Personally I am loving the format of the current switch games, and Nintendo has signaled that they intend to keep making games in this style though not necessarily a sequel.
I would love first and foremost for the story telling to be brought back to the standards of Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess.
Also, to me the best thing in the 3D games has always been the pacing, you have your first initial quest, that leads to Link powering up in a few different ways. Then Link is set on a second quest, becoming more powerful again. Then a twist of some sort, though that’s optional. Then finally the climactic battle with the big bad. I would also like to see more of an after story, though it is traditional for that to not be a thing at this point.
As for settings, I would LOVE to see a game set after spirit tracks in New Hyrule in the midst of an industrial revolution, mixed with magic.
How about you, what are your wishlist items for the next/future Zelda games?
I would like eliminate the focus on physics puzzles in favor of more combat trials, exploration, and spelunking.
The physics puzzles fun sometimes, but they are so contrived. It doesn’t make you feel like you’re in a fantasy world. It makes you feel like you’re playing a fantasy game. While I still enjoy them when I’m in the mood, after two games of it, I’ve found myself glad I just found a Rauru’s Blessing instead of another physic puzzle. On the other hand, I really enjoy the “here’s a stick, use only what you find in here” shrines, and I love the cave exploration.
I would die of excitement if Nintendo ever made a TotK Zelda roguelike featuring randomly generated caves with a good balance of exploration, combat, and puzzles. And it would need unlockables and meta-progression. Maybe some caves would contain shrines. Not a different zone you enter like in TotK, but some branch of the cave leads to cut stone and you’re suddenly at some kind of randomly generated shrine. When you die, you start an entirely new run. Steal my idea, Nintendo!
But that would be some side release and not the next real Zelda game.
For a real Zelda game I just want the best of all worlds. I want a huge open world to explore, and the freedom not not get trapped by “rails” unless I go down some specific quest line. Quests should be more like the ones in Skyrim or Fallout, but with the Nintendo flair and story writing. I want hidden, but epic quest chains that you might not even find in your first playthrough. Ones that result in you being stronger, but are totally optional. I want less “go help each race to get some key ability you must use once and then becomes totally optional.”
(As an aside, I think the Rito abilities are the only important ones for enjoying either game because the open world requires mobility. The Gerudo power in BotW was badass and maybe a bit too good, but totally optional. TotK’s Gerudo ability is basically a slow and annoying version of that, which made it useless in my opinion.)
I never liked how Wind Waker kept you on rails for so long. BotW was a breath of fresh air in that regard, and TotK, too, but I would be OK with individual quest chains being on rails with maybe only a little variation in how you complete them, but at the same time I don’t want to get analysis paralysis from having to make important decisions that change the whole game. I like how Zelda games don’t have that. You never make any moral decisions except for once in a while you can complete some tiny side quest by being a rogue instead of a saint. I can’t even think of any good examples. Even when you steal something in this game, the NPCs find some wholesome way to forgive you. But I don’t really need the option to “blow up Megaton” in a Zelda game.
Multiple endings would be great based on what you did in the game.
A better weapon degradation would be good. I think the modern Fallout series do a better job with that. Yeah, things break, but you can have them repaired (or do it yourself to some degree.) That one guy in Lookout Landing has been polishing his helmet for 200 hours, and he’s still not done.