The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of the best games of 2017 and easily one the greatest open world video games ever. It is masterclass in game design in so many aspects, the meaningful architecture of the world, the seeding of worthwhile exploration and the integration of a slew of mechanics that fit together like clockwork. Like an exercise in abundance and restraint, Breath of the Wild gives its players a world teeming with things to see and places to go without clogging itself down with the useless and the perfunctory.
Since it's inception back in 1986, Zelda has always been a franchise that attempted to capture the essence of adventure and child-like wonder. It's well known now how much the legendary game director Shigeru Miyamoto drew from his own childhood in the forming of the Legend of Zelda. Whilst it is true, since then, that Zelda has adopted many themes and story elements that elevate it from that original simplicity; Breath of the Wild demonstrated that none of it took away from the core, timeless vision that Miyamoto founded the games on.
Those who participated in the saturated marketplace that was open world games in the 2010's, could probably recall how often it was that a high budget title would launch with a lifeless world tacked on pointlessly. It became standard practice in the AAA landscape for a while to cram your gameplay atop tundras of wasted space and time in order to balloon playtime and tick the 'open world' box. That is not to say that there were no worthwhile open world experiences at this time, but rather to say that those games were mostly made by studios who were learned in doing so, because they had being doing making these worlds for years; I'm referring to Bethesda, Rockstar, CD Projekt Red etc.
Breath of the Wild was seemingly the first Zelda game to feature an 'open world' as the concept exists in modern gaming: As an expansive game space built to give room for the player's curiosity to take centre stage. However, in truth, The Legend of Zelda is perhaps the progenitor of the whole open world genre. Even the 1986 original in its simple top-down, pixel-form glory; was built to allow freedom of movement across the game world, as Link travelled in his quest to conquer its 9 dungeons and assemble the Triforce. That game was so expansive for the time that Nintendo had to pioneer the 'data saving' system in order to make the adventure manageable. Therefore whilst I do very much respect Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, I must disagree with his assertions that Breath of the Wild was the idealised form of their game model. Sure, Ubisoft patented the rinse and repeat approach to open world games but Nintendo very much birthed the curiosity driven open world that defines the Legend of Zelda.
Curiosity was the main tool that the Breath of the Wild developers exploited for the purpose of making exploration worthwhile without resorting to filling the world up with collectibles and side quests. When making the world, the team used terrain in order to manipulate perspective and ensure that there was no one point from which the player could make out all the that lies before them. If you wanted to discover what the other side of this valley looks like, you have to trek around this mountain or through this river. The Sheikah Slate was another useful tool to guide adventurers, giving players a rough hint on the location of secrets whilst expecting them to use the tools and skills at their disposal to find their prize. These ideas were even built into the combat system, which utilised breakable equipment in order to encourage players to either search around for backup weaponry or figure out which system they can exploit to either find another way to deal with the enemy or some way to avoid them altogether.
In its very foundations Breath of the Wild is both simple and ingenious. It is arguably as close to perfection as a multi-faceted multimillion doller production can get. Perfectly balanced gameplay, world and mechanics all cement the legendary status that the game is destined to hold. Although, I will admit I would have preferred a more hands-on approach to the story telling, (I've never been a fan of the distance that the story-told-through-flashbacks approach, fosters between protagonists and key story elements.) I cannot judge the game for what it isn't over what it is. For my money, Breath of the Wild is an easy 10/10, if I were the score giving type.
Yet despite my adoration (or perhaps because of it), I find myself approaching news of a potential Sequel with mixed feelings. On one hand, Breath of the Wild has become my favourite Zelda title seconded by my former favourite: Majora's Mask. On the other hand, Breath of the Wild was so good because it didn't overstay its welcome and become boring. It offered as much game as you were willing to handle and no more. Will a sequel throw that into jeopardy? At this point I suppose only time will tell.
At the moment, sequel details are obviously light. The high ups at Nintendo haven't even deemed as worthy to know the title of the game yet. Perhaps there isn't one. All we have to go on is the aforementioned minute and a half trailer and the information contained within. Luckily, this trailer does provide a fair few details of its own.
