The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was actually planned to get a sequel, but Nintendo decided to cancel it to make way for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
This information comes from an interview with artist Satoru Takizawa (translated by Nintendo Everything), who states the following:
we had begun the initial steps towards creating Wind Waker 2 … However, demand for a more Ocarina-like game was growing by the day.
The reason behind the cancellation of the second Wind Waker and the subsequent development of Twilight Princess instead is an odd one: horses. Takizawa further adds:
Wind Waker 2 would have taken place in a more land-based setting, rather than on the sea, so that we could have Link gallop across the land on a horse, but Link’s proportions in Wind Waker weren’t very well suited for riding on horseback; he was too short, and an adult version of Toon Link did not seem appropriate either.
High-budget live-action fantasy movies were also huge at the time, so with all things considered, we decided to have at it [and switch to Twilight Princess].
The interview is part of the new Zelda: Art & Artifacts book, which will be rolled out in the UK and US in February but is available right now in Japan.
Wind Waker never did get its sequel, though it did get an HD re-release in 2013 on Wii U. And Link will be back in that cartoonish design again with the upcoming and highly anticipated “The legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”.
Though my mind is still in conflict regarding Nintendo’s decision to scrap a Wind Waker sequel for the Twilight Princess. On one hand, Wind Waker was a truly gorgeous and beatifully written game that genuinely deserves a sequel while Twilight Princess was more realistic looking and a brand new concept for the series which did end up working great as well.
What are your thoughts on this? Comment down below.
