Nintendo can't be blamed for being very particular about who gets to work on its most influential franchises. Games like The Legend of Zelda are by and large the reason that Nintendo is so successful, so naturally, it wants to preserve its vision for those franchises. Still, keeping a franchise like The Legend of Zelda in the family forever leaves one to wonder what it'd look like if a different studio got to try their hand at the franchise. It seems that other companies have thought about that themselves. Recently leaked concept art from a Zelda game that Retro Studios wanted to develop shows the kind of bold ideas that could come from setting new eyes on Zelda.
Although Nintendo usually keeps The Legend of Zelda close to the chest, that's been changing recently. Breath of the Wild overhauled the Zelda formula, and games like Hyrule Warriors further show that Nintendo is open to experimenting with the Zelda formula. If Nintendo wants to outsource development of a major Zelda title to someone else, then Retro Studios is the ideal candidate. It clearly has creative ideas for The Legend of Zelda in mind that could be a huge boon to the franchise's future. What's more, Retro Studio's long history of doing justice to beloved Nintendo franchises makes it worth trusting with the world of Hyrule.
Retro Studios' Impressive Resume
Retro Studios has already been working with Nintendo for a really long time. It first made a name for itself working on the Metroid Prime series. The first Metroid Prime received critical acclaim, earned many awards, and is often called one of history's greatest video games by critics. Its sequels received similar overwhelming praise, so it's no surprise that Metroid fans are so happy to have Retro Studios working on Metroid Prime 4.
Metroid isn't the only Nintendo franchise that Retro Studios has done justice to. It was also responsible for reviving the Donkey Kong Country franchise with 2010's Donkey Kong Country Returns, which was hailed as a long-awaited return to form for Donkey Kong's platforming franchise. Retro's work on Mario Kart 7, one of the 3DS's best selling games, also has to be acknowledged. Clearly Retro has the experience and faith from Nintendo necessary to make big hits with its most famous IPs. The Legend of Zelda seems like a logical progression. Retro Studios proves time and time again that it's full of skill and big ideas that can really help a franchise grow, and so it could do the same for Zelda, which is already in a period of growth and change.
New Perspectives on Old Stories
The Zelda concept art from Retro Studios that leaked recently really makes fans wonder what could have been. Retro's dark branch of the Zelda timeline -- possibly without Link at all -- would've been a totally new way to experience the franchise and could've injected some really interesting new characters, concepts, and design elements. If Retro Studios were to get its hands on the Zelda IP, it wouldn't have to stick to those old ideas, and probably wouldn't need to either. Retro's success on both Metroid and Donkey Kong Country show some incredible range that suggests it could come up with some great possibilities for their own Zelda game.
If Nintendo's vision for Zelda's future and its timeline are too particular to let Retro Studios get free reign on an installment, that's understandable. The Legend of Zelda seems too important to Nintendo's success to take a lot of risks -- but then, Breath of the Wild was a huge risk with its survival and RPG angles, and it paid off. At the very least, it would be great to see Retro Studios get a chance to make a spinoff of The Legend of Zelda. Whether Retro's hypothetical game became canonical or not, it would definitely give Nintendo some food for thought as it figures out what to do with its action-adventure cornerstone.