The Legend of Zelda is heating up again! Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Twilight Princess—anticipation builds for the Switch 2
In spring 2026, the game industry is buzzing with talk of The Legend of Zelda. It all started when Eric Barone (ConcernedApe), creator of Stardew Valley, stated in an interview that “for him, the best Zelda is Twilight Princess.” The moment he said it, social media timelines turned a shade of twilight. For eyes accustomed to the boundless Hyrule of Breath of the Wild and beyond, those gloomy, heavy dungeons and the bond with Midna still feel vividly fresh.
In Barone’s words, “Zelda has always kept presenting the ‘blueprint of adventure.’” And indeed, the evolution from 2006’s Twilight Princess to 2017’s Breath of the Wild and then 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom is far more than just a graphical upgrade. It’s about how to break down the “walls” of the field—remember the thrill of taking to the skies with that paraglider? The freedom of crafting and material fusion easily leapt beyond the traditional action‑adventure framework.
A year and a half after Tears of the Kingdom: Switch 2 rumours and “another Zelda”
It’s been about three years since Tears of the Kingdom launched, and discovery videos still keep popping up—things like “I can’t believe you can do that with Zonai devices!” That’s classic Nintendo for you. Meanwhile, industry chatter is gradually shifting to the next‑gen console, the “Switch 2.” I haven’t gotten my hands on the actual hardware yet, but whispers among several devs suggest that “a new Zelda title is being prepared as a launch game.”
- A 60fps, high‑resolution version of Breath of the Wild (a so‑called “DX edition”)
- An additional scenario DLC for Tears of the Kingdom exclusive to the Switch 2
- A completely new The Legend of Zelda that reboots the style of past entries
For now, all of this is just “rumour.” But for longtime fans who, like Barone, love the linear dungeon design of Twilight Princess, a “tighter experience” that isn’t purely open world is something to miss. In fact, I recently replayed Twilight Princess HD on my Nintendo Switch Lite—the contrast of the Twilight Realm in handheld mode felt fresh, carrying a tension different from the console‑only days.
Why The Legend of Zelda now? The “universal design philosophy” behind Barone’s words
Barone continues: “Zelda never relies on past heritage. Breath of the Wild shattered the series’ conventions, and Tears of the Kingdom went even further beyond that shattering.” In other words, if Twilight Princess was the perfected “traditional 3D Zelda,” then the games that followed made “breaking free from tradition” the very core of their design.
Looking at it that way, just imagining what the next Zelda could look like gets my heart racing. Maybe it will fully leverage the rumoured new features of the Switch 2 (like a “camera‑linked controller” or “high‑speed streaming assist”) to deliver an unprecedented paradox of “building and destruction.” Or perhaps they’ll go the other way and refine a weighty, linear story in the vein of Twilight Princess with cutting‑edge tech. Either possibility is hard to rule out.
Whatever happens, the Legend of Zelda series never loses that exciting feeling of “you never know what they’ll pull off next.” Right now, on a Nintendo Switch Lite, you can easily carry both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom with you. The fact that Barone praises the innovation of the latest games while still casting an affectionate gaze toward Twilight Princess is proof that “every Zelda was part of my youth.”
So, why not step into that vast Hyrule once more yourself? Who knows—by the time the Switch 2 is officially announced, maybe one more “legend” will have been added.