Nintendo rarely makes direct sequels to its Legend of Zelda games, but the company is doing just that for Breath of the Wild. During E3 2019, the company announced it is working on a follow-up to the Switch launch game, and since then, the still-unnamed sequel (colloquially known as Breath of the Wild 2) has been one of the system’s most hotly anticipated releases.
Despite the anticipation surrounding it, there has been very little in the way of concrete news about the Breath of the Wild sequel since it was first revealed, and we still only know so much about the game after its recent E3 2021 trailer. While there are still many question marks around the Breath of the Wild sequel, here’s a roundup of everything we know about the anticipated follow-up so far.
Release date
At E3 2021, Nintendo announced that the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel is scheduled for release sometime in 2022. According to Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma–who appeared on the stream to discuss the game–2022 is the current aim for the team. Time will tell if that turns out to be accurate or if it might slip further into the future.
Platform
While the first Breath of the Wild was released simultaneously on Switch and Wii U, the sequel is only coming to Switch. Many fans have no doubt hoped the rumored Switch Pro would be out by the time of the game’s release (the original notoriously had frame rate issues in certain areas), but so far there’s been no word on the status of the supposedly enhanced model of Switch.
Trailers
Nintendo dropped the first trailer for the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel during its E3 2019 Direct presentation. The cryptic video follows Link and Zelda (who notably sports a new, shorter hairstyle) as they make their way through a mysterious underground cavern. As the pair explore, tendrils of darkness can be seen creeping through the cavern. Link and Zelda eventually come upon what appears to be the source of the darkness: a mummified male corpse dressed in Gerudo jewelry and attire, presumably Ganondorf.
Clutching the corpse’s chest is what appears to be a hand made of light. A series of rapid, out of order shots follow, showing Link removing the hand, the floor around Link and Zelda crumbling, the mysterious hand of light catching Zelda by the wrist as she’s falling, and the corpse seemingly returning to life. The trailer then ends with a clip of Hyrule castle beginning to rise into the air.
E3 2021 trailer
Nintendo offered a new look at the Breath of the Wild sequel during its E3 2021 Direct presentation. The trailer confirmed that you’ll be able to explore Hyrule and the skies above, further expanding the scope of locations you’ll get to visit. The trailer below also contains other clues about what to expect from the much-anticipated sequel, including various tidbits of story and gameplay mechanics. Have a look for yourself and start theorizing. We’ve already begun thinking of several things that we think the game will have in our detailed trailer breakdown.
Why is Nintendo making a sequel to Breath of the Wild?
According to Aonuma, Nintendo is making a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild because it had “too many ideas” for DLC for the game. As Aonuma explained at E3 2019:
“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. Initially, we were thinking of just DLC ideas, but then we had a lot of ideas and we said, ‘This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch.'”
Why doesn’t the game have an official title yet?
One thing that hasn’t been explicitly revealed about the upcoming sequel is its official name, and there’s apparently a reason for that. According to Nintendo’s Bill Trinen, the company is purposefully holding back revealing the name of the sequel because doing so might give too much away. He commented further: “Those subtitles… they start to give little bits of hints about maybe what’s going to happen.”
Playable Ganondorf?
A wild fan theory popped up recently that makes the case for Ganondorf being a playable character. Barrett Courtney of Kinda Funny thinks that the more rugged-looking Link in the new E3 trailer is in fact Ganondorf.
Courtney theorized that part of the game would be playing the fall of Ganondorf, which begins the cycle of a hero battling a corrupted Ganon that happens in every game. He thinks that the hero from 10,000 years ago that has been teased is Ganondorf and that the character with the corrupted arm in the trailer–whose face is not shown–isn’t Link but in fact Ganondorf.
“This game will be learning about the fall of Ganondorf the man and then saving him from the evil that has been ruling over him for generations. And in doing so, we’ll break the cycle started by Demise,” Courtney wrote.
Preorder details
The Breath of the Wild sequel is now up for preorder at various retailers. You can find out where you can guarantee yourself a copy of the game in our preorder guide.
Source: Gamespot
