Unlike the Mario series, the Legend of Zelda franchise has always been a bit conservative when it comes to spinoffs. Indeed, while the latter has spinoffs starring virtually every character of note, the latter has very few to its name, with the notable standouts being the Hyrule Warriors series, the Japan only Tingle series, Cadence of Hyrule, and one-off oddities like Zelda Picross or Link’s Crossbow Training.
As a result of this, games starring Zelda herself in a major role are even rarer still. Oh sure, she’s playable alongside Link in the Warriors games and Cadence of Hyrule, and technically acts as the protagonist in two of the CD-i games…
But her role as a standalone protagonist is limited. She’s almost always been a secondary character, and that’s it.
However, it seems like there’s a chance things might be changing on that front. Why? Because a somewhat credible leaker known as PapaGenos (who leaked Metroid Prime Remastered and the Mario vs Donkey Kong remake) has posted about a new game starring the titular princess. Here’s the post about it on Twitter if you haven’t seen it already:
Tears of the kingdom Had a great zelda design I think we are Severely overdue for a game where zelda Is the main character. Seems to me A Hyrule adventure like that Is something fans want, Nows The time. pic.twitter.com/OuEFh8jbmb
— PapaGenos (@GenosPapa) May 10, 2024
As you can see, it appears innocuous at first glance. However, if you take the capital letters from every sentence…
Tears of the kingdom Had a great zelda design I think we are Severely overdue for a game where zelda Is the main character. Seems to me A Hyrule adventure like that Is something fans want, Nows The time.
It actually spells out ‘this is a hint’, implying that PapaGenos does have knowledge of a game exactly like this one.
And that’s not the only thing he says about the idea either. No, in a video by the Super Switch Headz YouTube channel, he also adds a few more details too:
Apparently, he can’t speak about it in depth now (but may do in his June Direct video), it’s not related to a rumoured Breath of the Wild remaster or remake, and doesn’t relate to the Tears of the Kingdom concept art of the character. Hence it’s not going to be a Bowser’s Fury type deal, where you’ve got a side story featured alongside a remake of an existing title.
So that’s all interesting if true.
But is it true? Is it possible that a game starring Zelda herself is in development?
Well, we’d definitely say it’s more likely now than it was before. You see, Nintendo seems to have shifted their philosophy when it comes to the Zelda series. In the past, they were very much determined to limit how much extra media the series got. Indeed, once the CD-i era ended, spinoffs and adaptations became a fairly rare deal, with the ones listed in the intro being about the extent of what we got.
However, things seem to be changing there. Now, we’ve got a live action movie in development, with Sony and Nintendo working together on the project. We’ve got talk about Zelda attractions coming to Super Nintendo World, perhaps after the Donkey Kong Country themed area opens this year. And heck, we’ve even got stuff like Zelda LEGO, which is very much not something we’d have expected prior to this generation.
So it seems like Nintendo is taking more risks with the series here. That they’ve got plans for it to take it from a single video game series into a universe on par with Mario and Pokémon.
Hence a game starring Zelda would fit very well into these plans. It’d provide a chance to expand the appeal of the series to a new audience, and build out the type of expanded universe the series hasn’t yet gotten.
That said, that doesn’t say anything to the credibility of these particular rumours. Or heck, PapaGenos’ own state as a reliable source for such information.
Since like many other leakers that talk about Nintendo’s ‘plans’ for their upcoming games and consoles, he’s definitely been willing to support some less than credible claims. Such as all manner of Smash Ultimate rumours, indicating everyone from Mach Rider to Waddle Dee to characters from Dark Souls as potential newcomers. As you can tell, these didn’t exactly pan out as expected.
And there is a variety of ways this rumour could turn out to be false too. Perhaps Genos’ sources weren’t well informed on the matter, or were getting information second or third hand. We all know how these things turn into a game of ‘telephone’ at the best of times, especially in an industry like games where most people don’t get told the full picture.
So, for all we know, this could just be about a new Zelda game where Zelda is playable in certain parts of the adventure ala Spirit Tracks. Or a Hyrule Warriors type deal with a litany of playable characters from across the series. Or from a cameo appearance in another series. Etc.
Or it could just be completely false, from a source that doesn’t know what they’re talking about or a PR rep telling a tall tale at some convention somewhere.
We just don’t know, so we can only stay sceptical here.
Regardless, what do you think about the rumours? Can you see Nintendo releasing a new Zelda game with Zelda herself as the main character? What sort of gameplay or story could such a title have anyway?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, on social media, or on our Discord server today!
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