Although little is known about the upcoming sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there has still been a steady drip of rumors and supposed leaks that have been giving hints as to what the game could be like. It’s only been seven months since the game was officially revealed by Nintendo at E3 2019, but the lone trailer that accompanied the announcement was more than enough for the internet to start piecing together theories on the game.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched with the Nintendo Switch in 2017 and has since become one of the most successful games of all time having sold through more than 16 million units. The game also currently holds a Metacritic score of 97 and holds several game of the year awards from that year. When the sequel was announced in 2019, fans were pleasantly shocked because they weren’t sure if Nintendo would just go on to make a completely different Legend of Zelda game or not.
When the reveal trailer showed Link and Zelda exploring a cavern or dungeon under an ominous tone and spooky sound effects, Nintendo may have revealed more aspects of the gameplay than initially thought which is why rumors have been so quick to jump on the game’s details. The rumors for this game have been making safe and easy predictions but that isn’t to say that they’re impossible predictions. In any case, here are the biggest rumors surrounding the sequel to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Link and Zelda Co-op
Fans of The Legend of Zelda have been asking to play as the titular character for years in one of the mainline games in the series and, if one rumor is to be believed, it seems like they’ll finally be getting that chance in the upcoming sequel. The rumor claims Zelda will be playable in the upcoming sequel, at least in a limited capacity, as it claims that Zelda will only be playable during dungeon sequences while Link will be available for both dungeons and the general open-world.
Going by the reveal trailer, Link and Zelda are shown exploring together and, excluding multiplayer Zelda games, this is actually a bit unconventional for the two main characters of the series. Although Link and Zelda have interacted plenty of times in pretty much every game they’re in, all of the main Legend of Zelda games typically feature Link by himself as the player navigates the game world with him.
One of the main themes of Breath of the Wild is how long and isolating it is, in that Link is isolated from the civilization of Hyrule he used to know (before it was all mostly destroyed). Although Link could hear hints and directions from Zelda in the game, she isn’t around him (outside of flashbacks) until the end of the game. The trailer sort of immediately shatters this significant theme from the first game as Link and Zelda now seem to be a working team.
If she is going to be playable exclusively during the dungeons, then fans can expect the reintroduction of the buddy mechanic that is found in so many single-player adventure games today. Like in Uncharted, Link and Zelda could explore dungeons together and solve puzzles in them using various means of cooperation although these new puzzles will probably allow Zelda to utilize her triforce abilities. The more complex puzzles could even have the player try to balance between her abilities and Link’s rune abilities from the first game.
Breath of the Wild 2 Title and Release Date
The same rumor that suggested Link and Zelda will both be playable in the upcoming sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has also claimed that the official title for the game is The Legend of Zelda: Bond of the Triforce. This title also backs up the idea behind a more cooperative adventure (as in the bond between Link and Zelda), but it could just as easily be a title the poster came up with in order to corroborate the other details in the supposed leak.
Either way, at least the title seems appropriate for what the reveal trailer was suggesting. The rumor also predicted that another reveal would be coming soon but didn’t specify when. Depending on when the game releases, fans might have to wait for another trailer at E3 2020. Twitter user and oft-leaker of things gaming, Sabi once stated that a source confirmed the game would come out later this year only to say later that a different source said it would be out in 2021 which is a likelier release date for Breath of the Wild 2.
Nintendo has a lot of games in the works with no current public updates to them including the next Legend of Zelda. Considering how frequently it puts out Nintendo Direct presentations though, fans might not have to wait too long for more new Legend of Zelda gameplay. Until then, it's worth taking every mentioned here with a heavy dose of salt.
The sequel to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is in development for the Nintendo Switch.