successor to the Nintendo Switch, when it launches on June 5th, from the games to the questionable pricing. Whether the upgrade to Nintendo's future is actually worth the investment will be decided by its offerings, where Zelda has been one of the biggest hits next to Mario Kart in the last generation, mainly thanks to Breath of the Wild. But where will the franchise go from here and what could its future look like on the Nintendo Switch 2?

This article is a refinement of a similar post from last year, The Future of Zelda after Tears of the Kingdom. But a lot has come to pass since then. We have already gotten a new top-down Zelda title in the meantime with Echoes of Wisdom, still on the Nintendo Switch. One of the ideas from the previous article is actually becoming a reality with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. We've learned how they will treat both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom right out of the gate: by upgrading their Nintendo Switch versions. And we know what the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware actually brings on the table in terms of innovation... Which isn't that much.

All these insights reshape the image shown in the crystal balls of your nearest fortune-teller, and this primarily affects what's the most important topic:

 

The Next 3D Zelda

The Zelda series has been in constant change, always reinventing itself with each new console generation, both visually and in gameplay. We've had realistic styles, cartoon styles, and a mix of both. We've went from motion controls to a revolutionary open world concept. We have seen more than ten different iterations of the hero Link and the eponymous Princess Zelda over the decades, but we have yet to see a true trilogy of Zelda games. So, it's natural to expect a new face and a new style coming with a new system.

However, this time things might be different. Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have been a massive success, true system sellers, more than any Zelda game ever could hope to achieve before. They have been so successful that their open world formula will be the way forward. And they are so distinct from the rest of the series that they have become a brand of their own.

With the Nintendo Switch 2 we will get enhanced versions of both games right at launch, where Nintendo wants their customers to keep playing these titles on their newest system. Not only that, they plan on expanding the universe of this new Hyrule with the upcoming Age of Imprisonment spin-off. So, it seems like that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are already laying the foundations for what's to come.

Adding to this sentiment is that the Nintendo Switch 2 itself is also just a continuation of the Nintendo Switch. This isn't meant to be Nintendo's next revolutionary innovation, this is simply the Nintendo Switch in bigger and better, with a few improvements, mainly to the Joy-Cons. And given how popular the Nintendo Switch was, it doesn't have to be.

If we apply the same principle on the next 3D Zelda game and also take into consideration that it's clearly very important for Nintendo to still highlight both Breath and Tears, then it's not far-fetched to assume that we might be getting another sequel to these two Zelda titles. For the first time ever we could be looking at a true trilogy in the series. This doesn't mean that this next Zelda game won't be innovative. Similar to how the Ultrahand had shaped Tears of the Kingdom in its entirety, the next game will have some gameplay idea that makes it stand out.

However, in an interview with GameInformer from late 2023, Aonuma has already stated that they are not going to do a sequel, similar to how they are not doing any DLC for Tears of the Kingdom, because they had exhausted their ideas. He called it "the final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda." But he was mainly talking about the world, where nobody wants them to use the same Hyrule for the third time anyway. And a lot of people don't necessarily want a third game where all their stuff keeps breaking. There is a lot of room for doing things differently, while staying with the same Link and Zelda.

There is also the chance that it makes a generational leap, similar to how Spirit Tracks unfolded its story, but that it still uses the same art style and also embraces the same open world formula. But let's discuss how such a sequel could look like in an upcoming post...

 

Shrine Maker

Something that has already gotten its own post many years ago is the idea for a Shrine Maker, Zelda's equivalent to the Super Mario Maker, based on the shrines from both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. And if Nintendo truly were to make a trilogy out these games, then this would make this concept on the Nintendo Switch 2 a lot more appealing. They could start with all the assets from the first two games and later expand this to shrines from the third game.

So, the creators would have the choice between the blue Sheikah Shrines, the green Shrines of Light from the Zonai era, and whatever may come next... maybe golden shrines of the Triforce. It's also a big topic of its own, where I've been meaning to explore this concept a little further for a while now.

