re: With Eiji Aonuma retiring in 10 years, does Zelda series decline? Other notes.

I don't think it will necessarily decline but I think it will change. Like Freauxzen said, Nintendo is good at finding and developing talent so I'm not too worried about quality. I just hope the series changes enough. I don't think they should abandon the Zelda formula entirely, but I do like when they toy with it, as they did with A Link Between Worlds. I'm REALLY curious to see what becomes of Zelda Wii U and how much they deviate.

I've never found the open environments of the 3D Zelda games to be particularly interesting, so a Zelda game boasting that as a major feature has me a little concerned, but hopeful.