The Legend of Zelda series really needs a reboot, and fast.

[Master Guns]

As much as I love the series, Zelda needs a reboot. The whole "save the princess, collect emblems, fire/water/forest temple" scheme going on is getting old and outdated. We don't have to save the princess every time. She could be incorporated in another capacity, it's "The Legend of Zelda" not "The Legend of Saving Zelda Again". Many reviewers (and consumers) are starting to question the series in it's entirety, and a lot of people are getting tired of the same exact game model.

New writers and a game director need to hop on the wagon, Miyamoto is obviously running out of innovative ideas. The series is very quickly becoming absurdly repetitive, and the games are virtually ALL the same. We need another oddball game like Majora's Mask. That was the single most unique Zelda game, simply because it strided so far away from the "Zelda model" of simply saving the princess. The majority of the games in the series have the exact same story. You are link. Zelda is the princess. Ganon is the bad guy, and you have to save her.

We've bought the same game for the last 25 years like 9 times. Zelda is the CoD of the action/adventure genre, and it needs a reboot. Even Zelda vets are admitting that the series is getting stale.

Skyward Sword broke the model just a bit, but it was essentially still the same game for a lot of the duration of the story. You're link, Zelda needs saving, let's temple hop until we find her. Sorry Link, the princess is in another castle! And the same monotony ensued. We need a different model for a bit. Sure, Zelda can be in the game, but I don't see why we are always stuck playing a man who wears green forest clothes even though half of the games don't even EXPLAIN why Link is in such an absurd gettup. Zelda could be..a partner, Zelda could be..a bad guy? Who knows? But the point is, things need to change. "Don't fix what's not broken!" well, who says it's not?

[Papalenin]

No thank you. I'll keep my Zelda series the way it is.

[Master Guns]

No thank you. I'll keep my Zelda series the way it is.

Oh, you mean the way it's been for the past 25 years and 9 games you've paid for that were the exact same game? I see. No thank you. As an avid fan the series, it DOES need a change.

[Hunterpower]

The thing about it being the cod of action adventure is it's actually good, unlike cod /smug face

OT: yeah, i can kind of agree, while i'm not quite bored of the series, something completely different would be quite nice, and i can understand some other peoples frustration.

[Master Guns]

I just can't help but after having played Skyward Sword, while I was playing it, I just thought to myself "I've done this before..so..many..times.."

Change is not bad. Change, in the right direction, is desired for every facet of life.

[Deleted]

Pretty much every game in the series is a reboot. Is it something like only 2 pairs of games contain the same 'Link'?

Windwaker was another example of not being totally princess oriented (you were still saving a damsel though, I suppose). It's a classic format and I don't think it would feel any better if they flipped it on it's head. As long as they switch up the mechanics, items, environments and overall feel for each game, I'm happy saving a princess or two.

[Hekto]

the only thing the zelda series needs is less motion controls, and more original controllers.

[Duruka]

Uhh, what? Have you played: Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Zelda II, or the DS games? What about the Oracles, Majora's Mask, and Link's Awakening? I don't recall Zelda being captured for the majority of the game, or Zelda even being present in any of those games. And in a couple games when she is captured she doesn't even play that big of a role (Twilight Princess).

Anyway, the Legend of Zelda doesn't need to change too much. It has more change between games than games like CoD, so you shouldn't really compare them. They're also different genres, and Zelda doesn't have a new game every single year.

If you haven't played Skyward Sword yet, then you probably should. It changes quite a bit from previous games, in story and gameplay.

They do have similar formulas :go through dungeon solving puzzles, obtain item from mini boss, and then defeat boss using that item. The gameplay is similar too, but each game feels different enough. Ganon's not the only villain: there's Majora, Vaati, Ghirahim, Zant, Onox... It's been that way for so long because it works so well. If they changed it too much, it would be terrible. See: Zelda II.

Zelda could be..a partner, Zelda could be..a bad guy?

Zelda was a partner in Spirit Tracks. And her being a bad guy wouldn't make much sense.

[Digglett]

No thanks.

We've bought the same game for the last 25 years like 9 times. Zelda is the CoD of the action/adventure genre, and it needs a reboot. Even Zelda vets are admitting that the series is getting stale.

What am I reading?

wat

Skyward Sword broke the model just a bit, but it was essentially still the same game for a lot of the duration of the story. You're link, Zelda needs saving, let's temple hop until we find her. Sorry Link, the princess is in another castle! And the same monotony ensued. We need a different model for a bit. Sure, Zelda can be in the game, but I don't see why we are always stuck playing a man who wears green forest clothes even though half of the games don't even EXPLAIN why Link is in such an absurd gettup. Zelda could be..a partner, Zelda could be..a bad guy? Who knows? But the point is, things need to change. "Don't fix what's not broken!" well, who says it's not?

