Daily Debate: Will We Ever Receive Another Sequel to Four Swords?

It has been a long few years since we last had a multiplayer Zelda game. As we continue to await the anticipated release of a certain “sequel” game, many including myself have looked back at previous releases and wondered about the legacy of multiplayer installments for the Zelda franchise. The previous multiplayer entry Triforce Heroes was released in 2015, and was actually the eighteenth original entry in the Zelda franchise. Breath of the Wild was the nineteenth entry released two years later, so it seems the multiplayer installments haven’t faded too far away. However, it is safe to argue that Triforce Heroes wasn’t the most praised multiplayer title — or even Zelda title in that respect (especially since it’s only up to three players, not four, and you cannot do a two player mode.)

Zelda’s multiplayer legacy is more connected to Four Swords and its successor (which is a sequel to Four Swords but the official Timeline makes it confusing) Four Swords Adventures. First on handheld, and then brought to a console respectively, these Zelda games allowed one to four players to each play as split versions of Link to take on the villain Vaati. Later, the original Four Swords was re-released as a DSiWare exclusive to commemorate Zelda’s 25th anniversary in 2011. Though the first Four Swords had a lighter story, the second game Four Swords Adventures had a much deeper story including Ganondorf, the Knights of Hyrule, Vaati, Shadow Link, and the Dark Mirror. This pleased many fans including me, giving me questions which led into theories on the lore and timeline. I would then ask myself: when would we receive another Four Swords game and what would it look like?

One concept I came up with is actually thanks to the possibilities that the Zelda Timeline establishes. With the existence of three separate timelines after the split, characters and events that exist and affect one of those timelines, can also affect the other two. So in this case, take a look at Vaati’s existence and destruction in Four Swords Adventures, taking place at the edge of the Child Timeline. Because the Four Sword and Vaati are canon before Ocarina of Time’s timeline split, and appear afterwards in the Child Timeline, this means that both Vaati and the Four Sword also exist in the Downfall and Adult Timelines! I really think that another Four Swords sequel can take place in New Hyrule after Spirit Tracks, especially considering those games in that timeline involve Toon Link, which represents some of the light-hearted silliness side of the series! And while that fits, it works from a story perspective since the Master Sword is… well… flushed away with Old Hyrule!

So, I now leave this discussion open to you guys. When do you think we will get another “proper” Four Swords multiplayer game? Will we ever get one? What will it look like? Let me know in the comments below!