The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's approach to equipment was a breath of fresh air for the franchise. Previous Zelda games have allowed Link to wield new weapons and armor, but Breath of the Wild went farther than its predecessors by encouraging fans to collect and upgrade as much armor as they could. One of the few Zelda games that can hold a candle to Breath of the Wild's armor variety is The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, which uses fashion as a central theme and allows players to craft outfits with unique effects.
To a certain extent, Breath of the Wild seems to nod at Tri Force Heroes' armor crafting. Foraging rare materials from across Hyrule and bringing them to a Great Fairy for an upgrade feels comparable to bringing quest loot to the eccentric Madame Couture in exchange for more outfits. However, while Tri Force Heroes has a very broad range of outfits with increasingly niche uses, Breath of the Wild's armor sticks to interacting with the core functions of the game. In order to increase its loot offerings and empower more play styles, Breath of the Wild 2 should imitate Tri Force Heroes' broad approach to armor design.
Expanding Breath of the Wild's Armory
There's no doubt Breath of the Wild has its fair share of useful armor sets. Completing the Climbing Set makes Hyrule much easier to traverse on foot, meanwhile the Barbarian Set helps Link tear through enemies with increased damage. Many other sets protect Link from the elements, both in terms of weather and damage types, or increase his stealth. Unfortunately, the game starts to run out of unique armor sets at this point. Breath of the Wild armor sets stick to enhancing core mechanics of the game rather than offering lots of unique functions that push Breath of the Wild's boundaries.
In that way, Tri Force Heroes is vastly different from Breath of the Wild. Many of its outfits focus on upgrading Link's key items, but others offer odd functions that can change play styles completely. To name just a few, the Cacto Clothes make Link deal damage to enemies who touch him, the Lucky Loungewear makes Link dodge a percentage of incoming attacks, and the Serpent's Toga makes Link invincible while standing still.
Learning from Tri Force Heroes
Armor doesn't offer weird, handy functions like these in Breath of the Wild, but Breath of the Wild 2 could change that. The upcoming sequel could focus on expanding armor sets as a loot type in Ancient Shrines and other dungeon-like locations, offering a new incentive for exploration. Gameplay could benefit in a lot of departments too. A thorny suit of armor that damages melee attackers would be a huge boon for Breath of the Wild fans who forgo shields in favor of heavy weapons. Other new sets of armor could increase item drops from enemies and monsters, adjust the effects of Link's Sheikah Slate Runes, and so on.
A lot of Breath of the Wild loot boils down to weapons and gemstones. While these items are valuable, they are also often temporary and don't create a long-term sense of achievement. That's why it would be great to see Breath of the Wild 2 introduce more armor sets as loot, especially if those armor sets serve functions that are incomparable to one another. The first Breath of the Wild nailed the basics of combat, exploration, and equipment, so Breath of the Wild would be wise to study past entries like Tri Force Heroes when sorting out how to build its predecessor.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.