Fans ofThe Legend of Zeldaare rightfully expecting 2021 to be a big year for the franchise. It’s turning 35, just asSuper Marioturned 35 last year, and fans are optimistic that Nintendo has a lot in store. In fact, ever since the latest Nintendo Direct, it’s seemed increasingly clear that Nintendo wantsThe Legend of Zeldato make the most out of 2021.Skyward Swordis coming to the Switch after a remake was rumored for some time, and Nintendo has laid out a roadmap for its future DLC support forHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.Although Nintendo hasn’t shared of the Wild 2yet, fans can’t quite discount the possibility that it’ll release sometime this year to help mark the anniversary.
All these games and updates make for a pretty decent celebration altogether. However, Nintendo proved in the case ofSuper Mariothat it’s open to trying something unorthodox to mark the occasion of a franchise anniversary. That came in the form ofSuper Mario Bros 35,a limited time battle royale and competitive platformer. If Nintendo is willing to try something new forMario,thenZeldadeserves the same kind of treatment, and there’s one type of unorthodox spinoff that a lot of fans have been hoping will come together for a long time now. Whether it’s likely to happen or not, 2021 ought to be the year that Nintendo releasesZelda Maker.
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Nintendo’s Love of Creativity
Nintendo has a long history of trying to foster creativity in its fans. Way back in 1992, it releasedMario Paint,a surprisingly sophisticated art tool for the days of the NES.Mario Paintsold extremely well, and remains both fondly remembered and often referenced in Nintendo’s other works. Nowadays, Nintendo can encourage creativity in some much more ambitious ways.Super Mario Makeris the best exampleof this. TheSuper Mariofan community was over the moon about the game’s reveal and the opportunity to make their very ownSuper Mariolevels. It was an extraordinary success, as was its sequel, which found brilliant and gratifying ways to expand on the first game’s features.
Super Mario Makermight be a subfranchise that keeps going for a long time, seeing how well its done. However, it’s not the only level design game that Nintendo fans are hoping for. Some of the mostmemorable moments inThe Legend of Zeldacome from traversing the game’s dungeons. Each one feels unique and memorable, challenging players with combat, puzzles, and new items to master. Since dungeons are such an important part of the franchise, it’d be great to put the tools of dungeon making in the hands of fans to see what the community comes up with. Seeing how creative players are inMario Maker,fans of a theoreticalZelda Makerwould surely come up with some extraordinary designs.
It can’t be denied that aZelda Makergame is probably a lot harder to develop thanMario Maker.Part ofMario’s strength is its simplicity; the majority of its core games can be boiled down to 2D sidescrolling platformers. Nintendo would probably have to choose to makeZelda Makerisometric or a third-person game, and each comes with its upsides and downsides. Dungeons are usually much more complicated and interconnected thanMariolevels too. Still,so long as Nintendo settled on oneand came up with design mechanics and building blocks as flexible asMario Maker’s,Zelda Makercould be something beautiful.
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Hope for Zelda Maker
There’s a couple signs out there that Nintendo might actually be considering a game like this. The biggest clue comes from the recent remake ofLink’s Awakening.When the remake was first announced, fans were really intrigued by the new Chamber Dungeons feature. Using this feature, fans could put together dungeons of their own using preset rooms fromotherLink’s Awakeningdungeons. However, it wasn’t as free-form as fans were hoping for, and ultimately ended up being something of a letdown. Still, fans have never been closer to designing their own dungeons for Link to traverse. If Nintendo has tested this sort of dungeon maker out already, it might already be making plans for a more fleshed-outZelda Makertype game.
Another less crucial but still compelling point inZelda Maker’s favor is Link’s appearance inSuper Mario Maker 2.Although it’s a far cry from a game dedicated toZeldadungeon making, adding the Master Sword as a powerupwent a long way inSuper Mario Maker 2.Fans have made tons of really faithful recreations ofZeldadungeons in 2D thanks to the powerup. It also could be a clue that Nintendo is interested in seeing what fans can do when theZeldaformula is in their hands. The community certainly didn’t disappoint, so hopefully that makes Nintendo feel more optimistic about the prospects of a dungeon making game.
Celebrating Zelda Tradition
Perhaps the most important thing thatZelda Makerwould do by releasing as a part of the anniversary is offer a retrospective for the franchise.Breath of the Wildis fantastic, but it’s a very different look forThe Legend of Zelda.It breaks tons of conventions by being light on dungeons and heavy on crafting, equipment, and open world exploration.IfBreath of the Wild 2releasesthis year, it’ll surely preserve most of these new elements. It’d be nice to have another game besidesSkyward Swordthat fans can play to bask in someZeldanostalgia. Being able to create dungeons that mimic the design of past games and use building blocks specifically from those older games would go a long way.
It may be thatZelda Makerisn’t in the stars for fans this year. A new game of that caliber seems like something it would’ve addressed during the recent Nintendo Direct. However, there’s still a chance thatZelda Makeris a game for holiday 2021 and Nintendo is waiting to address is until a specialZelda-themed direct. Alternatively, it’s possible that this possible spinoff has been hiding inBreath of the Wild 2all along as a ‘minigame’ like the Chamber Dungeons. If not, maybe Nintendo just needs a few more years to figure out how to make this kind of game. Whatever the case, the fact remains thatZelda Makerwould be a fantastic way to mark the 35th anniversary. Creating art is one of the main ways fans celebrate their favorite franchises and IPs. It’d be a delight tosee Nintendo enableZeldaloversto get creative in the mostZeldaway possible.
