In September, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was released on Nintendo Switch. While the game seemed to borrow quite a bit of inspiration from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, it used the top-down 2D style that originated with the first Zelda game on NES. In the near 40 year history of the series, Nintendo has continued to release both 2D and 3D games, and it seems there are no plans to move away from that. In an interview with Famitsu (translated by Nintendo Everything), series producer Eiji Aonuma talked about the role 2D games serve as part of the franchise.
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“The top-down gameplay style that has been used continuously in the series is very ‘Zelda-like’, and we’d like to keep this up as a contrast to the dynamic 3D games. We want to not just create something that inherits the mechanics of Echoes of Wisdom, but add new elements to make people go, ‘So this is what they’re doing this time?’”
As Aonuma alludes, the 2D Zelda games have come up with compelling mechanics over the years. While Echoes of Wisdom had Zelda creating Echoes of enemies and items, A Link Between Worlds gave Link the ability to turn himself into a painting and move along walls. It seems Nintendo is going to keep looking for new elements to add to the series, and it will be interesting to see what comes next.
While it’s nice to have some confirmation from Aonuma, it’s not all that surprising that Nintendo plans to keep building up the 2D series alongside the 3D games. After all, Echoes of Wisdom is already sitting at more than 2.58 million units sold. The Zelda series in general has also seen an explosion in popularity in the Switch era, with remasters and spin-offs ensuring that the series sees new releases on a near yearly schedule. Continuing to invest in new 2D games ensures that fans have something to enjoy while they wait for new 3D ones; developer Grezzo released both a remake of Link’s Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
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At this time, the future of Zelda is something of a mystery. There is no announced game for fans to look forward to, but that will likely change in the near future. A successor to Nintendo Switch is currently in development, and Nintendo has been keeping a tight lid on what its internal studios have been working on. The last year has seen Nintendo largely releasing remasters as well as games developed by exterior studios, like Grezzo. It’s likely that a follow-up game to Tears of the Kingdom is in the planning stages, and we could see some kind of announcement or teaser for that game when Nintendo fully pulls back the curtain on “Switch 2.”
Are you happy Nintendo plans to keep making 2D Zelda games? Do you prefer 2D Zelda or 3D? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
