Five things I want to see from the Breath of the Wild sequel

I have to wait how long?

Look, it’s no secret that Breath of the Wild is up there as one of my favorite games of all time, so you could say I’m pretty pumped for the sequel. My prayers of some news about the next main entry in the Zelda series were finally answered during the E3 Nintendo Direct, and the new trailer got my mind racing for what possibilities we might see when the game is finally out next year.

So, just for fun, let’s put on our speculation caps for a minute, and I’ll take you through what I want to see from the Breath of the Wild sequel.

More focus on story

Alright listen, I know the hyper minimal storytelling in Breath of the Wild is something I really enjoyed about it, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I want a little bit more to work with the second time around. This is mostly because the trailers we’ve gotten so far have teased more Zelda content (as in we get to see more of the character Zelda herself, not just the series as a whole — you get it).

I love her character so much, especially in BOTW because we got to see a really sorrowful, yet strong side of her. Spending more time with Zelda in the story is something I would be over the moon about, especially if she’s interacting with Link in a substantial way. The Zelda series is so rich with great lore, I just can’t get enough of the different angles and perspectives we get on the main mythology with each incarnation of the story.

The idea of seeing Link and Zelda team up in a new way is honestly what’s keeping me going at this point. Just think like the memories from the first one, but all the time. Yup, I would very much like that.

The next evolution of combat and other mechanics

I feel like this is something players naturally want from a sequel, and the new trailer certainly hinted at some really awesome looking iterations of the mechanics we know and love from Breath of the Wild. It looks like the runes will have new abilities, which is great because they’re part of what made exploring the world so fun in the first one.

I was also super intrigued to see some of the new enemy types that were teased, like a Bokoblin camp that was on top of a Stone Talus. Whoever came up with that, if you’re reading this, you’re a genius. If that’s what’s being teased right now, with so much time left until it ships, I seriously can’t wait to see what other crazy enemy crossovers Nintendo has in store for us.

I have to mention the fact that Link could pass through stone too — what was that all about?! It’s a really cool idea, especially considering the world looks way more vertical, a la Skyward Sword. Nintendo’s game design is always on point, so I know that new mechanic is going to fold into the already existing mechanics seamlessly.

A darker, more chaotic Hyrule

Breath of the Wild’s Hyrule was still dangerous, sure, but it was also quiet and relaxing. Based on the new trailer, it looks like the sequel is going to be much more chaotic, with Ganon’s threat more present than before. With BOTW, we also got to see what Hyrule looked like after Ganon won, and how its people were still able to rebuild regardless.

It looks like this time around, most of that will be thrown to the wind, with Hyrule scrambling for survival in a way that is more reminiscent of Majora’s Mask, especially because this looks like it’ll be on the darker side thematically. I think that’ll make for a great mirror to the first game, and give us some more variety in terms of what the series offers this console generation.

More Ganon!

Who doesn’t love a good villain? Ganon is such an iconic part of the series, but how much we see of him has varied a lot from game to game. The blights made for some cool mini-bosses, and there was obviously the final fight with him, but other than that I pretty much forgot he was a thing for most of the game. The sequel’s almost mummy-like Ganon (or some aspect of him) we’ve seen in the trailers looks really spooky and cool, so I hope he’s a more present threat throughout this game.

On top of gameplay, I’d also love to see more story content with Ganon than we’ve ever seen before. Like I said, I adore the mythology of the Zelda games, and I’d love to see Ganon interact with Link and Zelda in a way that gives us a bit more of his side of the story. Antiheroes are really in right now, so who knows? It would definitely switch things up.

A return to more classic dungeons

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the shrines and divine beasts in BOTW. They were a fun divergence from the traditional formula, but at the same time, dungeons are such an iconic part of the series that their absence is felt when they’re missing from a title. I would really love to see what more traditional dungeons would look like in this iteration of Hyrule, especially because of how tumultuous the sequel’s world looks.

One Redditor posted a theory that an original dungeon might be coming back, too — they noticed that Death Mountain didn’t have lava actively flowing out of it anymore, which means it might be accessible. The volcano was home to one of the dungeons in the very first game in the series, so I could totally see this coming to fruition. That’s just the tip of the iceberg with fan theories, though.

Well, that’s my wish list. At this point it’s all conjecture, sure, but half the fun is the anticipation, and we’ll have plenty of time to do that before the game drops. There’s a ton I didn’t even touch on, so let’s speculate together — let me know what your ideal BOTW2 would look like in the comments!