Daily Debate: Should Animal Companions Make a Return?

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were unique entries in the Zelda series for many reasons. The feature that sticks out to me the most about the two games, however, is the use of the three special animal companions.

You have Moosh, a flying bear who can ground-pound enemies; Ricky, a hopping and boxing Kangaroo; and Dimitri, a surprisingly friendly Dodongo who can swim. In a single playthrough, you’ll end up meeting all three animal companions, but depending on how you play the game you’ll get one of them at your beck and call through use of a flute.

The flute aspect adds replayability, and the different animal buddies make traversing the overworld unique and exciting. It’s one thing to ride Epona across the field – it’s another thing to fly over pits and ground-pound enemies on the back of a giant blue bear with comically tiny angel wings.

My question for you today is as follows: would you like to see this idea make a reappearance in a future Zelda game? I don’t mean the specific animal companions, but this idea of unique animal buddies to ride around with special abilities. Personally, I would love to see it return, but with completely new types of creatures to befriend. Maybe take the friendly Dodongo idea and have a friendly Big Octo to ride and swim on, who can also shoot giant projectiles at enemies. Perhaps we’ll have some traveling options like this to help us traverse the massive world of Zelda U. Is that a feature that could work in that or another future title? What kind of animal partners would you like to see? Should animal companions make a return? Join the Daily Debate!