 

The Next Top-Down Zeldas

While Echoes of Wisdom and the remake of Link's Awakening aren't such huge hits as their big brethren on the Nintendo Switch, GREZZO's contributions to the Zelda series were still received fairly well and they have also established a new art style that – similar to The Wind Waker – may have a lasting impact, at least for the future of top-down Zelda games. There is just something very charming about looking at these miniature toy worlds from above.

Despite their simple aesthetics, both games also didn't really run all too well on the Switch, where their upcoming updates for the Switch 2 may finally give us some stable 60FPS, which was one of the biggest points of criticism about GREZZO's titles. And with that out of the way, it seems even more straight-forward to simply continue what they have been doing on the Nintendo Switch.

They could still make that remake of Oracle of Ages & Seasons, with both the Game Boy Color classics combined into one experience. They could also follow up on Echoes of Wisdom with a new multiplayer title, where one plays as Link and the other as Zelda. This all feels like a natural evolution coming from Link's Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom, where there is no real need of inventing something completely new right now.

 

Past Zelda Titles

As already discussed in my recent article about the future Nintendo Switch Online, there is the possibility that the Nintendo Switch 2 will allow you to play the entire Zelda series in some form at some point. Additional libraries for the Nintendo DS, 3DS and Wii could make it happen.

That doesn't mean that we won't be seeing any more remakes or remasters, however. As already mentioned, the idea for remaking Oracle of Ages & Seasons in the style of Link's Awakening still stands. Yes, both games are already playable on the Switch via Nintendo Switch Online, but a remake would not only offer much prettier graphics, it would also allow you to experience them as one, without the need for a convoluted password system. There is even an argument to be made that waiting for the Nintendo Switch 2 was a good thing, because its power may let you quickly switch between the seasons and ages without any loading times.

Both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks would also gain a lot from remakes in the future. Even if Nintendo were to make them playable as part of a Nintendo DS service, they would still look horrible and they would still be dependent on gimmicky touchscreen controls. And they have many other aspects that are begging to be polished, like the atrocious treasure systems. Whether this will be happening on the Nintendo Switch 2 or a future Nintendo system is a different question. The Oracle games should have priority, because everything needed for a remake is already there.

It's similar with The Minish Cap, where out of all the handheld Zelda games it is the one that would need a remake the least. It's still something to consider, but maybe not for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Of course, what the media and most Zelda fans out there are begging for are neither of these games. They want Ocarina of Time. And maybe this will happen. We've been through remaking and remastering all the 3D Zelda games once already, where they eventually will start over. It's been 14 years since Ocarina of Time 3D!

The question is who should be doing it. GREZZO has done the remakes for the Nintendo 3DS, but they have proven themselves as the new studio behind the top-down Zelda installments, like Flagship in the past, which is equally important. But if Nintendo were to find the right team for the job of remaking the Nintendo 64 classics, then nothing would speak against it.

However, there is quite a commitment here, because Ocarina of Time has to be followed by Majora's Mask – both games were carved out of the same wood, so you shouldn't have one without the other. The same goes for the two Nintendo DS Zelda games and the Oracle games are overdue after Link's Awakening. But starting with the Nintendo 3DS, we've gotten exactly two remakes or remasters of Zelda games per platform, where there is no reason to suddenly expect many more on the Nintendo Switch 2. We can't have it all at once.

Another question that comes up every time is about the Wii U remasters, The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD. With the introduction of the GameCube service to Nintendo Switch Online, it doesn't feel likely that this will happen anytime soon, because Nintendo wants to pay for the service, but only having the option of playing the emulated ports won't be appealing in the long run, just like with Oracle of Ages & Seasons...

 

The ?

Except for the Shrine Maker, this article is running with lots of safe bets. Nintendo will just keep doing with Zelda on the Nintendo Switch 2 what they've been already doing on the Nintendo Switch, just with more horse power. And maybe this will be true, because the Zelda series doesn't necessarily need to completely innovate itself yet again. Each new game usually brings a set of fresh ideas anyways, even when they borrow the style of a predecessor, as proven by Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom.

However, Zelda games are usually shaped by their gameplay ideas and with that there is no certainty to anything. We could be looking at something completely different on the Nintendo Switch 2, it's just that it would feel natural to pick up from where we currently are.

