1,800 Korok seeds or bust.
With the surprising announcement that Breath of the Wild 2 was in development during Nintendo’s Direct at E3 2019, our minds immediately started spinning with theories and hopes for where the sequel could potentially take us.
While we know it’s not going to be a new Majora’s Mask (no matter how badly we might want it to be), we’ve got plenty of ideas for what we’d like to see in the next installment of The Legend of Zelda.
Fashions and Foodstuffs
One of my favorite things in Breath of the Wild was cooking. I loved it so much that I wrote IGN’s Breath of the Wild recipe guide for fun. It’s a little goofy, but I’d purposefully stock up on certain ingredients and prepare various meals for Link’s next adventure. Completing a difficult Shrine deserves a celebration with monster cake. I’d like to see all the old recipes return with at least half as many new concoctions.
– Miranda Sanchez, Executive Editor
I’m always obsessed with the clothing options in games: especially when they have a functional purpose in terms of abilities or statistics. I’m looking forward to more outfits in Breath of the Wild 2 but I want more realistic options in terms of the number of items I can wear at once. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to wear earrings and a headscarf at the same time. On a more serious note, I hope to see Zelda have a more active role. I want to witness the extent of her power.
– Janet Garcia, Associate Editor
A New Take on Hyrule
Breath of the Wild’s sequel faces the interesting problem of having to find a way to reuse the world we first explored 2 years ago. There’s on single thought that comes to mind when figuring out how to best revamp a familiar landscape into something new: The Dark World. I would love to see a side effect of Mummy Ganondof’s awakening shift the Hyrule we know into something that’s similar yet radically different: Drying up Lake Hylia, turning Gerudo Desert into a swamp, and replacing shrines and Koroks with new and exciting surprises that will make players want to explore all over again.
– Brendan Graeber, Guides Editor
I couldn’t have been more excited about the many changes Nintendo made to the find-key-open-dungeon-beat-boss-get-item Zelda formula with Breath of the Wild, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I greatly missed the classic items and how they let you interact with the world. If the sequel tapped into the legacy of Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time to introduce some sort of Dark World spin on the map we already know, then I’d also love a return of the series staple dungeons, complete with wind, fire, earth, and water puzzles. BotW’s boomerangs just weren’t the same! I want to go underwater with the Iron Boots, pull things with the Hookshot, and wreak havoc with a lock-on Gale Boomerang. Plus, some new items, of course.
– Peer Schneider, Chief Content Officer
Breath of the Wild made an abandoned world feel lived in. The small pockets of civilization scattered throughout Hyrule were welcome additions. Each is full of culture, characters, and history. But outside of Kakariko Village, there wasn’t much to do in these villages. Breath of the Wild 2 can expand on that by including side quests unique to each village and its inhabitants. And I’m not talking rescuing the random merchant getting attacked by Bokoblins. I want full-on, multi-tiered side quests that encourage the player to venture into areas of the world they may not otherwise, add additional scripted moments in the open-world that tie into the quest, or even incentivize the players to discover the long lost history of Hyrule that already exists in Breath of the Wild.
– Nicholas Limon
Less, Not More
Breath of the Wild was such a perfect game, it left me wanting so little. With its massive scale and a world that felt both alive and indifferent to my existence, it was the closest thing to living in a dream world as I’ve ever experienced in a game. For the sequel, strangely enough, I want to see it reigned in. I want eight (or more) big dungeons, each a massive spectacle, riddled with traps and puzzles and solvable in the classic Zelda-style. But I want them to get real spooky. As much as I loved losing myself in Hyrule’s world in Breath of the Wild, I want to lose myself in classic dungeons in its sequel. Literally: I want to get lost and bang my head against the wall until I notice some important detail hiding in plain view.
