At some point, the Nintendo Switch 2 will get a new The Legend of Zelda mainline game. As of now, it has the upgraded versions of Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild, as well as the spinoff title Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Eventually, a new, full game is going to come out.
We have no idea what that game will be like or when it’s going to come, but Nintendo’s not about to ditch its second biggest franchise with a brand-new console with heightened capabilities to run it on. Zelda will be back, and when the series does return, there’s one thing it ought to do.
The Next Zelda Title Should Echo Majora’s Mask
There are over 30 The Legend of Zelda games at this point. It’s one of the biggest and longest-running franchises in the history of video games. There are also a lot of different types of games. Ocarina of Time is different from Breath of the Wild, which is different from Link’s Awakening.
Which one stands out the most? There are a few games, as mentioned, that differ enough to be memorable, but there are two that truly stand out from the rest. These aren’t necessarily the best games, but they live longer in the memory than any others: Majora’s Mask and The Adventure of Link.
In the latter case, The Adventure of Link stands out because it’s widely considered awful, and it’s the only one to strangely morph the series into a 2D sidescroller. But in the case of Majora’s Mask, the standing out is for good reasons. It’s very unique in its gameplay, but the most important differentiating factor is the location.
Majora’s Mask is one of the games that ditches Hyrule for another land nearby. Others, like Link’s Awakening or Phantom Hourglass, have done this as well, but those locations don’t stick out like Terminus. It’s truly unique, and while Majora’s Mask is a fantastic game with the most clever gameplay gimmick in the series, it’s aided by its brilliant setting.
That is what the next Zelda needs to do. It does not need to return to Terminus (which would be weird for the canon anyway), but it does need to come up with a bold new location. The other attempts to exit Hyrule haven’t worked quite as well, but Terminus remains one of the coolest places in this fantasy world.
The producers have stated that the next game won’t be in the same version of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were, but they should take it a step further and go outside Hyrule. That would help truly usher in a new age for the series and give players a chance to visit somewhere new for the first time in a long time.
Another way the next game can emulate Majora’s Mask is by coming up with another unique gameplay gimmick. Few games in the series have even had one, but Majora’s Mask‘s time loop provides a singular experience that somehow doesn’t get old despite reliving the same days over and over again. The mask feature is also pretty incredible, making for two gimmicks that make the game stand out amongst its peers.
Conclusion
Majora’s Mask is not the best Zelda game out there, but it’s pretty close. A big reason is the unique factors the creators used, from setting to timing and gameplay mechanics. Wherever this franchise goes next, the developing team ought to replay the 2000 video game one more time to have a refresher on what they should do for the first Nintendo Switch 2 title.
