Heroes of Hyrule

Lore & Background

Heroes of Hyrule was conceived by Retro Studios in 2004 as a departure from the Metroid Prime series, which had left the team feeling burned out. The game would have featured a top-down perspective for exploration, where the player controlled an original child character named Kori. In exploration mode, no combat occurred, but minigames such as fishing, scavenger hunts, and kite flying were planned. Progress was gated by barriers that could be overcome by learning new abilities. When encountering enemies, the game shifted to a turn-based battle system with grid-based movement. Puzzle-solving was integrated into battles, with attacks having effects beyond damaging opponents. The game omitted a traditional experience point system, instead allowing characters to grow stronger by earning and equipping items found in exploration or won in battles.

A central mechanic involved a magical book that Kori obtains from an antique shop. Reading the book allowed the player to experience scenes and battles from the past, and locating new pages in exploration segments unlocked additional content. Placing found items into the book could alter how its scenes played out, such as making characters stronger or granting new abilities. The book documented a battle between Link and Zelda against Ganon that occurred over 100 years prior, in which Link fails and both are captured. The story followed three original heroes—Dunar (a Goron representing the Triforce of Power), Krel (a Zora representing the Triforce of Wisdom), and Seriph (a Rito representing the Triforce of Courage)—as they sought to save Link and Zelda and stop Ganon. Approximately two-thirds of the story covered these ancient battles, while the remaining third followed Kori in the modern age, searching for scattered pages. It is eventually revealed that the book itself sealed Ganon's evil power, and Kori's collection of pages inadvertently allows Ganon to be unsealed. The three heroes return to defeat Ganon in the present. At the game's end, the antique shopkeeper who sold Kori the book is revealed to be an elderly Link.

Reader's Guide

Heroes of Hyrule is notable as a cancelled concept that would have significantly expanded the Legend of Zelda franchise into the tactical role-playing genre, a style that had historically performed well on Nintendo's handheld consoles. Its pitch was rejected without feedback by Nintendo SPD, leading to its abandonment before any prototype was built. The game remained unknown for nearly two decades until Did You Know Gaming published an investigative report in October 2022, based on information from former Retro Studios employees who believed the statute of limitations had passed. Nintendo subsequently filed a successful copyright strike, taking the video down in December 2022, a move criticized as harmful to video game history preservation. Publications noted parallels between the game's story and that of Breath of the Wild, and lamented the cancellation, particularly criticizing Nintendo's efforts to suppress information about it. The game's use of an original protagonist (Kori) rather than Link was considered unusual and unique for the franchise.

Did You Know?

• Heroes of Hyrule was proposed by Retro Studios in 2004 as a tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo DS.
• The game would have featured a magical book that allowed players to experience past battles and alter them by placing items inside.
• The antique shopkeeper who sells the book to protagonist Kori is revealed at the end to be an elderly Link.
• Nintendo filed a successful copyright strike against the Did You Know Gaming video covering the game, taking it down in December 2022.