When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 was announced it was met with immediate praise and excitement from video game fans desperate for a sequel to one of the best Switch games ever made. The majority of people couldn’t wait to go back out there and explore Hyrule again. But a small section of people didn’t share that same level of excitement. Instead, they had questions.
When Breath of the Wild came out it was, for the most part, universally loved thanks to the interesting world Nintendo developers had created. The game was extremely atmospheric and unlike most titles set in a “post-apocalyptic” environment, it was colorful and full of life. Players were rewarded for every action, whether it was exploring, doing story missions, or fulfilling side quests. The joy of Breath of the Wild comes in exploring that world and making your own fun. Nintendo does have paths to guide the player on a journey, but none of it is actually required. If the player wants to, as soon as they escape the tutorial area, they’re free to run straight to Hyrule Castle so they can fight Ganon. It is the most freedom a player has had in a Zelda game since the original came out on the NES back in 1986. It was, to put it simply, very different.
It’s that difference that also rubs many people the wrong way. Breath of the Wild is a game unlike any Zeldas before it. There are few massive dungeons, only four, and their size pales in comparison to the temples of previous games. Most of the items that had become a staple of Link’s arsenal such as the Hookshot and boomerang were replaced with four tablet powers. Puzzles were no longer kept to dungeons but instead spread out all over the world in locations called shrines. Combat, after growing in complexity, simplified and relied heavily on having stronger stats. It’s a very minimalistic style of Zelda game — even with its sprawl — but the real dividing line comes in the equipment. Swords, shields, and bows all have durability and after a significant amount of use will break. Nobody really LOVED this feature, but for some people, it was the thing that set it apart from the rest of the Zelda games. The phrase “It’s a good game but a bad Zelda game” was not uncommon among those who wanted a more traditional adventure for Link. For many others, though, they fell in love with the new style of Breath of the Wild. It’s created a bit of a dividing line among video game fans and also raises a big question as Breath of the Wild 2 approaches in 2022. What direction should Nintendo take the series?
Let’s start off by saying the exploration found in Breath of the Wild is a huge asset to the game. The freedom of movement and choice in the game’s direction was largely loved and a welcome change following the linear path of Skyward Sword. That movement also led to one of the best aspects of Breath of the Wild and its dynamic and varied puzzle solving. Very few puzzles need to be followed traditionally. It’s more of an “accomplish the goal however is necessary” style that led to some extremely creative ways to solve puzzles that still fill YouTube to this day. For example, in one puzzle a ball is rolled into a maze and player need to use motion controls to get it to the end and placed into a cylinder. Sure, the player can meticulously push the ball through the maze or they can just flip the entire maze over so they have a flat surface. Almost every puzzle has multiple solutions like this and there is no such thing as the “wrong way.”
It seems extremely likely that same freedom of movement and puzzle style sticks in Breath of the Wild 2. This is really more a debate about what makes a Zelda game “traditional” and if it’s good to stay in that realm of comfort or continue to push beyond it. For many, the familiarity of what’s made a Zelda game is comfortable. They’re going to go on a quest to rescue Zelda, explore some temples that all have an item in them, then use that item to complete the dungeon’s puzzles and fight a boss. Then they’ll go into the overworld, with some catchy theme music, and run to the next temple to do it all over again. Extra content consists of side quests and collecting all the collectibles like heart pieces to 100 percent the game. It is a formula that has worked for decades.
Breath of the Wild abandoned that formula, which admittedly drew a lot of people to the game. Having puzzles spread out all over the world, which also acted as fast travel points, made exploring that enormous world fun. It was a constant reward for players to go see what was over the next mountain. It also did something that, for some players, kept them going through the game. Some Zelda dungeons have infamously difficult puzzles and these could lead to walls and end playthroughs. In Breath of the Wild, a challenging puzzle could always be saved for later. Yes, the shrines led to some of the major dungeons being much smaller in scale, but the rewards of the shrine felt like a greater prize.
Equipment breaking really is a problem, though. Even the Master Sword can “run out of energy” which feels like an attack against what that item stands for. It also, however, forces the player to try different weapons and makes other items in the game more useful. If weapons, swords, and bows didn’t break then we would just find one we liked and stick with it for the rest of the game. When weapons break it forces us to try new weapons and pick up what we can find. This can also make some of the fights early on hectic in a way that is fun and chaotic. Having at least one item, shield, and bow that never breaks would have been a nice reward near the game’s endpoint.
Neither formula is a bad one, but there is a pretty clear divide among fans about what Breath of the Wild 2 should be like. It’s also something that could change the entire scope of what Zelda is in the future. Many franchises go through major changes at some point to try and freshen themselves up and it’s impressive that Zelda really hasn’t had to do that until recently. When Mario made the jump from 2D to 3D he went from a side-scrolling platformer to a 3D collectathon that defined an entire genre of games. Zelda, on the other hand managed to successfully take the formula that worked so well in 2D, dungeons, items, and bosses into the 3D world with great success. The biggest divergence Zelda has ever made from the formula was Majora’s Mask on the N64, and that game was also controversial among fans because of it putting a larger emphasis on side quests. That discussion point is another indication that a significant portion of the franchise’s fans don’t want Zelda to change. They want that comfort, but is that good for the franchise?
There are few, if any, bad Zelda games, but it’s pretty clear that the last few titles didn’t have quite the same adoration as many of the previous titles. Skyward Sword saw criticism for for its linearity and Twilight Princess for not breaking away from the mold enough (ironic huh?), so it was clear some juice was needed. The juice was largely successful for non-Zelda diehards, but it left the people who love Zelda most at the wayside asking for the formula they know and love. And so Nintendo has a decision to make: who do they appeal to here? Do they try to thread the needle and create a “traditional” experience with the world and mechanics of Breath of the Wild, or do they double down and go further with what they know works. That decision could define the entire franchise moving forward.
If Zelda breaks away from the norm once again then that franchise could be changed forever. The idea of a “traditional” Zelda game will not have the same meaning anymore, and with how popular the previous Breath of the Wild was it’s not like they can’t turn this into a new formula. But are they willing to break away from 35 years of success because of one game’s popularity? We’ll just have to wait until 2022 to know for certain.