Summary

  • Legend of Zelda stays relevant by innovating with new releases like Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom.
  • Wind Waker's cartoonish style and Twilight Princess's edgy tone have both attracted passionate fanbases.
  • Nintendo may be holding off on Twilight Princess and Wind Waker ports for future console launches or online subscription services.

The Legend of Zelda has managed to keep pace with virtually every major gaming IP of the past three decades, due in large part to the strength of its pedigree. Though the franchise is constantly moving forward with ambitious and inventive releases like Tears of the Kingdom and the recently announced Echoes of Wisdom, it's important to note that its new entries don't usurp its old ones. Rather, they provide novel experiences and different twists on established formulas, keeping them relevant over time.

This aversion to strict timelines, tropes, and an overarching plot has allowed The Legend of Zelda to stay fresh and aggressive throughout its lifetime—no easy feat for such a long-running series. Perhaps most emblematic of Zelda's loose commitment to specific design philosophies is the contrast between The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, two games with nearly opposite approaches to art design, combat, and exploration. But although Wind Waker is cartoonish and open-ended and Twilight Princess is edgy, dark, and linear, both games have fostered equally passionate fanbases within the broader Zelda community. This makes it all the more puzzling why both are missing from Nintendo's modern lineup.

The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom Hyrule landscape reveal trailer screenshot with white game logo
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Hyrule Looks Very Familiar

One eagle-eyed fan notices that Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom's map of Hyrule may be heavily inspired by some of the most beloved entries in the series.

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Wind Waker and Twilight Princess On Switch Are Nowhere To Be Found

Twilight Princess and Wind Waker Rumors Have Persisted for Years

Rumors about Wind Waker and Twilight Princess abound, with some fans expecting games to be announced at Nintendo's June 2024 Direct. But that Direct has come and gone, and there is still no sign of either game. This is a bit puzzling, as there is certainly no shortage of demand for these titles—there's even a fairly successful Change.org petition to bring Twilight Princess to the Switch. Moreover, Nintendo has remastered both of these titles before, for the Wii U. With the Wii U having similar hardware as the Switch, Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD ports seem like easy layups that Nintendo is choosing not to take, for whatever reason.

It should be noted that most fans aren't asking for a full-blown remake of either of these games, just a straight port, perhaps with a few minor visual updates and quality-of-life features.

Every few months, it seems like chatter about Twilight Princess HD or Wind Waker HD gets stirred up. Leakers have many times posited that one or both of these titles would be coming to the Switch, and while many of these leakers have solid track records, the fact that such ports have yet to see the light of day suggests that they may not quite be on the money.

Possible Reasons Why Nintendo Is Holding Off On Twilight Princess and Wind Waker Ports

Nintendo is no doubt aware of consumer demand for these projects, cognizant of the potential for profit and positive optics were they to be released. So the company must have a strong reason for not releasing them just yet. One possible explanation for this could be related to the much-discussed Switch 2: perhaps Nintendo is positioning either remasters or full-blown, ground-up remakes of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker as launch titles for the next-generation console. These wouldn't be headline offerings, of course, but they could certainly pad out the lineup, and Twilight Princess or Wind Waker with modern features like 60FPS would be a hot selling point.

A less exciting alternative explanation would be that Nintendo is planning to launch the games through its online subscription service, which currently includes games-on-demand from consoles like the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64. If Nintendo were to expand the service to include GameCube games, then Wind Waker and Twilight Princess would be extremely attractive titles for prospective subscribers. This would largely disappoint those interested in ownership, but given the prominence of gaming subscription services, it's certainly possible.