When myself, dillaweezer, ShotgunHoward, Devinator22, and Dplayer97 started talking about doing Zelda Week this week, we agreed a good idea for a collaborative blog would be for us each to make a list of things that we'd like to see in a Zelda game and a few things we don't want. I think we all took the general approach of just "in general" and I really enjoyed reading my buds thoughts. I'm sure you will as well 
Let's start with the negatives and get that out of the way.
DO NOT WANT
Dplayer97:
Less Zelda
Devinator22:
Voice acting:
Here’s something I cannot stress enough: I do not want voice acting (besides the occasion “hyut!”) in a Zelda game ever. Nintendo knows how to express themselves through the written word about a hundred times better than pretty much everyone else who uses voice acting. I know that this has yet to become a thing in a Zelda game, but if it ever did, it would all but ruin the game for me.
Another 3 day type thing:
While I love Majora’s Mask, and thought that the 3 day system worked perfectly in it, it is not something I’d like to see in another Zelda game. I really hate the feeling of being rushed in games, and I felt that way almost continuously throughout my first playthrough of Majora’s Mask.
Useless rupees:
If there’s one thing that bothers me about most Zelda games, it’s fact that rupees become so irrelevant later in the games, even to the point where I don’t even bother picking up red rupees. I would like to see this fixed by either making it so their are more items in game to spend your money on, or just less rupees altogether.
ShotgunHoward:
-Time traveling or alternate dimensions. I feel we've seen enough of that in Zelda games now.
-A nagging companion. I'm fine with a companion, but I don't want it nagging.
-"High" technology. I wasn't too fond of a steamboat, trains and robots like we've seen in recent games.
-Complicated water areas or dungeons. Playing Majora's Mask 3D reminded me of how much I dislike Great Bay. Both the area and the temple.
Dillaweezer:
Voice acting.
Not only are there a million ways Nintendo could screw it up, it’s not even needed. Zelda games have conveyed emotion and drawn people in exceedingly well just from the text-based dialogue. It feels almost like a tradition at this point, and I don’t see a need to change it now.
Too many dungeons.
As much as I love Skyward Sword, I think it could have done without a dungeon or two. I think six major dungeons is a good number. Anything more than that and it begins to feel like the story is being stretched out a bit.
A companion that doesn’t bring much to the table.
I grew to like Fi quite a bit as a character later on in Skyward Sword, but in that traditional companion role, I don’t think she offered one useful bit of insight throughout the entire game. We’ve seen companions that really enrich the overall experience, and I want to see that again.
MrsDeanMartin:
Voice Acting
The narrator in Hyrule Warriors was a horrible refresher of why I don't want this. Zelda does amazingly well without it, and there's no reason to change it. Having voice acting would kill off a big part of the charm of the series.
Downplaying Link's Badassery
Link has done incredible things over the years. I have always seen him as a deceptively strong hero that never stops. I'm always a little confused when I see fanart or the like that portray him as incredibly thin or even incapable. There are of course different iterations for the hero, like Toon Link, or the younger ones in, mainly, the defeated hero timeline, but for a big, major 3D console game, I want them to keep going the direction they've taken with Ocarina, Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, and Hyrule Warriors. I don't want him or his strength "nerfed" (I'm looking at you, ponytail, you ugly, horrible thing.). They can explore different, younger, and perhaps less initially skilled warriors in the defeated and adult timelines--and experimenting with different things should be something those two timelines delve into to satisfy all different types of fans--but I feel the child timeline should continue to go the badass route.
Not Leaving the Story Open-ended
One of my favorite things about the series has always been how it sparked my imagination. I love that there are things in the story and explanations of events throughout Hyrule's history that are vague and can be interpreted as metaphorical or taken in many different ways. I want that to stay in place. I think my dear love Hyrule Warriors kinda got a little to blatant once in a while in its explanations and expositions. That's a spinoff, of course, but I wouldn't want it to creep into the main series.
