Despite the anticipation for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s sequel, Nintendo has been dead silent about the upcoming game since its announcement trailer in 2019. We know little about the game aside from vague inklings about its premise, which seems to involve Link and Zelda trying to put down for good what we presume to be the dead husk of Ganon. And we don’t even know if the game will be titled Breath of the Wild 2 or if it’ll have an entirely new subtitle.
But with Zelda’s 35th anniversary coming up, we’re getting a feeling that new details may be coming soon, so we’ve taken the time to reflect on the first BotW to find nine things we’d want to see from the sequel. For all the latest news about the game, be sure to check out our BotW 2 hub. Otherwise, what do you want to see in BotW 2? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned to GameSpot for any future updates about the game.
Playable or Partner Zelda
Can we not have Zelda as the damsel in distress anymore? Wouldn’t it be cool to fight alongside her in a more cooperative experience? Nintendo has generally been good about having adventures you can play alongside friends with games like Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Kirby: Star Allies, so the idea of having Zelda and Link side by side out in the open world sounds like a dream come true. Although, on the flip side of the coin, it may cause other mechanical issues, as we could see triggering bullet-time as a nuisance for the other player if not implemented properly. Other ideas like having an AI-controlled Zelda follow you throughout the entire adventure, a fully playable Zelda, or even the ability to control both characters simultaneously, ala-Astral Chain, would be fantastic to see in the sequel.
We got some of this fulfilled with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but we hope that Link and Zelda will have more meaningful gameplay together in the sequel going forward and not the prequel.
Bring Back Traditional Items
The Gale Boomerang, Hookshot, Bombchus, and so many other traditional Zelda equipment pieces would be exciting additions in a BotW sequel. We appreciated the throwback weapons you could use in the original BotW by scanning amiibo, like the Biggoron Sword and Twilight Bow. However, the series’ most time-honored tools and items would be an excellent way to change things up.
A great way for Nintendo to keep progression from feeling too linear would be to approach using tools and items as it did for A Link Between Worlds. In that game, all the items were made available to you from Ravio, and you could rent them for 50-100 rupees apiece, so there was no need to get them from dungeons in a specific order.
But what if Breath of the Wild 2 had this? You could rent all the items from the beginning if you grind enough rupees or take it at a slower pace and go item by item. Admittedly, the presence of traditional Zelda items might not mesh well against the physics-based items of BotW. Incorporating them as freely as A Link Between Worlds may make this a completely different experience. Maybe they could also implement the weapon durability system and make these items only last for so long. Who knows! But all we know is that we want some of those old Zelda items back!
Nero’s Arm Mechanics (From Devil May Cry)
While outright Devil May Cry fighting mechanics in a mainline Zelda game would be too much, this new seemingly arm-possessed Link in BotW 2 gives us some serious Nero vibes. We’re hoping the arm plays a part in adding new skills, like grappling abilities for exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat, because that would be outright awesome. In the same vein as some Zelda equipment that should return, it could make an appropriate spiritual successor to the hookshot.
Bring Back Traditional Dungeons
We wouldn’t want to replace shrines, far from it, but we’re hoping that the main dungeons contain more of what made the original Zelda dungeons so memorable. Maps, compasses, keys, unique bosses, and maybe even tool-based puzzles could bring back some charm and familiarity to the experience. While the Divine Beasts were great, they lacked the progression and labyrinthian design that made conquering those classic Zelda dungeons so satisfying. If there’s anything to take from BotW’s Divine Beasts, it would be their open-ended nature to give exploration across each dungeon’s complex web of rooms an even greater sense of freedom.
The BotW sequel would be a perfect opportunity for classic Zelda dungeon design to return. Nintendo could easily justify it in the game’s world with all the Divine Beasts out of commission.
More Emphasis On Story
While BotW was an outstanding game mechanically, its story admittedly took a back seat, especially toward the end. Because the game was so focused on the power to chart your own adventure and do things in any order, there was little room for the characters and story to grow. And since the memories cutscenes were optional, many players may have missed out on even more of the story’s context.
Now that we’re on to the sequel, we’re hoping Nintendo decides to emphasize the story and its characters, allowing them to develop more meaningfully throughout the game. This might make the story more linear, but if the rest of the game is still open, we think this won’t be too much of a compromise, especially if it is good. Nintendo has proven that great stories can be told in the Zelda universe in the past with games like Wind Waker and Skyward Sword. And with BotW specifically, there’s still so much more to explore with Zelda, Link, and Hyrule at large. A sequel seems like the best place to do that!
New Explorable Areas Outside Of Hyrule (Or A Different Version)
Hyrule in BotW is massive and a great place to truly express the sense of freedom the game gives you. But if you’re exploring the same areas in the sequel, what will Nintendo do to freshen up the experience for people who poured hundreds of hours into the original? That sense of discovery would be gone. We’re hoping that BotW 2 has some Termina or Koholint Island area to explore if it’s set in the same Hyrule. Or at the very least, maybe a Dark World Hyrule or some Lorule-like variant where things are mostly the same but slightly different.
Swimming Upgrades
As much as ground and air movement was an astounding feat in BotW, I feel like swimming was something of an afterthought. It was clunky to move quickly, and there wasn’t even a dive option. If Nintendo could improve the overall experience of swimming and expand water exploration in the sequel, that would be awesome. We wouldn’t mind not fully diving underwater either; the time-honored Iron Boots method would still be more than enough to make things interesting.
Return The Darknut
There are plenty of other enemies in the Zelda series that should make a showing in the BotW sequel, but our personal wish is the return of Darknuts. Lynel’s were a tremendous challenge in BotW, but a good old fashioned one-on-one duel against one of those iron-clad knights is something that would bring a tear to our eye. In both Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, they were one of our favorite enemies to fight.
Let Us Pet Dogs!
‘Nuff said, if we can’t pet dogs in the sequel, it’s basically unplayable. Okay, maybe not, but in all seriousness, the dogs in BotW were pretty darn cute, and the feed-for-treasure mechanic was cool, but just let us pet the good bois. They deserve it.