Zelda: Wind Waker 2 Was Cancelled By Nintendo
Because of a horse.
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was originally meant to get a sequel, but Nintendo cancelled it in favour of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
That's according to an interview with artist Satoru Takizawa (translated by Nintendo Everything), who says, "we had begun the initial steps towards creating Wind Waker 2 … However, demand for a more Ocarina-like game was growing by the day."
The reason for the cancellation of Wind Waker 2 and subsequent development of Twilight Princess instead is an odd one: horses.
"Wind Waker 2 would have taken place in a more land-based setting, rather than on the sea, so that we could have Link gallop across the land on a horse," says Takizawa. "But Link's proportions in Wind Waker weren’t very well suited for riding on horseback; he was too short, and an adult version of Toon Link did not seem appropriate either.
"High-budget live-action fantasy movies were also huge at the time, so with all things considered, we decided to have at it [and switch to Twilight Princess]."
The interview comes from the new Zelda: Art & Artifacts book, which is released in the UK and US in February but is already available in Japan.
Wind Waker never got a sequel, though it did get an HD re-release in 2013 on Wii U. You can read our The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD review here. Twilight Princess also got an HD Wii U version, in 2016--read our review of that here.
A more cartoonish Link, similar to the one seen in Wind Waker, returns--on horseback--in the newest Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Would you have enjoyed a Wind Waker sequel? Or are you glad we got the more 'realistic'-looking Twilight Princess? Let us know in the comments.
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