Here are the things I want to see in a console Zelda, probably on the Wii U.
1. Continuation of motion controls. These are great to me. I like them a lot. In the context of a system designed around them, they are just the tops. I'm okay with having to use another new remote if it comes packaged with the Wii U; i just want the highest fidelity motion controls achievable. Implement the Wii U's special controller for something else if you want, maybe for Wind Waker-style co-op, but I want direct control over Link's sword because it is fun.
2. Enemies with an offensive bent. There were very few enemies in Skyward Sword, mostly a few bosses and Wood Shield Moblins who had lost their shields, that were a threat because they focused on killing you. Most of them would kill you while yo uwere trying to figure out how to hurt them, and let's face it - once you know how to kill a Lizalfos in three movements, you're never going to be challenged by them again, Dark Lizalfos or no.
To that end I'd like to see a ressurection of the Darknuts or the Iron Knuckles, who, in every iteration, are dangerous because if you get within a certain range they will annihilate you. Highly aggressive, highly damaging, often with no defenses whatsoever. Other enemies can be retooled to this end, like some versions of the Stalfos, where they're not stunned by being hit and can hit you like a Mack Truck. These are enemies that present a more active danger, and killing them is often more satisfactory.
Koloktos was one such enemy in Skyward Sword, and he was one of the very best fights in the franchise.
3. More enemy variety. Skyward Sword only had a handful of different enemies, each in an array of different colors with slight variations on how to kill them. I'd like a return to the Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time/most other Zeldas school of enemy design where we get zillions of different enemies to learn how to fight. This allows for a mixture between heavily defensive, heavily offensive, and balanced enemies, as well as being more visually interesting.
I'm fine with recolored enemies, but if we have them then it needs to be like in the first game, where enemies with more health also did more damage.
4. Getting to any dungeon should be a quest, but it should be a cool quest. Skyward Sword did this better than any 3D Zelda except for Majora's Mask, and only stumbled very rarely (hello Water Dragon). I really like this school of dungeon-delving, kind of an extension of what there is in the 2D games. The content density should be very high here, almost Metroid-esque.
Getting to the Sandship was great. I want something like that just... just all the time. Forever.
5. Sidequests should have lots of combat where possible. They should also be fairly involved for people who like the story bits. If you have to pad in terms of content, put some combat in there. They can have lots of other things, too - not every sidequest needs to have an Iron Knuckle - but combat is always fun.
6. The world should feel very mysterious. I love the feeling of lots of implied history. Ancient ruins with no long-winded explanation for what they are, monsters under the earth, people with mysterious motivations. The less I know about the places I'm exploring, the more I can fill in details in my head, the more engaged I am.
7. Ganondorf needs to be the main villain. Yeah, yeah "Ganondorf is in a lot of games", shut up. He hasn't been the main, central villain from the start of a game in ten years. He was the villain in Twilight Princess, but Zant was the star of that show for about half the game. I want a return to the first game or to Ocarina of Time, where he's front and center from Act 1, Scene 2, and you really get time to see how menacing he is. Ganondorf is great.
8. Dungeons should be incredibly dangerous, both from the environment and from enemies. If I die anywhere, it better be in dungeons. I want to walk into a room in a dungeon, go "Oh shit, no" and have to fight for my life. Room full of Blue Iron Knuckles, baby. Wizzrobes. Enemies need to make me wet my pants, and so do puzzles and traps.
9. There need to be fights with lots of enemies at once. One of the best fights in SKyward Sword is near the very beginning, where you have to fight five or six Bokoblins, and it's tough! It is tough, because they are always attacking and highly defensive to boot. The final run down to the final battle, where you fight multiple Moblins and Stalfos? ALso great. Multiple enemies make you feel bad-ass, they're pleasantly difficult, and man, aren't they just so cool?
I'll add more later if anything occurs to me.
