I take cracks at Skyward Sword's anime style a lot (everything about that game comes across more anime-like to me than any other Zelda game, including the way the characters are drawn), but in the end, I'm not fussed about the visual style. I like Skyward Sword's art and I believe it should be the way Zelda games are drawn from this point forward. I merely think the Wii wasn't capable of making it look good. The idea is great and worth doing again to get it right; the game itself, though, is really ugly.
The Big Thing to me is that Zelda should be a princess. In Skyward Sword, she's just another girl. As far as that one individual game was concerned, I accepted it on the premise of it being the origin story of the series, but I still want Zelda to be a princess (just like I accept Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask for omitting Zelda due to in-universe storyline reasons, but I don't want Nintendo to ever do that again). After Smash 4 comes out, we won't get another Smash Bros. for at least another six or seven years. I don't want to have to go that long before we get another proper portrayal of Princess Zelda. Heck, Zelda was portrayed better in Brawl than she's ever been in the actual Legend of Zelda series. Five, six years from now, when Smash 4 is old news and Smash 5 is still nothing more than a whisper in the wind, I don't want to have to look all the way back to Brawl for a good portrayal of Princess Zelda.
As strange as it sounds, I think this question may partially be answered by what they decide to do with Impa. I agree with those who think Impa should be ascended into the playable ranks. She's the only possible new Zelda-related addition, I believe. She's basically the fourth most important character in the whole series now, and she's had more impact on the Zelda mythos than any other character besides the big three. Impa certainly deserves the spot more than Ghirahim or any other one-shot secondary villain. And if they were going to include Tingle, I honestly believe they would have done it by now. If they don't include Impa in Smash 4, I don't think they're going to add another Zelda character to Smash Bros....possibly ever.
The problem, then, is Sheik. How would one separate Impa and Sheik? I've never particularly liked Sheik (I believe Zelda should be allowed to shine as Zelda), but Sheik is an important part of the Smash Universe. Smash Bros. is, in fact, the only thing keeping that character relevant at all. I believe Sheik will still be in. I don't think they're going to screw around with that mechanic. This is also the reason why I don't think they're going to change Ganondorf's moveset. Even though they should....
In short, I predict nothing terribly earthshattering will happen with the Zelda characters in terms of mechanics. In visual style, though, I'm very interested. After all, Smash 4 will be the first time we've ever seen The Legend of Zelda in HD....
I just hope they remember that Zelda is a princess, first and foremost.
