Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise often plays with the dichotomy of two worlds overlapping one another. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past established this trend in 1991 via the introduction of the Dark World: an alternate version of Hyrule that Link could travel to using portals and back from using his Magic Mirror. Since then many different takes have been core to Zelda games, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 could be retreading this idea.
The E3 2021 trailer for Breath of the Wild 2 offered fans their first glimpse at one of the defining gimmicks for this sequel to the Switch launch title. Chunks of the same Hyrule map Breath of the Wild and Age of Calamity players are used to will be uprooted, floating in the air due to some malevolent power. Nintendo has yet to reveal all its cards, as even the game's subtitle is being kept a secret, but these floating islands should create two worlds: upper and lower Hyrule.
Despite this premise sounding close to Skyward Sword's two worlds, floating islands above the clouds and the natural Hyrule below, Breath of the Wild 2 may instead want to look back to the map created for A Link to the Past. Specifically, Breath of the Wild 2 could take some interesting pointers from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, a 2013 3DS game featuring A Link to the Past's Hyrule contrasted with Lorule instead of the Dark World
The Zelda Franchise's Multilayered Worlds
A Link to the Past's Light and Dark World split was the first of many variants to come. When Ocarina of Time came around, the first 3D Zelda game on Nintendo 64, it created a "past" version of Hyrule with a character whom Smash Bros. popularized as Young Link and a "future" version set about seven years later. This emulated the light and dark dichotomy of A Link to the Past as future Hyrule was corrupted by the rule of Ganondorf. The first look at this future world that players get is a devastated Hyrule Castle Town overrun by ReDeads where children once roamed free.
Ocarina of Time's direct sequel Majora's Mask did not follow the same mold, though Termina is also a sort of dark funhouse mirror of Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker featured the Great Sea as its main map, and revealed Hyrule as a locale frozen in time deep beneath the waves. After that Twilight Princess saw Hyrule overtaken by the Twilight Realm, with Link needing to free its guardian spirits in order to return the light; and then Skyward Sword had its hero travelling between the aforementioned cloud layer. Other games like the Oracle duology and The Minish Cap also have Link explore the same world in different contexts, but few were as prominant as A Link Between Worlds.
A Link Between Worlds' Lorule Stands Out
Many fans of the Zelda franchise were looking forward to A Link Between Worlds well before it released. Beyond bringing back A Link to the Past 's Hyrule years into the future, and reviving a top-down 2D formula in the process, A Link Between Worlds also intended to set itself apart by letting players buy their tools in any order. As a result it had a more open layout than most 3D Zelda games, which were become increasingly linear and focused on dungeon progression up until Breath of the Wild.
Another way A Link Between Worlds differentiated itself from other Zelda games, particularly A Link to the Past, was through its execution of the alternate world mechanic. Link gains the ability to merge into walls like the antagonist Yuga; a sorcerer who hopes to resurrect Ganon and use his power to become god-like. Eventually he's able to use this to pass through magical fissures into Lorule. While similar to the Dark World, Lorule is narratively distinct for featuring Princess Hilda, a mirror of Zelda who wants to steal Hyrule's Triforce to preserve her home; as well as Ravio, a shopkeep revealed to be Lorule's Link whose bracelet facilitates the wall-merging mechanic.
Unlike A Link to the Past's Dark World, which is largely interconnected outside a few areas like the Swamp of Evil, A Link Between Worlds' Lorule is also unique because it is partitioned off. Different fissues must be used to access particular dungeons in almost all cases, even if Link's purchasable toolset opens up different routes. Based on what has been shown for Breath of the Wild 2, a limited means of access to the sky may be analogous.
Moving Between Worlds in Breath of the Wild 2
The E3 2021 teaser trailer for Breath of the Wild 2 doesn't show a lot of movement between the upper and lower regions of Hyrule, it mainly depicts Link skydiving toward floating island or using a hang glider to pass between them. Only one instance shows him going from the ground to a floating island via some kind of magic that lets him phase through the floor. While there may be more ways to traverse across Hyrule in Breath of the Wild 2, it's possible only a few "hotspots" will allow Link to ascend in the same way only a few fissures could access Lorule.
Though it's unlikely the different sections of floating islands will be partitioned off ala locales in Lorule given the aformentioned footage of Link skydiving and gliding around, this movement could still be limited. If there aren't particularly strong updrafts, Link may be able to descend from higher to lower islands but not ascend the other way. Even if Breath of the Wild 2 is as open as its predecessor, hiding access to higher places via one magic portal in challenging surface areas may be an inherent difficulty scale.
In this way, Breath of the Wild 2 could design more unique bosses and difficult encounters that the player is encouraged not to face without barring access entirely. The way A Link Between Worlds partitions off its Lorule dungeons without putting many restrictions on the order in which players tackle them seems like a great system to evolve. Both games are sequels to acclaimed Zelda adventures, but Breath of the Wild going this route would give them something more interesting in common.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.