Firstly, the most exciting element of this new trailer for me; The tone. Look at reactions online and the first thing everyone points out about the trailer is how creepy it feels. From the dark, dingy cavern that Link and Zelda are travelling through to the backwards sing/chanting that emanates from the darkness. And, of course, the dessicated corpse of someone that appears to be Ganondorf. There hasn't been a Legend of Zelda game that immediately seemed this unsettling since Majora's Mask, and I just let you know how much I adore that game. The quick turn around of this new Zelda game also seems to echo Majora's Mask from back in the day; at which time the team re purposed a lot of Ocarina of Time's assets in order to piece together that nightmarish reshuffle. (Nightmarish in all the best ways!) Will this new Zelda game follow the same strategy? Likely. Although will it have anything nearly as off putting as Majora's Moon in the game? Well, that is the real question, isn't it?
Another detail that fans have picked up on, is the way that Zelda and Link seem to be adventuring together, almost like equals. For me, this means that we will get a story with a lot more immediate investment then BotW, as key characters will actually be there alongside you. Some have extrapolated on the scene, however, to conclude that it indicates Zelda will be playable in the game, perhaps as a second player. This idea really does intrigue me; wouldn't be amazing if Zelda and Link were finally both playable in the same game? ('Hyrule Warriors' hardly counts and he CDi games definitely don't count!) That being said, I do hope that if Zelda is playable then she is more than just a reskin of Link. Link famously trained night and day for years to become the warrior that he is so the pursuit narrative cohesion would support Zelda's talents manifesting itself in a completely different way. Does that mean she'll be some sort of warlock spellcaster? That may be my fantasy brain getting ahead of itself, but I sure hope so!
The most enduring part of any teaser, however, is the mystery. Here the trailer excels with two big ones that probably won't be solved until the final product comes out. First would be the purpose of, The Hand. When we first see this disembodied hand it is lodged into the chest cavity of a long dead corpse; it appears to seep a swirling trail of green energy that forms itself into strings of strange runes. (Perhaps Hylian? I'm no expert.) Though it seems obvious that The Hand seems to be sealing some entity, with the body itself imbuing torrents of that same dark substance that ruled Hyrule in BotW, the big question is: what exactly is The Hand sealing? That leads me to the second big mystery of the trailer, who is that corpse that snaps to life at the end?
The obvious answer is Ganon, given his plume of crimson hair and necklace featuring the Crest of Gerudo. However, this doesn't really make narrative sense. Out of all the many deaths that the dark lord Ganon has suffered, none were more final than his death in Breath of the Wild. That game saw Ganon abandon reincarnation in order to assume his true form as a being of hatred incarnate. He attempted to lay waste to all of Hyrule before Zelda destroyed his form with a display of her highest potential of power, completing her arch as a character. Ganon didn't just die. He die died. Like Albert Wesker being shot in head with two rocket launchers whilst standing in the middle of an active volcano, some things you don't just walk off.
So then, who is the body that they find in this cave that appears to be underneath Castle Hyrule? Well, I've heard some speculation that this is actually Demise from Skyward Sword. Skyward Sword is the earliest game in the Zelda Canon and tells the tale of the first Link defeating the demon lord Demise. After this victory, Demise curses Link and Zelda telling them that his hatred will be forever reborn and that they too will reincarnate in order to feel his wrath, kicking off the Legend of Zelda series.The rumors go that now, at the end of his spree of carnage, Demise has returned once again. Though whether to finish things once and for all, again, or to kick off a whole new era of Zelda stories is yet to be seen. For my part it does slightly upset me that this story is following Ganon once more. Some of my favourite Zelda games have been the ones in which the games have expanded the world and gone beyond the go-to villain, such as Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess. However, maybe this eery direction will be fresh enough to keep the plot from feeling stale. Afterall, I've never had reason to doubt the Zelda team before.
Ultimately all of this is just guess work, nothing has been confirmed about the title as of yet. All that we know for sure is that Nintendo have some incredibly big boots to fill whenever this game finally comes around. Nintendo do have the reputation for knocking it out the park time and time again, but even so, this is Breath of the Wild we are talking about! This is like trying to redo the Sistine chapel, it's going to take a lot of work. Although if anyone can get it done and surprise the gaming world once again it is Nintendo. Maybe CDPR as well. But mostly only Nintendo.
