Ian, I think that what Nintendo really should do with Zelda, is make a combination of what made Wind Wker good, and What made Twilight Princess good as far as the overworld is concerned. The overworld should be round, much like a Mario Galaxy cube, only much bigger and interconnected. In the center there should be like a huge landmass thats very much like the Twilight Princess overworld but with shores that connect to an ocean. Traveling from one side of the ocean gets you on the other side of the world. There should be little islands on the outside of this continent that both provide parts to the main story and parts to side quests. I think that there shouldn't be a big fetch quest in the game. I read this article
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24488I think that different countries in the game should again be divided, but in a much more complex way, the rules of the game should change depending on where you are in the map. For instance, you can usually in zelda go in any room breaking pots and stuff, but what if in a certain country this is forbidden, and there are cops chasing you if you do like GTA, but only in this particular species realm. They had this stuff explored throughout the games, but thining about it. Thats probably where they are going to go next, more complex socia-interactions.