And there is also the chance that they might surprise us with something that rarely anyone expects, like a new spin-off out of the left field, similar to Cadence of Hyrule. But that is part of the fun.

Nintendo Switch Online on Nintendo Switch 2: Potential Systems

With Nintendo Switch Online we got access to a number of classic game libraries, as the successor to the Virtual Console. The emulated systems are currently the NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and also the SEGA Mega Drive. But the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 opens the door for more, because its hardware allows the emulation of consoles that previously weren't possible, one way or another, where the first new library is going to be the Nintendo GameCube. So, what else could be added down the line? And what Zelda games would make this playable?

Nintendo DS

Let's start with Nintendo's first dual screen handheld system (not counting the Game & Watch devices). It was already part of the Wii U Virtual Console, where the GamePad made it possible with its touchscreen and microphone. The Nintendo Switch 2 will have a built-in microphone, so that already covers that part, though ideally there will also be something like a "make noise" button. The noise cancellation in modern microphones made it quite difficult to properly play Spirit Tracks on later systems, including the Wii U, where there needs to be an alternative for blowing into the mic. And being able to play the Spirit Flute or shoot the Whirlwind with the press of a button would certainly be more comfortable for some.

The touchscreen isn't as trivial, however, even though the Nintendo Switch already has one. But you can only use it in handheld mode and it isn't very comfortable to hold the system with only one hand (especially now that the Switch 2 will be even larger). It may have worked for Brain Training on the Switch, but this isn't a general solution for all Nintendo DS games that utilize both button and touchscreen inputs.

This is where the new mouse functionality of the Joy-Cons comes in, because it could be used to control a cursor for a virtual touchscreen. As seen in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, it's also possible to seamlessly switch between the modes, which would perfectly emulate the behavior of taking your hand off the buttons to use the touchscreen. It would do absolute wonders on something like Metroid Prime Hunters.

However, some games have utilized the touchscreen to give you soft buttons for quick access to items or other features, where they would not be so easy to use anymore. In these cases you really might want to play in handheld mode and have the touchscreen contents displayed on the right half of the screen. Ultimately, there won't be an ideal solution that for works for all, where it's important to have options and to save these options on a per-game basis.

In any case, this should be part of the basic subscription, not the Expansion Pack. There needs to be something for the people who are not willing to spend double (or even more) for these online services. And the Nintendo DS is really the more basic version of what comes next...

 

Nintendo 3DS

If we can have GameCube and Nintendo DS games, then there won't be anything stopping Nintendo from adding the Nintendo 3DS as well... Except for maybe the eponymous 3D. Luckily, there are only very few games, like Super Mario 3D Land, that really required you to have the stereoscopic 3D activated in certain sections to make sense of things. Also, the Nintendo 2DS exists and has sold quite well without the 3D, where many of the later Nintendo 3DS titles didn't really put much emphasis on this gimmick. Some did not even support it at all. So, the lack of 3D shouldn't be much of a hindrance.

Another question is StreetPass, but this would be the perfect incentive to make even more out of the offline-to-online multiplayer environment. How many people had trouble actually finding others with a Nintendo 3DS in public outside of Japan and wished that this functionality would have been taken online? Quite a few, I would suspect... And that's now a selling point, because this could give you access to features that some people never got to experience.

If you add suspend points on top, then I will finally go for the true 100% in A Link Between Worlds and beat that dreaded Endless Cucco Rush. The Nintendo Switch 2 could make it possible to achieve, given that you're not one of the five people who have already beaten the challenge on original hardware.

 

 

Wii

Well, it was already possible to emulate both GameCube and Wii games on the old Tegra chip of the Nintendo Switch, where this was used for the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. And with GameCube games ready for features like online play or restore points, the Wii will certainly follow at some point. You could use both the gyro or the mouse modes of your right Joy-Con to emulate the pointer. And Wii MotionPlus is already covered by the gyro. So, we're good to go for games like Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Skyward Sword, and even Link's Crossbow Training.

In case of Metroid Prime 3 you had the bumper stickers for your space ship, where it would be awesome if this behaved in a similar way. If you have played the games in question on the service, then you will be granted the sticker. The necessary Friend Credits should also be possible to obtain via the online service.

