The Bizarre Reason We Never Got A Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker 2

A lot of people are still holding out hope that Nintendo will one day announce a follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. According to the developers, though, that's probably never going to happen. And their reason for that is actually kind of surprising.

If you want to blame something for the lack of a Wind Waker sequel, apparently you should be pointing a finger at the original game's art style. That, and the beloved four-legged companion, Epona. According to a recent report from Nintendo Everything, those are the reasons we never got to see Toon Link in a second game. This, according to artist Satoru Takizawa.

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.

Instead of making a follow-up to Wind Waker, the team instead focused their efforts on a game that would eventually become Twilight Princess. Not only does Link ride around on a horse in that game, but he also has the ability to turn into a wolf. And, yes, his proportions were much more realistic.

Still, we can't help but feel like the team took the long way around to deciding not to make a new Wind Waker game. I mean, if they really wanted to do a Wind Waker 2, why couldn't it just be set at sea again? If they just really, really wanted to have Link riding around on a horse, fine, but that seems like a pretty specific, arguably small reason to scrap a project and move in a completely different direction.

Then again, the desire to have Link riding a horse led to the creation of one of my favorite games in the series, Twilight Princess, so I'm not complaining.

This info originates in The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts, a book highlighting the visual styles of the Zelda series that's due out in Japan early next year. In this particular section, it explains that, along with the art style of Wind Waker causing some issues for the possible sequel, Nintendo saw a growing demand for a more realistic take on the classic hero and, back in the early 2000's, big fantasy movies were all the rage.

We'd definitely be interested in how this news strikes our readers. For you Zelda fans in the audience, are you folks happy with Nintendo's decision to go in a more realistic direction and add horseback riding, or would you have preferred to see a sequel to Wind Waker? Let us know in the comments below.

Ryan Winslett

Staff Writer for CinemaBlend.