BotW sequel: We must wait a bit longer before Nintendo gives an update
- sep
- 08
A Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel is in the works!
During their press conference at E3 2019, Nintendo announced that a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - one of the best Nintendo Switch games of all time - is in the works. This was a huge surprise for fans and something that no one really saw coming. Here's everything that we know so far about this highly anticipated title.
Nintendo's E3 announcement trailer
During the trailer, we see Link and Zelda exploring some ruins in Hyrule. The ruins that they're in feature some dark dungeons. They soon find an underground lair, where an ancient evil grows. This dark force seems adorned with Gerudo visual cues. Once the evil seems to awaken, we get a view of Hyrule Castle quaking and rising from the ground in the distance.
Breath of the Wild sequel
- Nintendo's E3 announcement
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
- Is this a direct sequel?
- Rumors
- Is it open world or linear?
- Will it use the same map?
- Who is the main villain?
- Will you play as Link or Zelda?
- Will there be DLC?
- Release date
Update: September 8, 2020: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Nintendo announced that they are still hard at work on the Breath of the Wild sequel and that they won't be ready to show anything to us for a while yet. However, a new game called Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will give players a look into the events that took place 100 years before Breath of the Wild.
Update: August 18, 2020: French retailer listed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 Collector's Edition on their website.
French retailer WT&T posted a listing for "ZELDA BREATH OF THE WILD 2 COLLECTOR – SWITCH", which suggests that the Breath of the Wild sequel will be getting a special edition.
Update: October 10, 2019: Supposed leak indicates a 2021 release date alongside a new Switch.
A 4chan user has gotten a lot of attention for posting a supposed leak about the sequel. It's highly likely that this information is false, but we don't know for sure.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
During the September 8, 2020 announcement for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Eiji Aonuma, the producer for The Legend of Zelda series, stated the following:
"We mentioned in the June 2019 Nintendo Direct presentation that we had started development on the sequel to the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. . . Regarding the sequel, to make the vast world you enjoyed exploring in the original game even more impressive, the team is working hard on its development. So, you'll have to wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates."
In the meantime, Zelda fans can get their hands on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which comes out on November 20, 2020. It follows the events that took place 100 years before Breath of the Wild. You'll be able to play as both Link and Zelda and will learn more about the Champions' struggle against Calamity Ganon.
Is this a direct sequel?
Yes, this will be a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. The game apparently takes place two years after the events in Breath of the Wild, which was a Nintendo Switch launch title back in March 2017.
Breath of the Wild sequel rumors
As with any highly anticipated game, there have been several rumors circulating around the follow up to Breath of the Wild. These should all be scrutinized heavily as they may or may not have any truth behind them. We've included rumors that seem more plausible than others.
The supposed WT&T leak
As you can see in the screenshot above, French retailer WT&T posted a listing for "ZELDA BREATH OF THE WILD 2 COLLECTOR – SWITCH" with a price of 82,85 € (which translates to about $97.80) on their website in August 2020.
Considering the popularity of the original game, we are expecting a special edition of the sequel. What makes this potential leak worth paying attention to is that WT&T previously leaked The Witcher 3 for Nintendo Switch by creating a listing for the port almost a year before the game released on Switch. As always, take this information with heaps of sodium as it is only a supposed leak and not real evidence of anything.
The alleged 4chan BoTW2 leak
If you've been searching online recently for new Zelda information, you've probably seen that 4chan user Xhyll has gotten a lot of attention for posting "leaks" about the upcoming sequel. First off, we want to say that anything found on 4chan should be heavily scrutinized. Yes, there have been actual leaks on that site, but there have been even more false reports, so you'll want to take everything with heaping piles of salt. That being said, we can't trust that this is an actual leak, but there is a chance that it could be.
To build his cred, Xhyll starts off saying that he got the information from a former Nintendo employee. He states that the new Breath of the Wild sequel is called Breath of the Darkness. According to him, members of the marketing department were shown a 10-minute video demonstration for Breath of the Wild 2 running at 60 fps and 4K on a Switch 2 prototype. The video allegedly showed Link fighting against a Dark Guardian while receiving magical protection and direction from Zelda.
He further states that the sequel will have a 2021 release date and that it will launch alongside the rumored Switch 2 (a.k.a. the Switch Pro) - a more powerful version of the original Switch that can support better graphics.
As we've said before, we're inclined not to believe his claims. If this information is true, however, the sequel is still in the early stages of development, and a lot could change between now and then, including gameplay and the game's title. We'll keep our ear to the ground and will let you know if we learn anything more.
Will the game be open world again, or will it be linear?
We're not sure about this yet.
Breath of the Wild was all about the vast open world and exploration, and you could explore Hyrule freely, without any real linear order. While this game will be a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, Nintendo did not reveal any details about whether or not it will continue that open-world exploration, or if it will be more of a traditional Zelda game formula, with temples and dungeons that require specific items to progress through.
Will it use the same map?
This is another area that we are unsure about at present.
Considering how thoroughly players got to explore the land of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild, it would make sense for the sequel to take place in a different location. As we can see from the E3 announcement video, Zelda and Link are shown underground in what appears to be a cavern of some sort. Perhaps the sequel has players exploring a buried world underneath Hyrule.
Or, perhaps the game will take a cue from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and have Link and Zelda travel to a distant land to give players a fresh new sprawling map to explore. We'll have to wait and see.
Who is the main villain?
It's more than likely the undead person from the teaser who is emanating the green swirls and tendrils of darkness. But who is this person?
You might notice a medallion with the Gerudo icon dangling beside him. Many people have taken this to mean that this undead figure is none other than Ganon himself since he was once born a Gerudo. However, we don't know for sure if that is true. There's also the creepy glowing hand that seems to be attached to his chest, which might indicate another villain Link will need to face.
There's a brief flash of light at the 0:45 second mark of the teaser trailer that throws a shadowy silhouette on the wall. It seems to show just what this undead person looked like when they were alive. We'll update on who the sequel's main bad guy is as we learn more.
Will you play as Link or Zelda?
No information was revealed regarding who you play as in this sequel, but you do see both Link and Zelda in the trailer. By default, we can only assume that Link is the playable character as he always has been, but maybe there will be some moments that we can play as Zelda, which would be a nice change of pace.
Kotaku was able to ask producer, Eiji Aonuma, if Zelda would be playable in this sequel. The esteemed man initially acted with surprise and maybe some confusion at the question, but then simply said, "I can't tell you."
It looks like we'll have to wait and see how many playable characters there are.
Will there be any DLC?
It's currently too early to know if there will be any DLC. However, it is interesting to note that Aonuma has stated that the ideas for this sequel initially started as DLC for Breath of the Wild.
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.
If we're lucky, they'll have so many ideas for the sequel that it will either result in a decent amount of DLC or a third Breath of the Wild sequel. But that's just us getting our hopes up and getting way ahead of ourselves.
When will this sequel come out?
The trailer was more of a teaser. Nintendo has only stated that the sequel is now in development, so there is no time frame on when this game will be coming out, though we can guess it won't be for a while.
There was not much information regarding the Breath of the Wild sequel that was announced today. We will keep you updated with more details as we receive them.
Link and Zelda too
We absolutely loved Breath of the Wild and cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel. We'll keep our ears to the ground and will update this article with any news, rumors, or official updates that we learn about. Check back often!
Updated September 8, 2020: Added information about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
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