Candidates – Light Fantasy
While not necessarily part of the traditional Zelda formula, a light fantasy setting is a hallmark of all Zelda titles. It’s also common among Zelda clones.
Here are some exclusives Nintendo could use if they stick to the fantasy trope:
Kid Icarus
Let’s start this list with perhaps the most obvious and viable option.
Kid Icarus is a criminally underutilized arrow in Nintendo’s quiver. Despite the series only having three games (for the NES, Game Boy and 3DS), Pit is a popular video game icon who could easily step into Link’s shoes. Kid Icarus: Uprising breathed new life into the franchise as an impressive arcade action title, but it doesn’t take much imagination to envision a Zelda-like entry in the Kid Icarus universe.
In fact, the biggest challenge Nintendo would face is finding a way to distinguish a Zelda-like Kid Icarus from Zelda herself. And who knows, the prospect of reinventing Kid Icarus once again might be enough to coax Masahiro Sakurai out of his early retirement. That is if Nintendo hasn’t already tied it to ‘Smash Infinite’.
The glory of Heracles
Believe it or not, Kid Icarus isn’t Nintendo’s only Greek-themed series. In 2010 Nintendo released Glory of Heracles for the DS, a JRPG developed by Paon DP.
Nintendo still holds the copyright to this day, although we haven’t seen a peep from it since the DS was released. It seems unlikely, but maybe ole Herc can be convinced to play in a Zelda clone. After all, those Seven Workers will not reach themselves.
Fire emblem
Kid Icarus gets our vote for purely nostalgic reasons, but Fire Emblem wins on name recognition alone. If Mr. Iwata were here, we think he’d take Pit’s side, but [straightens tie] a spin-off from the Fire Emblem series would be a solid business decision.
Not only has the franchise already branched out into other genres, including JRPG (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE) and hack and slash (Fire Emblem Warriors), but Intelligent Systems has proven time and time again that they’re capable of creating cool classics . in any genre they want. See Mario Paint, Panel de Pon, Paper Mario, Pushmo/Pullbox, and the underrated Battle Clash for some examples.
Plus, imagine the puzzles Intelligent Systems could create for their Zelda clone!