Medieval Forevermore?

[Spirit]

16 games in and countless generations and numerous century gaps between most installments and Zelda as a franchise still hasn't been able to pull itself out of the dark ages. Zelda is characterised by its theme and has a lot of instantly recognisable places no matter which game you're playing be it MC or ALttP, OoT or TP etc etc. It'll always feel familiar...

But in a medium as rapidly changing with an increasingly fickle fanbase such as gaming where software franchises are having to innovate and change at the very least their aesthetic or worlds; DMC, AC3, Bioshock as three quick examples, do you think Zelda will ever pull itself out of its medieval period setting to try and spice things up and attract new followers or is Zelda stuck where it is forevermore?

 

[Draymorath]

I hope that Zelda will stay medieval. It's part of Zelda's theme and I wouldn't want it to go all modern, or anything.

 

[Terminus]

The Legend of Zelda: The 'hood wars?

Ew.

 

[Ventus]

Quoth the raven: eat my short--nevermore. Anyway, I do believe Zelda should stick to its medieval routes until Ocarina of Time 2 - the Perfect Zelda since OoT - releases. Once this OoT2 releases, I believe NIntendo would then be ready to take LoZ outside of its nuturing, native crib and send it off to new heights. Space, the modern day, or maybe even outside of the fantasy genre. Who knows? It'll just take time.

 

[ihateghirahim]

You operate under a False presumption.

Zelda is constantly changing. We started with three types of terrain and a few basic enemies. Then Hyrule grew into a vast land of many peoples and places; growing with every game. Every installment brings new weapons and abilities. Skyward Sword recently created a largely new world with many new abilities; not the least of which were the motion controls. We have also experienced new worlds outside of Hyrule like Holodrum, Termina, and Lolokhint. Each of these world's brought something new to the table. Zelda is like few gaming series, it has remained true to its origins and basic ideas (except the cdi games and maybe the interesting Zelda ii). It constantly grows and changes while still remaining the games series we grew up with. Long Live The Legend of Zelda.

 

[Hanyou]

I think you could argue that the first two games were "medieval," but after that, it was clear that Hyrule, while it borrowed some things from our world, was entirely distinct. A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, etc. might have kingdoms, but they're pretty different than our middle ages and incorporate a variety of cultures and settings. By Link's Awakening's release, calling Zelda games "medieval" would have been questionable at best.

After Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Skyward Sword, none of which have a remotely "medieval" setting, it goes from questionable to absurd to suggest that Zelda games are stuck in medieval settings (no offense intended toward anyone who holds that view, I will just never understand it). These are not medieval games. In fact, settings vary more wildly between Zelda games than between games in any other series I can think of. So the whole premise here is flawed.

But considering how malleable this universe is, yes, I can totally see a cyberpunk Zelda game in the future. We've already seen plenty of steampunk elements. I don't think we'll get one that takes place in the modern world, where people wear jeans and wide-rimmed glasses and communicate on iPhones and shop in department stores. Barring that, honestly, how much more variety could you possibly want in terms of setting?

 

[DuelMark]

Yes, because the point of Zelda is fantasy adventure. Can't necessarily do that in a metropolitan location like New York City.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I don't know where you're getting the idea that Zelda is firmly stuck in the medieval times. I've seen quite a bit of advancement in the games technologically speaking. Zelda seems to run under its own set of rules, taking cues from the medieval, Industrial Revolution, Wild West, ancient Chinese, Egyptian, African, South American, etc., even futuristic. It just doesn't really take any cues from the modern era, which I'd argue would take the magic and wonder from the series. As long as I don't see a "Zelda" game that has a punk-*** Link with a hood trying to get street-cred out on the streets of New Castle City, I'll be fine.

 

[Zelink]

Zelda to me is a mid-evil game, and will remain a mid-evil game. Like others have said though, there certainly are elements that are completely beyond mid-evil technology. One good example of this is the hookshot or clawshot. We wouldn't be able to produce these even now. I would be open to a Zelda offshoot in some other setting, but I would much prefer Zelda keeps its mid-evil roots.

 

[Kylo Ken]

I think that at some time Zelda will skip the modern day action drama and go straight to the eccentric future fantasy action/adventure/drama. Untill then, it will stay medieval. The way I see the whole future fantasy Zelda will be similar to Devil May Cry or Final Fantasy.

 

[The Wanderer]

My gut says Zelda will remain medieval either forevermore or a really long time before venturing into anything else. However, I believe it could do just about any setting or time period easily because the series is just that malleable. Trains would never work in Zelda, right? Then we got Spirit Tracks, and though I haven't played the game myself, I haven't noticed a whole lot of complaining since about how trains don't work in Zelda. Whether we get ReDead Redemption, Professor Linkon and the Curious Village of Ruto, or Master Sword Effect, the Zelda series is still probably going to flow smoothly. In fact, I'd actually enjoy hearing about a Zelda game which goes outside its usual medieval genre.

And as others have said, Zelda is a bit of its own thing. In Ocarina of Time, you can go into the Bombchu Bowling Alley and see neon lights, moving walls, and stuff that otherwise shouldn't exist in Zelda's time period but does. The series has proven time and again that it can do its own thing and still look cool doing it.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Clock Town in MM has a very 16th century Renaissance vibe. Transportation in PH and ST are firmly 19th century. The Hawkeye in TP is an extraordinarily sophisticated piece of technology. As I have observed before, Castle Town would be an urban utopia compared to actual medieval standards. Any account of common life in 13th century Paris or London makes the skin crawl.

Nintendo picks and chooses anachronistic elements to suit their vision of the game world, which is fine. The middle ages was a pretty ****y time to be alive.

 

[The Wanderer]

Nintendo picks and chooses anachronistic elements to suit their vision of the game world, which is fine. The middle ages was a pretty ****y time to be alive.

Especially when you consider most peoples' excrement wound up on the streets. If you ever go back in time to medieval France, don't hang around below windows.

 

[ihateghirahim]

I though the HawkEye was just a lense.

 

[Castle]

Once again I wonder to myself, "What about Hyrule and the Zelda series is medieval?" It's fantasy sure, but it hardly bears aspects of the historical European Dark or Middle Ages to me... =\

Only ALttP seems remotely medieval to me, but over all the series bears an aesthetic that I cannot compare to anything else. Only the castles are indicative of the middle ages.

But, will the Zelda series ever adopt a different genre aesthetic? Well, there was a bit of diesel punk to be seen in the Goron Mines of Twilight Princess. What else could it be? Steampunk? Cyberpunk? Does the series aesthetic have to change? I say no, because it is highly unique and identifiable. Not only that but Zelda's genre aesthetic is extremely versatile. There is much more than can be done with it.