Breath of the Wild 2: release date, news, and theories

4 years later and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild still has the top spot on my list for the best game ever created. There is just endless fun to be had and inspiration for new ideas and solutions continue to spark. That’s why I am beyond excited for the next installment in the series. Announced at E3 2019, Breath of the Wild 2 is in production! Give me a minute…. every time I read those words, tears of joy stream down my face… Alright, so when is it being released, what do we know about it, and what crazy nerdy theories do I have? Glad you asked! Here is everything we know about Breath of the Wild 2 so far in 2021.

 

 

 

 

Before we go on, it’s dangerous to not be caught up, watch this: 

First Look Trailer | Released at E3 2019

 

Now if you’re new here I recommend you check out our other articles about Breath of the Wild 2 HERE

 

RELEASE DATE

 

Nintendo has been pretty quiet about Breath of the Wild 2’s release date. When the trailer above first hit the internet, many people thought that Breath of the Wild 2 would be to Breath of the Wild what Majora’s Mask was to Ocarina of Time since presumably most of the assets and world building was already done. This lead us to believe that 2020 would be the perfect year to release Breath of the Wild’s sequel. Alas, we all know 2020 wasn’t a perfect year for anything… Anyways, once we hit 2020 (or more accurately 2020 hit us), we soon realized that we wouldn’t be getting the new Zelda title we all needed so. That puts us right into 2021, Nintendo Direct has come and gone and still no word on the sequel.

 

There are rumors that a Nintendo Switch Pro is on the horizon, so Breath of the Wild 2 could be one of it’s launch titles. Keep an eye out for that! Personally, I think we’re probably looking at an early 2022 release date… but what do I know, maybe Nintendo is trying to surprise us with a holiday 2021 release. I guess we’ll just have to see…

I think we’re probably looking at an early 2022 release date.

-Nathanael Elbert, March 2021

 

 

NEWS

 

As I said earlier, we know almost nothing about this new installment. There was no news for this delightful sequel at this years Nintendo Direct other than Zelda series producer, Eiji Aonuma, reassuring fans that development is “proceeding smoothly”. It has been confirmed that Nintendo will be at E3 2021 so there may be news then.

 

 

 

THEORIES

 

Well where there is a scarcity of news there is a plentiful overflowing of rumors and theories! I’ve already compiled a list of the top five fan theories on the internet. This list will be a little different so if you haven’t read that list click HERE… I’ll wait. You’re back? Great! Now I’m going to let you into some of my personal theories. Let me know what you think of them in the comments below.

 

 

 

Sidon becomes King

 

In the unused pile for Breath of the Wild there was some concept art for a young King of the Zoras. I think in this next installment instead of seeing King Dorephan as a youngling getting used to his kingship we will be seeing Sidon become king, deal with his fathers death, and face feelings of being stuck in his fathers shadow.

 

 

 

 

I believe that by the end of the game Sidon will come to realize that he is worthy of being King and that his people support him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New Guardian Type

 

Guardians were great! But there wasn’t much diversity within the Guardian community… There were only four major types (two being the stationary variants of the other two) and two minor types with weapon variants. I think it’s about time to up the diversity.

 

 

This concept art shows the kind of Guardian 2.0s we could be facing in the sequel. Almost like the Darknut of Guardians.

 

I think of course that BotW2 shouldn’t be just a rehashing of the same type of enemies, but I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to the guardian family just yet. I mean come on, I just mastered the parry timings.

 

 

More Divine Beasts / Water Temples

 

One of the coolest things that didn’t get included in Breath of the Wild is the additional Divine Beasts. I think it would be awesome to have these in the game. However, I think we should put to bed the divine beast approach to dungeons. Let’s be honest BotW did not have dungeons (a staple of the Zelda Franchise).

 

I think introducing these as perhaps the first divine beasts created and keeping them inert throughout the game would be a good way to go. Since they would be older than the other functional divine beasts, their insides could have been gutted at some point and over time temples / dungeons were created in their bellies. I think it would be amazing to remember the “dungeons” from the original BotW while also re-introducing the true dungeons we have all come to know and love.

 

Two of these divine beasts are water based meaning that there would have to be some way of exploring the watery depths, something that Breath of the Wild did not allow. Let’s be real here, we NEED water exploration, let’s just add it already.

 

 

 

Pre-Calamity Prosperity / Royal Wedding

Obviously, of course, there has to be a rebuilding of Hyrule. I think the game will start with a time gap of a few years allowing for everyone to have rebuilt and for hyrule to start healing. The idea of getting lost in a bustling city is amazing.

 

Something we haven’t see before that was sort of tested out in Breath of the Wild is a marriage system. It would be interesting if in the beginning of the game had Link and Zelda get married… Maybe the beginning of the game would be you as Link or Zelda trying to find things to keep the wedding starting on time. A little like how terry town was built. The wedding could even mark the halfway point in the game. The first half could be more of a side quests / hunting down the last bokoblins from the mountains kind of game. Something more peaceful and world building. Whereas the second half, would deal with Ganaondorf coming back a reeking havoc on the land of Hyrule.

 

 

New Locations and Monuments

I think this new game will feature a monument heavy world. Many cultures will create monuments to honor their fallen hero’s of the past and I really hope we see this Mount Rushmore from the Gorons. I hope they keep the map more or less the same, however, sprinkle in new locations and towns. Adding a water exploration system would go a long way to the goal of new locations! 

 

 

Extraterrestrials

 

Last but definitely not least, one of the most awesome concepts for Breath of the Wild was this one about aliens. I think throwing aliens in wouldn’t work too well but maybe what we think are aliens are actually the Sheikah. According to the legend, the Sheikah are the reason the guardians, shrines and divine beasts were built. They handled all the tech. However, at some point everyone turned there backs on technology. Maybe the Sheikah moved to a far away land but comeback near the end of the game to help their long lost siblings with their zombie problem (Ganondorf).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Well what can I say… I am so excited. I can’t wait for the sequel to Breath of the Wild! Whether or not my theories and hopes come true, this game will be down right amazing. Let me know down in the comments what theories you have. Check back here for updates and stay tuned to varigonstudios.com for more articles on the sequel to Breath of the Wild.