Summary
While the nextZeldagame afterThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwon’t be a direct sequel, there are still several features the game could draw from the past few entries. One of the most iconic parts ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomare the massive monsters players can encounter across Hyrule, including the dragons that can be seen roaming the sky and the Depths. While it’s unclear if the nextZeldagame will feature these types of creatures, they could form the perfect basis for the game to borrow a mechanic from theMonster Hunterseries.
The nature ofTears of the Kingdom’s open worldallows players to organically explore and encounter a variety of creatures, with some being much more dangerous than others. While there are usually benefits to battling these creatures, like obtaining rare monster parts for crafting, a lot of the lore behind them is never fully addressed in the games. If the nextZeldagame features a similar bestiary of creatures, it could follow inMonster Hunter’s footsteps and let players research these beasts to unlock special gear and weapons.
The Next Legend of Zelda Game Should Double Down on its Monsters
A core part of theMonster Hunterseriesthat would be perfect for the nextZeldagame to adopt is the central role the study of monsters plays in the games. InMonster Huntertitles, players can unlock new armor and weapons based on the monsters they’ve defeated and monster parts they harvested, as well as fill out their hunter notes with information about the nature of a particular beast. These systems help the worlds ofMonster Huntertitles feel more alive and give players a chance to see the results of their hard monster-hunting work.
If the nextLegend of Zeldagame sticks with a more open-world design akin toTears of the Kingdom, it could feature theseMonster Hunter-like mechanics. Perhaps players who successfully hunt enoughenemies like Hinox or Froxcould use the monster parts collected from them to craft unique weapons and armor based on the monsters. This mechanic could be an interesting way to encourage players to battle these fearsome creatures while also giving them more armor and weapon options for equipping Link with gear that suits their style preferences.
Kilton and Koltin Laid the Foundation for Monsters to Play a Bigger Role in Future Zelda Games
BothTears of the KingdomandBreath of the Wilddabble in monster-hunting quests, with Kilton and Koltin being the primary NPCs issuing quests for Link that involve collecting monster parts for them. In these games, Kilton and Koltin are usually portrayed as comedic characters that offer Link goofy disguises based on the monsters he hunts, butKoltin’s Bubblul Gem questdoes yield some great rewards for players who invest time in hunting down Bubbul Frogs. These quests lay the foundation for a monster-hunting mechanic in a futureZeldagame that has more robust rewards than what Kilton and Koltin have to offer.
Perhaps these types of monster-hunting quests that a futureZeldagame could develop would allow players to gain more than just unique monster-themed gear. Link could end up doing research for a lab that studies Hyrule’s monsters, and defeating a certain number of monster species could be used as a way to unlock new lore about these creatures. This system would be a great way to give players a more in-depth look at the world of Hyrule and could end up explaining some of the unanswered questions left afterTears of the Kingdom, such as the nature of theLeviathan fossilsfound littered throughout Hyrule.
