Aonuma confirms that work on the next Zelda has already begun

https://twitter.com/AllSourceGaming/status/942636669575905280

https://www.resetera.com/threads/work-on-the-next-zelda-has-already-begun.11641/

There's no way they're not using the Breath of the Wild engine again, so that should cut down some of the development time.

We don't need to be told. They're always working on the next Zelda. It probably began before BotW released.

I hope the next game is a little more focused. I want the story to be told in a set order. My biggest complain with BotW, is that everything had already happened. It just made everything feel all over the place, with no structure. I'd still love to see the open world return, but make the stuff you can tackle at any time, in any order, be the side quests and an equivalent of the Shrines. I also hope we go back to traditional dungeons, with unique boss fights, instead of fighting the same boss 4 times that you just spam with arrows.

Best news of the day. Botw was perfection.

I'm kinda hoping for some big dungeons. I know some people would be mad about it because it probably means less of an open 'you can go anywhere anytime' approach. But I do miss the dungeons.

Yay.......another Zelda game....... Wish Nintendo would use some of that imagination to truly make something new and magical.

@scatteh316: sounds like you never played botw.

Oh but I have....... Now imagine if they applied that creativity to a completely new IP...... And BoTW pushed Switch to it's limits so what can extra can be done mechanically to the game play without crippling Switch completely.

@scatteh316: You're the same guy who tried to prove the game ran at 20fps and was nauseating to play by using a screenshot of a pre-launch demo, aren't you? :/

I'm the guy who said that it can run at 20fps.... which is does..... even after the patch.... and what about those who haven't applied said patch?

The frame rate is still questionable in places....... and that is just plain fact.

But that is not related to the conversion between me and someone else.....In fact.... why are you butting in again?

@scatteh316: Your exact words were "Zelda straight up made people nauseous with it's 20fps frame rate!"

Here is the discussion on page 2

I rebutted that the game doesn't run at 20fps, and you changed your argument to say it regularly dips to 20fps. I posted a video showing the game no longer drops as frequently in frame-rate and then again, you changed your argument to "Not everyone has the update".

My whole point is though that your opinion on this game in particular is untrustworthy. Sorry, that's just how I feel. :(

Then stop reading in to things to much and taking things literal :)

And are you saying 100% of owners have applied the patch?

The issue is with you on this my friend.

And is also actually quite sad that you quoted the thread...... you're not one of these sad people who screen shot and book mark posts are you as that's just tragic.

@scatteh316: No, it was just very easy to find. It took around 5 minutes.

You haven't uploaded many screenshots. I saw that misleading pre-launch demo one you posted which confirmed it was you. I then navigated to the forums tab, I jumped a bunch of pages until I found my username and from there, I just clicked the thread name. You don't post that much so it didn't take very long. If it was someone who posted more often, I would have given up. :P

All the same, you purposefully tried to misrepresent the state of the game. It's just not as valuable as taking the opinion of someone who expresses their dislike of the game from an honest place like aigis.

Whatever you say dude.....

@scatteh316: Using a pre launch demo screenshot to display the framerate of an already patched game? Misleading. :P

Almost. It's the best open world game ever made, but it could use some cooler dungeons and bosses, in my opinion. Other than that? Fucking flawless.

Gimme something a little more story-focusses and i'm in. BotW nailed the gameplay and exploration aspects, so i'm sure their next attempt will be excellent.

I agree. BotW is wonderful, but it still suffers from some classic open world pitfalls, particularly when it comes to narrative delivery. TW3 probably managed narrative in an open world the best that I've seen; it still meanders, but manages to dole out the main story in a somewhat coherent sequence. BotW is a bit too directionless, and when you get narrative moments the progression is typically too dainty. How many times are you going to re-"reveal" that Ganon took over and add only a teensy pea-sized step forward in the story as an addendum?

