Although The Legend of Zelda has cemented itself as one of Nintendo's leading IPs, it hasn't generated an overwhelming amount of spinoff games. Despite being about 35 years old and providing tons of source material through its lore and memorable characters, The Legend of Zelda only has a handful of notable spinoffs, such as the Hyrule Warriors series. Considering just how many Super Mario spinoffs there are, this is a little surprising; one would think that Nintendo would try to capitalize on the series as much as possible. Zelda has many spinoff possibilities, should Nintendo change its tune, including a possible LEGO adaptation by Traveller's Tales.
The Legend of Zelda hasn't established itself as a major LEGO series just yet, which is a shame. Sets depicting the franchise's most famous dungeons and boss battles would probably be hot-ticket items among fans. Nevertheless, a new entry in Traveller's Tales' LEGO series of games could get a lot of mileage out of The Legend of Zelda, especially if it made use of the typical LEGO model, where lots of stories in a franchise are bundled into one experience. If Omega Force can bring stories from across Zelda history together in Hyrule Warriors, then Traveller's Tales can do the same.
Uniting The Legend of Zelda in LEGO Style
For many years, Traveller's Tales' LEGO game series has found success by adapting multiple movies and compiling them in one experience. LEGO Star Wars is the most famous example, with LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga compiling all nine core movies at once, but IPs like Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean have gotten a similar treatment. While the LEGO series generally doesn't adapt video games, The Legend of Zelda could be a good way to break that mold, since it's a very famous but approachable franchise with more than enough material to choose from.
Quite a few classic Zelda games deserve to be compiled into a LEGO game. Ocarina of Time seems like an ideal choice, since it's one of the IP's most beloved locations and it's full of dungeons and towns that could flourish in a LEGO format. Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword are also worthy choices to include as fellow landmark Zelda games. Once Traveller's Tales chooses the games it'll include, it could focus on converting certain overworld locations and dungeons into LEGO game levels, retelling these stories in a lighthearted format.
Zelda mechanics would translate excellently into the LEGO game series. For one thing, Zelda already focuses on puzzles like LEGO is; Traveller's Tales could examine some of the Nintendo IP's most creative puzzles and find ways to replicate them with new building elements. Zelda's simple but gripping combat is also appropriate for the LEGO series in the wake of The Skywalker Saga's combat improvements, especially if Traveller's Tales uses Zelda enemy designs to add a little more challenge to LEGO encounters. LEGO The Legend of Zelda could also borrow LEGO Harry Potter's spell wheel to represent Zelda's dungeon items, letting Link collect useful dungeon gear over time while featuring other characters with similar abilities.
LEGO's recent turn to vast overworlds in The Skywalker Saga and LEGO superhero titles could also be a great way to unify The Legend of Zelda's various Hyrules, letting them blend together as the player roams. Having an open overworld in advance could lead to a Breath of the Wild DLC full over new overworld features too. A LEGO game that retells The Legend of Zelda admittedly seems unlikely for now, since Nintendo would prefer to encourage fans to play the actual Zelda games, but a LEGO adaptation is still worth considering, since it could help young gamers develop an interest in Nintendo's series. Hopefully Nintendo will consider surprising The Legend of Zelda spinoffs like a LEGO game after Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity's success.