Too Open
I don't care to wander around lost or have so much available to me to do at once that it's overwhelming. Even in A Link Between Worlds, which I loved, having the items available to me all at once led me to not enter a dungeon for quite a while until I had all the secrets in the overworld, then I didn't get breaks from dungeons the rest of the game. Of course, I'm a bit to blame for that due to how I play, but still. I also don't care for openworld games in general. I like to have a goal with a path set before me--a path with several side roads I can take if I choose, but a path nonetheless. Linearity doesn't bother me in the least as long as the line is an interesting and fun one and I can choose to walk down the path in any manner I please, but being plopped in the middle of a field and being told to just figure it out and run around does irk me. It also hurts the storytelling.
Non-Traditional Story or Setting
I want the game in Hyrule. I want Link and Zelda fighting Ganondorf (and perhaps his puppet beforehand). The core story of good vs. evil can be embelished in so many interesting ways (just look at Midna's story) that there's no reason to toss in it favor of something "deeper" (though I can't imagine anything heavier than fighting for light in the world). I'm also never as satisfied with a game that doesn't take me to Hyrule as I am when I'm in a place I've invested so much in through the years.
DO WANT
Dplayer97:
More Zelda
Devinator22:
Skyward Sword-like dungeons and art style and motion controls:
It’s no secret that I love everything about SS, but these are my absolute favorite things about the game: Its dungeons are all super unique and awesome, its art style is my favorite art style in any video game ever, and motion controls are pretty much the best thing that’s happened to Zelda since polygons.
Some mechanics from A Link Between Worlds:
A Link Between Worlds had some very innovative mechanics, and I would really like to see them in another game. I really liked the ability to choose the order of dungeons you tackle, and, while I wouldn't want to be as prevalent as it was in ALBW, I would like to see the item rental system come into play again.
Seasons, or something of the like, similar to Oracle of Seasons:
Oracle of Seasons had one of my favorite gimmicks in Zelda games, and that was its Rod of Seasons. It added a whole new dimension to the puzzles of the game, and I loved seeing how the world changed with the different seasons.
To spend more time in the overworld than the dungeons:
Don’t get me wrong, I love Zelda’s dungeons; but the part I like most is the overworld. I really find the amount of time spent in dungeons rather annoying and tedious, even to the extent to where I don’t finish many Zelda games.
A post game Master Quest:
One of my favorite features of Ocarina of Time 3D was the ability to play the Master Quest after you had finished the game. Though, while I liked the harder puzzles, I didn’t like the mirrored world. What I would want for my ideal Master Quest would be harder puzzles, tougher enemies, and less rupees.
ShotgunHoward:
- Huge dungeons (maybe some even bigger than ever before), and a high number of them. 8-10 dungeons would be awesome. I want the dungeons to be really well themed, and if there's one specific theme of a dungeon I want them to work hard on (we're probably getting forest, fire and water dungeons, so they'll probably do well with them) I want them to work out another dungeon similar to the Shadow Temple. A dungeon themed with horror and creepy stuff much like the Shadow Temple would be awesome.
- I want at least a few bosses to be really huge. I don't mind smaller ones, but bosses with the size of Gohma in Wind Waker and Morpheel in Twilight Princess would be really cool. Also, I want most, if not all of them to be a bit complicated and tricky to beat, and that they have multiple phases throughout the battle. Not to mention that I want most of them to have a little backstory, something that makes them a bit familiar to me before I face them.
- I never really try to think of a certain story when I think about my dream Zelda game, but it would definitely be in Hyrule and it would have Link, Zelda, Ganon(dorf) and the Triforce in it. That's what I want, and the rest is up to Nintendo
- One cool thing I'd like to see in an ideal Zelda game would be permanent changes to areas, towns and such. In Ocarina of Time, Lon Lon Ranch was supposed to be burning in an earlier stage, and if I remember correctly, it was supposed to burn down. But it got scrapped. Something like that would have been cool. Kakariko Village was also on fire in OoT, but imagining that some of the houses actually burned down would be cool. Or maybe new buildings could be built after passing a certain point in the game.
- Multiple towns. Not just Castle Town and Kakariko Village, but more! :p
- A high number of items, but also items that can be used a lot at different points throughout the game.
- Art style similar to Twilight Princess.
- Tunics! I love having different equipment with different powers, and OoT's tunics are pretty much my favorite thing. I always play in a red tunic if I'm able to :p
- Item and weapon upgrades, like in Skyward Sword. I really liked having that!
- I can handle some linearity, but I'd like to be able to explore a lot as well. A big number in sidequests would be cool.
