Zelda Fans Want Future Games to Take Inspiration from Twilight Princess

Some Zelda fans are longing for Nintendo to return to the artstyle of one of the franchise’s most beloved games, requesting a comeback for the style of Twilight Princess. Throughout the storied history of the Legend of Zelda franchise, Nintendo has taken plenty of creative and unique approaches to its premier adventure series throughout its nearly 40-year-long life. From the Capcom-developed Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages to the full motion controls of Skyward Sword, Nintendo has never been afraid to experiment with the Zelda formula. Now, fans are asking for a beloved style of Zelda to be revived.

First released in late 2006, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was a groundbreaking game for the franchise in more ways than one. Twilight Princess was the first 3D Zelda game to feature a more realistic artstyle, shedding the vibrant colors of The Wind Waker for grittier, washed-out hues. The game was also the first Zelda game to launch simultaneously on two different consoles, with the GameCube version releasing just two weeks after the Wii version. Now, one fan wants Nintendo to return to Twilight Princess‘s Hyrule.

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A post shared by Reddit user Ok-Possession-322 is lamenting Nintendo’s departure from the realistic style portrayed in Twilight Princess. The fan offered praise for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom‘s cel-shaded styles, but expressed a longing for Nintendo to return to Twilight Princess‘s unique visuals. While many modern Zelda games have shared artstyle across multiple games, like Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, the only game to share Twilight Princess‘s style was shooter spinoff Link’s Crossbow Training.

Fans Want Zelda to Bring Back Twilight Princess Artstyle

Other fans in the replies offered some potential reasons why Nintendo has shied away from returning to Twilight Princess‘s style. Many fans cited Twilight Princess as following in the trend of many other big-name games of the time, with realistic visuals being a major trend in gaming throughout the mid-to-late 2000s. Some also referred to the historical context following Twilight Princess, seen by many as an answer from Nintendo to the backlash surrounding Wind Waker‘s more “cartoony” graphics.

While The Legend of Zelda may never see a full return to Twilight Princess‘s style, Nintendo may still have something in store for fans of the GameCube and Wii Zelda game. Rumors have floated around for years about potential ports or new remasters of Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker coming to Switch, similar to the Wii U remasters. The introduction of GameCube games to Nintendo Switch Online has also reignited hope of Twilight Princess becoming playable on Switch 2. Twilight Princess fans may not have to wait much longer for the game to make a triumphant return to Nintendo’s newest console.