Breath of the Wild 2: All We Know So Far

When Breath of the Wild dropped back in 2017, Legend of Zelda fans were enthralled by its depiction of Hyrule. Ever since we put down our joysticks after finishing the game, all of us felt an urge to return and explore its grandeur and unearth more secrets. Yes, we did get two DLCs in between, but craving for a Breath of the Wild sequel could only be fulfilled by a Breath of the Wild sequel.

Thankfully, Nintendo gave us good news that took all Legend of Zelda fans by surprise!  At this year’s E3 convention back in June, Nintendo announced the next mainline Legend of Zelda release is officially on the way and it’s going to be Breath of the Wild 2.

Breath of the Wild was a revelation in the sphere of open-world game design. What do the developers have in mind to follow up such a successful title? At this point, we don’t know much. Most of the things we came to know about the new Breath of the Wild game is based on speculation. Here’s a roundup of the information floating around the web regarding the much coveted sequel:

The Release Date

There has been no indication from the developers that they have pinned down a release date for Breath of the Wild 2 just yet. All we have so far is a reveal trailer that closes with the statement ‘’in development.” The game is definitely far off and even a 2020 release date is highly unlikely. Nintendo has already announced the release schedule for their games in 2020 and the Breath of the Wild sequel wasn’t mentioned on the list. There was a six year gap between the previous two Legend of Zelda mainline entries as the developers decided to implement a brand new physics engine.

We don’t know what the approach is going to be for the next game, but if they just decide to refine the Breath of the Wild mechanics for the upcoming release, it shouldn’t take that long. This had been the case when Majora’s Mask hit the market in 2000 just two years after the release of Ocarina of Time. Some unconfirmed rumors have been floating around that the game will be released in 2021 alongside the rumored Nintendo Switch Pro. Of course, these rumors are just that and no firm date can be determined at this time.

This Is A Direct Sequel and Will Take Place in Hyrule

Narrative sequels aren’t a common theme in the Legend of Zelda franchise, but the massive success of Breath of the Wild convinced Nintendo to take a walk down this road. The Breath of the Wild sequel will not pick right up where the original game left off though; it will begin two years after the events of the first game. 

Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi will return to direct the sequel and Eiji Aonuma will return as producer. We don’t know much about the rest of the production staff, but word on the street is Aonuma is keen to put the band back together as well as welcome some new recruits. The famous Japanese video game designer spoke to Game Informer about the game and confirmed that the game will take us back to Hyrule.

“One of the reasons we wanted to create a continuation was because I wanted to revisit that Hyrule again and use that world again, while incorporating new gameplay and new story.”

Besides, we already got to see a glimpse of Hyrule in the 80-second teaser which involves a shot of Hyrule castle being elevated into the sky.

The Creepiest Legend of Zelda Game To Date?

When the teaser for Breath of the Wild 2 was revealed, it drew many comparisons with Majora’s Mask because of its dark tone. Many were also led to believe that this game will have some ties with the 2000 game. However, the developers debunked this theory. Aonuma told IGN that Breath of the Wild 2 can’t be traced back to Majora’s Mask by any means. Majora’s Mask is widely regarded as the most spine-chilling iteration of Legend of Zelda. But Aonuma insists the new Breath of the Wild game will be even darker.

“The new Breath of the Wild or the sequel to it, it’s not necessarily going to be related to Majora’s Mask or inspired by it… What we showed you currently is a little darker.”

Can We Expect DLCs?

At this point, it’d be way too premature to talk about potential DLCs. But, in the Game Informer interview mentioned earlier, Aonuma did let out that originally his team had a number of DLC ideas for the first Breath of the Wild game before shifting their focus towards a full on sequel.

‘’ When we released the DLC for Breath of the Wild, we realized that this is a great way to add more elements to the same world. But when it comes down to technical things, DLC is pretty much data—you’re adding data to a preexisting title. And so when we wanted to add bigger changes, DLC is not enough, and that’s why we thought maybe a sequel would be a good fit.’’

I’m assuming not all of these ideas will go straight into the base entry, leaving opportunities for future DLCs and expansions.  The following comment made by Aonuma makes me more confident on predicting that we will get DLCs for the sequel:

“I really like the idea of having DLC or anything coming after the main game… People play the game longer and enjoy the game a lot deeper. Going forward, that’s definitely something we’ll think about.”

Is Zelda Going To Be A Playable Character?

One of the major disappointments of the previous game was not being able to play as Zelda. Will it be any different in the new game? Well, Aonuma was asked this very specific question twice by two different interviewers but has remained coy over the matter. He told IGN:

“It’s kind of interesting that you bring that up, because in Breath of the Wild, you see Zelda and Link together often too, so to go straight into the thought of co-op is very interesting to me.”

Asked again during his sit-down with Kotaku, Aonuma replied:

“I see. But I can’t tell you.”