Daily Debate: Should Zelda Start Becoming More Futuristic?

When I think about the setting of The Legend of Zelda, the first thing that comes to mind is medieval and fantasy. With the exception of a few steampunk additions such as Bombs or the Pictobox, the early games in the series have generally fitted into that. But the longer the series gets, the more that has begun to change.

I was very surprised in 2009 with the release of Spirit Tracks to find our brave hero traversing the lands not by horse or boat, but instead by train. Though its predecessor Phantom Hourglass included a steamboat rather than a traditional sailboat, I feel that the use of a train was a much bigger leap towards modern technology. At first, the addition of modern vehicles like this seemed quite jarring and out of place, but as the game went on I felt it flowed quite well with both the gameplay and the story.

Fast forward to Breath of the Wild in 2017, and Nintendo has gone much further, adding in robotic enemies such as Guardians, and using the Divine Beasts in place of traditional dungeons. Link even has the equivalent of a modern day tablet in the form of the Sheikah Slate, and in the DLC can unlock the ability to summon a motorcycle. In some ways, it’s starting feel strange to me that the world is still stuck in a medieval age, when such advanced futuristic technology exists.

Do you think Zelda should continue making the world more modern and futuristic? Or would you rather it go back to its medieval roots? Let us know in the comments below!