Did You Know Gaming? Investigates Retro Studios’ Cancelled DS Zelda Game “Heroes of Hyrule”

Posted on October 03 2022 by Kora Burton

Zelda Dungeon recently covered a report by Did You Know Gaming? on Retro Studios’ cancelled Sheikah-inspired Zelda game which had been slated for release on the Wii. During their investigation, Did You Know Gaming? talked with former Retro Studios employees to discuss the game prototype that Nintendo rejected. They even uncovered some information about another Zelda game that Retro Studios pitched earlier for the DS called Heroes of Hyrule. Now, Did You Know Gaming? has released their full video on the whole story behind the similarly rejected pitch for the ill-fated DS title.

Did You Know Gaming? (DYKG) tells the story of Heroes of Hyrule through the 22 pages of an original pitch document they received from former Retro employees during their previous Zelda project investigation. Preceded in production by The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance, Heroes of Hyrule was pitched to Nintendo as a Zelda series take on the strategy game genre à la Final Fantasy Tactics. In addition to the shift in genre, the game would have also felt wildly different thematically from most other Zelda titles of the era, with the player perspective jumping between different character-centric timelines, three brand new hero characters representing the three parts of the Triforce, and even a main character who wasn’t Link. Yes, you read that right — Link was intended to only make a cameo in Heroes of Hyrule! Instead, the game would have been played through the eyes of a young boy named Kori. What emerges from DYKG’s report is a game that feels almost like Breath of the Wild in its departure from the traditional.

Did You Know Gaming? supplies a compelling narration by Zeltik, whose Zelda-related work we’ve also covered recently. The creators even utilize a captivating spread of commissioned art by Sammy Tighe to help tell the story of Heroes of Hyrule in addition to the original concept art and information provided in the pitch document itself. Paul Tozour, a former Senior Engineer at Retro who had a hand in working on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, also returns to provide an insider perspective on the brief development and ultimate rejection of Heroes of Hyrule.

As I watched this deep dive by Did You Know Gaming?, I certainly felt a sense of longing for a game that never was. I’ve never played much in the strategy game genre along the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics. That being said, I’m absolutely in love with the concept art and the adventurous heart of the Heroes of Hyrule pitch, from the unwitting but curious main character, to the detailed depiction of the three heroes, to the surprise twists and turns along the way. It definitely makes me wish this game had actually been made!

What do you think of this newest report by DYKG? Would you have enjoyed playing Heroes of Hyrule? What parts of the pitch speak to you, and what parts are you glad Retro and Nintendo never pursued? Let us know down below in the comments, and go check out Did You Know Gaming? and their work unraveling the secrets of Zelda games that were never to be.

Source: Did You Know Gaming?