Daily Debate: What Zelda Game Deserves a Direct Sequel?

Because we are coming up on almost a year since Tears of the Kingdom‘s release (can you believe it?), I’ve been pondering how well this direct sequel to Breath of the Wild continued the original story and enriched that version of Hyrule. I, for one, loved the continuity elements between the two games and enjoyed seeing how familiar settings were changed over a few years (how NPCs had grown up, etc).

Tears of the Kingdom is a rarity in the Legend of Zelda series, which doesn’t usually provide us with direct sequels that bring us back to the same Hyrule we’ve explored once before. Sure, Majora’s Mask continues the Hero of Time’s journey, but it takes us to a different world. And Phantom Hourglass continued the Hero of Wind’s journey, but lacked a lot of familiar faces and continuity.

I, for one, love the idea of Zelda games that have multiple entries in the same world to greater expand the story, character development, and lore. I think Skyward Sword is worthy of a good sequel that shows Link and Zelda founding Hyrule, and fills in the gaps between that game and The Minish Cap. Twilight Princess also had a very ambiguous ending that I always thought felt incomplete and worthy of a direct sequel as well. And, of course, I would give anything to have another sequel to Majora’s Mask that shows us what happened to the Hero of Time and led him to become the Hero’s Shade. Who knows if this will ever happen.

Do you think Nintendo will ever go the direct sequel route after Tears of the Kingdom? What games would you like to see direct sequels to? Let me know in the comments.

Chakell Herbert

Chakell (pronounced shuh-kell) is an associate editor for Zelda Dungeon! She has loved The Legend of Zelda series since she was a little girl because of its equal mix of princesses, besting bad guys, and heartfelt stories. Chakell lives in the overall tame state of Utah, but holds onto her childhood hopes to find an adventure in her backyard one day. She has a degree in English and is a full-time editor for a magazine. You can usually find her gaming (obviously), laughing with her husband, taking a long time to tell stories because she keeps getting distracted; getting sucked into books and podcasts; or snuggling her cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.