Regardless of how you feel about Breath of the Wild, it’s without a doubt one of the most important games on the Nintendo Switch. After leaving gamers from across the spectrum with lasting impressions, the open-world take on Link’s adventures is getting a sequel. Announced back at E3 2019, Breath of the Wild 2 is on the horizon.
How far that is still, we don’t know. But what we do know is that the hotly anticipated Zelda sequel will be a darker and grittier follow-up to its predecessor. Even though Nintendo’s latest Direct had nothing to show us, we’re still holding out hope that BotW 2 will be coming out this year.
A Quick Rundown of the Breath of the Wild 2 Trailer
The E3 2019 BotW 2 trailer was completely devoid of any gameplay. What it lacked in terms of adventuring and hacking-and-slashing, it made up for showcasing the tones and themes we can expect from the upcoming Zelda title.
Link and Zelda are making their way down into a dark underground place, possibly beneath Hyrule Castle. Green spiraling scriptures and other mystical energies envelop their surroundings. The dark and decrepit dungeon walls are filled with drawings that depict the acts of important figures such as Gannondorf and the King of the Gerudo.
Link is still brandishing the Master Sword, a clear indication that Breath of the Wild 2 is meant to be a direct continuation of the BotW story. Both he and Zelda make their way towards the source of the magical energies surrounding them and when they do, red and black tendrils, reminiscent of Calamity Ganon, jut up towards the castle, launching it off its foundations and into the sky.
Small Nuggets from BotW 2’s Producer
Eiji Aonuma, producer and project manager of the game, has kept his lips sealed regarding hard details about Breath of the Wild 2. From interviews, he has clarified that the Zelda development team wants to continue Link’s adventures within the Hyrule we experienced in BotW.
On top of that, Aonuma also revealed that new gameplay elements and narrative aspects are being explored for Breath of the Wild 2. It’s important to note that the highly anticipated Zelda sequel is a product of a mountain of ideas the team had for the original’s DLC.
On a more interesting note, BotW director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has divulged at length how the open-world gameplay of Skyrim inspired the original Breath of the Wild. This time around, for BotW 2, the dev team has spent time playing Red Dead Redemption 2 to draw even more inspiration.
What We Expect from Breath of the Wild 2
We know for sure that BotW 2 will be a much darker take on the open-world Zelda game that came before it. If inspirations are being drawn from a game world as alive as RDR 2’s, then we expect there’ll be a lot more life in Hyrule this time around. One of the major points of criticism surrounding the original Switch Zelda game was its nearly empty map.
What’s also quite interesting from the trailer is Princess Zelda’s new haircut. It may seem like a small detail to latch onto, but there may be more to it than a simple style change. So far, in most LoZ games, the titular princess has been a damsel in distress. Perhaps this settle change of style may indicate that she’ll have a more active role in Breath of the Wild 2. Perhaps we may even be able to play as her.
Finally, with Hyrule Castle now up in the air through Calamity Ganon’s power, it’s likely that his influence will spread far and wide. This could mean we may well need to venture forth into even further territories around Hyrule, expanding the map even further. If these dark energies are once again going to be corrupting the land, we’ll likely need to spend time purging them in BotW 2 before we can get another showdown with the big bad himself.
Breath of the Wild was a solid attempt at making an open-world Zelda game. We’re excited to see how much further the dev team will stretch the concept in the darker sequel, hopefully arriving sooner rather than later.
We are super excited, are you?!
