The Legend of Zelda Has Often Flirted With Sci‑Fi

Today marks the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. Originally released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986, Nintendo’s adventure launched one of the most beloved high‑fantasy game series, but it has repeatedly come close to embracing science fiction—most notably a pitch called The Legend of Zelda: INVASION showcased during a 2017 GDC keynote by Breath of the Wild creators Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Satoru Takizawa and Takuhiro Dohta.

Takizawa’s slides for INVASION showed a UFO touching down in Hyrule, a storyboard for an alien autopsy, spacesuits, Ganondorf in a T‑shirt and a very modernized Link in baggy denim with a striped winter hat, a Triforce guitar and a motorcycle. Traces of that impulse appear in Breath of the Wild: Sheikah technology looks otherworldly, with mechanical octopus arms, ominous glowing spotlights and unfamiliar metallurgy, and the Sheikah Slate functions like a smartphone.

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