Nintendo’s plans for theLegend of Zeldaseries are quickly picking up, with bothBreath of the Wild 2andAge of Calamitygoing full swing into production together. However, when it comes to building up the highly anticipated sequel toBreath of the Wild, it may be wise for Nintendo to draw inspiration from themassively successfulGenshin Impact.
One of the biggest hurdles thatBreath of the Wild 2has from its predecessor is the way that the game will have to fill the map with brand new experiences for players to engage with. This is where a certainGenshin Impactfeature comes in, specifically the Domains that make up the bulk of the questing and fill out a considerable amount of the storyline for the free-to-play title.
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These domain designs already have a space to fill on theoriginalBreath of the Wildmapfor the upcoming sequel that canonically wouldn’t have a place in the next game in the series. This empty space would be the Sheikah Shrines which act as both the major source of upgrades for Link, as well as the pseudo stand-in for dungeons with smaller, individual puzzles for players to solve. While there do appear to be some sort of dungeons alluded to inBreath of the Wild 2’s early trailers, it’s still unclear what Nintendo plans on doing with the now-abandoned shrines that made up a large portion of the original game’s content.
Combat Heavy Shrines
Genshin Impact’s Domains are clearly very similar to Sheikah Shrines in that they are separately loaded instances found throughout the world that offer their own specific challenge not found in the open world. However, thedivergence fromBreath of the Wildis the key to what makes these Domains something that Nintendo should consider integrating into the nextLegend of Zeldatitle. Specifically, that difference is how combat heavy many of these Domains tend to be inGenshin Impact, with puzzles still available for players looking for a chance at additional items and new ways to approach enemy encounters.
At the moment,Breath of the Wild’s combat centered Sheikah Shrines are few and far between, or are comprised of a single boss fight at varying levels of difficulty. It was a strange choice to keep combat so rare in these puzzles, due in part to how champion skills and flurry rush gave the game some of the best fighting mechanics in theZeldaseries. This means the upcoming sequel should definitely lean intoBreath of the Wild’s best mechanics, especially considering the direction that a newly risen Ganondorf may wind up taking the series.
More Combat Fits for a new Ganondorf
Looking atGanondorf’s roll inBreath of the Wild 2, he has quite a bit to make up for when it comes to how Calamity Ganon was utilized in the originalBreath of the Wild. Specifically, this comes down to how the final boss fight against Ganon, set up to be the character’s absolute last hurrah, was fairly disappointing for players who expected an intelligent adversary. In response to these criticisms, Nintendo should take the opportunity to create and intimidating, dominating presence out of Ganondorf similar to the final match against the original DemiseSkyward Sword.
This new emphasis on a more skillfully demanding Ganondorf that can offer a tougher combat challenge thanBreath of the Wild’s Calamity Ganoncan easily be incorporated into the new Shrines. With the Sheikah’s role finished, the Shrines are now left empty, and Ganondorf has already been shown to be able and willing to take control of this type of technology for his goals of ruling Hyrule. If this is the case, it’s much less likely that the villain will be looking to test Link with thought provoking puzzles, and will just want to kill him by throwing minions at him at escalating intervals.
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Multiplayer Dungeons
Beyond the combat differences between the two games, miHoYo has already proven withGenshin Impact’s rapid successthat there is a place for multiplayer in aBreath of the Wildtype game. In the case of taking this multiplayer intoBreath of the Wild 2’s dungeons, there are ways to balance this without forcing players to find a friend to properly enjoy the game. One option is to allow the player to control the multiple characters, likely Link and Zelda, one at a time when playing solo, or allow a second player to come in and help control both characters at the same time.
This can lean in on a more combat heavyLegend of Zeldaas well, with the difficulty of the enemies scaling with the number of players currently playing at any given time. Multiplayer would be a completely new concept for a mainlineZeldatitle, and while fans continue to beg for aplayable Zelda inBreath of the Wild 2, new projects likeAge of Calamitymight be priming the series for this to happen. Regardless of whether or not this was Nintendo’s initial intention when beginning development on the nextBreath of the Wild, it is absolutely something that would be wildly popular among fans.
Revisiting Dungeons
One extra way thatGenshin Impactis able to utilize its Domains by stretching out the utility of these areas is to send players back and forth between these dungeons multiple times throughout the story. Combined with the philosophy of allowing players totravel anywhere onBreath of the Wild’s mapfrom the beginning to end, the need or ability to return to Shrines or Dungeons can set more fixed marks of progression for players. Unlocking separate sections of different dungeons in a steady and segmented manner could let players know when they’re approaching the “endgame” content and give a better way for players to track their progress.
This is one mechanic that may be difficult to implement properly without the dungeons feeling tedious and still giving players a satisfying feeling whenever they beat a new section. However, it could also make dungeons on the level ofBreath of the Wild’s Divine Beastsfeel even more dynamic in the world by requiring players to hop around between them in order to complete them all together, as opposed to one at a time.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2is currently in development for the Switch.
