This article is part of a directory: Tears of the Kingdom - Release Date, News, Info
Table of contents

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild allowed players to explore Hyrule with an unprecedented degree of freedom. It was an incredible experience to climb every mountain, ford every stream, and truly experience everything that this land had to offer. There was so much to discover and find that it could almost be overwhelming at times.

RELATED: Best Versions of Hyrule In The Legend of Zelda

The sequel The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, is due to release in the coming year. Nintendo has stated that they plan to reuse much of the map from Breath of the Wild. This is fine, but if they want to keep things fresh they will need to make several changes to the land that so many players have spent so long exploring. These include new locations to explore, new things to do and new sights to see. These are some of the best alterations that should be made to Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

6 Add In Caves And Caverns

Cave Picture

When exploring the world of Breath of the Wild nearly all of the player's time spent was above ground. The only subterranean environments were the various shrines scattered across the land. This is why it would be great to see some naturally occurring caves and caverns in Hyrule. Being able to go spelunking with Link would literally add an entirely new dimension to exploration.

Link might find rare mineral deposits, underground waterways, and unique treasures while exploring underground. There might even be unique enemies that dwell in these caves. Overall such subterranean environments would be a ton of fun to explore.

5 Add A Human City

Castle Town Square Twilight Princess

For the most part, human habitation was fairly sparse in Breath of the Wild, being largely limited to small villages. This makes sense seeing as it takes place in a post-apocalyptic Hyrule with no real central government. Nonetheless, it would still be great to have some sort of large metropolis to explore in the sequel.

RELATED: Bosses That Change The Most Throughout A Franchise

This could perhaps reflect the fact that calamity Ganon has been vanquished and the Hylian monarchy has returned. It would be nice to see that the kingdom is now recovering, plus such a location could also act as a hub for commerce where players can meet plenty of interesting characters and shop for high-end items.

4 More Islands

Outset Island Wind Waker

In Breath of the Wild, it was an amazing deal when the player reached the far edge of the map and saw a vast ocean stretch out before them. It was therefore fairly disappointing to discover that there wasn't much to discover beyond the coast of Hyrule.

Perhaps the most notable landmass that could be found on this ocean was Eventide Island, which was fun, but Hyrule could definitely benefit from having more islands to explore out on the ocean. Players shouldn't expect anything as expansive or robust as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but having more developed sea exploration would definitely be awesome.

3 Underwater Exploration

Water Temple OOT 3D

Yet another way that Hyrule could be improved is by adding underwater areas that could be explored by the player. This would of course necessitate the addition of specialized equipment like the iron boots and Zora tunic which could allow players to survive underwater.

RELATED: Best Weapons in Breath of the Wild

However, such a thing could add a ton of great areas to the world of Hyrule. Just imagine going to an underwater Zora city, or exploring flooded ruins. There could also be sea creatures and sea monsters that the player could encounter. Overall, having underwater areas to explore would be a fantastic addition to Hyrule.

2 Less Rain

Breath of the Wild Rain

One common experience that virtually every player has had in Breath of the Wild is that you might find a nice mountain or cliff that you really want to climb, but just as you are about to, or while you are climbing suddenly a rainstorm appears out of nowhere halting your progress or forcing you down to the ground until it has cleared up. This was an extremely annoying occurrence that always seemed to happen at the most inconvenient times.

What compounded this issue is the fact that Hyrule is extremely mountainous and hilly, meaning that these random weather patterns would often seriously hamper Link's mobility. It would therefore be nice if in the sequel there was somewhat less rain in Hyrule. The writers could even explain it as Hyrule being in its dry season if they wish.

1 Return Of The Minish

Minish Breath of the Wild

Some behind-the-scenes screenshots of Breath of the Wild reveal Link interacting with a race of tiny people reminiscent of the Minish from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. These people could be seen living in dollhouse-sized homes. Unfortunately, this was cut from the final game, but Tears of the Kingdom presents the perfect opportunity to realize this concept.

It would be interesting to see Link interact with such people, perhaps he could gain the ability to shrink himself down to their size and see the world from their perspective. Either way, they could be a unique and interesting culture within the land of Hyrule, perhaps offering a perspective different from that of the other peoples of the kingdom.

MORE: Games That Have Unique Progression Systems