It will generally be interesting to see how they will handle multiplayer with systems that had both local and online multiplayer, which already starts with the Nintendo DS. So far the Nintendo Switch Online services allowed to play local multiplayer modes online together with friends only. This should stay the same, of course... But could this also bring back actual online lobbies with random players, like you had them in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7? That would certainly be a worthwhile addition if it came to it.

Wii U

Emulating Wii U games would probably be out of scope for the Nintendo Switch 2. Well, I'm no expert on the matter of emulation, so maybe it's technically possible, but it wouldn't be necessary in any case. 90% of Nintendo's own Wii U library already got ported over to the Nintendo Switch, where having these games as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service would be heavily redundant and also a slap in the face of all the people who have invested lots of money in their Nintendo Switch counterparts. Well, many of these ports got enhanced in various ways, like additional contents, but this makes having the Wii U versions even less desirable. Who wants to play the original Mario Kart 8 or Hyrule Warriors at this point?

Instead, it's more likely that Nintendo will eventually port over some of remaining Wii U titles, like Kirby and the Rainbow Course, Yoshi's Woolly World or Star Fox Zero. And yes, even the Zelda HD remasters, so we'd have all three versions of Twilight Princess on the Nintendo Switch 2 eventually...

 

All the Legends

If Nintendo really were to add Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Wii, then this would be tremendous, because for the first time ever you would have access to (almost) all of Nintendo's history on a single system. It wouldn't cover curiosities like the BS-X, the Virtual Boy or the Game & Watch devices and it won't ever have all the games, but it would be quite the milestone nevertheless.

The Nintendo Switch 2 might even offer the entire Zelda series at some point (save for the BS-X games). So far this has only happened once and this was on the GameCube, thanks to the Game Boy Player peripheral. In detail, the following Zelda games and spin-offs could all make it onto the Nintendo Switch 2 via Nintendo Switch Online:

• Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
• Twilight Princess (GCN)
• Twilight Princess (Wii)
• Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)
• Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (NDS)
  
• Phantom Hourglass (NDS)
• Spirit Tracks (NDS)
• Skyward Sword (Wii)
• Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
• Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)
  
• A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
• Tri Force Heroes (3DS)

Together with The Wind Waker, this would add the seven Zelda titles that you currently aren't able to play on a Nintendo Switch. And on top of that you would get some alternate variants of games (like how we currently have both versions of A Link to the Past), as well as some other spin-offs.

They could even give us access to some that were exclusive to Japan so far. Tingle's Balloon Fight, for example, doesn't really have much text, where you can understand it just fine without translations. And I'd love to finally give Navi Trackers a try.

 

3rd Parties

While it's the easiest and cheapest to go for their own gaming systems, Nintendo isn't limited to them. In fact, the SEGA Mega Drive is already part of the current offering. The Virtual Console in the past also featured the Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx or the SEGA Master System, but there is no reason not to have these on the Nintendo Switch already, should these ever return. The SEGA Dreamcast on the other hand is more on the line of something that could require the Nintendo Switch 2, though it's probably somewhere right in the middle. But even if it were possible to have it on the Switch, then Nintendo would probably make it exclusive to the successor nevertheless, since the Dreamcast is a bit of a fan favorite.

In other news, Phil Spencer has recently reassured that Microsoft will keep supporting Nintendo on their upcoming console with their games (see Variety). And while he probably means newer titles, like DOOM: The Dark Ages, there is a chance that they might extend their cooperation to the classic Xbox library, so that Nintendo can offer them as part of Nintendo Switch Online. This would be huge and I'd personally love to have this for one of my absolute favorite console shooters ever. No, not Halo...

I'm talking about Unreal Championship 2 - The Liandri Conflict. I'm still a big fan of the Unreal series and this mix of 3rd person melee combat with traditional Arena Shooter gunplay and unique characters was ahead of its time. This is the game I still keep my old Xbox around for, but it already has all started to deteriorate... Well, it's still in the list of backwards compatible games on Xbox Series X/S, so I could get that, but I'd love to have it on a Nintendo system instead. I doubt that this day will ever come, but it would make me very happy if it did.