In case you missed it, Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi did an interview with Game Informer about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s okay, we nearly didn’t see it amongst all the Game Awards business.
If you haven’t finished the game, we recommend staying away from the full interview as there are spoilers. They do discuss some key issues aside from that, namely, is there going to be a sequel and why there is no DLC for TOTK, much to our chagrin. I mean, where is Kass?
Fujibayashi says that every time they make a Zelda game, they ‘want to create something new,’ which is why we said goodbye to BOTW’s runes and hello to the Ultrahand in Tears of the Kingdom.
Aonuma comments on the fact there’s no DLC coming to Tears of the Kingdom. He says the team was selective about what went into TOTK and put the best options that fit perfectly with the game into it. Therefore, there’s kind of nothing left for DLC (except what the heck happened to Kass and the potential of a Master Mode!).
Moving on to another key part – the next Zelda game. According to the interview, there isn’t going to be a continuation of the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom storyline. In Aonuma’s words, it would be a “sequel to a sequel, which [is a] bit wild.” The next game, whatever it looks like and whenever it may be, will be a new story and setting. We don’t know if it is in development yet.
The duo also touches on whether they base decisions on the somewhat confusing Zelda timelines. If you want a quick rundown on that, here are all the Zelda games in order. Fujibayashi notes that he knows fans love theorizing about the timeline and what it all means, but states that the development team only considers it “to an extent.” While all Zelda games melt into each other as they, for the most part, include the pivotal Link and Zelda in Hyrule, there are tons of separate stories making up the timelines that have no bearing on each other.
So, what does this mean for future Zelda titles? Well, they’re very far off, and we’ll likely have to wait quite a while for any reveals or information. Not to open a can of worms, but Aonuma signed off by saying “no comment” when asked about an Ocarina of Time remake… could it potentially be something we’ll get? Only time will tell.
While you’re eagerly theory-crafting about upcoming Zelda titles, why not play Ocarina of Time on Switch or see what we know about a Majora’s Mask Switch remake, too?