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Legend of Zelda Producer Hints Next Zelda Game May Draw Inspiration From Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment - Techtroduce

Zelda producer Aonuma hints that elements from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment might influence the next mainline Zelda game.

www.techtroduce.com

Eiji Aonuma, producer of The Legend of Zelda series, has offered one of the clearest hints yet about the direction of the next mainline Zelda game — suggesting it may be influenced in part by Nintendo's recent collaboration with Koei Tecmo on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

The comments come from a recent interview with Japanese outlet 4Gamer, where Aonuma reflected on the development experience of the Hyrule Warriors spin‑off and how that collaboration could inform future Zelda projects.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment launched exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 in November 2025, becoming the first Zelda‑related title released on the platform. The game blends the familiar world and characters of The Legend of Zelda with Koei Tecmo's Musou‑style, hack‑and‑slash combat and large‑scale battles, allowing players to control multiple iconic heroes against hordes of enemies.

Awesome news, if true. I've been enjoying Age of Imprisonment more than Tears of the Kingdom.

 

[RomanceDawn]

Narratively? The way cut scenes are presented? Set pieces? Do weapons break in Age of Imprisonment? lol

Gameplay wise I have no idea what they would draw from. Actually maybe in battle mechanics. More attacks and ways to use them.

 

[//DEVIL//]

Considering i didnt like the last 2 zelda games. any changes are welcome.

Not into weapon breaking, bland to almost no story, and building shit to go somewhere. Give OoT Zelda style ( The only Zelda game I actually bothered to finish) . thank you.

 

[HRK69]

I hope they keep the BotW and TotK formula and build on it

 

[Sticks]

 

[MagiusNecros]

No weapon durability and combat not sucking?

That said I ultimately prefer HW Definitive.

 

[bender]

I hope they keep the BotW and TotK formula and build on it

I'd like to see this too and I say that as someone who suffers from Open World Fatigue. It's just nice to see Nintendo's take on sandboxes and game play systems that are interwoven with one another.

 

[JusticeForAll]

I hope they drop the huge open world and go back to a semi open world. I don't want to make or have time for these huge spaces of nothingness.
I didn't play this game, but I don't see how a musou game would be a good inspiration for a mainline Zelda.

 

[ungalo]

that sounds bad, the ip is starting to lose its prestige not going to lie

 

[cartman414]

Please no brain dead button mashy combat. (Ok I haven't played any of the Hyrule Warriors games.)

But if this is the case, can I at least get a bone and have a Zelda II inspired game (or remake)?

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Hopefully the art style go back to the old unique dark fantasy style of Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask or the HD WII U Tech demo instead of the vomit looking art of BOTW/TOTK.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Hopefully the art style go back to the old unique dark fantasy style of Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask or the HD WII U Tech demo instead of the vomit looking art of BOTW/TOTK.

Good luck. BotW sold so well they are guaranteed to constantly use the BotW style and never again go back to the Melancholic Dark Fantasy look or ever return to that Semi-linear style. Rip dungeon design.

It will suffer from it's own success. If the next Zelda has a bad combat system and another sandbox I think it'll be an easy skip.

 

[DreamcastSkies]

I don't think the Hyrule Warriors Zelda games have breakable weapons so this sounds good to me.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Good luck. BotW sold so well they are guaranteed to constantly use the BotW style and never again go back to the Melancholic Dark Fantasy look or ever return to that Semi-linear style. Rip dungeon design.

It will suffer from it's own success. If the next Zelda has a bad combat system and another sandbox I think it'll be an easy skip.

It'll be a win win situation for me as I'll keep on saving money and not buying a Nintendo console. Plenty of other existing and upcoming games to keep me entertained, too many games actually so I don't even wanna spend extra for a console anyway. But a big new Zelda going back to those awesome style would definitely temp me to buy the console.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Zelda is cooked isn't it?

 

[cireza]

Creatively bankrupt.

 

[jshackles]

I don't think the Hyrule Warriors Zelda games have breakable weapons so this sounds good to me.

Not only are the weapons unbreakable, but they can also be permanently upgraded.

 

[Robb]

Keep Musou-"Zelda" as far away from the mainline series as possible.

 

[Lynkk]

Considering i didnt like the last 2 zelda games. any changes are welcome.

Not into weapon breaking, bland to almost no story, and building shit to go somewhere. Give OoT Zelda style ( The only Zelda game I actually bothered to finish) . thank you.

So you never played A Link to the Past...?

 

[MagiusNecros]

Zelda is cooked isn't it?

The Disneyification and streamlining will continue probably.

Maybe Rocketshield and Ultrahand are the future. Scary thought.

 

[Variahunter]

The Disneyification and streamlining will continue probably.

Maybe Rocketshield and Ultrahand are the future. Scary thought.

