With the exception of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the NES, 2011’s Wii title The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is perhaps the most divisive game in the entire series. In many ways it is the antithesis of what Nintendo did with its direct successors, A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild. While those two were open and offered complete freedom, Skyward Sword was highly linear and was riddled with overbearing tutorials.
That said, there was also a great deal that the game did right, from a great story that served as the origins of the series’ convoluted chronology, to great dungeon design, to excellent music, and more. For those who feel that thanks to those things and more, Skyward Sword is, for all its faults, still a very good game, there might be some good news.
Recently, at the 2018 edition of The Legend of Zelda concert in Japan, series producer Eiji Aonuma reportedly (via Nintendo Everything) came on stage and specifically name-dropped Skyward Sword on the Switch. “We know what you are thinking, Skyward Sword on Switch, right?” he said, which was promptly met with loud cheers from the audience.
Granted, that’s not much to go on, but there is the fact that in the last few years, Nintendo have brought most of their older 3D Zelda titles to their current systems. Starting with Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, Nintendo have subsequently re-released Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. Which only leaves Skyward Sword- though if it is indeed coming to the Switch, one has to wonder how Nintendo will handle its motion controls-centric combat. Perhaps remove it entirely?
Recently, we learned that the next Zelda title might be coming sooner than we think– is this what that tease was referring to? It’s entirely likely that this is a side project for Nintendo, while work on a full-fledged sequel goes on alongside it. In December of last year, Aonuma confirmed that work on the next Zelda title had already begun, while Nintendo have also been hiring for the project of late.
