Breath of the Wild Crazy Theory (Zelda Wii U is a Remake of the First Zelda Game)

[HyainKnight]

I swear to god of game theory steals this from me, I'll never forgive them...

What if Zelda Wii U is a remake of the first Zelda game?

Reasons:

-The title of the game so far is "The Legend of Zelda" so far it's subject too change, but if it stays that way it could be a remake
-Aonuma keeps talking about changing the conventions, what if he wants to reboot the series all together, starting with a remake of the first game?
-The vast overworld and free choice of dungeons is similar to the first game
-The second video we have been shown depicts Link standing over a cliff looking at mountains in the sunset, this is similar too artwork from the first game depicting the same thing.
-Both Zelda Wii U and the first Zelda game seem to lack villages and castles, indicating early civilization.

It might be a bit of a crazy idea, and needs more developing, thoughts anyone?

 

[A Link In Time]

The first two points were also theorized about Skyward Sword. I remember people crazily analyzing how "The Legend of Zelda" placeholder title was a reboot returning to the roots of the original, if not a remake, then in spirit. Aonuma has also been talking about "rethinking the conventions of Zelda" for a few years now.

I've never been a fan of geographical comparisons suggesting remakes. I think it's such a far-fetched thing to say when prominent aspec r so of the new game, such as horse riding, weren't around until Ocarina of Time.

Regarding your last point, there was a hut shown in the E3 announcement trailer getting destroyed by the giant laser beam creature. Zelda isn't an isolated adventure game like Metroid; there are bound to be friendly NPCs and iconic races.

 

[Dio]

I have stated in other threads where i think the game might go. To save me writing it out again and again over the coming months i have just copied what i put. Click the spoiler button to read where I think Zelda U might be on the timeline. One of my ideas is that Zelda U is a remake of LOZ.

Spoiler

There are two places in the timeline I think this game might go. I'll start with what I think is the least likely, but I would not be surprised if they did do it.

First is that this is 'The Legend of Zelda' no subtitle just plain LOZ. That game had pretty much no story and it is possible this is going to be that game and give it one. A lot has changed in the Zelda lore since the beginning of the series and now might be the time to update.

Supporting argument:
This game is supposed to be going back to the series roots...Come on. How more back to the roots can you get than making a 3D version of the original game.
The map looks most similar to the one in Zelda and Zelda 2 therefore it could be possible that they took inspiration from that and gave us the Wii U title.
I think Ganon is going to be the villain due to the bokoblins having a distinctive piglike appearance like his forces seem to have. Demise's bokoblins and moblins looked dopey and more like, well...I don't know what exactly. Hideous to say the least.

Second idea is that this game precedes the WW and shows. the great flood. I know somebody will just go *whiney voice* 'oh but it's the era without a hero' if i don't address this right away.
Hyrule is going to be flooded! It matters not if there is a link because he is not going to save the day and will not be branded a hero despite his fighting the evil forces and perhaps making time for some people to escape to safety. This link does not even wear the Hero's garb, and I don't think he will. I think that is one of the conventions that is being changed for this game.
That would further support link not being the 'Hero' in the traditional sense.

supporting argument for this being a WW prequel:
WWHD was recently released. Therefore it's story will be fresh in the minds of a large portion of the Wii U owner base. WWHD will be the first Zelda of the younger generation who got a Wii U and they will want some continuity. Making a game that precedes it is therefore a smart move rather than putting a game in the timeline which connects to older titles that are not fresh in peoples minds.
The art style has a WW vibe. This could indeed be because they wanted to show a visual connection between the titles whilst merging the style with the more traditional anime look rather than the toon look which i personally dislike.
Bokoblins are piglike and are therefore likely connected to Ganon/dorf rather than Demise or another Demon King. Ganon/dorf would certainly have had a large role in the events leading up to the great flood.
The large spacious land tall mountains and lush fields are similar to the hyrule shown in WW. There is not much evidence of civilization having existed there but it no doubt did.
The Master Sword in WW is said by Ganondorf himself to have been used as a key to keep the seal on him and his magic intact. This indicated it was used to seal his magic after his rampage during the events bringing about the great flood. I imagine he was pretty powerful and dangerous if the gods had to come and seal hyrule beneath an ocean. Link, or he with the hero's blood is the only one who can use the master sword, therefore there must have been one with the heros blood (link) to use the master sword as a key to seal Ganon's magic.
THEREFORE, there MUST have been a link pre flood. And I think this link is him.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I like a lot of the points made for, but I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

My main point against is the land and state of it. If you've looked into the Timeline and eras of Hyrule, you'd know Legend of Zelda is within the Decline Era. So the land had basically been through a catalog of bad events one after the other culminating in Ganon's invasion, which basically destroyed Hyrule. That's why there is no NPCs, notable locations of habitat; it's mainly just deserted land with enemies and dungeons. If LoZ was remade, it would be so barren that it'd probably be quite depressing.

On the contrary, Zelda U, from basic analysis, looks like it's in a rather peaceful and prosperous era. There are wild animals, NPCs, settlements, and mainly, no signs of devastation or decline.

 

[Djinn]

I do not think it is a remake but I do think that any return to the decline era is an interesting move to make. Clearly Nintedo cannot continue moving backwards and making prequels to their prequels and eventually they would have to start moving forward again. Everything beyond the adult era seems to be contained in the DS sequels. With the sequel to ALTTP in ALBW it seems that Nintendo is interested in that branch again, as well as a general interest in classic type games and setting with all the Mario games closely following Mario 3/World model. So it would not surprise me if they did try to mimick some of the flavor of the classic games in a new one since that is largely what Nintendo is doing right now.

Plus actually going back to the other extreme end of the whole timeline and starting up with a new sequel does free up a lot for storytelling. There is no need to wedge the story in between two games, or add in something that is a setup for a previous game etc. Besides calling it a decline era is a little misleading for the most part. Zelda 2 on NES had the most populated Hyrule ever to appear in the series with 7 villages and two castles spread out over a huge landscape.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Using the map as evidence to place the game in a certain spot is ridiculous, maps between games tend to change, look at OoT's map, Twilight Princess is a distant sequel but there are differences in the maps, for example in OoT Zora's Domain is in the eastern regions of the map, in TP it is located in the North? Its just something you disregard.

 

[alexanderraimo]

Also, if the overworld is as big as they're making it seem, we probably just haven't seen any villages yet because we've been limited on what parts of the overworld we've seen.

 

[ZeldafreakCJM]

I'm still adamant that it'll be post TP as the first Zelda is suppose to be Hyrule in ruins or something after Gannon attacked, this Hyrule has villages, a castle, and roaming villagers. Also, I want to see the tunic already. I miss it.

 

[Kybyrian]

You're right, that is a crazy theory.