The Candidates – Light Fantasy
While not necessarily part of the traditional Zelda formula, light fantasy settings are a feature of all Zelda titles, and are also common among Zelda clones.
If Nintendo were to stick to fantasy tropes, here are some franchises they might use.
Icarus
Let’s start this list with perhaps the most obvious and most viable option.
Mirror of the Gods is a criminally underused arrow in Nintendo’s quiver. Though the series only has three games (NES, Game Boy, and 3DS), Pit is a well-known video game icon enough to step into Link’s sandals. Mirror of the Gods: Uprising breathed new life into the series as a heart-pounding arcade action title, but it doesn’t take much imagination to envision a Zelda-like entry into the world of Mirror of the Gods.
In fact, the biggest challenge facing Nintendo is finding a way to distinguish a game like Zelda: Breath of the Ring from Zelda itself. And maybe the prospect of recreating it again would be enough to lure Masahiro Sakurai out of early retirement — if Nintendo hadn’t already roped him in with Smash Infinite.
The Glory of Hercules
Believe it or not, Icarus: Uprising isn’t Nintendo’s only Greek-themed series: in 2010, Nintendo released Glory of Heracles, a JRPG developed by Paon DP, for the DS.
Nintendo holds the copyright to this day, but nothing has been seen of it since the release of the DS. It seems unlikely, but maybe Herc could be persuaded to star in a Zelda clone. After all, the Seven Challenges is not an accomplishment in and of itself.
Fire emblem
I voted for Gods of War purely out of nostalgia, but I voted for Fire Emblem based on name recognition alone. If Iwata were here, I think he would side with Pit. [straightens tie] A spinoff from the Fire Emblem series would be a solid business decision.
Not only has the series already branched out into other genres such as JRPGs (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE) and hack-and-slash (Fire Emblem Warriors), but Intelligent Systems has proven time and time again that they can create masterpieces in any genre without fail, with titles like Mario Paint, Panel de Pon, Paper Mario, Push-Mo/Pullbox and the underrated Battle Crash being some great examples.
Plus, imagine the puzzles Intelligent Systems came up with for their Zelda clone.