A Future Zelda Game Could Go Off the Rails With One Mechanic

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 8, 2025 10 Views 8 Min Read
A Future Zelda Game Could Go Off the Rails With One Mechanic



Summary

  • Spirit Tracks featured a unique train mechanic holding potential for future Zelda games.
  • The Spirit Train was an integral part of the game, offering both transportation and narrative benefits.
  • A future Zelda game could implement a sandbox world with customizable railways and train mechanics.

Now that Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Echoes of Wisdom have all taken massive strides toward innovation, the future is wide open for The Legend of Zelda. It’s unclear where the Legend of Zelda franchise may go from here in terms of its story and gameplay, but Zelda: Spirit Tracks, one of the series’ most beloved entries, may hold the key to further innovation.

While Zelda: Spirit Tracks arguably deserves a remake or a sequel, it’s not likely to ever receive one. However, a future Zelda open-world sandbox game could keep the spirit of Zelda: Spirit Tracks alive by implementing the one feature that set it apart from other Zelda titles in the first place. This would be a great way of reigniting the flame of Spirit Tracks while simultaneously introducing fresh and innovative gameplay elements to the series’ evolving formula.

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A Future Zelda Game Should Implement Spirit Tracks’ Train Mechanics

Spirit Tracks Gave Players a Usable and Customizable Train for Travel

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is by far one of The Legend of Zelda‘s most distinctive titles, as it introduced a train called the “Spirit Train” that served as the primary mode of transportation across the game’s overworld. After previous entries in the series utilized boats and horses for travel (when players weren’t journeying on foot), Zelda: Spirit Tracks‘ Spirit Train was a breath of fresh air and an innovative approach to in-game traversal and exploration.

The Spirit Train was a magical locomotive integral to Zelda: Spirit Tracks‘ story, which traveled on the titular Spirit Tracks. The Spirit Train was fully controllable, with a throttle to adjust speed, a brake for stopping, and a whistle to scare away obstacles like animals. While using the Spirit Train, players would navigate junctions on the Spirit Tracks by choosing their direction, which ultimately played out like an iconic Zelda puzzle as they planned routes to reach specific destinations. The Spirit Train also featured a cannon for combat, with which players could fend off enemies or engage in encounters with Dark Trains — hostile locomotives that patrolled certain tracks.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is by far one of The Legend of Zelda‘s most distinctive titles, as it introduced a train called the “Spirit Train” that served as the primary mode of transportation across the game’s overworld.

While the Spirit Train was useful as a transportation tool in Zelda: Spirit Tracks, it was an essential part of the game’s mechanics and its narrative. Players could even upgrade and customize the durability and appearance of the Spirit Train using valuable collectibles they found throughout the game. Zelda: Spirit Tracks‘ quests often involved transporting passengers or cargo on the Spirit Train, which, in turn, required players to take extra care when driving the train. Since the progression system tied to the Spirit Tracks was such a big part of Zelda: Spirit Tracks‘ gameplay, the Spirit Train played a significant role in exploration, since players would unlock new routes by solving puzzles and restoring tracks, thereby granting them access to new regions.

A Future Zelda Game Could Let Players Build a Railroad Around an Open-World Sandbox

With how unique Zelda: Spirit Tracks‘ Spirit Train mechanics were, it would be a shame to never feature them again, and an open-world Zelda sandbox would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce them. This would allow a future Zelda game to serve as a spiritual successor to Zelda: Spirit Tracks, all while giving fans a form of progression and gameplay they aren’t familiar with. With a Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom-sized open world, a future Zelda game could use its explorable space as a sandbox for players to build railways around that they could then use for transportation.

A sandbox approach would also allow the train to be more than just a transportation tool. Perhaps players could face environmental challenges, like building bridges over rivers or tunneling through mountains, adding the series’ iconic puzzle-solving to railroad construction. Enemies might even target the tracks, requiring players to defend or repair them. The train could also act as a mobile base for players, with a crafting station or even a small customizable living area on board. With a healthy balance of resource management, combat, and customization, alongside the nostalgia of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, the train could become a core feature of gameplay, all while offering a fresh take on traversal in the world of The Legend of Zelda.

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