Candidates – Light Fantasy
While not necessarily part of the traditional Zelda formula, the light fantasy setting is a hallmark of all Zelda titles. It’s also common among Zelda clones.
Here are a few franchises Nintendo could use if they stick with the fantasy trope:
Baby Icarus
Let’s start this list with perhaps the most obvious and feasible option.
Kid Icarus is a criminally underutilized arrow in Nintendo’s quiver. Although the series only has three games (for the NES, Game Boy, and 3DS), Pit is a recognizable video game icon who could comfortably step into Link’s shoes. Kid Icarus: Uprising breathed new life into the franchise as a heart-pounding arcade action title, but it doesn’t take much imagination to envision a Zelda-like entry into the Kid Icarus universe.
In fact, the biggest challenge Nintendo would face is finding a way to differentiate a Zelda-type Kid Icarus from Zelda itself. And who knows, the prospect of re-inventing Kid Icarus might be enough to push Masahiro Sakurai out of early retirement. That is, unless Nintendo already bundled it with ‘Smash Infinite’.
Glory to Heracles
Believe it or not, Kid Icarus isn’t the only Nintendo series with a Greek theme. In 2010, Nintendo released Glory of Heracles for the DS, a JRPG developed by Paon DP.
To this day, Nintendo retains the copyright, even though we haven’t seen a hair or a hair from it since the release of the DS. It seems unlikely, but maybe old Herc would be persuaded to play in a Zelda clone. After all, the seven Labor won’t get there on their own.
Fire sign
Kid Icarus gets our vote for purely nostalgic reasons, but Fire Emblem wins on name recognition alone. If Mr. Iwata was here, we think he would have sided with Pit, but [straightens tie] a spin-off from the Fire Emblem series would be a solid business decision.
Not only has the franchise already ventured into other genres, including JRPG (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE) and hack and slash (Fire Emblem Warriors), but Intelligent Systems have proven time and time again that they are capable of creating cool classics. in whatever genre they like. Check out Mario Paint, Panel de Pon, Paper Mario, Pushmo/Pullbox and the underrated Battle Clash for a few examples.
Plus, imagine the puzzles intelligent systems could come up with for your Zelda clone!