Yeah I feel you.

I honestly have no hype for the next Zelda.
They are ambitious in their mechanics, for sure. It's wild how they give a lesson to the industry.

But as a game ? The absent feeling of progression (tied to the absence of items progression), the lack of legit dungeons, weapons breaking system... it's a game basically made to deliver regular shots of dopamine to ADHD kids. Not a great game in my opinion. It's good for sure, but its limits are obvious to anyone who experienced video games back in 80-90.

When I envisionned Zelda Open world, I just thought of the same structure the previous games offered (ie overworld with great dungeons and items and opening new areas with said items), but with more freedom and more content. Was it too much to ask ?

I was once a Nintendo fanboy (back in the SNES to GC days), and I still buy their console at launch. But I can't say that I'm waiting for whatever they're putting out lately. Last time I was overhyped was for BotW. Wasn't even feeling MP4, even if Metroid is my favorite franchise from them (with Zelda).

Damn, SNES days were a bliss. They don't have that talent anymore.

 

[kevboard]

 

[Badlucktroll]

he probably wants the next mainline to have big battles

 

[DreamcastSkies]

As I reflect on this, I'm assuming what they will pull from Age of Imprisonment is more "complex" combat (for a Zelda game) and more in-depth story telling? I think I may pick this game up (Age of Imprisonment).

 

[mèx]

I don't know what this could even mean tbh.

I hope they drop the open world and go back to make meaningful iconic dungeons. Skyward Sword had the correct idea in trying to blur the distinction between overworld and dungeons in a semi-linear fashion, but you actually need chad level designers to do that, while an intern can easily design an isolated shrine with copy pasted assets.

Or if they want to keep the open world, it should be smaller, with more classic dungeons and way more interesting events/quests when you are exploring. The combat should be overhauled at this point, it's really stale and it cannot carry the game for 100+ hours.

 

[Spukc]

A warriors game

 

[//DEVIL//]

So you never played A Link to the Past...?

Only half way through I think during the GBA era ( I think it was on GBA ?) and got bored .

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

I'm 95% sure he's hinting at Zelda being playable as a main protagonist in the next game. I don't have issues with a choice between playing as Zelda or Link as long as the game play is the same between them and it's just a "cosmetic" choice.

Echoes of Wisdom was tedious because they built a whole new unique gameplay system around Zelda's powers. I would've loved that game and its world more if it was just a traditional 2D Zelda game.

 

[Thurible]

Only half way through I think during the GBA era ( I think it was on GBA ?) and got bored .

 

[clem84]

Twilight Princess: november 2006
skyward sword: november 2011
BotW: march 2017
TotK: May 2023

So... Late 2028 at the earliest? This is depressing.

 

[Zannegan]

This could mean anything, really: ancient Hyrule (again), hoards of enemies, co-op... Personally, I'd like to see them take some inspiration from Wind Waker in the same way that TotK took from Skyward Sword.

EDIT: Given the absolute magic they pulled off with TotK, I'm willing to extend a little faith.

 

[MagiusNecros]

When I envisionned Zelda Open world, I just thought of the same structure the previous games offered (ie overworld with great dungeons and items and opening new areas with said items), but with more freedom and more content. Was it too much to ask ?

Indies have provided us with Radical Fish Games(Crosscode/ Upcoming Alabaster Dawn) and Studio Pixel Punk(Unsighted/Upcoming Abyss X Zero) in regards to the Zelda Game or rather 3D Metroidvania we crave with a semi-linear design.

BotW was a neat idea but with TotK's bad storytelling and things just existing for gameplay reasons(no integrated lore) and giving you too much freedom it can be a fun time but ends up not feeling like a Zelda game at all.

Now if TotK's Sky Islands and Depths were fleshed out and packed with content and lore you could of had a Elden Ring moment but it just doesn't. Missed opportunity.

The key is to introduce a level of freedom but not too much so when you get that new item or new skill you can not only access new places but also apply those skills into other things like combat or advanced platforming tech.

Of course I think OoT/MM/TP and even WW had interesting worlds to explore. BotW/TotK ultimately wasn't very interesting. But this is partially because they tried to do the Fallout or Dark Souls/Elden Ring thing where everything important already happened and you are really just picking up the pieces.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Ofc someone has to spin this in a negative direction, the guy didn't say anything specific he just said he liked the collaboration he had with the team and he is taking inspiration from them for the next game that is it

Twilight Princess: november 2006
skyward sword: november 2011
BotW: march 2017
TotK: May 2023

So... Late 2028 at the earliest? This is depressing.

Yeah, but maybe we will get a remake before that, not by the main team.

 

[spookyfish]

Give me actual dungeons that are puzzles and you can do (mostly) whatever the f you want.