Everyone holding their breath for any news pertaining to Breath of the Wild 2 can finally let out a big ol’ exhale because Nintendo finally gave us a look at what we’ll be doing in the RPG follow-up. But in all that excitement, it’s pretty easy to miss some finer details hiding in the absolutely packed trailer. Let’s take some time to dissect, shall we?
The trailer opens with Zelda falling, and later, we see parts of what appears to be Ganon’s dungeon rising into the air. But, I can’t be the only one who hears a weird warp sound around the 15-second mark, when Zelda is ‘falling’ right? Are we sure we’re seeing things in the order that they occurred? Are we dealing with time shenanigans? There’s even speculation on who exactly the baddie during these initial seconds truly is. Sure, he’s got orange locks that scream Ganondorf, but think back on the opening moments of the first game. That hero of time looks NOTHING like Link.
Are these known locations? In the first trailer for BotW 2, we saw a piece of Hyrule Castle starting to detach itself. And now, fans are speculating on where, exactly, the floating islands we see throughout the trailer belong to, as it seems likely that they are all pieces from the already-existing map. If that’s the case, it’s a good way of making places we already know feel new again.
Link’s glowing arm tells us our wandering hero will have new abilities, the likes of which may be teased in the concept art for BotW 1. Teleportation, we get to see later on in the trailer. But is it possible that, per existing art from Nintendo, this beefed-up appendage will let us throw bombs or attach a hookshot?
Nintendo knows why we’re really here: to make every Bokoblin’s life a living hell, ideally with the use of giant spiky metal balls. Initially, it might seem like Link is chaining different objects together for some Bokoblin Bowling. But is it possible, as one kind reader pointed out to me, that we’re seeing a power that moves the ball back through time, retracing its original path?
Does Link look different to you guys? Are those bangs? Changing up a character’s look is practically a given in a sequel, but in this case, it’s fuel for ample wild speculation. Is there a reason we never see Link’s face directly in this trailer? Is that because there’s more than one Link, perhaps from different timelines? Or, a fan-favorite theory that will never die: Is this trailer somehow hiding playable Zelda? Whatever the case, Nintendo’s obviously got us all talking.
Make sure to check out our in-depth Nintendo Direct at E3 2021 coverage, which includes all-new games, remakes, and even a couple of surprises.