Daily Debate: Should Nintendo Continue to Create Top Down Styled Zelda Games?

A Link Between Worlds came out back in 2013 and Breath of the Wild is landing in 2017. The fundamental difference between the two titles is that one was made for handheld, while the other was made for home console. Okay, so there is more to it than simply the platform choice. However, since A Link to the Past, top down Zelda games have almost always been exclusively created for handheld devices (save Four Sword Adventures). The reasons were rather obvious, as the hardware was going to have limitations compared to home consoles. That being said, the 3DS was capable of hosting Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, while getting a port of Hyrule Warriors. Still, when it’s come to new game releases, it saw A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes – two top down games.

The Nintendo Switch is releasing next year and it blurs the line that use to divide home consoles and handheld gaming devices. It is a product that does both (and hopefully does them very well). With console like power in your hands, it’s perfectly conceivable that Tri Force Heroes (or A Link Between Worlds, if you so desire) is the last top down Zelda game we may ever get. But should that be the case? Should we just simply expect full 3D Zelda games every single time moving forward? That’s the crux of today’s debate.