@scatteh316: I'm all for new ip... Check my posting history for the better part of 10 years. Zelda doesn't seem to fit the mold however... God of War, halo uncharted, gears.... These are the games that offer the gameplay equivalency of eating a saltine cracker plain everytime they come out.... They are tired as it gets... Zelda development always yields a different approach, as we've now seen in botw... And skyward sword and windward and twilight princess.... All of which carry the Zelda name, all of which feeling like entirely different games.

In short, Im with the sentiment that new ip is where it's at, and talented developers are best when they are allowed to be creative outside the money making endeavor known as the sequel, but Zelda isn't the best example for this. Those games are diverse and take chances that others don't...

How about that last uncharted game? Absolutely no reason to go back to those games and a talented dev like naughty dog goes back into see if there's any money left inside that cow.

@Litchie: easily the best open world game ever made... I'm ok with the shrine approach, but I'm not gonna argue that point because dungeons have been a series staple and I can see why fans want themed puzzle packed dungeons... I, for one thought the shrines gave me a little taste of those puzzles and encouraged me to continue exploring the brilliant overworld.

I think the next game will explore dungeon design a little more though... I also had zero issue with the story. In fact it was one of my favorite video game stories of 2017. Story doesn't need to be in our face to be good. In fact I respected their choice to allow the world and that ominous castle steal the show over story.

just give me 8 dungeons instead of 4.... or 4 but make them huge..

2nd goty in the bag :P

I REALLY hope Switch gets its own Zelda, looking at the sales figures it's bound to happen. CAN'T FUCKING WAIT!

Pretty much expected but great to hear nonetheless.

They do make stuff new and magical, they just skin it with their character models. Do you feel that every zelda/mario game are exactly alike? Most play very differently than predecessors. That's how they role. Come up with a new game type/play/mechanic and see which franchise it would best fit. Create a new game using that matches character/world sets, and have it completely non connecting with previous itterations. New story, new graphics, new everything, except maintain the architecture of the lore where possible.

IMHO that's as good as a new game. Why do they have to make a new IP completely for new game mechanics?

Indeed it's the best news of the day. BotW is the best Zelda game ever made.

Hopefully it's released sooner than it took for breath.

Hopefully they will scrap the weapon degradation system.

Having to constantly pause mid-combat is just annoying. It's not like a CRPG for tactical reasons or even Elder Scrolls to select a poison or potion, 90% of the time it's because your weapon is blinking red.

Yuuuuuppp

If they manage to expand on the incredible wonders they achieved with Breath of the Wild, the next Zelda will be above extraordinary.

Breath of the Wild is just one of those rare examples of a game blowing the hinges off an entire genre. It reminded me of playing Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time for the first time.

Cool but... those arent news. It was a given. How people act surprised is beyond me

I hope they listen to the criticisms people had for BotW and not just get high on the praise, because otherwise I might have to drop Zelda as one of my favorite series, which would suck.

I hope the next game is like the Wind Waker to BotW's OoT. Take the big open-ended design philosophy, and apply it to a vast ocean. WW is a great game, but the ocean was mostly just space between islands. Give us scuba gear, underwater caverns to explore, ship to ship battles, and maybe even a pirate crew to command. Also, some large islands with more BotW type stuff to do, cause that's still cool.

@Renegade_Fury: I feel you. It would be pretty disappointing if none of the issues with Breath of the Wild were addressed in the sequel.

I am worried though because I don't feel the criticism was as potent as the reception for, say, Skyward Sword. I have a feeling that the new Zelda game will have similar problems.

BOTW was disappointing in so many ways. I hope they go back to the old formula.

@airraidjet: Cool, cool. So, we're three years out from having the game announced for a 2020 release, will be delayed until 2021 to explore "unforeseen new ideas that came about during development", then again until 2022 for "further polish." November 2022 confirmed!!

Make it bigger! BIGGER! Also, put in an actual Hyrule castle town now.

If it drops on the Switch, that would be massive!! Hopefully its not a new Zelda for the 3DS family.

