Mario might be Nintendo's most famous mascot, but nothing gets Nintendo fans hotter under the collar than the prospect of a brand-new Legend of Zelda game. To be fair, Wii U owners have had a pretty good run so far, as we've not only had an HD remaster of The Wind Waker, which was originally released on the GameCube, but earlier this year Nintendo also released an HD remake of the GameCube (and Wii's) other main Zelda title, Twilight Princess.
Of course, HD remakes are all well and good, but it's been five years since the last proper Zelda game, Skyward Sword, and we're hungry for something new that will really blow our tight-fitting white tights off. Nintendo's already shown off a couple of glimpses of what the next Zelda game has in store, so to help make the wait more bearable, we've rounded up every last shred of information to give you the best idea possible about what's in store for Nintendo's next big hitter.
Release date
With that in mind, let's get the first piece of bad news out the way first: you won't be playing the next Legend of Zelda game until 2017. Originally slated to launch this year, the next Zelda game will now pull a Twilight Princess and launch simultaneously on both the Wii U and Nintendo's new console, which is currently code-named the NX.
Whether it will be one of the NX's launch titles is currently unknown, though. While Nintendo confirmed that the NX will be arriving in March 2017, it failed to mention the same month when talking about Zelda, simply saying it will launch in 2017.
The new Legend of #Zelda will be the focus of #E3 2016. It will launch simultaneously on both Wii U and NX in 2017 pic.twitter.com/ZMOV1BgmO5
— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) 27 April 2016
We should hopefully get a more concrete release date at this year's E3, as Nintendo has already confirmed that Zelda will be the main focus of its E3 2016 conference and will be the only playable game on its booth. Contrary to previous years, Nintendo will be holding a day-long livestream event this time, which kicks off at 5pm UK time on Tuesday 14th June.
Gameplay trailer
E3 is still a few weeks away yet, so here's the latest gameplay trailer to whet your appetite. In a series first, the next Zelda game will feature a huge open world that you'll be able to explore to your heart's content. Series producer Eiji Aonuma has said that this is the one thing he's always wanted to do with the Legend of Zelda series, and Hyrule has definitely never looked better than this.
With long, waving grass, realistic cloud shadows and an incredible attention to detail, this new Zelda game won't have any loading screens or dedicated 'world sections' to get in the way of exploration. Puzzles won't just be limited to dungeons either, as this will form a crucial part of how you navigate the world in front of you.
As Aonuma explains in the video below, there will be plenty of high vantage points for you to take in the scenery and see the lie of the land. The draw distance looks stunning, and you'll be able to zoom in and use the GamePad's gyroscopes to take a closer look at the horizon and set new way points. These beacons will also then appear on the map, which (in the last build we saw of the game) takes up the whole of the GamePad screen.
From the looks of things, this game world looks as though it's surrounded by a vast sea on one side, but it's currently unknown whether we'll see any Wind Waker-style sailing to help you get around. There's also a scattering of lakes and rivers, so hopefully we'll see more of Twilight Princess' full underwater swimming.
One thing that's definitely making a return appearance is the sail cloth from Skyward Sword, which lets Link float down over large gaps without ending up a like a bloodied green mess on the ground. Epona will also be on hand to carry Link round Hyrule (at least we think this game will take place in Hyrule), and her riding AI seems to have received huge improvements since we last saw her in Twilight Princess.
As Aonuma explains, Epona will be able to navigate densely wooded areas automatically with barely any input from the player, bidding goodbye to all those awkward wall crashes that plagued Twilight Princess. Without the need to worry about where you're going, this will then free players to concentrate on swinging your sword, using your bow and arrow, or simply change the camera view.
For a more dramatic entrance, you'll be able to vault off Epona and strike enemies from above in slow motion – just like in the very first E3 cinematic trailer that Nintendo unveiled in 2014. Of course, some enemies will be too large to take down with a simple vault, and if that E3 2014 trailer is anything to go by (which you can view in full below), it looks like you'll have plenty of opportunities to fight foes on horseback as you tear through the countryside.
Weapons
So far, we don't know much about what kind of tools Link will have at his disposal in this game other than his trusty sword, shield and bow and arrow. However, as we can see in the first E3 2014 tariler, bomb arrows look like they'll be making a welcome comeback, as well as a whole new kind of laser-type arrow.
That said, you can definitely expect other Zelda staples to be making an appearance, such as the hookshot or clawshot, and there will almost certainly be a variety of bombs to choose from as well. We'll bring you more as soon as it's announced. Buy Now from Amazon
