Of course, I am excited about the prospect of yet another type of Zelda experience.
Aonuma has made it abundantly clear that Skyward Sword is not be a paradigmatic entry into the series. In other words, they don't feel restricted to adhering to what they did with that game. Skyward Sword was truly excellent, but it would be a shame to see them stop there. I think a willingness to try new things is essential to the treatment of a long-standing series such as Zelda, so this is excellent news in my book.
I can honestly say that the WiiU controller intrigues me more than any piece of hardware has for years. The possibilities of this thing... Its utility as a map, an (item) interface, a "lens" or "camera", and so forth, are all obvious. It will be interesting to see if it will play any large part in combat. I of course expect it to be used alongside the Wiimote.
I will admit, Skyward Sword was the first game that made genuine use of motion controls that I have played. A continuation of that would be swell. Thankfully, this is all but guaranteed at this point. I appreciated the fact that a knowledgeable player could dominate enemies, but combat should be more skill-based overall.
The mention of a new art style by Aonuma greatly pleases me. I hope that they do not bother with an attempt at realism, but instead utilizes a subtle but prominently stylized approach. Of course, the rehash of Twilight Princess' aesthetic would never be used in a real game. Zelda's use of novel aesthetic approaches is one of the essential idiosyncrasies of the series, and Skyward Sword represents the highlight of the franchise in my mind. I hope that high standard carries on to the next game.
On the music front things are looking up, of course, though I wonder where Minegishi went. I missed his melodic, progressive-rock styled boss tracks in Skyward Sword, though Wakai's original blend of jazz and world music was a perfect fit for the game overall. I was also impressed by much of Yokota's work, particularly his use of Debussy-esque impressionistic stylings. More of that, please.
As regards things we cannot safely expect, I hope the next game brings a more fully realized sub-concept to the game. Majora's Mask and ALttP did the most with their respective sub-concepts, but other games have not been as successful. Twilight Princess, for instance, did very little genuinely interesting with Wolf Link. It's a shame because the concept had a lot of potential.
In terms of story, one thing I do wish for is a different origin story for Link. Link was originally a solitary journeyman, why not make use of that? Majora's Mask certainly did, and that game's characterization of the hero remains the best of the series in my mind. This could also help solve the potential issues of a poorly paced start, at least from a storytelling standpoint.
Regarding the world, I thought the structure of Skyward Sword was excellent. However, the world could be made more interconnected without losing what made Skyward Sword's approach so appealing. For the record, Zelda's overworld design was never truly open-ended, but rather a maze of linear paths connected through a central hub. That could be used again, together with the design principles which informed Skyward Sword's approach to the individual areas. A variation on the concept of having the world open up, as Skyward Sword and Phantom Hourglass did in their way (you could choose in what order you wanted to do things), would also be welcome.
One thing Skyward Sword lacked was a well-integrated usage of items. Many of the items had multiple uses, of course, but they rarely could be used in conjunction with one another. The DS titles excelled in this regard, and I hope that design paradigm makes its way into the next Zelda. Clever use of the WiiU controller would surely aid in that effort.
Speaking of which, perhaps Link's "partner(s)" in the next game could be controlled with the WiiU controller. That would be intriguing, and lead to a better integration of disparate elements/characters into the game.
Well, those are some things that I would want. There's more, but that is enough for now, I think. I should add that I don't feel entitled to anything from the creators - nor should anyone else, really. These are just a few ideas of mine.