– Seth Macy, Tech & Commerce Editor
I know there is not likely to be a ton of folks out there that will share my perspective but what I want from Breath of the Wild 2 is LESS. I didn’t get more than a few hours in because I found the amount of things placed before me that divided my focus, pulled me away from the greater story, and… in truth, provided an immense amount of tedium… all of these things watered down the story purpose and took away any sense of urgency. As a person who struggles with their attention span already, Breath of the Wild is something that pushed me out pretty quickly by popping something new and distracting every few minutes. I’d like Breath of the Wild’s sequel to tame it’s ambition a bit in order to keep Link (and potentially companions) towards specific objectives and de-clutter a bit in order to keep those things in view.
– John Borba
But Go Hard On The Fun Stuff
Finally getting a house in Breath of the Wild was an achievement for me but it left me wanting WAY more. Here was this perfect little spot for me to rest and present my best weaponry and shields and maybe take a nap if I wanted… and that was it. There was SO much to do elsewhere and I was disappointed leaving my humble little house behind. For BotW 2, I really hope you can build up a house again but this time decorate it, expand it, grow crops, trees, and livestock, have a backyard cooking area, and maybe even open up a shop to tend nearby. The options were nearly endless in Breath of the Wild, and with the sequel in tow (AND more pressing dangers imminent) why not have a spot to really make your home in the game?
– Brandon Hunt, Branded Social Producer
I want the same thing I want from any sequel: Focus on what worked, cut out what didn’t. Breath of the Wild’s open-world physics playground is fantastic, so I’d love to see more toys to play with and more systems-based activity going on to make the sandbox feel more lively and more interactive. More wildlife, more roaming NPCs, more chance encounters, and more dungeon-style challenges out in the open. I’d also like to see Nintendo streamline the cooking system to reduce repetition and memorization, ease up a little on weapon breaking, and maybe take a crack at a fleshed-out story that takes itself a little more seriously.
– Dan Stapleton
Here’s a humble-brag: I was the first one in the IGN office to get all nine hundred (900) Korok seeds. Okay, that was definitely just a straight up brag, but I know what you’re thinking: “Wow what a waste of time. Who would spend hours looking for 900 collectibles to get a useless golden turd when you could’ve just stopped at 441 to max out your inventory?” ME. And I have NO regrets.
I explored almost every inch of Hyrule and gained an immense appreciation for that world and its design. So Nintendo… double the Korok seeds. That’s right. Give me one thousand eight hundred (1,800) of those little green sh*ts. PS If there’s another Korok detector mask, please tell me about it before putting it in the DLC months later.
– Josh Du
Mix Up The Formula
My one wish for Breath of the Wild 2 is rather simple: I’d like a cinematic camera option similar to (ok, exactly like) the one in Red Dead Redemption 2. BotW’s art design and graphics really did a lot with the Switch’s hardware limitations, and I found myself constantly stopping what I was doing to pan the camera around and take in the scenery. Since the dev team is taking inspiration from Rockstar’s open-world cowboy game, might as well borrow their cinematic camera option and display all those gorgeous environments in faux anamorphic widescreen. I’d love to sit back and watch Link and Zelda trot around Hyrule with the camera panning and zooming like I’m watching a David Lean epic.
– Jobert Atienza
In Japanese culture, the act of cutting one’s hair is a dramatic one. The first we see of Zelda in the brief sequel trailer is a princess with much shorter locks than we are accustomed to. In Japan, a woman’s hair is often an underlying symbol of their womanhood and those of great importance or status often had long, well-kept hair. The symbolic gesture of cutting one’s hair from long to short is known in Japanese culture as breaking free from the past or becoming a new person. I hope this symbolism is a hint that Zelda is starting a new chapter in her life and maybe we’ll get to play as our favorite fiery heroine.
– Amanda Flagg, Editorial Designer
Those are our hopes for Link & Zelda’s next adventure – what are yours? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for all the upcoming news and announcements on Breath of the Wild 2.
Breath of the Wild 2 does not have a release date, but is expected to launch as a Nintendo Switch game.
