We now have a very surprising tease, that suggests that Nintendo still has a Zelda game in them that they are releasing before the year ends.
As documented on Reddit, Dr. Serkan Toto tweeted out the words “Z R 2023.” That message seemed cryptic enough that he could have plausible deniability about what he was saying, but some fans figured out what the message was, maybe a little too well.
Way back in 2021, Dr. Toto tweeted out a similar message, “Z 2 2022.” That turned out to be a hint about the second The Legend of Zelda game in the Breath Of The Wild universe. That game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, received a 2022 release date announcement in June 2021’s Nintendo Direct.
Now, that tease could have slipped by, because Nintendo ended up having to delay the game even further. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would end up releasing on May 12, 2023. However, because of some really diligent fans and dataminers, they were able to figure out this message based on the previous one.
Adding fuel to the fire, Dr. Toto deleted both tweets. Of course, one can say that that doesn’t really mean anything, but it can be taken as a sign that there really is a Zelda game coming before the year ends.
The R could stand for either a remake or remaster, and it’s an interesting time for such a release. Nintendo made basic but decent remasters of Pikmin 1 + 2, and a full remake of Metroid Prime, ironically called Metroid Prime Remastered.
There are other such releases that could have slipped by your radar. For example, the long delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp finally did get released on April 21, 2023.
As for The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo did both too. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD and Hyrule Warriors both received remasters to the Nintendo Switch. On the other hand, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening received a full remake, using 3D graphics but retaining the top down perspective of the original.
Assuming this rumor is real, what could Nintendo be looking to rerelease on the Switch? Some fans would likely want Nintendo to break a certain informal rule of theirs and make another release of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on the Switch, after that game came out on the Wii U.
It would definitely be exciting if Nintendo has a Zelda on the way before this year ends, and shortly after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases too. That would just punctuate 2023 as one of the greatest years for video game releases that the industry has ever seen.
