Daily Debate: Which Top-Down Zelda Game Would You Most Like to See Remade in 3D?

When it comes to categorizing Zelda games, there’s almost a default all fans go to – 3D and 2D/top-down games. These two core styles that have defined Zelda gameplay harbor very different mechanics of gameplay, ambitions of world, and magnitudes of narrative, thanks in part to their respective dimensions.

The idea behind this Daily Debate is to reimagine a top-down Zelda in the style of a 3D game the likes of Ocarina of Time or Breath of the Wild. Given modern advancements and when the game came out, the level of changes could vary vastly. For example, The Legend of Zelda would likely have to work in the story from the instruction manual, and then create new story elements to meet modern standards of video game narrative. Meanwhile, a game like the Oracle games or A Link Between Worlds, which already have very prevalent narratives, wouldn’t need to devote as much to that category. Though due to the mechanics of time travel, changing seasons, and wall walking, they would have to face the challenge of creating a 3D world that allows those features to carry over seamlessly.

If I’m being honest, any of them would make me happy. However, for the purpose of this Daily Debate, I’ll go with The Minish Cap, primarily for its graphical style and core gimmick. Firstly, seeing another game utilizing the ‘toon’ style and cel shading of The Wind Waker, and with modern animating technology, no less, would be a dream come true for me. Seeing Vaati realized in 3D would be especially promising, I feel.

Moving on to the game’s primary mechanic, it would be a treat to see how the environments change between regular and Minish gameplay. More so than seeing it, though, I’d like to see how the development team goes about executing it. I imagine it might be something like shots from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films where the focus shifts to the smaller characters and the environments appear larger, though on a much grander scale. Imagine seeing a tiny pot that you could pick up and break, and a few seconds later, it’s this towering behemoth of a thing that could crush you with little effort if it had but the mind to do so, eclipsing you in its shadow of doom. Then there’s the environments hidden in the Minish world, such as tiny houses hidden among plants when Link is his normal size.

Thanks to the differences in capabilities between 2D and 3D games, seeing some of the 2D/top-down mechanics make the transition to 3D would surely be a treat, as would seeing the stories of some of the older games expanded to meet the expectations of a 3D Zelda story. It’s an interesting concept I would love to see Nintendo or a development partner tackle one day.

Which of the 2D/top-down Zelda games would you most like to see reimagined as a full-fledged 3D Zelda, and why? Let us know in the comments below!

Comments
Sorted Under: Daily Debate, The Legend of Zelda, The Minish Cap
Tagged With: No tags were found for this entry.