Since it's inception back in 1986, Zelda has always been a franchise that attempted to capture the essence of adventure and child-like wonder. It's well known now how much the legendary game director Shigeru Miyamoto drew from his own childhood in the forming of the Legend of Zelda. Whilst it is true, since then, that Zelda has adopted many themes and story elements that elevate it from that original simplicity; Breath of the Wild demonstrated that none of it took away from the core, timeless vision that Miyamoto founded the games on.
Those who participated in the saturated marketplace that was open world games in the 2010's, could probably recall how often it was that a high budget title would launch with a lifeless world tacked on pointlessly. It became standard practice in the AAA landscape for a while to cram your gameplay atop tundras of wasted space and time in order to balloon playtime and tick the 'open world' box. That is not to say that there were no worthwhile open world experiences at this time, but rather to say that those games were mostly made by studios who were learned in doing so, because they had being doing making these worlds for years; I'm referring to Bethesda, Rockstar, CD Projekt Red etc.
Breath of the Wild was seemingly the first Zelda game to feature an 'open world' as the concept exists in modern gaming: As an expansive game space built to give room for the player's curiosity to take centre stage. However, in truth, The Legend of Zelda is perhaps the progenitor of the whole open world genre. Even the 1986 original in its simple top-down, pixel-form glory; was built to allow freedom of movement across the game world, as Link travelled in his quest to conquer its 9 dungeons and assemble the Triforce. That game was so expansive for the time that Nintendo had to pioneer the 'data saving' system in order to make the adventure manageable. Therefore whilst I do very much respect Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, I must disagree with his assertions that Breath of the Wild was the idealised form of their game model. Sure, Ubisoft patented the rinse and repeat approach to open world games but Nintendo very much birthed the curiosity driven open world that defines the Legend of Zelda.
Curiosity was the main tool that the Breath of the Wild developers exploited for the purpose of making exploration worthwhile without resorting to filling the world up with collectibles and side quests. When making the world, the team used terrain in order to manipulate perspective and ensure that there was no one point from which the player could make out all the that lies before them. If you wanted to discover what the other side of this valley looks like, you have to trek around this mountain or through this river. The Sheikah Slate was another useful tool to guide adventurers, giving players a rough hint on the location of secrets whilst expecting them to use the tools and skills at their disposal to find their prize. These ideas were even built into the combat system, which utilised breakable equipment in order to encourage players to either search around for backup weaponry or figure out which system they can exploit to either find another way to deal with the enemy or some way to avoid them altogether.
In its very foundations Breath of the Wild is both simple and ingenious. It is arguably as close to perfection as a multi-faceted multimillion doller production can get. Perfectly balanced gameplay, world and mechanics all cement the legendary status that the game is destined to hold. Although, I will admit I would have preferred a more hands-on approach to the story telling, (I've never been a fan of the distance that the story-told-through-flashbacks approach, fosters between protagonists and key story elements.) I cannot judge the game for what it isn't over what it is. For my money, Breath of the Wild is an easy 10/10, if I were the score giving type.
Yet despite my adoration (or perhaps because of it), I find myself approaching news of a potential Sequel with mixed feelings. On one hand, Breath of the Wild has become my favourite Zelda title seconded by my former favourite: Majora's Mask. On the other hand, Breath of the Wild was so good because it didn't overstay its welcome and become boring. It offered as much game as you were willing to handle and no more. Will a sequel throw that into jeopardy? At this point I suppose only time will tell.
At the moment, sequel details are obviously light. The high ups at Nintendo haven't even deemed as worthy to know the title of the game yet. Perhaps there isn't one. All we have to go on is the aforementioned minute and a half trailer and the information contained within. Luckily, this trailer does provide a fair few details of its own.
