What if They Rebooted the Series...

[Zemen]

I honestly think it would be a GREAT idea for the Zelda series. Think about it this way, how many more plots can they come up with before they have to completely change the series to make the plots work? I love the current series but maybe something new would be good.

They could start it out however they wanted to. Link could actually start with a family. They could start it with a completely new hero that is totally unrelated to Link in any way. They could start it with Link as a troubled person who has to fight his urges to be evil. It could be a very dark and mature game (like Assassins Creed) or it could stay in the same "gray" (mixture of dark and childish tones) that it has always been.

I think it would be awesome to see a reboot. Change it up a bit. If it doesn't work out they can always go back to what they've been doing. At most, they would have only wasted one game creation period.

 

[DeletedUser9]

I think it's a fairly good idea, in some respects...

I wouldn't like to see the series changed much, though. I'm all for restarting the story with a new lore... that could even be beneficial. I wouldn't mind it one bit.

But the gameplay should remain mostly the same. Obviously there would be changes; practically every Zelda game introduces new gimmicks or gameplay quirks... but the core gameplay should remain the same I think... though some light RPG elements, if properly implemented, could work pretty well.

I would also not like it if the general feel and atmosphere of the series changed much. I love how it is currently, and I would be sad if it changed much.

 

[Gohma]

If Nintendo would do a reboot, I think they'd make it great.
If Zelda becomes a RPG, it would be a good RPG, if Zelda becomes a FPS (o_o), it would be a good FPS.
It's Legend of Zelda, they wouldn't dash it off.

But if there is really reboot, they'll have to continue making good old adventure Zelda games too. Because of course, some wouldn't accept it

As long as LoZ doesn't go like Mario games.
If one day I see something like "The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of Tennis", I'll deny Nintendo forever.

 

[Yumil]

I am completely in favor of wiping the slate clean and beginning from the beginning. What I am opposed to is completely changing what makes Zelda, Zelda. Zelda is an adventure game. While I am not against introducing more technology into the games, I don't want it to become a first person shooter.

The fundamentals should remain the same. The story needs a total revamp. Start this whole thing from the beginning. Din, Farore, and Nayru create Hyrule and the Triforce. A young man named Ganondorf Dragmire hears the legend and begins searching for a way to reach the Sacred Realm and the Triforce. He succeeds and his evil wishes come true.

How does Link get dragged into this? What is Princess Zelda's part? I want all of these things really answered. And let's make this better: the game doesn't need to end with Ganondorf being defeated. Why not a cliffhanger? Why not make a trilogy involving the NEW-original conflict with Ganondorf? And none of this "legendary sword in the forest from long ago." Let me be involved with the creation of the legendary Sword of Evil's Bane.

And when that is over, don't rehash the story. Sure, maybe Ganondorf doesn't die and is just sealed away, but don't just bring him back the next game. Give us new villains and stories. Don't let the good guys always win. And don't "skip 100 years" or "their decendants" until it really makes sense. I mentioned "young Ganondorf." Link and Zelda should be younger. And as the games progress, they should get older. Don't "kill off" the new-original Link and Zelda until it's appropriate.

Dang...now I really want this.

 

[Gravity]

A reboot would be a good idea. Starting over specifically saying this was an alternate timeline, or a changed past with a given reference point of an existing game would be awesome. Additionally, they could potentially tie all of the original games in the (quasi) timeline together via flashbacks or full blown crossovers as they went.

Ya know honestly, they wouldn't even need to reboot the series to do this. They could simply make a game that ties it all together.

 

[Zeruda]

I think a reboot is definitely a possibility, if not a probability. OoT was an attempt at remaking ALttP, but instead went down a different path and became its own game. And Aonuma still wants to remake it. So, if it was remade, it'd probably have some storyline changes here and there. Once that happened, I'm sure that many (if not most) of the other games would eventually be remade.

Now, while I do think a reboot would happen, I do think it'd more than likely to be done through the remakes. Why? Sales. A remake of a game like OoT or MM would send sales skyrocketing, because they are incredibly popular. Same with ALttP. The oldest classics would do well in remakes because they were so lacking in detail compared to today's games that it'd be just like creating a totally new game anyway.

This reboot/remake would allow for plotholes to be filled, mistranslations to be corrected, and loose ends to be tied up. And, once that was done, it'd allow for brand new Zelda games to be created so that all the games in the series would weave the intricate story that the games tie into anyway. Not only would this help sales, but it give a lot of answers to questions that have been begging to be answered for years.

I don't think Nintendo would wipe the slate clean and just start anew... no, that'd be too risky to their franchise. Instead, I think "rebooting" through remakes is what would be in their best interest, financially speaking.

 

[Caleb, Of Asui]

When you look at it as a new "fresh start," it does sound very welcoming. After all, the series is on it's fifteenth game now with Spirit Tracks. It's been a long way coming, and there's so much to look back to when you want to think of the entire story. Of all Nintendo's big series, Zelda is the biggest. (Mario does have 200+ games, but only about twelve in the main series.)

Is it that hard to say that Nintendo hasn't already kind of rebooted the Zelda series already, though? Look at The Wind Waker and the Adult Timeline. It's not technically a reboot, since it continues from what we already have, but they do effectively wipe out Hyrule and start over again. We don't know yet if Spirit Tracks will give us a new Hyrule or a different land to replace Hyrule, but it does give a fresh new start in its own respect.

The only other series I've really paid attention to that has had a reboot is F-Zero. Actually, it had three reboots: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, F-Zero GX, and F-Zero: GP Legend. I tend to think about F-Zero's reboots in much the same way as Zelda's split timeline - so, who's to say Zelda hasn't already been rebooted?

 

[basement24]

Is it that hard to say that Nintendo hasn't already kind of rebooted the Zelda series already, though? Look at The Wind Waker and the Adult Timeline.

Very true, I never really thought of WW as a reboot before, but in a way, it kind of was. Sure, the gameplay and familiar faces were there, but it was also different at the same time. It really did spin off it's own little sub-series as well with PH and now ST to follow. Maybe it just wasn't enough of a reboot to notice, but the series really does do it's own evolving past the familiar whether we realize it or not.