With The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launching to universal critical acclaim, there’s a newfound appreciation for the series’ “traditional format,” especially after Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. However, anyone who’s spent enough time with previous titles knows that there’s constant experimentation.
As producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi explained to Polygon, the franchise allows for a certain malleability. “Take, for example, on the Nintendo 64, the game went from 2D to 3D or the addition of a control stick, to really be able to navigate a 3D world. When it came to the Wii with Skyward Sword, you were able to use gesture controls to swing the sword. And when it came to titles like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, you have this vast freedom that really breaks away from traditional, course-charted paths.
“All of that to say that these are all ideas or nuggets of ideas that developers at that time feel like, okay, this is going to be fun. This has potential. And I feel like Zelda creates this foundation, this arena where developers can bring those ideas and actually bring them to life and realize that.”
Where the series goes next is anyone’s guess, especially since Nintendo hasn’t announced the next mainline title (or even if another remake, like Majora’s Mask, is in the works). That said, Fujibayashi constantly asks younger developers whether something will be fun, and encourages them to explore new ideas.
“A lot of times, the question I have when I talk to younger staff is like, ‘Is that going to be fun?’ Or I would say sometimes, ‘Well, I think we did that in Breath of the Wild. I think we touched that on Tears of the Kingdom. I feel like I saw it in Ocarina of Time.’ These are just examples; I don’t actually directly say that. But this is the kind of probing and discussion that we do with the team such that they don’t feel like they need to pull from an already existing pool of ideas that Zelda has plotted.”
Of course, you have to wonder how much reinvention the series can undergo without repeating some winning ideas. Then again, no one really thought that Zelda would go open-world or that the Hylian princess herself would star in a game, and yet, here we are. Stay tuned for more updates, and check out our feature on the Ocarina of Time remake, highlighting the benefits of a more focused journey.
With Switch 2 sales down over the previous quarter, this could mark a strong comeback for Nintendo, especially heading into next year. While the company hasn’t outlined its full 2027 slate, Xenoblade Genesis, Metroid Ravenous, and FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods are confirmed.
