The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom might be the perfect sequel in every definition of the word, but even Nintendo seems to agree that it has exhausted all possibilities for this particular iteration of Link’s journey.
You’ll know by now that Tears, originally conceived as a DLC for Breath of the Wild, morphed into a proper installment when the producers realized the sheer scope of the ideas being thrown around at the studio. The entire game is pretty much modeled after what you already experienced in the acclaimed 2017 title, and yet we couldn’t begin to list all the fun elements they built upon to turn Tears of the Kingdom into another sensational hit.
Sure, it may have ultimately lost the GOTY to Baldur’s Gate 3, but it’s not every day that we get a sequel to one of the greatest games in history and somehow end up enjoying it more.
And the best part? It looks like Nintendo knows when to leave well enough alone, because it’s not planning to develop a threequel to the Breath of the Wild offshoot.
Why Nintendo won’t develop a sequel to Tears of the Kingdom according to its producer
Eiji Aonuma, who’s served as a producer on The Legend of Zelda franchise for well over three decades, recently explained in an interview with Game Informer that they aren’t planning a threequel, mainly because Tears is already the “apotheosis” of this particular subseries.
“[…] As I’ve mentioned previously, with Tears of the Kingdom, we were seeking to build on top of the world we created with Breath of the Wild and really exhaust the possibilities of what we could put into that world,” Aonuma explained. “I think it is — to use a bit of a term — an apotheosis, or the final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda. In that regard, I don’t think that we’ll be making a direct sequel to a world such as that that we’ve created.”
I can’t say I won’t miss this incarnation of Hyrule, but in an era where franchises are so hell-bent on overstaying their welcome, this might just be the best creative decision Nintendo could’ve made for The Legend of Zelda at this particular junction.
