Zelda Fans Torn Over Link's Replacement For New Game

2 hours ago 9

Published May 10, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

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Despite celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, The Legend of Zelda franchise shows no signs of slowing down. Not only can we look forward to the upcoming live-action movie, but there are also rumors that the long-awaited remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be announced later this year, especially following the recent announcement of that Star Fox revival.

However, that is not the only rumor that has been taking the internet by storm, as it also appears that a brand-new 2D Zelda game will arrive a lot sooner than we had first thought. The rumors began back in April as a report by ComicBook.com shone a light on a social media post made by well-known leaker Nash Weedle. In the Twitter post, Nash shared two cryptic posts reading: "Hero, wake up, the drums are resounding for 2027" and "Richard > Edward > Bernard" respectively. Although appearing bizarre at first, it did not take The Legend of Zelda fans long to work out that Richard and Edward were the internal codenames for both The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. As such, we can assume that 'Bernard' is the codename for the next major release, and following suit, it will be another 2D launch.

Link from Link's Awakening with a shocked expression on his face.

Now, a month on and it seems as though Weedle is back with another post regarding this mysterious upcoming 2D Zelda game. Luckily, the most important information shared in the leak has been explained over on r/GamingLeaksAndRumors, and it spells good news for fans of Nintendo's 2D Zelda entries.

According to the well-known leaker, the new 2D Zelda entry is planned to release in 2027 as a way of celebrating the franchise's ongoing 40th anniversary celebrations. However, it seems as though an official announcement is not due any time soon as Nintendo will want to focus on unveiling The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake later this year. Additionally, the brand-new entry will be "100% original", not a remake, and we can expect its development to be far in its advanced stages. Luckily, Nintendo have reportedly used the same engine as was used for Echoes of Wisdom. Last but not least, Weedle confirmed 'Bernard' to be the game's codename, and it seems as though Ganondorf will be our main protagonist as a way to shape his origin story.

legend of zelda ocarina of time official

As you can imagine, it was not long before Zelda fans flocked to the comments to share their thoughts on this new leak, and it seems as though Link potentially being replaced by Ganondorf as a protagonist is being met with mixed reviews. "Can we just get a new 2D game as Link? Personally, playing as Ganondorf is not interesting at all," one user shared. However, another user was feeling slightly more hopeful, sharing, "I wouldn’t mind if they reused the Echos of Wisdom art style, but I don’t want Ganondorf as the protagonist. I also don’t like the idea of splitting Ocarina of Time into two games because it really doesn’t need that much content. It’s already a near perfect game. Just cleaning up the controls, graphics, and possibly adding the Light Temple would be enough."

As mentioned, both the Ocarina of Time remake and this upcoming 2D The Legend of Zelda title remain purely speculation at the time of writing, and so both projects should be taken with a pinch of salt.