Did you even finish Skyward Sword? Zelda wasn't kidnapped. She did things on her own accord until Impa came and helped her. She did get captured at the very end. But that hardly even counts.

Shes not even a princess in SS.

They explained Link's get up in SS in the very beginning, again, leading me to think you didn't even play the game.

The game is not broken, not even close. If you want a broken game series look at Sonic. It is not Zelda, I can assure you that.

[NotValidAnymore]

If anything, the Super Mario series needs a "reboot" because pretty much EVERY SINGLE GAME is about saving Princess Peach, besides some spin-off series or party games.

Legend of Zelda is fine, honestly.

[Tiglits]

I actually agree. I feel as if they're definitely getting monotonous. I mean, I don't think I have any valid suggestions as to how to make it better, but at least I can identify that this is a problem. I love this series too much to stand idly by as it dwindles into the garbage heap

[Skelington]

No.
Have you played SS? Or any of the other games for that matter? The story isn't the same as others, and gameplay is more important than this "eternally static story" than you claim it to be. Neither are the same thing each time. There are many more villains than Ganon, who hasn't actually been seen in years.

How exactly would you propose its "much needed reboot" be? Drop the dungeons? Drop the story? Drop the gameplay?
It's far from a broken series. Not appealing to you doesn't mean it needs to change.

[Mystile]

I don't think there's nearly as much "saving Zelda" as you lead us to believe. Majora's Mask had zero Zelda. Skyward Sword is less SAVING Zelda, and just returning her to normal. Twilight Princess wasn't even about saving Zelda, she was captured on purpose to infiltrate Ganon's plans.

I do think the games need more dungeons. Ocarina of Time had nine, most of them hardly have six anymore. Other than that, they keep coming up with new items (the Beetle in Skyward Sword was pretty neat) and continue to keep the classics (who doesn't love the good old Hero Bow?)

[Larath]

I don't think I've ever played a bad zelda game where I've gone "man I've done this so many times I don't feel like doing it again" hence the series is fine for me I'm currently playing through Skyward Sword and its a brilliant game.

[Borfl]

I don't mind the scheme as it doesn't really bother me a whole lot, but I do wish that Zelda games would try to branch out with a different theme more often, like you said Majora's Mask was unique in that respect on the major consoles, and other major console titles such as Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword are about Zelda, Ganondorf, and the Triforce. However when you think of it, if Zelda isn't in the game, it wouldn't make sense to call it "The Legend of Zelda".

I don't think they should completely scrap the Triforce storyline, but it would be nice to see them try direct sequels AFTER the Hero defeats Ganondorf. For instance, where does TP's Link run off to with Epona at the end? In WW they do have direct sequels that are on the DS, but aren't as highly acclaimed as the major console games.

[Venziir]

Oh, you mean the way it's been for the past 25 years and 9 games you've paid for that were the exact same game? I see. No thank you. As an avid fan the series, it DOES need a change.

Why fix what isn't broke?

[Driahtvacahtve]

I'm loving the zelda games more and more with every new game that comes out, all the way back to Adventure of Link.
I just want them to keep doing it like they are tbh. A little more "story" is told every time, putting various little puzzlepieces into an enormously large (25 years old) puzzle of "what the fuck is the zelda universe all about?"
I'm loving it bigtime. I hope they keep doing this for years to come. Let Mario keep being Mario and so forth, the Zelda series is awesome as it is and I would be very disappointed if they went and "reinvented the wheel" as you put it, changing the basic framework, cause that is exactly what I love so much about the games.
You want something different, play a different series of games tbh.

[wariofan1]

Both LoZ and Mario is fine as is, removing the whole 'save princess' goal of those games would be like totally replacing the main character with any other character. Zelda get's off fine with it's stories being pretty much about the same, and yet not as they all have different themes, Mario doesn't really need a story, you play the game for the Mario-experience, no need for an in-depth story.

[Ishu]

How exactly would you propose its "much needed reboot" be? Drop the dungeons? Drop the story? Drop the gameplay?
It's far from a broken series. Not appealing to you doesn't mean it needs to change.

Doing something similar to Majora's Mask would be a good start at least.

[Digglett]

Doing something similar to Majora's Mask would be a good start at least.

Then everyone would complain it was too much like Majora's Mask. No one will ever be satisfied.