Hopefully they'll drop this cell-shaded art style for the next one. I want a more realistic Zelda game, like Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time. If not that, then I want the art style similar to the 2011 Tech Demo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-wCfutj9JU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arHNcSMXaBk&

I also want more traditional dungeons that are big. I still want it open world, but the story itself needs to be linear. I do love the idea of being able to cook food in a crock pot, hunt for food, etc. It kind of reminds me of Don't Starve in a way, but a 3D version of it.

i just started playing last week......about 18 hours in and ive barely scratched the surface..... only issue i have is the weapons durability

Eiji Aonuma wants to keep BotW's level of freedom in future Zelda games.

“You know, I can't speak to what other people, other companies will do in their own games, but I think for me, especially just in terms of the Zelda series, the incredible freedom that this game offers you and how well that's been received…to me, it means that freedom, that level of freedom is something that needs to be maintained in Zelda games going forward. My eyes have been opened to how important that is”

So for example, if there was like, ‘you can't do this because you don't have the right tools' or 'you don't meet the certain requirements,’ players are going to not want to do that anymore. So we wanted to very much incorporate that."

"Going forward, I think we would definitely consider that way of thinking when we create something in the future"

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/12/27/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-director-producer-discuss-speedruns-shrine-skips

Certainly glad to hear this, and I would also like to see some massive TP-style themed dungeons in the next game also, while keeping the sense of freedom BotW has. That would be the ideal balance.

I called it ages ago.

Since BOTW was such a success and it released day 1, we will have a "Majoras Mask" equivalent towards the end of thsi gen. Another Zelda game on the same engine with new concepts.

If all they did was redo BOTW but with longer and more meaningful dungeon content and a story throughline like the old games, I'd be sold. BOTW is a great foray into true freedom and meaningful exploration, but now that it's been successful, what I want is to see that concept overlapping with the atmosphere, difficulty curves, and interesting layouts of the old games. The middle ground between the two is where I think a genuine Zelda 1 for the modern age lies, and I really want to see such a game.

My biggest complain with BotW..... it's not Zelda enough. :P

Dungeons, bosses and music were not memorable enough. Story was very desapointing, with memories not being enough.

If they did the same game play and world but with that Zelda magic, easily GOAT for me.

I have to agree. I'll list my specific "complaints" below (to everyone, I did love BotW).

1. The music was not memorable, and a true "Hyrule Field Theme" was missing. I get the ambiance of it all with the light piano, and often musical silence... but more music would have been better.

2. The music in the game was lacking in quantity. I thoroughly enjoyed what we got, but in the pantheon of Zelda games with great music, it's hard to say this had it.

3. Traditional dungeons sorely missing. The shrines were great, and the beasts were very creative. I just really wanted, at a least a few, large traditional dungeons sprinkled in.

4. More "bosses".

5. A more cohesive story. This was interesting with the memories etc., and the cutscenes/voice acting were spot on. It just made me want more.

6. A more developed villain. I thought the build up to the power of Ganon was impressive, but I really wanted him to speak, and address me in his Gerudo form.

I'd be happy to see another Zelda 3. Although A link between Worlds was good, it was a bit too focused on dungeons. I never did get around to playing seasons.

Wow you've perfectly elaborated my thoughts also. Nice!

I barely remember the bosses and the dungeons lack their own atmosphere. And yeah, Ganon had no personality smh.

I really hope the next game has:

1. A better balance between main content/story/dungeons and side content.
2. a heavily reworked, if not scrapped weapon durability system
3. better variety. BotW was lacking in enemies, like a third of the shrines used the same old "beat up some s***ty guardian" idea, and did every boss need to be Ganon? Why couldn't there have been more bosses like Master Koga or whatever his name was? The weapon variety was pretty weak too. yeah there where a ton of different weapons, but so many were very similar to eachother.
4. Honestly, I wouldn't be against a smaller scale world than BotW if it makes it easier to meet my first and third points. Not saying they have to scale it back to OoT/TP levels or anything but still something a bit smaller than BotW.