Firstly, the most exciting element of this new trailer for me; The tone. Look at reactions online and the first thing everyone points out about the trailer is how creepy it feels. From the dark, dingy cavern that Link and Zelda are travelling through to the backwards sing/chanting that emanates from the darkness. And, of course, the dessicated corpse of someone that appears to be Ganondorf. There hasn't been a Legend of Zelda game that immediately seemed this unsettling since Majora's Mask, and I just let you know how much I adore that game. The quick turn around of this new Zelda game also seems to echo Majora's Mask from back in the day; at which time the team re purposed a lot of Ocarina of Time's assets in order to piece together that nightmarish reshuffle. (Nightmarish in all the best ways!) Will this new Zelda game follow the same strategy? Likely. Although will it have anything nearly as off putting as Majora's Moon in the game? Well, that is the real question, isn't it?
Another detail that fans have picked up on, is the way that Zelda and Link seem to be adventuring together, almost like equals. For me, this means that we will get a story with a lot more immediate investment then BotW, as key characters will actually be there alongside you. Some have extrapolated on the scene, however, to conclude that it indicates Zelda will be playable in the game, perhaps as a second player. This idea really does intrigue me; wouldn't be amazing if Zelda and Link were finally both playable in the same game? ('Hyrule Warriors' hardly counts and he CDi games definitely don't count!) That being said, I do hope that if Zelda is playable then she is more than just a reskin of Link. Link famously trained night and day for years to become the warrior that he is so the pursuit narrative cohesion would support Zelda's talents manifesting itself in a completely different way. Does that mean she'll be some sort of warlock spellcaster? That may be my fantasy brain getting ahead of itself, but I sure hope so!
The most enduring part of any teaser, however, is the mystery. Here the trailer excels with two big ones that probably won't be solved until the final product comes out. First would be the purpose of, The Hand. When we first see this disembodied hand it is lodged into the chest cavity of a long dead corpse; it appears to seep a swirling trail of green energy that forms itself into strings of strange runes. (Perhaps Hylian? I'm no expert.) Though it seems obvious that The Hand seems to be sealing some entity, with the body itself imbuing torrents of that same dark substance that ruled Hyrule in BotW, the big question is: what exactly is The Hand sealing? That leads me to the second big mystery of the trailer, who is that corpse that snaps to life at the end?
The obvious answer is Ganon, given his plume of crimson hair and necklace featuring the Crest of Gerudo. However, this doesn't really make narrative sense. Out of all the many deaths that the dark lord Ganon has suffered, none were more final than his death in Breath of the Wild. That game saw Ganon abandon reincarnation in order to assume his true form as a being of hatred incarnate. He attempted to lay waste to all of Hyrule before Zelda destroyed his form with a display of her highest potential of power, completing her arch as a character. Ganon didn't just die. He die died. Like Albert Wesker being shot in head with two rocket launchers whilst standing in the middle of an active volcano, some things you don't just walk off.
So then, who is the body that they find in this cave that appears to be underneath Castle Hyrule? Well, I've heard some speculation that this is actually Demise from Skyward Sword. Skyward Sword is the earliest game in the Zelda Canon and tells the tale of the first Link defeating the demon lord Demise. After this victory, Demise curses Link and Zelda telling them that his hatred will be forever reborn and that they too will reincarnate in order to feel his wrath, kicking off the Legend of Zelda series.The rumors go that now, at the end of his spree of carnage, Demise has returned once again. Though whether to finish things once and for all, again, or to kick off a whole new era of Zelda stories is yet to be seen. For my part it does slightly upset me that this story is following Ganon once more. Some of my favourite Zelda games have been the ones in which the games have expanded the world and gone beyond the go-to villain, such as Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess. However, maybe this eery direction will be fresh enough to keep the plot from feeling stale. Afterall, I've never had reason to doubt the Zelda team before.
Ultimately all of this is just guess work, nothing has been confirmed about the title as of yet. All that we know for sure is that Nintendo have some incredibly big boots to fill whenever this game finally comes around. Nintendo do have the reputation for knocking it out the park time and time again, but even so, this is Breath of the Wild we are talking about! This is like trying to redo the Sistine chapel, it's going to take a lot of work. Although if anyone can get it done and surprise the gaming world once again it is Nintendo. Maybe CDPR as well. But mostly only Nintendo.
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