Fig
The Altruist
I am all for a cliffhanger ending for a future Zelda title. I really think it could work for even a series that makes each game their own story and not necessarily make connections with previous titles. Although there are titles with some form of cliffhanger endings such as Wind Waker and its sequels Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, the majority of the Zelda titles don't follow that formula. Usually the game starts with Link and his origins followed by the meet-up with Princess Zelda, main villain captures Zelda, and Link has to go into a dangerous journey to save Zelda and potentially the kingdom of Hyrule. If Nintendo did decide to go with the idea to have a cliffhanger ending for an upcoming Zelda title, I am very certain that thousands of fans would be irritated that the end didn't follow the Zelda formula (even though they could be the ones that wanted change in the first place).
That said, I personally would love to see how Nintendo would approach this idea an see how they can implement it without ruining the entire experience of the game. As others have stated before, I think it would really work best if Nintendo made it by using a 2-part or even 2-part system. That's the usual cliffhanger that we see nowadays, however Nintendo can also make their cliffhangers exactly how they did the Adult Timeline. For example, at the end of Spirit Tracks spoiler alert, Zelda asks Link what does he want to be in live with the choices arranging from swordsman, engineer, or doesn't know exactly what he wants to be after Malladus has been taken care of. At the end of the credits we see Zelda writing a letter and based on the player's decision for what Link wants to be when he grows up, we are given a hint of him achieving that goal even though we don't physically see him. The game then ends with Zelda staring out her window to see what Link is up to and also sees the kingdom of Hyrule from that viewpoint. This symbolizes that she wants to see Link be there for whenever the kingdom is in potential of being threatened and that the land doesn't have to suffer from another disaster. I personally believe that because of that ending alone, we could see a sequel to Spirit Tracks in the distant future and could implement the game based on the path of fate that we chose for Link.
I really would like to see Nintendo take this route in the near future, maybe even in Zelda Wii U as I do believe that it could potentially change the franchise in a positive light and even revolutionize the franchise that we all know and love.
That said, I personally would love to see how Nintendo would approach this idea an see how they can implement it without ruining the entire experience of the game. As others have stated before, I think it would really work best if Nintendo made it by using a 2-part or even 2-part system. That's the usual cliffhanger that we see nowadays, however Nintendo can also make their cliffhangers exactly how they did the Adult Timeline. For example, at the end of Spirit Tracks spoiler alert, Zelda asks Link what does he want to be in live with the choices arranging from swordsman, engineer, or doesn't know exactly what he wants to be after Malladus has been taken care of. At the end of the credits we see Zelda writing a letter and based on the player's decision for what Link wants to be when he grows up, we are given a hint of him achieving that goal even though we don't physically see him. The game then ends with Zelda staring out her window to see what Link is up to and also sees the kingdom of Hyrule from that viewpoint. This symbolizes that she wants to see Link be there for whenever the kingdom is in potential of being threatened and that the land doesn't have to suffer from another disaster. I personally believe that because of that ending alone, we could see a sequel to Spirit Tracks in the distant future and could implement the game based on the path of fate that we chose for Link.
I really would like to see Nintendo take this route in the near future, maybe even in Zelda Wii U as I do believe that it could potentially change the franchise in a positive light and even revolutionize the franchise that we all know and love.