- Last, but not least, I want it to be a 3D-game.
Dillaweezer:
Lots and lots of overworld.
I think a lot of people crave a massive, sprawling overworld, and I’m certainly one of those people. I want to truly explore and not know where the edge of the map is. Zelda U looks like it may provide something like this, which is great. I just hope there are enough points of interest to make me want to keep exploring.
Central hub a la Clock Town.
Clock Town does so much to tie Majora’s Mask together, and it serves as a hub more effectively than anything else in other Zeldas (Skyloft is close, but slightly less convenient being in the sky). There’s no reason for a Zelda game not to have something along these lines.
Koji Kondo.
The day he stops working on Zelda games will be a sad, sad day.
MrsDeanMartin:
Motion Controls
I can't go back. This is what I've dreamed of since I held an NES controller. I think making the option to play with either motion controls or traditional controls would be key. I have never had as much fun playing a game as I have Twilight Princess on the Wii and Skyward Sword.
Lots of Zelda & Link Fluff
This is one thing I don't mind being cemented more in the story (but I do think there always needs to be another girl, for people who don't like Link and Zelda together, and because Link's well-documented having several girls in love with him).
Older, Badass Link
Going back to my one of my "do not wants", I like Link being awesome and although he's not the biggest, gruffest mother on the planet, he's plenty strong and dangerous (perfectly coupled with his other comical or endearing traits) . I mean, just look:
I, of course, would like to continue this trend with something like this:
I think my desire for the Magic (Sexy) Armor falls here as well.
Epona
I love riding around on Epona (and I don't need auto-pilot for her...). This is one thing I missed in Skyward Sword.
Basically Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword
I'm not one that gets tired of Zelda. I don't really see any changes that need to be made since Ocarina of Time, outside of motion controls being added. The three games I listed are my favorites, and are similar in structure and play to one another. If they just kept making games exactly like them, each one adding its own flavor to the formula and introducing some new and clever things to do while still keeping the bones in place, I couldn't ask for more. I like the game being about Link, Zelda, Ganondorf and the Triforce. I also like moving from dungeon to dungeon, in order, getting an item from a mid-boss, using said item to defeat main boss, then using that item in the overworld to explore new areas. I always enjoy a good bit of time travel in some form, too, and I'm always up for another realm coming into play. I like what I like, and there's a reason Zelda has endured. It's working wonderfully, so I see no reason to change it, especially when I have loved it so much for so long.
Dungeon Rush
The only thing that ever really aggravates me about Zelda games is the fact that if there's a particular dungeon you like playing, you better enjoy it while it lasts, because to play it again, you're either going to need to tie up a save file (having five save files would also be neat) or just accept the fact you're going to have to beat the game and replay it to get to play the dungeon again. We've gotten the ability to replay bosses at will, so I would really like the ability to replay dungeons from a menu selection of them, just as you can with bosses. You can always go back to a dungeon and re-explore it, but it's not the same without the enemies, mid-boss, and boss.
Cutscene Gallery
Just like the dungeon rush suggestion, I would like the ability to rewatch a cutscene without having to replay the whole game. I would also like to say I appreciate Twilight Princess's cutscenes changing to reflect whatever you have Link dressed in or equipped with (Hyrule Warriors let me down on that one). Kinda a different subject, but tying in to cutscenes reflecting your game, I also wouldn't be against Link showing damage. You can excuse his clothes not being cut to ribbons because magic, but in Warriors, by the end, Link's clothes are filthy and he has a (super adorable) scrape across his face, also featured on the game's cover. If you've had a particularly hard fight and lost a certain amount of health, the cutscene when you beat the boss showing Link with some scratches would be a nice touch (and they can of course be healed with potions, hot springs, and hearts to patch him up and make him look new--just grabbing the heart container would ensure he wasn't sporting the John McClane look for too long, just enough to be a nice touch).
I thought it was his hair at first, but it was a cute scratch.
This. I Pretty Much Want This.
I can pretty much sum up most of what I've said with the following:
There we have it! Please feel free to list your wants and do not wants in the comments, or even in a blog. I have really appreciated everyone that has participated in Zelda Week, including the ones in this blog along with blu4ever and Excelement. Any more blogs are very welcome
Over and out!
